PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

Started by GEWALTMONOPOL, December 15, 2009, 09:30:59 PM

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MT

Always been very curious about these early harsh noise works. I have a dealer where I can at least get to hear one of these tapes.

MT

#8341
Cloama - "Municipality Of Marionettes" LP
Marionettes LP continues on the line of heavy guitar work and grinding feedbacks. This album has also vocals in the mix, so it gives extra harshness to it. To me this work is in the middle ground between "Mountains.." and "Embargoed". Has elements from both albums, even though the chronology of these albums must be all over the place. Highlight of this LP for me, is side B that has a live gig. Operatic vocals are present, but this time not only singing in beautiful tones but the side starts with a bone chilling scream. Everytime I hear it with proper volume, I feel my hair rise up in my arms, it's so good and terrifying at the same time. There's pulsating synths, old school'ish Cloama/Strom.EC rattle and the end of the gig gets really noisy. Recording is excellent quality and a solid proof that Cloama killed at live gigs. I saw this same formation of Cloama doing sounds and female singer doing vocals at a gig I arranged myself. Sadly I have very little of memories of it, would love to hear a recording of it some day.

Cloama - "Provokaattori" 7"
Starts with an atmospheric piece, sample looping in the background, just like on side B as well. Industrial rhythms melting with quick samples of classical instruments and synth buzzing. B-side has same recipe, but faster beat to it, almost electronic. Themes of the 7" are about Finnish POW camps, with the angle of questioning the psyche of the camp leaders and who are chosen as one.

Cloama / Mutant Ape - "Dementia" 7"
7" that deals with themes of dementia, is rather interesting. As the inner sleeve lyric sheet (?) writes: "Cognitive disassociation / is the root of all perception / fractured memories can not be united / a present tense of nightmares". Cloama side has an interesting melody to it which I cannot tell is it something I've heard before or just remembering it from this, talk about dementia. A bit somber track with yet powerful sound and that haunting melody, maybe representing the past where there is no return, not in time sense or memory sense. Mutant Ape takes listener slow moving industrial avalanche, reminding of frustration and delirious mind of a dementia patient, vocals are drenched in the mix and scatching in the background, as like hopeless screams of an dementia patient before losing your mind to the disease. Tracks ends too fast, so another spin was mandatory.

Cloama - "Death Certificate" 7"
For me the most classic Cloama 7". The acoustic power electronics 7", that has the classic Freak Animal labels on the vinyl, as well as the classic and ever frustrating antistatic vinyl bag. Holy crap those drive me insane. Anyway, the A side material is recorded acoustic with no amplifications, only using the room echo. And it is a fucking mindblowing composition, who else would think, even dare to take such an angle than Cloama! Vocals are absolutely hateful and furious, the room sound is used masterfully in the vocal sound, one could think it just can't sound good, but trust me, this is great. Easily my favorite vocals from any Cloama release, so in your face and angry as fuck, just like the sound of metal rattling and pounding. If someone is looking for an unique approach to power (non) electronics, this is your thing. B-side does not fall behind, has an nasty bassline, probably played on a bass guitar, droning sounds all over. Has this very oppressive feeling, and of course the commanding vocals relentlessly ranting. Closes out with "Sacrifice" with really intense bass booming and vocal fury. What a fucking 7"! Easily one of my all time favorites in general. Mandatory to everyone. Available dirt cheap on Discogs, so you have no excuse not to own this.


-NRRRRK-

Macronympha/Savage Gospel - split tape (Satatuhatta)
Got the tape the other day and gave it a first play this morning. J-card is printed in full color on some thick, sturdy paper. Tape is type II. Side A has a beautiful, harsh blast of noise from Savage Gospel. Brutal, organic sounding stuff. Enjoyed it a lot. Track 2 is by Macronympha, using source material provided by Savage Gospel. Interesting synth like sounds, a lot of (maybe gated) reverb and some brutal noise-blasts. Side B opens with Savage Gospel, using source material provided by Macronympha. Noise-synths/machines and amp-feedback combine to form a beautiful, massive wall of noise (not HNW) with a lot of movement and some great synth-sounds. Pretty chaotic and fast paced piece. Tape is closed by Macronympha, providing some gritty, filthy, overdriven harshnoise. Mid-heavy, but not in the "crunchy" way, instead giving it a nice "old-school" feeling (like sound deteriorating through a number of dubbing-processes in the tape-trading days). A lot of movement and dynamics. Great ending for an entertaining tape. Enjoyed it a lot.

FreakAnimalFinland

Quote from: MT on December 30, 2021, 07:46:41 PM
Cloama - "Municipality Of Marionettes" LP

There has been plan to reissue this on CD. LP was made like 110 copies I recall, and you can find one at Discogs for 10 euro... I have at least one in Sarvilevyt 2nd hand section. I think Cloama is good for fans, since you can get all these great releases cheap.

Marja Ahti "still lives" LP / digital
Marja Ahti is finnish artists who has bunch of stuff out, LP's etc. I have to say I have yet to own any physical release, but listened and liked all things so far. I am not sure if the vinyl cuts are good enough for this material and I would probably prefer CD if there was done CD's. I would file stuff under electro-acoustic or some sort of experimental music. There are lots of microscopic sounds on the new one. Field recordings. Vinyl crackles. But absolutely best it gets in the end of album with noisier material. I suspect her work is more acknowledged in Finnish noise scene, but globally speaking, I suspect noise folks don't know her, and probably operates in slightly more arty experimental? I'd say worth to check out. At least digital stream. Check bandcamp.

She Spread Sorrow "huntress" LP/CD/digital
Cold Spring
I noticed someone post that this would be among his album of year picks. Album seems better than former albums, both sound and production, and I can see why people would like it. For me it doesn't click so much. I am not really fan of "keyboards", "synths" - in.. ehm... this style. Polyfonic, soft, tonal. But as said, improved, stylish, and I could see how this material would be gateway to industrial/experimental sound for those who are turned off by all sorts of vile brutes and painful sonics. I wouldn't be surprised if youngsters who just grew out of appreciating Billie Eilish, would suddenly discover She Spread Sorrow and like it. That being positive remark! While Macronympha or Whitehouse would be just too beyond to get into. I'll keep following what SSS is doing in future too...

E-mail: fanimal +a+ cfprod,com
MAGAZINE: http://www.special-interests.net
LABEL / DISTRIBUTION: FREAK ANIMAL http://www.nhfastore.net

brutalist_tapes

cloama is such and underrated project it seems. i loved everything i heard and it seems like the man has quite a broad range too.

Aldous

Quote from: brutalist_tapes on December 31, 2021, 06:26:11 PM
cloama is such and underrated project it seems. i loved everything i heard and it seems like the man has quite a broad range too.

Ditto! And Strom.ec is one of the greatest too! "Divine Legions Beyond Psyche" is one of my favourites of all time!


FreakAnimalFinland

#8347
Quote from: -NRRRRK- on December 31, 2021, 12:06:10 PM
Macronympha/Savage Gospel - split tape (Satatuhatta)
Got the tape the other day and gave it a first play this morning. J-card is printed in full color on some thick, sturdy paper. Tape is type II. Side A has a beautiful, harsh blast of noise from Savage Gospel. Brutal, organic sounding stuff. Enjoyed it a lot. Track 2 is by Macronympha, using source material provided by Savage Gospel. Interesting synth like sounds, a lot of (maybe gated) reverb and some brutal noise-blasts. Side B opens with Savage Gospel, using source material provided by Macronympha. Noise-synths/machines and amp-feedback combine to form a beautiful, massive wall of noise (not HNW) with a lot of movement and some great synth-sounds. Pretty chaotic and fast paced piece. Tape is closed by Macronympha, providing some gritty, filthy, overdriven harshnoise. Mid-heavy, but not in the "crunchy" way, instead giving it a nice "old-school" feeling (like sound deteriorating through a number of dubbing-processes in the tape-trading days). A lot of movement and dynamics. Great ending for an entertaining tape. Enjoyed it a lot.

For me, this was least interesting of the tapes on new Satatuhatta batch. And I am of course fan of Macro and tend to check all things I can from mr. Ilkka Vekka, especially Haare works, but this split/collab seemed even without listening as if it was not done for sake of what would be good and inspiring noise collaboration, but the Finns wanting to be associated with Macronympha, although they would have probably gotten more vital and interesting collaboration done with any (even local, domestic, currently flourishing- ) noise maker. On tape, Savage Gospel stuff is pretty good. Macro stuff unfortunately light years behind their best days. Notable is that this is actually Roemer doing it. Not the more recent days Macro member! Collaboration tracks have the same feel. It is no way totally hopeless, but merely ok to listen to, barely anything else... There is that topic about successful collaborations, where artists manage to either combine their best things, or come up with something new and unexpected, where collaboration becomes interesting new thing they could not do alone. This seemed like the opposite of it. Collaboration done just for sake of it existing, but adding nothing to either artists output.

Out of the latest batch, most things one could assume there will be great, but Touch Starved was totally new for me.

Touch Starved "A satyr and the sinner" tape.
Satatuhatta

First time I heard about this new Finnish project. All I know, its younger guy with no former noise scene involvement. It was fairly small edition, that sold quick from Satatuhatta label, but I recall it was mentioned there should be small 2nd edition in 2022.
First thing I though, was that it brings to my mind Capers! It is not THAT damaged and primitive, but nevertheless, as soon as A-side was playing, it made me think of Capers CD on Usagi. Sort of broken electronics. Nasty, almost out-of-control damage, no synths, no metaljunk, no loops and so on. Having long steady stereo delay there makes it softer. Everything that is hard and noisy on top, comes like 1 second later repeated in slow thin soothing delay. It's quiet, but still removes part of the rawness. Hard to conclude if it is better this way or if blatanty simple would have more cutting impact?
B-side had a lot of air-organ and some vocals, but also the raw noise. Due mentioned elements, no more Capers vibe really.
I like the tape. Also heard there is already new tape, but that was ridiculously small edition of ten copies...  If it is also good, it would be better to see new noise being available if there are people interested to hear it...
This one you can find from Satatuhatta label bandcamp and perhaps some labels. Also perhaps worth to keep eye on label if/when 2nd press of tape is available!

E-mail: fanimal +a+ cfprod,com
MAGAZINE: http://www.special-interests.net
LABEL / DISTRIBUTION: FREAK ANIMAL http://www.nhfastore.net

absurdexposition

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on January 02, 2022, 11:11:49 AM
Touch Starved "A satyr and the sinner" tape.
Satatuhatta

Probably my favourite tape from that batch.
Primitive Isolation Tactics
Scream & Writhe distro and Absurd Exposition label
Montreal, QC
https://www.screamandwrithe.com

MT

Deathpile - "Final Confession" CD
Compilation that has pretty much all my favorite Deathpile material besides G.R. Long compilation which can get a bit tiresome to listen all the way through due the song compositions being at times quite identetical to each other. But the first three songs steal the show here for sure. Edmund Kemper 7" and Abominations 7" song. Canady sure had a great vocal voice, that classic power electornics madness and fury. The backgrounds are usually just a synth buzzing a rhythm or so. Sometimes results are damn nasty, such as "Gutters of New York", another Deathpile classic song. Simple, yet effective. I guess Deathpile was already dead before this CD came out? Always interested to know why. But it's a good comp!

Fingering Eve - "Protect" tape
Pretty nice dark ambient tape. I don't even know who the artist is, which is a good thing. Just an unknown dark ambient tape, droning low synths as one might expect. B-side gets even a bit more hifi with atmospheric pulsations, and metal sounds echoing in the distance, morphs slowly into almost like electro style ambient. Angoisse is probably also an unknown label to the most? But I think the label released a bit more different material than a regular noise label. Range was surprisingly wide.

FreakAnimalFinland

H.Ö.H. "s/t" tape
Satatuhatta

I was not at all surprised that H.Ö.H. Self titled tape was first one to sell out from Satatuhatta. Project might not appear as if it would be stuff that is in such high demand, but it is so unique, that there is barely oneone to compare with. Utter analogue primitivism. Appears slike zero gear stuff, perhaps radio signals, hand made tape loops, some turntable sounds. Entire tape is not pure gold, but... almost! It is unique. I don't see material very much the old school, as I can't name what old artist sounded like this either? Theoretically it could have been done probably 50 years ago, but it still feels fresh. Artist doesn't use computer at all. Even masters sent to labels was just c-cassettes. All his self made releases were tape dubbed from tape master. I don't know how many out there still work without even turning computer on?

Ahola & Silander / Pulsing Rope split tape
Satatuhatta

Ahola & Silander duo split tape has kind of 90's vibe noise on it. Meaning, its not all harsh, it has all sorts of oddities, flanger/phaser and that type of efx boldly thrown into mix. Pulsing Rope is more atmospheric and dark. Neither is very aggressive and in your face. More just... unexpected? Noisy experimental sounds.

Amek-Maj "Stydi" tape
Satatuhatta

Amek-Maj, also known as one half of YANA. This is primitive harsh noise. Debut tape on Freak Animal was much more crispy and sharp, although oddly broken sounding noise. This new tape goes into more saturated and murky production. It is quite hard to decide what approach is better. It is just boldly trying out different approaches under same name. I like this.
E-mail: fanimal +a+ cfprod,com
MAGAZINE: http://www.special-interests.net
LABEL / DISTRIBUTION: FREAK ANIMAL http://www.nhfastore.net

-NRRRRK-

The New Boyfriends - The Fourth Season CD (WCN)
Was really looking forward to this since I heard the teaser-ad in the podcast. Furniture is getting moved, things are dragged around, rattling chains, smashed glass, vocal noises, amp-feedback and of course some (but not too much) distortion. Some grinding sounds are added to taste, a driller may have been used too. A lot of ambience of the room can be heard. All sounding really raw and primitive in a very good way. "Shadow Motor", with it's rhythmic structure, is standing out from the chaos of the other six tracks. Put on the CD, crank up the volume and prepare for a really good, fun time. Artwork is brilliant BTW.

MT

Cloama - "In the State of Unbelief" 7" + tape box set
State of Unbelief starts with a sample that has a familiar effect from works of STROM.ec. Pounding rhythm with buzzsaw tones and feedback bursts, a bit reminiscent of "Revisionist Knowledge" sound. A-side serves as a kind of introduction, box set comes with a patch, two pins and few inserts with one including the lyrics. Which gives the idea what the release is about. My favorite line for sure is from side B!
"The spy who came in from the cold / He had to learn new language / drink vodka Stolichnaya like a veteran / not to spit in the mug".
Sounds like coming to Finland! B-side of the 7" starts with a sample that I can't identify, but deals with conspiracy and conspirators. And the afromentioned lyrics get to use, again this really hateful tone in the vocal sound, if you are a fan to brutal vox in PE, this is for you. Song itself has same tasty elements from a-side but more subtle. Tape has sides C and D, and boy does it get wild here! C-side has absolute bomb vocals, haha, at times it's like late Whitehouse style intensity but with gritty distortion! So relentless that you need a damn breather after. And the machine gun throbbing with drenched in mic feed back, holy fuck! Complete madness! D side closes out the release with low grinding piece that has a sound almost like metal plates whirring against each other, a cold breeze of mechanic coldness in a soviet factory.

If I had to choose, I'd say the tape version of this is mandatory. It's like an EP with four so intense tracks.

MT

Edge of Decay - "Raped, Boiled and Butchered" tape
Very first EOD release I believe? Raw tape, gutter noise with proper amount of filth. I was surprised I have this tape since it was so ultra limited, but happy that I do. I think EOD was very strong from the beginning, sure the sound quality is rough and a little low on volume but who cares. It is still a real nasty tape!

Edge of Decay - "Riistettyjen Antologia" CD
Jumping from 2012 to 2020, some things have changed, somethings have not. Production wise there's of course been a huge leap. All the elements they use nowdays gets proper treatment and justice soundwise. CD begins with a bone chilling song that has samples (I believe) of crying, which is effected so that it sounds soul tearingly violent. Rough and robust starter! Songs continue with more rhythmic scrap metal work, lots of feedback and I belive it is not a synth, but there is this looming low noise, like an impending doom (see track 7). There's also a song that sounds like a bizarre marriage between old Con-Dom and Atrax Morgue. As an icing on the cake are the roaring vocals of lady Kovana in two songs. Many times female vocals are a embaressing failure (Consumer Electronics) but with Kovana it's a different game. I took noticed of this first I saw them live at a private gig, she was fucking ripping! And that same ripper action continues here, adds some really tasty context to the songs she is in.


It was a fun retrospect, and then rewind back to present day in the world of EOD. A project that has never really showed sings of weakness, just pure craftmanship. Always looking forward to their next release.

Andrew McIntosh

Quote from: MT on January 07, 2022, 09:48:23 PM
Edge of Decay - "Raped, Boiled and Butchered" tape

Managed to find their BC page, so thank you for the tip. Very nice, crude material indeed.
Shikata ga nai.