V/A LAND OF THE RISING NOISE 1-3 CD's
Charnel House
First is the best and the noisiest. However, unlike the name suggest, these are not only noise compilations, but present all sorts of Japanese underground music. Or lets say, not all sorts of. Besides sheer noise, you will get industrial, weirdo rock spastics, impro, psych, etc.
It's not all gold, but also in 2nd and 3rd part that came like 3 years after the first one, you will have some good harsh blasts from K2, Kazumoto Endo and such.
Ongaku Otaku issue 2 info sheet from 1996, after first comp, before 2nd. I remember watching the first issue grainy black & white images of MSBR special packaging, thinking WTF. When finally seeing some of then for real, my impression was equally amazed.
Another things, I'm not sure what it is about Japan that compilation mixing noise with sweet female indie music works out. Can't imagine that being done almost anywhere else?
LASSE MARHAUG / MACRONYMPHA "MONSTER" c-60
TWER
is just exactly that = A Monster! Monstrous harsh noise of Lasse abusing Macro sources, with a lot of things happening. Mostly different things on left and right speakers. If talking about mid 90's heavy mid's and blown out crunchy brutality, this lives up to the standards of the era!
It is not so neatly edited but has the hands-on live mix feel to it. Neither it relies of keeping noise on the sweet-spot all the time, so to say, but like the great 90's noise, it has the minor drifts and slips from perfection and this keeps the true spirit of tape noise in maximum. This way the highlights are really the highlights!
Cover is ultra simple. Page from xxx rated magazine clued as "folder". Label stamp and shitties fading info sticker glued on top.
DEAD BODY LOVE "Volcano god" tape
Spite
DBL tape is probably better than any of his CD or any of already reissued stuff. C-30 of pure brilliance! When I think of SPITE, it's like *everybody* did their best tape there - or best of that era. That is valid for GRUNT as well. I did not intend it to happen, but Europe After Storm tape was just.... too good to remain ltd 50 tape, so it got eventually done on CD with bonus stuff.
PAIN JERL "Alchemistry" tape
AMP-011
Pain Jerk. Fuck. Every time I listen some Pain Jerk I have not listened for ages, I tend to conclude that this is absolute killer and "one of the best". That could be said about Alchemistry tape too. 1995 Pain Jerk noise at its best. It's 100% PJ, but also different from a lot of other PJ I have listened in recent times. I won't start to analyze what exactly makes it different, but like Pain Jerk concluded in 90's, it's not just noise. He composes with sounds. This is one of the differences of the old school Japanese noise (a'la Hijokaidan, Incapacitants) where maximum chaos and maximum noise is the goal, vs. Sound artists like Pain Jerk, who may seem pure noise, but are actually quite sharp sound compositions.
BLACK LEATHER JESUS "Sex in the name of god" tape
Deadline
1993 BLJ tape. It was reissued in 2004, but I guess almost equally hard to find?
As usual, it's dubbed on C-90, but material is one hour.... Or is it?
Since I see CDR mentions it is like two 31 minute tracks, but on this tape, A-side ends in probably 10-15 mins before side is over. You can hear the song end, and then stop button sound a bit later. B-side goes all the way to the absolute end of the tape. So It makes me wonder if CDR release is slightly different than the tape as sides/songs here are clearly different length while CDR has both different artwork and... durations?
Two tracks remind of the days when BLJ was not really harsh noise. Sound is rotten and dusty, as if recorded with boombox or tape recorder, and not really "mixed" or "produced". First side reminds more of 80's UK power electronics than 90's USA harsh noise. It's eerie feedback howl, that is not really so piercing or irritating. Almost substitutes mid-frequency synth oscilation. Like on the most "laid back" Sutcliffe Jugend tracks or some Ramleh. ...Or lets say The Gerogerigegege Story Of The Thalaba song from Senzuri Power Up CD. It is that type of stuff, with some noises trying to emerge below the feedback but barely make it. It's that great moment where noises struggle to erupt below feedback, and this eruption point and sounds 100% saturating and melting together is one of the greatest things in noise compared to having things multi-tracked and mixed with utmost clarity.
B-side has more things going on. Equally dark and brutal material, with more noise texture, spoken pieces, TV/movie noises, etc. It sounds as if session was done in room, and whoever happened to be louder, got heard on recording. all guys must have just one thing in their hand. Not like table of gear, but really focus on modulating one particular element, which keeps this material controlled, fairly thin and ripping - in a good way.
For those who seek the blasting harsh walls, tape may not be among the best, but for me, and probably those who like the old PE / industrial noise, this is true gem that hopefully is featured iin some Ramirez related box I have heard rumoured to be under making...
I am firm believer that if running label (or being "artists") it is good to listen a lot of noise. Some delayed releases may cause nuisance among guys waiting something to be published, but I think instead of churning out new stuff out there, one must keep perspective confirmed.
It is easy to be impressed of something if your friend made it. Or you happened to listen something on exact right moment. To get proper perspective of worthiness of the material, it feels good to listen both classics and great stuff, ...and also the other things. To get good enough gut feeling of the highlights and the "average" and even the poor quality. To realize what it means if new thing you put out falls into category of "huh, well, I'm never listening THAT again..."
So, oh yes, sometimes while there would be a lot of things to do, more crucial is to listen releases that already exists to be able to accurately hear value of something new. This is why listening your old stuff instead of preparing masters and dubbing tapes is probably equally important, or even more important...
Although, some stuff, that may not be perfect by any means, not even that good, have some sort of personal historical value and purpose. Like LUPINE "Consumer" tape. I have my doubts if mr. Reed (Luasa Raelon, Envenomist, etc) would want to be remembered of these recordings, hah, but it displays greatly how early stage noise work is progressing in leaps. Just year or couple, and he was doing things on very different league than these tapes that are not even mentione at discogs I think? Sounds are quite synthetic in wrong way, like cheap multi efx and 2000's digital loopers, with that "less than 16bit" sampling rate(?) feel to it. Guitar sounds that are not really that noisy, but fueled with odd eq settings and cheesy digi delay - been there done that. Listening experience may not be entirely pleasure, but it is still lesson to be remembered.
When listening new master of artists and you can either put it out as "support", or you can also support artists by concluding that you may want to look into these few details before starting to mass-spread things. This seems to be also valid for many veterans these days when gadgets and digital recording seem to have created surprising obstacles that become clear when you listen enough of examples.
I know I posted quite a lot, but also listened even more. Not everything is comment worthy, but hard to not report when playing things like:
DEATH SQUAD / HYDRA split tape
was one of the very few DS tapes I did not get when it was originally released. I used to receive letters from Michael (and actually still do at least for christmas, hah) always filled with the latest tapes. Sending back my own crap of the time. I missed only couple DS tapes, and this one managed to find from Japanese record shop. 600JPY price tag still there. I suppose it was 2005 when I visite there are now defunct indie/noise/weirdo store at shinjuku are had three different DS tapes for sale.
DS is his early style of heavy blown out noise wall. Hydra is instrumental, painful as fuck electronic noise tracks.
DEATH SQUAD Cutting Myself Open To See & Feel Blood - 3x C-20 box set.
First edition of 20 copies came out with rusty box-cutter blade, self mutilation photo, and three tapes consisting both heavy noise rumble, but also seemingly about to make transition to spoken word direction. Simple static fuzz with delay effected body-abuse themed spoken pieces. Good stuff. It was later issued as C-60 tape and cdr.
( Anyone who has Stimbox/DS tape on HLAS label, and willing to get rid of it, please please contact me. Could have some extra copy of DS own tapes to trade for it or something else..)
NUX VOMICA "Spindal Alpha" tape
from 1991. Discogs rates this 3/5. One rating, though. But considering when almost everybody gets like 4,5-5/5... hey damn, this is really good dark experimental/industrial/noise soundscapes! I should probably organize rest of nux vomica titles in order to see what else did they do, and whether later works are this good.
FACIALMESS / LASSE MARHAUG split tape
Bloated Corpse
Full length C-60 tape. I recall being little critical of the "joke" back then. Christmas noise split did not really appeal my taste on things. Not only christmas basically quite stressful and sucky times, but does not look good as design... haha.
But getting greetings, of course appreciated nevertheless.
What I do appreciate, is the brilliance of FACIALMESS here. I think I said it before, but in this era, project stands up the with THE BEST of harsh noise genre. I can name drop harsh noise era of Merzbow, mid 90's of Pain Jerk and Killer Bug/Endo (earlier style) put into blender and shaken hard. You may get something like Facialmess. It is FAST, always wild ride going forward. It has none of the stutterloop and long abrupt stop type of pits of contemporary cut up. It doesn't sound like any of the mentioned guys alone, but kind of compressed noise energy as a whole.
I am surprised that this stuff is not re-issued, right? I think entire old BC label discography could make excellent anthology CD of Facialmess.
I talked to friend and he concluded that even the latest works of Facialmess he has heard, has been good. But that was 10 years ago. I must say that I have not been following closely. I always take new release into distro when I see it, but some experiences with more goofy tape, involving joke'esque elements thrown among cut-up... I do strongly prefer the full throttle as opposed to sort of driving school noise.
Was talking with friend, explaining my dislike with shitty drivers. Seeing people in traffic lights, engine stops. Re-start. Abrupt leap forward to instant stop. Not knowing should they turn or not. A lot of contemporary cut-up is like that. Stutter-loops and awkward re-starts. Handbreak is on, parking skills all fucked. Just the feeling that what is this guy doing in middle of city. Fucking just step on it and get going! ( That is total opposition for the good cut-up which is like "how did he do this?!" -category. )
So yes, cut-up is much less of interest, and early FACIALMESS is the full throttle noise - with tons of things happening and excellent sound. If he still does that, I could be into grabbing any missed items!
LASSE on this tape offers 30 mins of the "90's noise". Not classic, not his best, but one will enjoy the no-BS approach of just having session of distorted, kind of hand-made and source-dominated material.
d/S "where the boys are" tape
Loud!
Ramirez 90's project. It is: harsh noise. Not much to say. Good stuff.
Building of Gel "red" tape
Less Than Zero
another Italian label release that is very very scarsely available. BoG was really unique Japanese 3 member noise band. Started as very electric and tech-heavy (yet gimmick free) noise. Later works had some rhythmic element. I suppose split tape on Freak Animal 1995 was their first tape on "label", and in following years they went on Less Than Zero, Self Abuse, New Noise... If term "under rated" is used in context of Japanese noise, I'd say BoG is the one where it should be applied!
Rudolf Eb er "Ken-da" 3"cdr
P-tape
is good stuff. Just overdubbing bunch of kendo sessions over eachother. Yelling and hitting multiplied. I listened AND tried to listen several P-tapes 3"CDR's. Some were quite shitty and stopped din middle. Besides Rudolf, the Daniel Menche "for the beasts" 3" was good. Few others proved to be things to be sold away...
MAEROR TRI "Mind Backwards Reversal" tape
BRUME "Iswari" tape
Neither belongs to the best works of artists, but especially Brume is absolutely the "WTF era" -of experimental tapes. You can never guess what he will be doing next. It is at the same time absolutely fantastic, and then soon borders nearly unbearable, and it feels gutsy move to put out that kind of stuff what is really *difficult* and experimental. Not just easily grasped and easily satisfying. Therefore a keeper of course, despite far from best Brume.
