Digging into some Swedish noise, old and new, the past few days.
Ochu - Unproduktiw LP - Verlautbarung - I have limited familiarity with Ochu, having only the Brick Windows tape and a few comps which he's on. While perhaps it's untrue, it feels like with Ochu and so many Swedish artists, if you don't live in Sweden you're not going to get a lot of the tapes. And the old ones rarely show up for sale. but anyways, this mini-LP is excellent to my ears. The sound sources and textures are lightly layered allowing each to shine and do their thing. it reminds me of some of the queasier and more stripped-down Sewer Election releases, but infinitely more laid back. slightly reminiscent of Force Neurotic releases but mostly akin to releases on Jartecknet more than anything else. the second track on the B-side is especially ear-catching with it's bass frequency oriented sound. had to rewind that one a few times. on the whole this record is relatively short and to the point, but the music is so effective and effectively paced it feels extremely satisfying. definitely one that will be getting a lot of plays for the foreseeable future. I think I admire this most because there's such a deft touch compared to my own ham-fisted approach to sound.
Ochu - Brick Windows cassette - Kick Acid - inspired by Unproduktiw I pulled this one from the stacks. a very different feeling than the newest release. much closer to what I think of when I think Swedish full-on harsh noise. lots of churning blasting murk, but not so much hi-freq abuse. the a-side is solid but the b-side is better. One long track that eventually disintegrates into foreboding ambience. real fuckin' nice.
VMS Elit - Fumes CDr - Hologram Label - been wanting to check this project out for a year+ now so happy to finally get something. I love this little resurgence of harsh noise CDrs i've been seeing lately. brings me back to when i first got into noise and CDrs were everywhere. I digress, this little CDr is fucking nasty. tons of super damaged and frayed sounds. like a mouth full of asphalt grit or the sound of tape player on its last leg, blasting for all its worth. layers and layers of damaged sound that's almost rhythmic in it's bumpy texture. is all VMS Elit this good? Because if so, I've been asleep too long.
Irgun Z'wai Leumi - Klirrfaktor LP - Verlautbarung - first spin was accidentally on 45RPM and still sounded pretty good, although not as spooky as expected. 2nd spin at correct RPM was much spookier than expected. since I'm not wildly wealthy, all of the Projekt Hat LPs are out of my price range so I can't compare, but this album certainly stands alone in its excellence. been ogling it for ages and finally got it from Skeleton Dust last week. you hear the descriptor "sound of abandoned factories" so many times it almost loses meaning, and then you hear an album like this and you can't think of anything else. hollow and haunted music that puts most dark ambient to shame as far as atmosphere and desolation. looking forward to getting to know this record more fully.
