PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[Deadpriest]

Toughskins are shite and not even appropriate fodder for this site in the first place.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

H.Ö.H. "Palava Kuljettaja" tape
New tape contains 6 untitled tracks and I dare to say, despite admiring all the H.Ö.H. stuff, perhaps the best tape yet! It remains pretty much equally brutal and primitive as before, but each track has clearer distinctive elements and "composition". Even if it may be just crackling radio static and rewinding tape noises back and forth or somehow rugged tape loops. All remains utterly primitive and hand made feel, void on ANY effect gadgets or editing. Brilliant!

.
I think I saw this one listed in NHFA-Store, but not anymore. Seems I wasn't fast enough. Anywhere else I could get this one?
Thanks!

Re-stock Coming soon! Maybe within week!

Playlist has been extensive, but not yet time to write properly...

[FreakAnimalFinland]

T.MIKAWA "I, noise" 2xCD
Teichiku Entertainment
I like this much more than the CD on Finnish label. Perhaps the wide variety is one thing, but also less glicthy, more brutal approach is good. First disc is old material from 80's. Old solo Incapacitants works and recordings before it. Some stuff may be pretty simple guitar scratching, but at best, it is surprising how much some early works remind of 80's power electronics! When Relics of the past disc ends, 2nd disc is titled Recent Killing Time. Another dosage of over 70 minutes of sheer noise. It's all really intense, often live recordings, but stand-out track is Three Arrows of Intonarumorimotonari. Massive 20 minutes piece of complex and heavy noise blasting, including nice loops and layers. It makes me think when did Incapacitants make such an exciting noise piece? Not to say they made sucky albums, but lets say if one takes a look in their discography...

Pain Jerk / Incapacitants - Live At The No Fun Fest 2007 ‎(CD)    No Fun Productions    NFP-23    2007       
Burning Orange ‎(CD, Album)    Pica Disk    PICA006    2008       
Tight ‎(LP, Ltd, Num)    Dogma Chase    DOGMA 001    2009       
Lon Guy ‎(CD, Album, Dig)    Harbinger Sound    HARBINGER045    2009       
Eat! Meat!! Manifesto!!! ‎(CD, Album, Ltd)    Rape Art Productions    RAP-CD #034    2012       
Mon, Ma? Mon!!! ‎(CD, Ltd)    Triangle (3), Cerosene, Outcry Records    TR-50    2012       

Any one these been somehow extra memorable? I see they have 2017 album out on Alchemy, but besides that, during last 10 years there has been just these and couple CDR's?  Meanwhile, for example "I, noise" 2xCD, old and new disc, SLAYS!

V/A VALKOINEN KOHINA CD
BLACK STATE "Hlose" CD
AUNT MARY "Sessions of Extreme Nihilism 1989-1992 lost tapes of AM" CD
F&V
To be released in week, but managed to grab these in advance. Valkoinen Kohina is well justified CD version of compilation LP done by Urashima. Highlight on album Sick Seed for sure, but can't go wrong with Chlorofom Rapist, Edge Of Decay, Snuff, Unclean and Silence of Vacuum!
Black State has been little hit & miss for me. This album, easily their best! Not just some conceptual noise, but musically good and strong stuff. Vocals somewhere between Streicher and Nicole 12, music not so far from what you could expect from few "usual suspects" of F&V roster. But as it simply is good album, it's easily worth purchase even if you didn't get excepted on concept driven tapes etc.
Aunt Mary, holy shit! Lost tapes! Too bad there is more lost tapes, which are probably impossible to unearth. Perhaps 20 years ago, I had in my hands one long unreleased session. Back then computer technology was so shitty, that couldn't really do what I was intending (like cut empty space between tracks), so I returned tape to Markkula. Never seen since, hah..  I guess at least one session lost to japan, at Vis-a-vis. This CD contains material submitted to some small american label who was supposed to publish it on comp tape. Included is also debut 7" and uncut session of "Gnu" (split with MITB). CD is edited very crudely. It really is like "lost tape" put on cd as is. When it ends, you can hear fragment of Tumor track bleeding under tape dub, hah...
Most amazing is that the long, formerly unheard Aunt Mary slow tracks, are almost exactly same what was later done as SADISTIC BLISS. Over Even as Bizarre Uproar musical pieces. Markkula concluded that he has really abused the few same ideas since beginnin. It is not totally true, as there is various shifts in his approach. However, there is this very strong red line fully audible for almost 30 years! That is something... 

[Baglady]

Mikawa - I, Noise is such a great compilation. Some of the early stuff is great (the Contradictory Bridge tracks) and some is just plain wacko, but that's just how it should be. A wonderful overview of the mans solo work. I can't get enough of it.

ALTAR OF FLIES - Rörelsen Mellan Rummen LP (Järtecknet)
MATTIAS GUSTAFSSON - Nattmusik LP (BAADM)
What I really appreciate about AOF/MG is that he makes his albums albums in an almost traditional sense. I'm sure many artists in noise/industrial/whatever does this, or at least intend to, but few if any succeeds the way MG does. Rörelsen Mellan Rummen looks very clean and artsy judging by the cover, but that's slightly deceptive. To me this is a surprisingly nasty album, permeataed by a constant worry, as if something is about to go very very wrong any second. It's also a nod back to his more rough industrial days, yet obviously way more elegant than back then. I like all AOF LP's, but this might just be the best yet. Strange to see an artist still getting better after eight (?) full length albums. Nattmusik is in the same kind of space as Rörelsen..., but without that scary restless air. A contemplative and very calm album, but with a real album feeling to it as well, with a narrative arch that's rare in this field of music. And beautiful cover art, suspiciously similar to that Helm LP on Kye. These to make a great pair.

[Deadpriest]

Pseudocyst split with Fecal Smear Test
Funeral Mongloids split with Plagued Braces
Extreme Hair Stench / Potabilizadora / Machakakraneos - Three Way Tape
Tortured Hooker: An offender's M.O. can change, static and rigid remains the character
Potabilizadora / Melanocetus Murrayi / Funeral Mongoloids / Colico - 4 Way Split Cdr #4

NOISECORE!!!!

[monotome]

M.B. - Sympyhony for a Genocide (Hospital re-release) Different times, different sounds. I like synth electronics, but this one is to dull for me.

[ConcreteMascara]

Kontinent - Stasis, No Reverse, Death Technologies (cassettes + CDr) - just listened to Stasis for the first time, which prompted me to re-listen to the first two Kontinent releases. I think the CDr was a perfect format for the first release. CD seemed more appropriate with the cleaner sound. I dig Death Technologies, solid heavy electronics, but compared to Kontinent's performance at UFoI III, it left me wanting. Stasis more than makes up for it. Easily the best release yet to my ears. Echoes of the German/Tesco masters sure, but it also reminds me a bit of STROM.ec, albeit with its own character. Definitely recommended.

Boy Harsher - Yr Body Is Nothing (LP) - darkwave/synthpop/minimal synth, whatever the kids are calling it these days. this is perfectly executed minimal synth pop to my ears. the tracks are well developed and dynamic, despite the minimal palette used. the female vocalist is really good too. seems like it could be a great alternative soundtrack to David Cronenberg's Crash. reminds me a lot of the Shadowlust - Trust in Pain 2xLP from a few years back, but even better.

High-Functioning Flesh - Culture Cut (LP) - still really enjoying this one.

Skinny Puppy - Addiction (12") - finally got this on vinyl for reasonable price via eBay.

on deck - Uncodified - Hyperinflation (cassette)

[Peterson]

V/A "Perdo Omnis" CS (Vulpes)
        This is apparently the follow-up to the Sonno Ferrum compilation of all-junk metal tracks wherein Bitewerks/Mania couldn't remember which track was his. This one had a similar effect on me, in that I really could only determine for certain which tracks were Alchemy of the 21st Century and SF Group. Otherwise, I couldn't tell at all – KSNK, Umpio, and Diagram: A are the others listed aside from the aforementioned. Sort of disappointed that an SSRI or Sick Seed track didn't make it on there, because anything SS Pekka does basically involves the word "apocalyptic," and since this is "apocalyptic music," well, just seems natural. Oh well. Not going to whine about a first-rate and very listenable collection of ambient/abstract pieces from artists I already like a great deal and even admire. At least two of the tracks seem to incorporate insect sounds, which is never a bad thing. If you're reading this, you need to track down a copy if you don't already own one. It tends to go for cheap and is basically an overlooked essential of modern-day compilations.

Hander Som Vardar "Depopulation" CS (Obscurex)
        This one didn't blow my mind the way the "I Never" tape/Cdr did, but was still pretty good. Bleak tape-manipulated field recordings and electronics with an especially dour atmosphere that is summed up pretty well by the track title "Fucking Left Behind." Somehow that and the cover image of a solitary guy by the ocean gives this a "punk" vibe. Not a bad thing at all in this case. Anyway, the sounds themselves tend to melt into one another, in terms of bleed-through as well as track transitions, hard to notice the shifts from one piece to another. Meanders from point A to point B rather than moving forward consistently. Probably intentional. Some really nice parts seem as if the tape-decayed field recordings were run through one of the synthesizer units he uses. Won't revisit this one except occasionally, but I'll certainly be grabbing more HSV releases very soon.

Burried Machine "Aoral Portion" CS (Lust Vessel)
        Well, fuck me. This is one of those releases that's so good it's frustrating. Stupid-good. Enjoyable, dynamic, and engaging in a way that so much of what comes out just is not. Basically musique concrete that borders on becoming cut-up noise but never approaches typically-Japanese frenzy or harshness. Still, not much here is subdued save for the beginning and ending movements of each side, there's an arch/build-up-slow-down structure to both compositions. Voice fragments, electronics, unidentifiable field recordings, probably-junk metal acoustic sounds, and some really atmospheric Bianchi-type drones all layered and panning about everywhere. With respect to this album, Shin Chida can easily quote Lou Reed in saying "my week beats your year." Hey, if any of you indie rockers-turned-tape nerds releasing stuff on Vitrine or I Dischi Del Barone are reading this, go listen to this album to see what you could be doing in terms of quality and execution, but are not. This one tape beats my whole fucking discography. And here's a nice interview with Shin Chida by none other than Joke Lanz: https://soundcloud.com/user-577776576/interview-with-shin-chida

...also been playing the recent additions to my now-complete Knaekkede Stemmer discography. Hopefully the one on Janushoved shows up soon. Not much to say about that project that I haven't already. Gets samey at times but nonetheless perfect tape abstractions. Listened to Jaako Vanhala's "Here Be Lions" and Mattias Gustafsson's "Tapeworks Vol. 5" yesterday on headphones while cleaning my house and had a completely different experience than with speakers. The latter especially seems perfect for focused, solitary headphone listening, while the former is one of those things that's so well-done it's almost annoying. Decided to look into more cool person/hipster faggot music and realized The Jesus And Mary Chain ain't half bad, even if they have the stupidest haircuts I've ever seen. Been revisiting a lot of metal that I was quite taken with as a youngster only to realize I'm not too fond of a lot of it today...fuck nostalgia.

[AXNAAR]

M.B. - Sympyhony for a Genocide (Hospital re-release) Different times, different sounds. I like synth electronics, but this one is to dull for me.

Have to agree - though SFAG seems to be the go-to for M.B, other stuff like Neuro Habitat, Mectpyo/Blut and Morder are much stronger IMO.

[Theodore]

Burried Machine "Aoral Portion" CS (Lust Vessel)

I'm waiting this tape to arrive here one of these days. Impatient, after your review.

[pentd]

realized The Jesus And Mary Chain ain't half bad, even if they have the stupidest haircuts I've ever seen

haha yeah go peterson!!

found my teenage punk tapes from 30 (! argh!!) years ago... ramones "leave home" + "road to ruin" blastin almost non stop, then some ancient hirax haha. hirax sounded really bad.

then some amazing bjarni gunnarsson electronix. highly recommended "processes & potentials" which to my surprise is now on bandcamp, here:
https://bjarni.bandcamp.com/album/processes-potentials

[Scat-O-Logy]

Had to Google "The Jesus And Mary Chain haircuts". Bird nests FTW!

Playing and enjoying http://forceneurotic.bandcamp.com/album/excerpts-from-a-document-of-personal-errors

[Peterson]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned...

Mania "Foul Inside" mCD (Freak Animal, 2017)
         Just a couple of minutes in already seems like Mania at his most impressionistic, even compared to Decrepit and Grim Conditions. Opens with echoed patches of mid-range static, nice and toothy, which soon builds and lets out some relatively spastic vocals which seem more on-top-of-the mix for Mania and sound like they're switching from delay to chorus to reverb effects but smoothly.
         Second piece opens to microtonal noise that seems to spew out bigger, heavier patches of noise while undulating synth bubbles and slogs out from underneath. Really wet, messy textures slopping around the mix with some delay and reverb, a nice twisting oscillation in the background. If I were to have titled this track, it'd be "Total Prolapse," but that's just me. Has an almost tape-decayed quality that suggests an acoustic source for some of the sound.
         Third piece opens to warped (Tape warped? Power-starved?) wispy electronic sweeps with some acoustic clacking and bumping in the foreground and background – then a heavy electronic buzz starts throbbing and muffles the other elements. So far, this is a restrained but seriously mutated version of the Mania sound/style, and I am tempted to say his best work yet. Junk acoustics rise to the foreground against what sounds like a glass slide tapping as the synth throb modulates subtly. Some more spastic synth work fades in alongside some seriously odd feedback work before the background textures take on a character more like Sick Seed or Gelsomina than anything in my Mania collection. Not at all a bad thing in one of the few times I've even been able to compare Mania to anything else out there. When the vocals finally bleed in in trademark echo style, they're almost howled. Deranged even by these standards. Yep, this is the best stuff Mania's ever done, no question about that. The background interaction of metal, feedback, and synth starts to sort of sag and decay before bursting back into crispy static patches, making me wonder again if any power starve was involved. Things cut off like a door being shut.
         Fourth piece opens to familiar bassy, subtle, quiet metal dragging and clanking with roomy reverb. Subtle electronic whirring behind. Not unlike material from the split with SSRI. Odd feedback drones hum and oscillate in the middle of the mix. Acoustic rattling sounds almost like plastic before the metal tones pick up again. Either a great reverb unit is involved or Bitewerks has one excellent practice space. This is so spacious and enveloping, it's almost like a musique concrete take on Mania style! Another thing that's improved on an already good element is the balance between frequencies as well as heavy and brittle textures in both the electronic and acoustic sounds. Some thin, nasty Whitehouse/SJ-type static sort of sinks in and then fades after not even a minute, and then only reverberated metal scraping just before silence.
         Best material Mania has come out with yet. Restrained, meticulous violence. Not really harsh noise, not purely power electronics, certainly not industrial; it's just Mania. But where do you go from here??

[cr]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned...

Mania "Foul Inside" mCD (Freak Animal, 2017)
         Just a couple of minutes in already seems like Mania at his most impressionistic, even compared to Decrepit and Grim Conditions. Opens with echoed patches of mid-range static, nice and toothy, which soon builds and lets out some relatively spastic vocals which seem more on-top-of-the mix for Mania and sound like they're switching from delay to chorus to reverb effects but smoothly.
         Second piece opens to microtonal noise that seems to spew out bigger, heavier patches of noise while undulating synth bubbles and slogs out from underneath. Really wet, messy textures slopping around the mix with some delay and reverb, a nice twisting oscillation in the background. If I were to have titled this track, it'd be "Total Prolapse," but that's just me. Has an almost tape-decayed quality that suggests an acoustic source for some of the sound.
         Third piece opens to warped (Tape warped? Power-starved?) wispy electronic sweeps with some acoustic clacking and bumping in the foreground and background – then a heavy electronic buzz starts throbbing and muffles the other elements. So far, this is a restrained but seriously mutated version of the Mania sound/style, and I am tempted to say his best work yet. Junk acoustics rise to the foreground against what sounds like a glass slide tapping as the synth throb modulates subtly. Some more spastic synth work fades in alongside some seriously odd feedback work before the background textures take on a character more like Sick Seed or Gelsomina than anything in my Mania collection. Not at all a bad thing in one of the few times I've even been able to compare Mania to anything else out there. When the vocals finally bleed in in trademark echo style, they're almost howled. Deranged even by these standards. Yep, this is the best stuff Mania's ever done, no question about that. The background interaction of metal, feedback, and synth starts to sort of sag and decay before bursting back into crispy static patches, making me wonder again if any power starve was involved. Things cut off like a door being shut.
         Fourth piece opens to familiar bassy, subtle, quiet metal dragging and clanking with roomy reverb. Subtle electronic whirring behind. Not unlike material from the split with SSRI. Odd feedback drones hum and oscillate in the middle of the mix. Acoustic rattling sounds almost like plastic before the metal tones pick up again. Either a great reverb unit is involved or Bitewerks has one excellent practice space. This is so spacious and enveloping, it's almost like a musique concrete take on Mania style! Another thing that's improved on an already good element is the balance between frequencies as well as heavy and brittle textures in both the electronic and acoustic sounds. Some thin, nasty Whitehouse/SJ-type static sort of sinks in and then fades after not even a minute, and then only reverberated metal scraping just before silence.
         Best material Mania has come out with yet. Restrained, meticulous violence. Not really harsh noise, not purely power electronics, certainly not industrial; it's just Mania. But where do you go from here??

I listened to this one many times since I received it, but somehow I was lost for words to mention it here. First there was the immense quality and second my not so good English to describe it properly, that kept me from writing about it. So thanks a lot for your review (always great reads btw!), which also captures a lot of my impressions.

But not to forget the other two 3" from Umpio and Sick Seed, they are great as well!

[Deadpriest]

I'm listening to Kazumoto Endo And Emanuele Bonini - Rumore Da Ritorno Audio Metallico, goddamn it's good. (that's my review)