Being Immaculate Steel Casket (Joy De Vivre): For monotone harsh noise, this was an insanely enjoyable tape. Hit all the right lo-fi frequencies for me, as do many of the tapes on (Joy De Vivre). Looking forward to the arrival of Hunters Fingers, Battery Cages III, and Slated For Evacuation. Decided to finally look into this project after the great article in SI #9. Developer and Tourette are now getting more attention as well. Definitely my favorite issue yet.
Elisha Morningstar Empty Life, Domestic Bliss (Joy De Vivre): PERFECT! Best thing to listen to after three fillings and a root canal in one sitting. Played through 4 times before moving on to anything else. I adore this project more every day.
Kam Hassah Private Conversation Vol. 1 (Joy De Vivre): The description of this album didn't really have me sold on it's potential, but it's way more mufti-faceted than I had anticipated. Not just some boring album of found sounds and field recordings, but a great layer-by-layer work that holds my interest all the way. Perhaps a bit like Elisha Morningstar's Inner Wealth?
Ryan Bloomer Unlawful Carnality (Joy De Vivre): First new release of Bloomer sounds for me in some time. Had to hunt this down after the recent appreciation post had me looking for albums I never picked up. This is definitely more like Forearm Shiver (i.e., his less-is-more approach) than anything else I can think to relate it to from Bloomer's catalog. That is, this would probably only be appreciated by those who enjoy his tension-building-but-never-quite-releasing works. I guess you could compare it to some of the more quiet sounds that The Rita is responsible for. I wasn't blown away, but probably later when I'm drunk and crank this up loud I will feel entirely different.
Lettera 22 Negative Tongue (Second Sleep): Just as fantastic as all of their more straight-forward works. Reminds me more of Native Waters, True Form, etc... than it does works like Dieter Tapes --- the more "electro-acoustic" sounding tracks. I thought Lack Of Attention was flawless though as these fellas can really master the balance of recorded sounds and blown-out noise in tandem most of the time. So, this is more for your "I want to blow my eardrums out tonight" nights than your "I want to enjoy this with a book" nights. Very, very much recommended!
Devotion In Love We Stand Alone (Brave Mysteries): Was as pleased with this as I expected to be. The collaborative effort of Troy Schafer and Dani Schafer, with the expected help from Nathaniel Ritter. Sounds more in the vein of Wreathes than Kinit Her although there are several moments of dissonance that remind me heavily of the latter's work. The combined sensations of mystery and elation are perfect for the project's concept and I couldn't recommend this enough.
Lonsai Maïkov Décembre au Mont des Oliviers (Brave Mysteries): Really loved this album for not being another Death In June album (God, please make this shit stop), although Mr. Maïkov certainly is more deserving of that sound - for the merit of having been involved in the genre for so long - than say, fucking King Dude...blech. The sound is much more in the realm of folk-rock (Comus or The Incredible String Band for instance) and at times maybe just straight rock music (these would be my least favorite moments on the album). As a whole, there were a few too many songs that broke up the albums flow for me. The opener was easily my favorite track of the whole disc, and it immediately kicks into my least favorite track on the album. Not a good start... But things move very well from there. I'll have to see how this sits in time.
Yrsel Requiem For The 3 Kharites (Aurora Borealis): Loved this album of guitar-drone-doom for years. Revisited it recently and was barely moved by it. Too many cheesy moments of "grim screams" and kinda-riffs block out what could be a very great near-hour of ominous sounds. Although not in an entirely similar vein, I was more thrilled by recently hearing...
Tenhornedbeast Elphame (Neuropa): I never found myself to be too fond of this project. So, either lately the mood has been just right or Mr. Walton is just finally turning this project into something slightly more interesting. I couldn't enjoy the slight bombast of Hunts & Wars and while currently attempting to consume all three discs of Ten Horned Moses Descended The Mountain and maintain my attention in full, its bit of a challenge. Maybe I need to start taking drugs again to appreciate something of this magnitude. Although I would assume that's not the projects wish at all, I'm sometimes confused as to how 3+ hours of ambient/drone can be consumed unless one's on a late night vigil through the woods with sound-blocking headphones or else sitting in your bedroom all tweaked out with a little too much of that joint missing in one sitting. Anyway, Elphame, was just barely beyond my attention-span for drone, but there were many moments of blissful sounds that I absolutely loved. Certainly my favorite piece by him yet. Hopefully someone will rip Inverted Starless Albion as I'm not even considering dropping $30 for a few minutes of music. Fucking hate single-sided LPs.
Taigheirm II (Shifting Sands Congregation): Much less one-dimensional than their debut. 22 minutes of squealing violin, eerie electronics and indescribable sounds. THIS is more of my style of late-night listening. Send yourself to bed with an uncertain mania and discontent.
Ottaven Live In Rome (Second Sleep): Would have to agree with Levas that I found a few too many sounds on this tape to be annoying. Decent ambient at times, but bad flow.
Did I mention Will Over Matter's Phenomenal Highways in a previous post? I think so. Can't overemphasize how much I love this slab!
