PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[Kaaoskultti]

Lieutenant Colonel Cooter - Substandard Operating Procedures (Covert Operations of Terroristic Intelligence Reconnaissance Special Forces)
Power Electronics for the age of terror and misinformation!  A couple of listens in the past left me not entirely enthused by this material, but something just clicked in this round.  The A-Side falls more into the area of "audio collage" than noise for the most part, as news clips that are spliced and panned dominate the mixer far more than any other sound source for a majority of the runtime.  Ends up in a noisy burst, but that is only after a crude cover of Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Getting Back Together" ends (talk about terror, huh?).  B-Side has more creeping noise and synth work from the jump, but is still playing the backing track to some George W. Bush press conference clips. 
Pretty great release all around.  I would recommend this for anyone who is into the conceptual end of PE and isn't afraid of the "new breed."

Listened to this one aswell, a couple of times already and it's easily one of my noise AsOTY so far. Track# 3 is just harrowing, with its brutality reaching the peak through repetition and outright aural depiction of torture; wouldn't it be for the bursting ending, that would be the perfect example of non-cathartic violence. Still, the whole album seems to function around such formula, with long-sustained samples and spatic crescendos, which leave no room for immediate gratification (as in Brethren or Deathpile's restless aggression). If one pays close attention, it can be heard that the water-dripping is rhytmycally sustained. Kinda reminds me of early Whitehouse in that sense, even though I hava no idea on what Bennett was trying to achieve with that one. All in all, really top-notch release.

[k.p.g]

Collapsed Arc - In Tension (Polar Envy)
My introduction to what I would consider one of the more unique acts I have heard come from the Ohio area.  In a land where scrap metal and distortion pedals feel inseparable, this guy elects to focus on simplistic, morphing loops with a lot synth and acoustic object mangling as the main sound sources.  The pacing and presentation of these loops moves in a way I simply have not heard from another artist before.  It's not hard to get really jolted as this one continues to move; highly enjoyable stuff.

[k.p.g]

Ahlzagailzehguh - Recycled (RRR)
On the harsher end of Ahlz, but also on the slower paced end as well.  Not much in the way of cut-up, and a little more "drop out harsh" styles.  Sound washes over you like a wave so heavy that when a movement is made, you pay attention. 

Richard Ramirez - Volume 1, Disc 5: Erotica Part 2 (New Forces, reissue)
Last disc in this boxset I had to clear, and it acts a nice follow-up to the Ahlz tape by continuing in this very psych-o-delic form of harsh, where it feels more like your brain is being fried out from a hot, sunny day... concrete rising.  Disgusting and manic; it sucks in real life, but is pure bliss in audio form.  This disc reminds me just how the whole boxset has shown a new light to Ramirez work that I had previously not seen, with so much activity and sound variety that you cannot help but marvel at how he was able to create so much in just the decade of the 1990s alone.  It's truly impressive stuff, and I am grateful for New Forces compiling this (and the next boxset) together.  What I like about multi release boxsets too is that a revisit does not have to involve the entire thing.  With that in mind, I imagine I will come back to individual titles in this one very soon.

Ahlzagailzehguh - Memory & Hearing (Hospital Productions)
A revisit was due for this one.  It remains as excellent and challenging as ever.  New moments stick out in each subsequent listen; repeating motifs, little slices of electronics that'll captivate you and then never return.  Feels like it's not too early to put this into the category of a noise "classic," right?