PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[MyrtleLake]

Is anyone else noticing that God Is War is beginning to sound like late-era Scorn (Mick Harris)? I mention it while listening to the latest release on No Rent.

[Eigen Bast]

Rogue State - Funeral for Music 2xCS - Hospital, 2021
New noise from the Lussuria homie. Between the bumper sticker, application, and paper test it fully realizes the RSU concept. Rock solid material all the way through; a varied mix of crunchy distortion, loops, near ambient distant sounds, indecipherable mechanical clanking, spattered with a handful of samples and everything coated in a thick sheen of tape hiss. The tracks meander between outright noise and industrial ambience with a sense of humor that is always appreciated. A very "realized" released and a project that I'm stoked to see more of...my application is in.

Haare - The Acid Realm CD - OEC, 2021
This release is 4 tracks of the psychedelic, near musical noise, closely aligned with the prior 2 releases (Brain & Tantric Noise). Maybe a bit more "delicate" than those releases, this one is an exercise in dynamic restraint, pulling up some heavy Kosmiche vibes from the lysergic depths.

[theworldisawarfilm]

Rogue State - Funeral for Music 2xCS - Hospital, 2021
New noise from the Lussuria homie. Between the bumper sticker, application, and paper test it fully realizes the RSU concept. Rock solid material all the way through; a varied mix of crunchy distortion, loops, near ambient distant sounds, indecipherable mechanical clanking, spattered with a handful of samples and everything coated in a thick sheen of tape hiss. The tracks meander between outright noise and industrial ambience with a sense of humor that is always appreciated. A very "realized" released and a project that I'm stoked to see more of...my application is in.

Physical version of this was prohibitively expensive for me, but I have been listening digital copy of it like once a day since it came out. Fucking loved it and found it to be a massive refinement of the material from the 'Computer Murder' box. Hope there is much more to come.

[Baglady]

K.M. TOEPFER - Undercut C30 (Absurd Exposition, 2019)
Now, this is two years old now, but it's new to me. As I recall his stuff from around 2014-15 was clean, precise, glitchy sounding. Not bad, but this is something else. This sounds like The New Sadism but with more meat and a sense of someone in perfect control of the proceedings, and some joecolleyesque ear-tickling textures injected into the mix as well. An odd pair of references maybe, but that's just how it is. Fucking superb tape! Are the rest of Toepfer's later tapes in the same vein?

[Soloman Tump]

Autechre - NTS Sessions 8xCD - Warp, 2018 - I had certain ideas about what 8 hrs of Autechre might sound like. Assumptions that it might be impenetrable; overwhelming; aimless; even boring. These ideas were very wrong. Inspired by my recent review of Autechre's entire discography leading up to elseq, I decided to grab this 8 CD set and take the plunge. I'm going slowly, having listened to the first 4 discs over the last two weeks, trying to savor and really enjoy the experience. What I can say is this isn't the impenetrable mess of bleeps, bloops, and MAX/MSP nightmares I though it'd be. These songs are relatively accessible, even when they're constructed out of more "difficult" sounds and structures. And so far the first 4 discs have been very consistent, an impressive feat for the amount of music on offer. For those here who appreciate computer music and haven't heard this, it's definitely worth a listen. I think listening to a lot of Autechre before diving in helped, but like every Autechre album this one has a language all its own. Special mention to Four Of Seven from Session 1, Disc 2, which has got to be one of the funkiest and easily enjoyable tracks Autechre's done since 1998.

I have the 12xLP box set of this release.  It really took me a while to absorb the album - there is so much of it! It still feels quite distant to me; I have not connected to it like I have many other autechre albums.  There are definitely stand out tracks but overall I struggle since it is so huge.  I keep meaning to try and make a few condensed playlists.

SIGN/PLUS from last year feels like it was treading old ground a bit; the first time an autechre album has done that for me.  Lush sound design and constantly evolving structures as you would expect though.  They are still top tier producers for me.

[Duncan]

Autechre - NTS Sessions 8xCD - Warp, 2018 - I had certain ideas about what 8 hrs of Autechre might sound like. Assumptions that it might be impenetrable; overwhelming; aimless; even boring. These ideas were very wrong. Inspired by my recent review of Autechre's entire discography leading up to elseq, I decided to grab this 8 CD set and take the plunge. I'm going slowly, having listened to the first 4 discs over the last two weeks, trying to savor and really enjoy the experience. What I can say is this isn't the impenetrable mess of bleeps, bloops, and MAX/MSP nightmares I though it'd be. These songs are relatively accessible, even when they're constructed out of more "difficult" sounds and structures. And so far the first 4 discs have been very consistent, an impressive feat for the amount of music on offer. For those here who appreciate computer music and haven't heard this, it's definitely worth a listen. I think listening to a lot of Autechre before diving in helped, but like every Autechre album this one has a language all its own. Special mention to Four Of Seven from Session 1, Disc 2, which has got to be one of the funkiest and easily enjoyable tracks Autechre's done since 1998.

I have the 12xLP box set of this release.  It really took me a while to absorb the album - there is so much of it! It still feels quite distant to me; I have not connected to it like I have many other autechre albums.  There are definitely stand out tracks but overall I struggle since it is so huge.  I keep meaning to try and make a few condensed playlists.

SIGN/PLUS from last year feels like it was treading old ground a bit; the first time an autechre album has done that for me.  Lush sound design and constantly evolving structures as you would expect though.  They are still top tier producers for me.

I have the nts cd box and the lp box (I bought the cd one myself without knowing colleagues at an old job got me the lp one as an incredibly generous leaving gift.)

Despite having it this way I've easily spent more time listening to the mp3s than either box. I think with newer AE stuff listening to the purely digital versions without the time limitations of cd or vinyl is really how they intend for it to be heard. Not that their intent should be sacred or anything but I definitely find approaching it all as 4 long sessions feels like the best way to absorb it and it was really exciting and rewarding experiencing them like that when they were originally broadcast. Can especially recommend headphone listening with the NTS sessions. For me it's just the greatest thing they have done and as the 2 new underwhelming albums show it'll be tough to better it

[vomitgore]

Some more recent listens:

Kadaver / Sodomy from Beyond - Double Negative (Gutter Disease)
Sodomy from Beyond is a project which I have always really liked and this material is probably his best (or among the top 20%). Heavy atmosphere, brutal, well-treated Vocals and great composition. First time hearing Kadaver and the impression is also good. First track had a bit of a Masonna feel. Definitely worth picking up!

Hate Sermon - Steel Fortress (Gutter Disease)
Very good sounds reminicent of many Malignant artists. The highly treated bubbly "narration style" vocals arent really my bag in General, but still worked.

Heydrich - ASP Disorder (Nil by Mouth)
This project is crazy good. Weird that nobody is talking about it... heavy crunches, great texture, bit of chaotic 90ies HN approach mixed with some virtues ala the Rita. A bit hard to describe. Hoping for new material soon.

Scum - Life Sentence (Aussaat)
Another contemporary fav. I would dare say this has some of his absolute best material. Sublime cut up, very aggressive and with great sounds and best of all, it avoids that "ultra heavy edit" feel some lesser artists may conjure up. 1-2 of the slower tracks werent 100% up my alley, but that doesn't stop the album from being an absolute ripper.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Heydrich - ASP Disorder (Nil by Mouth)
This project is crazy good. Weird that nobody is talking about it... heavy crunches, great texture, bit of chaotic 90ies HN approach mixed with some virtues ala the Rita. A bit hard to describe. Hoping for new material soon.

Yeah, it was pretty decent. I got both the NBM version, and the band self released (with simple cover). First I didn't notice it was the same tape, so just concluded that pretty solid style of simple damaged and ripping electronic noise. There is room for improvement, but also good to hear this type of brutalism instead of synth heavy electronics.

[Eigen Bast]

Caligula031 - Veneralia C30 (Lake Shark Harsh Noise)
Another excellent addition to the Caligula031 discography....side A (Veneralia) is more of a pure textural harsh piece, very little dynamics but a thickness to the sound that is quite satisfying. Side B (Messalina) brings in nasty vocals...obvious comparison may be some of Marco Corbelli's raspier, sickened vocals (maybe I'm just listening to the recent 195 Melrose reissue too much...) and some rhythmic qualities, particularly towards the end as a loop is introduced, adding a nice mechanical rhythm to the track. Bleak and grinding PE built with restraint. Very good! Excellent layout and packaging via LSHN too.

Nathaniel Matthews - Satanicum Tenebrae - Til Helvete Remix (self released)
A bit of a novelty, but an enjoyable listen! Matthews takes the original Til Helvete tape, puts it in a 2 track, and adds a layer of 909 drums over it...and it works (mostly). There's a few moments where it almost loses the thread, but otherwise it's an enjoyable and realized experiment. Imagine an alternate reality where LLN take a sharp turn into necro acid house.

Zac Davis - The Land of Sinking Sand C62 (The Gift of Music)
Peculiar, damaged noise. Parts remind me of Hunting Lodge, or the 1993 EP by Crawl Unit; clipped vocals samples, bubbling electronics, samples drum breaks. Droney and throbbing sounds merge with early industrial clangor for a very well constructed release above and outside of what's hot "in the scene" right now - there's a real sense of meticulous construction beneath the sounds that is really engaging. I'll admit I'm not very familiar with Zac Davis' prior material, but this has made me interested in digging through some past releases. The packaging is quite nice on this one too..while I thought the aluminum foil wrap was a bit chintzy, it actually won me over given how weirdly thorough the wrap-job was hah. Once you get through that there's a few inserts and prints that really take full advantage of the j card format.

[Ashmonger]

Some more recent listens:

Kadaver / Sodomy from Beyond - Double Negative (Gutter Disease)
Sodomy from Beyond is a project which I have always really liked and this material is probably his best (or among the top 20%). Heavy atmosphere, brutal, well-treated Vocals and great composition. First time hearing Kadaver and the impression is also good. First track had a bit of a Masonna feel. Definitely worth picking up!

Hate Sermon - Steel Fortress (Gutter Disease)
Very good sounds reminicent of many Malignant artists. The highly treated bubbly "narration style" vocals arent really my bag in General, but still worked.

Thanks for the nice comments!

Caligula031/Rotat (tape, Daddy's Entertainment): Short, but nice tape. Layout is very minimalistic. A bit too much for my taste. I like the idea of having only the projectsymbols on the front of the cardboardbox, but there's literally nothing else. It was meant to be like that, but I guess just a small sticker inside with titles would have made sense.

Bizarre Uproar - Rarities Volumes 3 and 4 (tapes, Filth&Violence): I didn't get volumes 1 and 2, but these are really enjoyable tapes, filthy and aggressive noise, I like it!

Einstürzende Neubauten - Kollaps (tape-dub): I knew this album from YT and it's still on my wantlist, but a couple of years ago, I got an order from New Era Productions with some extra stuff thrown in, one of which was a dubbed tape that barely had any info on it, just Neubauten on the spine or something like that. So, I listened and recognized it. Good Industrial stuff, except for that track with the romantic popcover track or whatever it is (can't remember the title, want to forget), that's rather annoying. Told New Era about it and he didn't even know what was on the tape, he just threw it in the box to fill it, hahaha.

[ConcreteMascara]

SM/DP - Fault-Tolerant System CD [Nekorekords, 2017] & SM/DP - Plasmasynthesis LP [Huge Bass, 2020] - received these in a fat package from Mr. Umpio a week or two ago and I was immediately drawn to the LP since it was on a label called "Huge Bass". I like bass, huge bass even more, so it seemed like a win. I had no real idea what to expect. I created some expectation from the liner notes and what I know about Mr. Umpio, but I should say I don't know almost anything about EAI or if this falls into that category exactly, or if this is glitch or what it should be called. It reminds me of things I've heard on Sub Rosa and Mego and Die Stadt although elements of that Umpio style seem detectable to me. There's lots of stereo panning and activity all throughout the stereo field. You've glitchy, fluttery little things coming in and out like you might expect from a glitch CD, but then hissing, droning and spook sounds too which often get arranged in such a way to build tension or at least narrative. Things never get dull. All this is especially true on the CD. It's not nipple twisting harsh noise but its not beard stroking academic shit either. it pulls the good from both. I'd say even more on the LP which is feels  a bit slower and massive and just a tad harsher at times. I would say for those who've followed Umpio for some time, this material really shouldn't feel to far afield from his more exploratory work under that name over the years. I give a strong recommendation for both!

Godflesh - Post Self MP3s [Avalanche Recordings, 2017] - Has it really been four years since this came out? I thought I was a little late to the party but damn. So yeah, I've been going through the whole Godflesh discography and this was the only thing I hadn't heard. The descriptions of a more experimental and varied record seemed good when it came out and I'm sure I'd thought I'd get to it quick but here we are. Well it sort of plays out like the antithesis to A World Lit Only By Fire. Where that album was 8-string mechanical sludge, this really is all over the place. It's like every experimental track from prior Godflesh albums were culled to make a new one, minus the 20 minute ambient dirges, and some of the heavier Jesu tracks showed up too. But most of the stuff here sounds fresh to my ears. I gave it a listen and didn't feel immediately overwhelmed with awe but then I listened twice more in rapid succession so it's definitely grabbing something in my brain. My biggest complaint is probably the lack of punchiness in the mix. Where the last album stayed punchy as hell, especially considering the 8-strings, the guitar and bass here lack the bite to some extent, which I don't think has ever happened on a Godflesh album before. Also a general complaint: I guess Godflesh is best as a CD band because they seem to press every LP with well over 20 minutes of music per side. I haven't heard an LP copy of this album but why would I want something with 25 minutes of metal per side? The last album was even worse, 30 minutes per side. WTF

[Soloman Tump]

LUXUL - Callous [Digital Bandcamp]
London based sound / visual artist, performs live with viola and effects pedals, and added harsh throat vocals which are screamed into said viola.  Really powerful stuff, definitely worth seeing her perform live if you get the chance some day.  These two tracks are very impressive and quite different to each other.  Drudge starts with a fuzzy drone that rises to a siren like wail before the vocal work starts - deep throat roars and high pitched screams.  The track dissipates to leave the drone before slowly bringing a vocal loop back in and a sudden lurch.  Descends into crunchy harsh tones towards the end.  Nicely effective. The second track is Toll which is a more rhythmic piece with layers of processed screamed vocals and harsh tones, which build and build to a chaotic drone.  A great way to spend 15 minutes.
https://luxulofficial.bandcamp.com/album/callous

[Theodore]

An exercise into patience. That was the quest of Tommy Olsson - Amsterdam NL 1995 [Abisko] CS to reach my hands. Bought August last year, unable to ship due to Covid for months, found its way out of Japan with sea mail at Christmas, and yesterday finally arrived ! - And man, what a beauty it is. 1,5 hour of escape from your everyday shit, from your thoughts. Music to forget there is time. Yes i could listen this all day without being bored, i guess. But it wouldnt be fair to reduce it to background music. It's not. Feels, it is special.

Side A is made of loops. For the most part -well, i cant tell for sure- other people's music/sounds -all kind- chopped, looped, manipulated, combined, further mangled. Song in unknown eastern language plays. The radio station you wish to exist. Last part, in more quiet, eerie, ultra minimalistic mood, using his own sound source sounds like. Hiss is an instrument.

Side B, same recipe. Loops. Punks not dead. His guitar, ecstatic feeling at some points. A voice speaks.

Does anyone has his CD and want to sell ? PM if so please. I even buy clone CDR of it, or if you have any files/rip to share with me will be very welcome too. I want to listen. - I have been told Segerhuva had some copies for distribution but except those it seems disappeared. One popped up on Discogs for first time, some months ago, but only saw it in sales history. Pity.

[cr]

LUXUL - Callous [Digital Bandcamp]

Thanks for introducing! Sounds great and really interesting - Viola, Voice, Violence! Will listen to more for sure when I can find the time.

[pentd]

Mo*Te - An Idle Complaint (LP)

Definitely wierd and lots of variation... slow oscillators pulsating... soon harsh synthesis textures... next some clunking and clanking on junk metal buried under electronic fuzz.... brain damaging album!! thanks!!!