Forever Grey "Autumn Calling" CS (Prime Ruin)
Hmm, not normally into this type of thing at all – I guess it's what people refer to as "darkwave," but beyond this I don't know any examples. This is synth-pop/gothic pop along the lines of Joy Division, The Cure, New Order, Bauhaus. I'm not ever going to go out of my way to get anything like this, but I'm at least "enjoying" this while I imagine what it'd be like to be a goth type – for one thing, I like the thin drum machine sound for some reason, another I definitely like the aesthetic of the artwork; the girl depicted on the front with her Madonna/Tiny style looks stunningly attractive/insert vulgar comment about physical appearance here. This has a lot of those weirdly deep Bauhaus vocals that I'm not at all a fan of, but to be fair they compliment the "spooky" keyboard settings that are used on most of the tracks. The tracks with more female vocals seem to work better for my ears because I'm pretty biased against this type of music – let's just say I will exlude usage of the slur I'd normally attribute to most "goth rock." Some might say it's not exactly fair for me to review this tape, but don't think because I don't like this per se doesn't mean I'm trashing it. Politely, it's not my thing, but honestly, this is a lot better than anything I've heard from say, Contrepoison, who seem to go for a similar sound/atmosphere but in the sloppiest manner possible. I think this could appeal to people who got into the stuff like Croatian Amor or Lust For Youth that came up in spades a couple years ago, is what I'm trying to get at – those people should without a doubt at least check out the Soundcloud samples. This is stuff many ex-girlfriends might appreciate, so it's not like I haven't heard the bands that inform this type of thing – some of them have tracks I like/can tolerate, especially Joy Division. More guitar would make this project more interesting for my personal palette, but I'm not one to criticize too thoroughly what is pretty foreign to me. For fans of Lust For Youth, Contrepoison, Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus. The second B-side track has some great noises that really compliment a thudding beat I could definitely appreciate more of, for what it's worth.
Alo Girl "Bangkok" C50 (Nil By Mouth)
Definitely very glad I picked this up as its' my introduction to Alo Girl. Gritty documentarian aesthetic that depicts some of the very dark side of Bangkok; in that sense I'm getting a Caligula031 vibe from this project – bit of a Travis Bickle sense of disapproval going on here, I think. We're treated to samples of Thai women discussing their experiences with prostitution along the lines of New Juche Whores of Leith alongside very singular, improvised-sounding blasts of excellent, talented and simple harsh textured noise. Although this is very similar in focus to certain Dead Body Love tracks, these are somehow quicker, more direct, and offer a much wider variety of harshness than opaque crunch, although many sections are indeed as dark as the black bag this tape comes sealed in. The artwork is fucking depressing and disheartening; depending on your take on things, I guess. Let's say that it has a Mauthausen Orchestra quality – the directness leaves little room for interpretation beyond the listener's personal relationship to the material. Excellent simple formula, visual component, and sylistic execution for a project I most likely would like to hear much more of. "Documentarian" harsh noise that is as uncompromising as it gets – only for simultaneous fans of Slogun, The Rita, Caligula031, and the Sotos-only Whitehouse tracks.
Maskhead "F. Perversions" C40 (Filth & Violence)
Ah, well, another one of those divisive projects as far as filthy gutter violence content. Wanted to pick this one up because other tapes were advertised as harsh noise; this time around it appears to be power electronics, which at the moment I just seem to want more of than with harsh noise. After several seconds its' apparent that you're getting something along the lines of Unclean, Whiteswan, Chloroform R4pist – brittle yet aggressive static noise/PE with some samples of RedBoard Gillis-era thrown in for a second here and there, and the high-end of the mix somewhat hammered flat. So by that default, it's also similar to some Clinic Of Torture or Bizarre Uproar. If you're still reading this review, this might appeal to you, but again, this is really for a specific set of folks who already know what they're getting into. That said, aside from that aspect, there is a really nice buried tonality to this sound that isn't outside the Sutcliffe Jugend/Ramleh ballpark – feedback sounds tend to be more "sleazy" than razor sharp (I'm not going to use the adjective I'd originally intended to use), but I tend to really like this sound. Sounds as if some portions go through a pretty bad-sounding spring reverb. This is more of that Finnish-style post-mortem that ain't harsh noise and isn't nearly PE. Don't track this down unless you've already got plenty of releases by the projects I already mentioned – for those folks, get it. Primitive grime to fulfill the urge. This should really appeal to couples into both very hard sex and harsh sounds. What's especially funny about this is that I know exactly where some of the samples came from and used some of the exact same ones on a tape of my own. Well, small world, fuck it (as far as I know, this has happened at least between Grunt and somebody else with another sample). After all, Gillis was quite the man. "So he sort of, owns you?"
Taking a break with some Frank Zappa, Church of Misery, Swans, and Autopsy as I clean the house for family visiting (hey, what can I say, we're all "complex personalities" here), then:
Red Channel "Decoy Son" CS (Prime Ruin)
If there is a vague sound that can be identified as regionally-relevant Swedish tape noise, I think I know what people mean – hopefully for the better. I think that there may be a lot of good stuff in that whole sound, but there's also seemingly a wave of tape-based American acts like Stefan Aune mentions in his interview with the main man behind this label, Weston Czerkies. Of course, Sfefan and Weston have their own tape-based projects; Kjostad and Sunken Cheek respectively. I would say that right now we're seeing the basis laid for another resurgence of tape as a major instrument in sound. You have Americanoise, well, now we also have American tape music. In this case, this project is tape-based as well; entitled Red Channel, some guys named Chris and Steve. These are fairly well-recorded field recordings which have only a slightly noticeable tape fidelity and some overlaid tonally-pleasant sounds like chimes on the first track and some unidentifiable rubber-band banjo type sounds. This is musique concrete in the late '50s early '60s sense, there is a lot of musicality but its' what some might find a pretty challenging, perhaps pointless listen. When a shrill kettle note comes in for a while, things get chaotic and it sounds like luggage falling and tumbling amidst whatever instrument it is being abused. This would be kind of disturbing were it not for this annoying hand-pat rhythm that comes out of that mess, apparently from some guitar strings. Then a sort of white-noise electronic wash gives way to some very strange abstract electronic rhythms and melodies; I kind of like this section because it sounds like what a hangover feels like, or I guess a drug overdose if that's your bag instead. Some Ornette Coleman-but-not-so-great clarinet comes in amidst what honestly sounds like beatboxing and popping of bubble mailers alongside a drum machine. I can't say I'm totally alright with where this is going, and not in that exciting kind of way; more like...what is the point of all of this put together like this? If this is someone's idea of sound collage, it could sure be done in a more detailed manner. That said, I do enjoy the drones in all of these pieces. But this is some pretty sloppy experimental musique-concrete/sound collage stuff. It has genius elements that are just sadly a fraction of the overall incomplete sketch – like the very short piece on side A that has a strange reverb and ring modulated tone I can't place for the life of me. Excellence amidst a lot of unnecessary chaos. Things at least change unexpectedly with the 80s industrial (in the industrial-lite) drum machine beat and a sort of techno-ish lo-fi tape loop rhythm amidst more typically lo-fi 80s industrial electronics. I think I like this track because it sounds like a totally cut-rate version of the above project, Forever Gray. You know that XX Committee track Schwerpunkt? Well, this is sort of like that; it's got that goofy but infectuous reliance on a cheesy snare drum sound. The nice wash of shortwave radio electronics behind it gives it a totally anachronistic vibe. The next track is sort of the same – very nice musique concrete noise modulations amidst some kind of loop. I really like this side a whole lot more than the first because it's more structured chaos than just assemblaged improvisations. This isn't unlike what little HNAS I have heard. Field recordings of what sound like homeless people amidst literal petting zoo noises and backgound muzak make for some nice NWW moments complete with background operatic vocals and clink clank noises (HNAS again). Damn, I'm really liking this B-side, if only the A-side had been cared for in such a manner. I have to say, as mysterious and Heemann-like as this piece sounds, it's so far the longest, and somehow the least interesting for it – because of the overall short length of each track, I expect each piece to be a sketch or vignette rather than some kind of actual, well, piece. I hope this is what this project would consider a "demo" even though it shows strong potential on this side; the A side just doesn't sound nearly as good as this – utter bullshit in comparison, really, which shows how listenable this side is. Perfect late night music like currently as I type. This next piece is absolutely impeccable tape warping manipulations – I'm a sucker for that back-and-forth wowwing flutter sound. It cuts off just as I finish the sentence into a sort of exotic 1980s drone with a steely reverb effect and some sort of ominous bird calls of some kind when the serial killer drone kicks in alongside what I think is violin. Ok, this section has me hooked – why can't the entire tape have this quality? This is seriously nothing short of the level of mid-80s Ultra and solo early Heemann – absolutely engaging and challenging tape music that seems to tell a story or suggest a portrait. Also fucking dark and ominous, this track wouldn't be out of place on Roman Holiday. Fuck! Never have I heard a tape start so distastefully and grow to exactly the type of thing I'd like to hear at that moment. I can say now without a doubt I'm interested to follow the progression of this project – these are obviously two guys with so many ideas they can barely filter them all – this tape is a wide variety but I don't know if its' in the sense that makes you want to listen over and over; more the kind that makes you hope they hone their craft to the talent they clearly demonstrate in sections but not throughout . This tape was a welcome change from what I normally put on and was a worthwhile effort at getting through a first impression. Fuckin' A!
Alex York "Ossein Rind" CS (Prime Ruin)
Immediately-engaging very lo-fi tape crumble opens this tape from what I'm assuming are field recordings of an extremely wet and windy environment. There is a beautiful musicality leading me to assume these are tape-looped sounds. Gorgeous and extremely organic. Sounds like a tide pool. There are some howling wind noises augmented perhaps by slight echo one notices before some processed scraping kicks in and makes sure not to intrude itself too much – this could also be simple electronic interference noise, but it has a gorgeous metallic tonality leading me to think this could be something like one of Alvin Lucier's wire experiments just not done particularly well, as to produce this nice little harsh sound. Some nice synthesizer buzz kicks in right as the track ends. The second piece begins with folding tape crunch that seems to be obscuring some ghastly warped singing voices or something. Broken electronics come in not unlike when shit goes bad in certain sci-fi-horror films. This is some extremely well-composed and well-executed unease that has all the appeal of a creaky, musty haunted house from a ghost story. Atmospheric goodness. These pieces seem to have somewhat arbitary titles which I'll ignore in favor of focusing on the sounds creating their own narrative – with titles I don't understand like "Ossein Rind," it distracts from the atmosphere of the pieces. When 90s Whitehouse type synths come in, things perhaps start to feel a little more oppressive and dismal. Bleak rather than depressive or moody. This tape isn't unlike the Arkhe "Downstream" cassette I reviewed, it just doesn't quite have the personality of Arkhe, and an entirely different atmosphere at that. But when the melancholic synthesizer comes in amidst what sound like samples of children, I applaud the person behind this project again for creating a story-like thread one can follow between pieces. This was perhaps thought of as a concept from track to track rather than each having been considered entirely on its' own, which is a good approach. These are "songs" in some senses. The third A-side piece has a very distant, sad synthesizer drone with an intermittent rough tape loop that eventually introduces some processed vocal sounds – this is particularly unsettling and disturbing, A++. Fans of Christoph Heemann, Dieter Muh, Aaron Dilloway, and Ultra take note of this one, this Alex York fellow is one talented motherfucker. I'm not even done with the A-side and I already can see returning to this cassette on any sleepless night. Storm field recordings and analog-echoed synth sounds begin the next piece, apparently this person knows what I enjoy hearing especially. I can easily say this is one of the most engaging and promising tapes I've listened to recently, I am actually looking forward to the new details I know I've skipped this listen and will notice more clearly next time around.
Starting off the b-side is some incredibly jarring electroacoustic sounds that give the impression of something recorded with a contact mic via tape being filtered through a polyphonic synthesizer through the CV input and back out to tape – absolutely great. Next up we have a deep, heavy underwater field recording give way to ominous electronics and sort of eerie keyboard drones undnerneath a relatively disturbing loop of water and some sort of metallic high-pitched tone that begins eventually to whistle amidst intruding grinding synth electronics. This is extremely-tastefully executed abstract industrial, I can't stress how well-composed and thought-out these pieces appear to be. When the high-pitched tones turn to power electronic type feedback, things are especially interesting to my ears, while a sort of "washing" sound oscillates in the background with the grinding synthesizer tone. A sort of warped keyboard drone does make its' presence known at some intervals of this somewhat longer section. After a bit, the water loop reintroduces itself to more high-end oscillations. This is quite reminiscent of 1980s takes on industrial, albiet with the informed tape noise legacy of today – fucking killer material, top fucking notch. Those who don't have much appreciation for this sort of thing are simply missing out on a great take on whatever industrial is to the individual. When a pounding rhythm creeps in from the background, it's inarguable that this could be anything but industrial, though any given listener will cite different reasons as to why. Translation – flawless tape which promises total greatness from someone I'm not at all familiar with. Well, now I am certainly paying attention. Thank you Alex York.
W.C. "Op. Cath." CS (personal copy via project member)
Very heavy low-fidelity power electronics of a sexual nature; "for the most adventurous of viewers only." Does anyone recall when even magazines like Taboo had advertisements for what looked like, er, ah, extremely controversial material? This stuff is absolutely dark and sinister in nature. The first track opens with drilling synthesizer tones amidst white noise and echoed vocals – there are samples as well, but everything is soaked in a good amount of very natural and pleasant reverb, making words largely unintelligible and dulling certain frequencies which in other projects might be a lot sharper. That's by no means a bad thing – this more subtle approach to PE obviously recalls Nicole 12 and similar heavier European outings; fuck, maybe even a more lo-fi Brighter Death Now. One interesting aspect of this track is that although it's obvious the vocals play a lyrical role as well, the manner in which they're effected and recorded lend them a vocals-as-instrument quality, in this case a percussive one due to the doubled echo effect. It appears as though there could be more than one vocalist on this first track, especially toward the end. The second B-side track opens with more "traditional" synthesizer 1-2 throb and some very delicious brittle static noise and unobtrusive high-pitched feedback. This continues for a while and allows the crispy static to develop somewhat nicely underneath the high-end tones which float atop the mix. More echo-effected low-fidelity vocals come in with an extremely dark semi-spoken delivery. I don't know why, but this is somehow far from what I'd expected the vocals to sound like in this project; a pleasant departure from what I'd predicted. There's also a narrative quality to the lyrics which is not an approach often used in PE. Another thing I very much like about this project is that the cohesion of content and approach seem to be a little more important than a completely earnest attempt at taking or rejecting certain cues. More than that, this approach seems to suggest a clear aversion to an attention-grabbing sense of innovation and more a specified delivery of sound that accurately reflects a certain approach to the subject matter at hand. Sorry, if you need an explanation, think of the project referenced above. Well, what did you expect? Anyway, that concludes the A-side, and on to side B: immediately kicked into gear with early-90s Whitehouse sweeping toothy synthesizer notes; alongside high-end tones and nicely reverb-effected vocals. I very much like this urgent, attack-mode approach intermittent with more subdued tracks – that's what this project "should sound like," as far as my expectations are concerned, as if that mattered. Again, I'm struck how the muffled somewhat blurry recording quality works very well for this project – gives it a very live-performance action feeling. And damn, those sweeping synthesizer notes! KILLER. They give way to some sort of "washing" tones that compliment the ring modulation and echo so well. It's obvious that there's a whole lot else this project has to offer with such obvious basic skill demonstrated this early on (I don't think this is actually the first recordings, though it's the first actual release from the project). An intense wash of reverb-and-echo-saturated heavy electronics follows this track which rings out into high end squeal – breaking quickly into throbbing toothy aggressive synthesizer drones. A sort of doppler tone beeps above and then degrades into echoed static wash. This again reveals the aggressive drones that sort of drill ahead forward and are enhanced by high-end grit working its' way into the forceful tones. Very brittle and very salacious in sound. Drooling. Even if there weren't any vocals and the themes weren't quite so intense, this latter track would be sufficient expansion into a whole release of dark heavy electronics – of course, this is still probably best in complimentary variance to the other pieces contained herein. Things get so interesting and complicated once the piece makes a transition to loop-based crunch lines and some harrowing mid-range electronics that it's fairly easy to see why a certain private label snatched this material up so quickly. Translation? This is damned good PE for those who like it done with some, eh, "emotional investment," if you will. Whiny haters don't fuck around with this; this is a cock up the ass to all the softies out there. Not recommended for anyone except those already familiar with the project, as I'm assuming the intention probably is. 11.5/10
Plus unreleased private material by the above project, another related one I'm not at liberty to review due to dissatisfaction with recording quality, and a couple CDs I haven't gotten around to reviewing yet.
