G.R.O.S.S. - cassette era
Overview on this great Japanese labels cassette era. Reviews/comments for both, those that are not commented, and those who you dis-/agree with can be posted. I will include additions in this opening message and erase the unnecessary messages which content has been updated.
Three main cassette series existed:
- the G.R.O.S.S. series (GR): Each tape was packaged in a standard snap-case with printed labels and an elaborate j-card. This was packaged in a plastic sleeve sealed with a unique sticker for each release. These tapes were numbered, but not in an explicitly limited edition. The first 50 copies of each were on metal tape; the remaining ones were on chrome tape.
- the G.R.O.S.S. Envelope series (GRE): Each tape was packaged in a sealed black envelope with printed labels and inserts. Each was limited to 120 numbered copies.
- the G.R.O.S.S. Special series (GRS): Each tape in this series had special hand-made packaging and was limited & numbered.
GR-001 Aube Spindrift (Cass, C46) 1992
-My first exposure on Aube. Material is brilliant early style of Aube. I believe his project was born out of doing soundtrack for friends installation about sounds of water. In this tape, material is already very high quality, but so fresh and innovative, not routine job at all. Release that simply from beginning set the GROSS standards to what it was known for. (MA)
GR-002 Monde Bruits Purgatory (Cass) 1992
-One of the tapes that simply screams for re-issue. With the power of Japanese noise, it is still unique. With Portuguese Man Of War my favorites of Monde Bruits material, where his full length CD's could never reach.
GR-003 Roughage (2) Travel The Globe (Cass) 1992
GR-004 Dislocation Instill / On The Move (Cass, Album, C46) 1992
GR-005 Mortal Vision - Nacht Musik (Cass, C50) 1992
Guitar based psych noise. Basically sound can be broken down into delayed feedback drones and actual distorted guitar. Sound itself is so oversaturated and colored by effects which give the entire recording a somewhat dull sound. Best moments occur when sound of guitar itself is pushed quite hard in mix giving new depth as the back layered drones are forced to respond. I find the basic layered feedback drones and squeals the worst aspect of the tape surprisingly. (Chris Morrison)
GR-006 Aube Drip (Cass, C30) 1992
GR-007 Kapotte Muziek Murmel (Cass, C46) 1992
-I think KM has always been little hit & miss. That applies also for this tape. While you can appreciate the delicate electronic recycled sounds and repetetative loops, when about half of side a is simply one short loop what almost sounds like TAMP-POONI, TAMP-POONI, TAMP-POONI, TAMP-POONI, TAMP-POONI, TAMP-POONI, TAMP-POONI,..... with little delay effect applied, I find myself irritated. For those who didn't get it, this is like dadistic loops saying "tampon" in finnish for dozen of minutes. Female menstruation is fine we me. Nothing wrong with marinated pussy breakfast, but what comes to artistic merits, I find texture of sound to be dull, the length & treatment of loop less than average. Basically same idea is on other size. Extreme short spoken loop goes on on background, but luckily accompanied with sound with most of time. In half point track changes. New spoken word loop introduced. Very short loop I can't really make my mind what it is. It could be "current vibration is..", "current vibration is..", "current vibration is..", "current vibration is..", but I don't know what's wrong with my brain, but just like a-side, my mind malforms this into "cunt violation is..", "cunt violation is..","cunt violation is.." hah....... But imagined sexual overtones don't save material from being pretty lousy example of tape loop music OR early days limitations of samplers.(MA)
GR-008 Allegory Chapel Ltd. Demimonde Voices (Cass) 1993
GR-009 Taint Strange Feeling, Shit Coming (Cass) 1993
-Dirty, grimy, lo-fi Taint. One of the - if not the - first Taint recordings I ever heard. This album defined American PE for me, at first. I have two copies, so one's up for trade. (catharticprocess)
GR-010 Monde Bruits Psychosomatic Performance (Cass) 1993
Another my old favorites from GROSS. When I got this tape, it was actually the very first MB item I got. I listened it so much, that even still today (literally today) when I listened through the tape, I can remember even dramatic change of tape. The beginning of tape is simply so impressive. It has made permant memory mark in my brain, just perfect power-electro-drone in beginning what has feeling as if it's going to explode any second, which it does at some point. The fast swirling chaos of these live performances from 1991 and 1992 aren't bassy or crushing. Just quick harsh electronics. In droning slower material it is simply perfect, on fast material it makes it lack little bit of the "drive". I think that even for first 10 minutes of A-side, this is absolute must. And still amazing as a whole too. Just unique in it's sound. (MA)
GR-011 Aube Luminous (Cass, C46) 1993
I suspected that I had two copies of this tape, but not yet had time to check out if that is true. Tape was still sealed after so many years, so I assume I had to have other copy somewhere. Soundtrack for light installation, which consisted mostly flickering lights.
What you hear, starts with subtle sound of fluerescent light flickering. Fairly quiet sounds, and with Aube style of the early 90's, eventually looped and efx treated soundscapes will become massive noise wall, qualifying even harsh noise. Despite it is subtle and atmospheric for most of the time.
GR-012 Shlomo Artzi Orchestra - Ushinawareta Otoko (Cass, Album, C60) 1993
What is this? Don't know anything else but this release. Experimental noise, some ways so GROSS, that despite being unknown project to me, it seems like expected thing. Experimental noise. Somewhere between sound collages, sound improvisations, electronics, samples, loops... A-side is more abstract, while B-side gets more ongoing solid form. If you like Shida, Disclocation, Club Skull, Crawl Unit, etc etc.. this will most likely satisfy you. If you want Thirdorgan, Monde Bruits, Incapacitants, etc... look elsewhere. Very nice paper used for cover! Extremely thin and fragile, very very dark silver glittering paper with print on it. (MA)
GR-013 Club Skull The Origins Of ... (Cass, C40) 1993
-1993 release of one-off project with Hiroshi Hasgawa (cccc, astro), Akifumi Nakajima (aube), Fumio Kosakai (Incapacitants, cccc). What I like about G.R.O.S.S., is that while tapes may represent certain era in noise, all of them are very G.R.O.S.S. and most of them are timeless. When you see a tape, you know it's by this label. When you hear the sound, especially their Japanese releases, it's very logical why it is their release.
Club Skull is no exception. It is not harsh noise, but neither falls into ambient or typical drone music. It combines the very best elements of psychedelic electronics what these guys are known for. It's like CCCC becoming Aube. And Aube becoming CCCC. Hasegawa with his synthesizers and the other two with electronics, with heavily echoing, improvised soundscapes which are constantly moving. It keeps within certain range of sounds and atmosphere, but within that range, each member takes their own elements into new variations in volume, pitch, texture and tempo. One 20 minutes piece of 1st side is very good, but I'd say that 1st piece on the other side develop even further. 2nd shorter piece on b-side comes with most Aube'ish moments. Dynamics of the tape is more of the early noise style. From DAT to chrome tape allows pieces to have wide range of dynamics. From few lights blinking in quiet and calm moments, to full capacity of tape format in the louder parts. Not the all-in-maximum. Unlike many artists today, they don't rely on things like "heaviness". Warm and full bass levels are not the main focus at all. They are nearly non-existent.
It's kind of unfortunate that while especially Aube and Astro has produced some inferior items, what must be still far more known & distributed, some masterpiece like this remains forgotten obscurity. I guess one side of this item was on RRR's recycled best of GROSS box set?
For drone-noise-electronic fans, very recommended to hunt down. If someone would re-issue this someday, it probably wouldn't happen with the nice packaging. Simple tape box with J-card, but nice design toying with special transparent papers etc.(MA)
GR-014 The Black Museum "WAIL" (Cass, C46) 1993
Don't know anything of this except this one tape release. Contact is at CA, USA. c/o T.Duda. All information besides address says, is that it is recorded between 1991-1993. It is good tape. The title track is massive. WAIL simply slowly hisses and rumbles forward. It has certain quality of drone music, yet due age, perhaps aims to be something else than many drone bands aim today? Song has decent structure. It invokes deep bass rumbles nearly hidden below the static middle range drone. It ends into noisier high pitched hiss. Cult Heroes abuses heavy delay/reverb and reversed sounds. Perhaps little out-dated in times, when use of these effects & methods is so easy and without layering, it remains kind of show of the effects. But still some backwards vocals and nearly ghostly sounds create quite surreal and eerie atmosphere. Song isn't that long, so it works well as sort of "outro" for the a-side.
B-side presents 3 tracks. Abnormal Operation is the harshest piece. Simply massive straight forward metal junk assault. Metallic reverb, no overdubs. Occasionally heavy delay/echo is inserted and distorted noise gets more electronic wibe. Mother, is long piece created by strong slowly shifting delay loops. When old ones start fading, new ones inserted. 920.000/s sounds close to Aube in his more electronic sources. VCO for example?
All the tracks are based on very specific sounds and use of effects & electronic manipulations. It sounds more of studio work with perhaps expensive gear rather than full on noise abuse. Another perfect GROSS release. Despite being american, when you file this next to Aube, Monde Bruits, Club Skull, and basically the items on GROSS before this.. very logical choise to put out. (MA)
GR-015 Small Cruel Party - Unroof The House Of The Fishes (Cass, C46) 1993
Quite dynamic noise composed in most delicate of manners. Sound is quite large but nowhere close to being overdriven. Just complete control of various contact mic scrapping (?) and hum/buzz/etc of field recordings layered. Detail of sound is always so clear and crisp without coloring of effects and such. Just overall good example of artist relying more on manipulation and layering of composition. I remember hearing for some time now a SCP box upcoming. (chris Morrison)
GR-016 Aube Flash-Point (Cass, C46) 1993
-Probably my favorite Aube that I own. Actually, one of my favorite cassettes I've ever owned. This is one of his shining moments. Perfectly packaged, perfect sounds. If you get a chance to snag this, it's essential. (catharticprocess)
GR-017 Trance / Macronympha Audio Image Assault (Cass) 1993
GR-018 Thirdorgan Cyclotron (Cass, C46) 1993
GR-019 Roughage (2) Soft Pore Corn (Cass) 1993
GR-020 Hands To Turn Back The Sun (Cass, Album, C46) 1993
-One could say possibly typical of Hands To "regular" recordings. Meaning simply long pieces of rough quality analogue recordings done while on trip to canyon. Occasionally it sounds like someone just took a day trip outdoors with walkman or boombox with recording on. But he did assemble it little on 4-track. I underline little. It is really just organic field recordings with magical touch of not intending sound to be hifi or neat in any way.(MA)
GR-021 Aube Submerged Tension Remix (Cass, Album, C46) 1993
GR-022 Princess Dragon-Mom The Real Folk Blues (Cass) 1993
GR-023 Maeror Tri Archaic States (Cass, Album, C60) 1993
GR-024 Shida File 1: Mr. Chinhatto & Dedomen (Cass, Album, C46) 1993
When stuff starts, it sounds as if it would be live show? But I think it's not. At least cover says nothing about live show. But once in a while you hear japanese crowd talking. In beginning and in middle of compositions. But I assume this is field recordings from city? Simply because the style how sounds blend in, is very strange. There is often this quality of "distance", which gives you impression of ampfiliciation, and that being captured from distance. But then again, you have very "close" dry concrete sounds, mixed in. Heavily excperimental mix of tape manipulations, electronics, cut-ups, noises, voices, field recordings. It is more to electro-acoustic thing, but somehow the "attitude" seems more into noise approach, than academic. It is possible that this is live, but it would be strange that so much of audience would talk and it would be released like this. And no clapping or such in end of sides. This is project of one of members of DISCLOCATION, so imagine Dislocation without sax, just with experimental electronics and field recordings and you are not very far of the image. I actually do find this more inspiring than the free music sax oriented Discolocation, even if it belongs to some of my favorites on that field. B-side of the tape is darker and more solid with heavy pulses and drones being below the more abstract cut up noise, electronics etc. It is very strange when you have this distant heavy drone, reminding almost like "PE" or "death industrial", but suddenly there is sound of people just walking in small rocks and talking casually like bar enviroment. Utterly bizarre. (MA)
GR-025 Red Gnein Sextet Hätrasene (Cass) 1993 GR-026 Aube Frequency For Collapse (Cass, C46) 1994
GR-027 Speculum Fight Glass Giant (Cass, C46) 1994
-Now looking at Discogs, these two seems go in the opposite order but what the heck. Anyway, there is something like in the SF titles ("White Elephant" etc.) and aural matter on this tape is exactly what I enjoy in SF - distorted, pulsing deep noisy mass moving in 3D. Nuff said.
GR-028 DMDN Agonistes 1 & 2 (Cass) 1994
-This goes in the earlier "normal" series. Didn't have any idea about the artist when bought it, and it was laying in the drawer for a while before it got played. And it went on twice right away. Pretty much what might be called as wall-of-noise but probably too rich for that. Very enjoyable stuff. Ordered his two CD's immediately I heard this (and recommend those also, they are cheap). (Tommi Keränen)
GR-029 Daniel Menche Furnace Fucker (Cass) 1994
GR-030 Dead Voices On Air "Abrader" (Cass, C40) 1994
Canadian project of Mark Spybey, formed in 1992, and this is possibly the first release? And curiously, it is only thing I ever heard, even if the project has huge discography and seems to be active again from 2007 onwards (at least releases)?
One song on A-side and 2 on B-side, basically follows the similar patterns of creation: layers over layers of organic loops. Infact, what I think, this could be what I used around same time with Alchemy of the 20th Century early material. It wasn't really loops, but actually long delay, with almost 100% volume in the echo. It gives impression of loop, but sound actually is fading & decaying slowly, and new sounds can be inserted, which allows it to naturally shift and grow from one thing to another. Even without overdubs or any real mixing. This is what DVOA sounds like. It is noisy, but not harsh. It is nearly meditative and heavily repetative, but slowly mutates into new things. 1st track of b-side is the fastest of all. Changes happen quicker, but the tempo and overall atmosphere remains the same through whole tape. Think of noisy "industrial" sounds, drones, junks, but in ways suitable for G.R.O.S.S. Always with experimental and nice sound, no lo-fi or brutal fierce all-in-the-red rumble. (MA)
GR-031 Aube - E-Power (Cass, C46) 1994
Simple source of One Voltage Controlled Oscillator. Side A is based more on manipulation of simple slow modulation. Sound becomes quite gritty and continues to progress until roughly 10:30 mark on first track where focus shifts and almost begins same pattern of building up track itself. Sound B is pushed quite harder for more dynamic results but unfortunately overall feel has been sacrificed in return of this. With Aube I can recommend far better works and source of one voltage controlled osc was never his most interesting in my opinion. (Chris Morrison)
GR-032 Sshe Retina Stimulants Kusa'i (Cass, C46) 1994
GR-033 Telepherique Chaos Theory (Cass, Album, C46) 1994
GR-034 Near Earth Objects - Plate Tectonics (Cass) 1994
Who's this? Well, some Australian noise artists Alan Lee and.. Well, credits are to AJ & AK Lee. And what a great piece of forgotten jewels are these. I luckily have 1st edition metal tape version (#50 copies), so with such a good levels and high quality tape, once can fully appreciate the lo-fi tape mayhem and loud hiss! C-46 tapes surprisingly, as opposed to many side long pieces, has in total 13 tracks. Each track focuses on some very specific elements. Just mix things like AMK, GUM, Grey Wolves, John Duncan and mix it together until it sounds like none of them, and it might be N.E.O. Some tracks are simply destroyed noise. Some songs remind you almost like early days John Duncan or horror shows of Grey Wolves at their most primitive stages. Recorded between 1992-1993, and there seems to be very little information what other things they might have done. Cipher productions included their stuff to Underground Australia comp tape as late as 2003.. perhaps still around? (MA)
GRE200 Aube Huile Sur L'Eau (Cass, Ltd, C46) 1995
GRE201 Hyware 2 Tracks (Cass, Ltd, C40) 1995
GRE202 Crawl Unit Terminal Absolution (Cass, Ltd) 1995
Very nice tape from CU. Concrete sounds and processed tapes, just listed as pt.1 on A, and pt.2 on B side. Instead of long tracks, there are some stops too. That it is more like beginning of new track once in a while. Compared to later days Crawl Unit, his sound was still very noisy. One could almost file it under harsh noise occasionally, but it has maybe too much of "industrial" / "experimental" wibe. Great contrasts, like fast chaotic high fuzzy noise going on top while heavy slow crushing reverbed junk collisions on the back. Analogue blend together very seamlessly, saturated into solid piece despite sounds being different from eachother. Short loops, humming sounds,... It's all like decayed and overdriven version what he was doing later. You can hear exceptional ideas of wanting something else than simple "harshness", but the level of noisiness and lack of quiet sounds and drastic dynamic changes reeks still the great putrid sound of tape noise. Definitely recommended! (MA)
GRE203 Sympathy Nervous Apple Head (Cass, Ltd) 1995
GRE204 Iugula-Thor Penetration Practice Pledge (Cass, Ltd) 1995
-Sick and simple power electronics from Italy. It is not so far from his works on Process tape/CD (bloodlust/jinx). Simple synth drone noise with strange vocals on top, never very aggressive, but the more just demented and strange.
GRE205 Quest - Quest 1 & 2 (Cass, Ltd) 1995
Another Dutch project on GROSS. This is possibly the least interesting. Or depends what you're looking for. C-46 tape, the usual envelope series packaging, two long pieces of synth music/ambient. Most of the recording is simply very standard synthesizer. From throbbing bass loops and basic high pitched "helicopter noise" to b-side when material is pretty much like experimental techno. Synth makes slow paced beats on the back and swirling high pitched delay enhanced sweeps of synth on top. This is definitely not noise. In one hand a-side is so "pre-set basic sounds" dominated, that I feel b-side is better with some additional effects, but the space muzak / techno atmopsphere gets old in my ears very quickly. (MA)
GRE206 Skin Crime Genital Modification (Cass, Ltd, C46) 1995
-It just keeps going... These five missing reviews feature some of my favorite tapes that I own. This is no exception, and is in fact the standout from these five, for me. As far as I'm concerned, if Skin Crime and Macro were the only harsh noise artists that ever existed, the world wouldn't be missing much. This is a prime example of some of the greatest harsh noise ever made. 99% would have to improve itself a thousand-fold to be in the same ballpark. (cathartic process)
GRE207 Yellow Cab (2) 8-180695 (Cass, Ltd, C44) 1995
-Remember this being little disappointing when compared to his input on Come Again II. Mr. Vanilla Records solo of lo-fi electronics, often high pitched, improvised, long pieces. It could stand out now, but back then didn't think he could live up to expectations. (MA)
GRE208 Mariann Käfer Much Ado About Nothing (Cass, Ltd) 1995
GRE209 Diesel Guitar Maria (Cass, Ltd) 1995
-Simply best guitar drone recording for me. This is as simple as it gets. One guitar, strings barely touched. Eerie inhuman guitar drone in two c. 20 minutes pieces. Always going somewhere, but very slowly. But absulutely no free jamming. Just pure crystallic feedback drone. I remember talking to Akifumi about 5 years ago about possibility of re-issue, and he said he still has DAT master. But nothing happened. Someone should do it.
GRE210 Mark Solotroff In The Mind Of A Monster (Cass, Ltd, C46) 1996
-Very typical for Mark. Just a synth noise. Simply no effects, fast helicopter sound electronics in long pieces. It is like instrumental Intrinsic Action. Or Like Super8Loop. Or Surgical Stainless Steel. Or Terre Blanche. Or early days Bloodyminded without vocals and longer tracks... It's ok tape, but with hundreds of releases in his discography, it's hard to justify in other way that this was done years before most of others. (MA)
GRS100 Various Density 100 (2xCass, Ltd, C50) 1993
Thirdorgan! Fuck! Many times I've been in the middle, whether project should be rated among one of the greats or not. There are plenty of so-and-so material. Especially later days laptop CDr's. But when one listens this 1993 25 minute monsters, it simply is amazing. Thirdorgan has quite distinctive sound/style. In theory it could be lumped together with a lot of artists, but in other hand,.. not. This piece is unusually well "composed". Not sure if it's intentional, but intensity and energy simply grows in such manner, seems like he starts little bit restricted and in the end noise is fast moving layers of distorted electronics and feedback. In beginning one could say sounds are very distinctive. Something what always made me think of Putrefier, even if Thirdorgan was doing style before. Sounds are recycled through multiple pedals and signals are still pretty sharp and easy to follow the pedalworks. Later track is multilayered and intense, and even saturates closer to wall, although on todays standards never becomes one. Dynamic and fast modulated.
Mortal Vision is Hasegawa of CCCC/Astro, and at least it started as guitar noise project. I recall it went into synth later on, but this one is still guitar. Barely. At first there are just occasional hints that sounds emerge from strings, but mainly it is heavily processed effect drenched feedback. Later guitar starts to become more audible. Intense string abuse. Sounds like live piece, what basically operates in one layer. It is droning, but still noisy and relatively quick in the moves. Not really calm. Any day, I would still choose Mortal Vision over endless amount of "guitar drone".
Monde Bruits is like studio version of Psychosomatic Performances material. In similar way it operates on high pitched electronic sweeps. With studio sound, it allows to hear better the details on bass department, where fast electronic filter lazerbeams suddenly raise the heavy boosted bass rumbles. In this material Monde Bruits works in very wide stereo sound, and layers from several pieces over eachother. Some are quiet compared to mail sound, which gives the strange feeling of having two pretty similar sounds what differ radically on volume. Silent noise? Monde Bruits is always easy to recognize. Nobody else does it like this. This is the unique approach to harsh noise what often lacks today. People may be afraid of "lazer noise" tag. It often seems that those who were into massive pedal tables and technology, went to lap top, and those who are primitive noise.. well, are such. Modern day equivalent for bands like Monde Bruits, Putrefier, Stimbox, Xome, Thirdorgan,... who knows if they exists? It is pleasure to return to sound of the masters which sounds so timeless anyways!
Aube side is oscillations of 1 VCO. If you have heard any of the VCO recordings of Aube, you know what to expect. At some point, I grew tired of the same source, but now years later, when you listen this, or some other VCO stuff, it is simply great. At most intensive stages, I would say there must be 5-10 leayers of various type of oscillations creating massive noise storm.
Another phenomenal GROSS release what would be great as double CD re-issue. 100 copies existing in world, seems just too little for material this good. (MA)
GRS101 Deisel Guitars X Sian Double Minds String (Cass, Ltd, C40) 1994
GRS102 THU20 Nancy / Het Archief (Cass, Ltd) 1994
GRS103 Kinkakuji / Ginkakuji / Gokurakuji The Three Temples (3xCass, Ltd, C46) 1994
GRS104 Loop Circuit Sound On Sound (Cass, Ltd) 1994
GRS105 Various Density 100 Part II (2xCass, Ltd, C50) 1994
Couple years ago, managed to get the ultra limited (10 copies!) "staff only" metal tape edition of this. Needless to say, elegant GROSS hand made packaging, best possible master tape quality metal tape dubs from DAT with line-up: YELLOW CAB, PAIN JERK, MSBR and HYPER VENTILATION.. what could go wrong?
Well, simply nothing!
Yellow Cab is not so far from the tape on GROSS. Kind of hits the similar spot as Thirdorgan and some Monde Bruits. It's noisy, with strong pedal effect & electronic feel, yet it is not as constantly BRUTAL as some could expect. Fast modulated electronic noise is restless, but occasional bassy rumbles give impression that it leaves plenty of frequencies without use. The crunchy bass isn't there. Neither extremely fierce distortion. Yellow Cab works very well as refreshing alternative. It makes noise differently, not delivering all the goods instantly.
Pain Jerk on the other side, however, is the artists that doesn't hold back anything. It is instant total noise. It moves quickly on every frquency, from crunchiest bottom rumble to high crispy distortion. All the sound at the same time melts into solid blocks of noise, but also avoids the dullness by allowing all the movement to be clearly heard. In this particular style of harsh noise, Pain Jerk remains unbeatable hero!
MSBR abuses loops, synths and effects for 25 minutes, delivering extremely intense and brutally heavy assault of electronic noise! File this together with his great achievements a'la Collapseland. When some inferior shitty bootlegs were made after Tano's death, like K2/MSBR LP, you wonder how come such a shit can be published by "fan"(?) as "tribute"(?), when old masterpieces like this, could be 10000 times more relevant to present for modern noise listener? Well.. who knows. But mr. Tano really shows his reputation was well earned not only by packaging, but simply by standards of extreme noise!
HYPER VENTILATION is side project of Aube. Together with Dub Murashita, Akifumi Nakajima. As opposite of Aube, this stands for pure harsh noise. Steady monolith of oscillations, distortion and wall-like noise-assault hides inside plenty of subtle details of electronic sounds. Unknown and hardly anywhere mentioned side project, yet guaranteed noise blast! (MA)
GRS106 Pain Jerk Exhibition Of Electro-Disease (Cass, Ltd) 1995
-Ah-hah! My 3rd favorite. No one does the Jap-style harsh noise this well. Masami's a close second to this genius. I spent much money and time trying to complete my Pain Jerk collection many years ago, and was happy to snag this. Though this is not among his best. (catharticprocess)
GRS107 Sudden Infant Holko 1 (Cass, Ltd) 1995
GRS108 Masonna The Passion Of Rubbers (2xCass, Ltd, C10) 1995
-Not among his best, either, but still great. And, you gotta love the packaging. Compositionally, it doesn't stack up to some of the CD releases, but I like the lo-fi quality of this - makes me wish the rest of his releases were GROSS tapes. Not as sharp and simple. This is more dense and walled out. C10s are rarely a good format, but perhaps the best format for Masonna. Amazing that this is limited to 144 copies when you hardly ever see these available. Honestly, for the prices these fetch, I'm surprised. In fact, I just may have to sell mine.... (catharticprocess)
-That Masonna tape, I remember being very disappointed by sound, but amazed by packaging. Sound seemed too flat, too one dimensional. There was also CD's like that. I think RRR/Pure disc was half like this, half good re-cut old works. I can appreciate release for reason that atleast he tried to do something little different, but I think Masonna reached it peak very early on, and started to repeat itself. Not long ago I gave listen to Noskl In Ana, which might remain my favorite? With few other old recordings. Maybe would require topic of its own, especially now when the two re-issues discs came out with golden oldies a'la Masonna vs. Bananarama .. (MA)
GRS109 Incapacitants El Shanbara Therminosis (Cass, Ltd, C46) 1995
GRS110 Kohei Gomi / Masahiko Ohno / Toshiji Mikawa / Akifumi Nakajima The Four Shrines (4xCass, Ltd, C40) 1996
GRS111 MSBR Spherical Nerve System (Cass, Ltd, C60) 1996
GRS111M MSBR Spherical Nerve System (Cass, Ltd, Spe) 1996
GRS112 Onomatopoeia Anal Almond (Cass, S/Sided, Ltd) 1996
GRS113 Smegma Clitoridis / Praeputil (Cass, Ltd, C46) 1997
GRYS01 Aube Healsonar (Cass, Ltd, C10) 1997
GRYS02 Aube / Nagisanite* Aqua Syndrome In Ashiya (Cass, Ltd, C45) 1998
GRYS03 Aube / Nagisanite* Metalmollification (Cass, Ltd, C45) 1999
Feel free to post more reviews/comments and I'll adjust them to correct places.
