November 17, 2018

Hallowed by her mask

Seven stairs to mental disease.

(Gazelle Twin is the stage name of Elizabeth Bernholz,a British composer, producer and musician from Brighton, England. Walling conceived the project when she watched Fever Ray perform at the 2009 Loop Festival. She noted how "her show reminded me how powerful and liberating costume is, and I became interested in the power of disguise").

In the church of Bela Lugosi

At last the future has been cancelled.

(Dead Cross is a hardcore band formed by Dave Lombardo (drums), Justin Pearson (bass), Michael Crain (guitar), and Gabe Serbian (vocals) in late 2015. Serbian departed the group in 2016 while they were recording in order to focus on his family. Lombardo was able to recruit remarkable vocalist Mike Patton to replace him and the group's debut album was released in August of 2017). 

The rhythm of today's people

A reflected message of craziness.

(The Focus Group is an english one-man band created for Julian House. Primal Scream, Razorlight, and most relevantly, Stereolab and Broadcast's sleeve designer Julian House brings out the latent and intrinsic séance-like aspect of sampling with "a collection of individuals.. an empty church hall, hoofprints, mirrors, echoes, sequences of ordered greenery, televisual images, fonties and ortres".

When nothing is everything

Being afraid of sun.

(Salt is a german industrial/experimental band formed by Stefan Alt, owner and founder of great superb Ant-Zen label).

Tötet fernsehen durch müll!!

 Hurt me with your coprolalia.

(The Stahlschlag Industrial/Power Noise project was founded in February 2006 by Nicole Rahlf, and Sebastian Sünkler. It describes its style as a mix of different music genres like industrial, noise and ambient, maybe some other stuff too. Freizeitlärm” is a special album with rare and unreleases remixes for and by Stahlschlag)

A nail fracture in pain

Dead bodies at bottom of the river.

(The Body is a two-piece band playing heavy music with a wide array of influences and styles, from doom until harsh noise; Krieg was formed in 1995 by Neill Jameson under the name Imperial . In 1997 the band name was changed to Krieg and Jameson went under the alias "Imperial" until going mostly by his given name from 2012 onward. Since 1997 the band has only had one permanent member, Jameson, with a variety of different personnel from North America and Europe filling in at various times. Krieg has had dozens of releases throughout various styles, originally chaotic but most recently becoming a mixture of black metal, crust and post punk. Original lyrical themes stayed mostly in topics of death, destruction and war but from 2002 onward have been more autobiographical dealing with mental illness, anger and a disdain for the ways of the modern world).

Slow the time has passed since you left us...

There's no actual answer to your echoes.

(Hailing from Birmingham, Broadcast, formed of Trish Keenan (vocals), Roj Stevens (keyboards), James Cargill (bass), Tim Felton (guitar) and Steve Perkins (drums); Broadcast’s intimate experimental pop is fuelled with references to the work of the seminal BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Ennio Morricone or John Barry. Often associated with Stereolab in the early days, the sound of the band has developed considerably. Unfortunately, lead singer Trish Keenan died of pneumonia on 14 January 2011 at the age of 42).

Honoring the message of the sacred plant

Flying free across the soft clouds.

(Tales Of Murder And Dust is a dark, experimental neo-psychedelic rock band from Aarhus, Denmark, founded in November 2007).

November 12, 2018

កុំគិតថាខ្ញុំបានភ្លេចបទល្មើស

Sad tunes to remember the dead stars.

(Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock And Roll is an OST compilation cured by Dust to Digital ‎label, used on the same name documentary film, directed by John Pirozzi on 2014, about Cambodian rock music in the 1960s and 1970s, before the Khmer Rouge regime and Cambodian Genocide.).

A better time to harvest

Life is flowing from underground.

(The Myrrors is an experimental/psychedelic folk-rock band from from the Arizona desert).

In the path to deep sleep

Getting into an spyral of rapid eye movements.

(Jean-Jacques Perrey (born 20 January 1929, France - died 4 November, 2016, Switzerland) was a French electronic musician, composer and an early pioneer in the electronic music genre.

He was studying medicine in Paris when he met Georges Jenny, inventor of the Ondioline. Quitting medical school, Perrey travelled throughout Europe demonstrating this keyboard ancestor of the modern synth. At the age of 30, Perrey relocated to New York City, sponsored by Carroll Bratman, who built him an experimental laboratory and recording studio at 209 West 48th Street. Here he invented "a new process for generating rhythms with sequences and loops", utilising the environmental sounds of musique concrète. With scissors, splicing tape and tape recorders, he spent weeks piecing together a uniquely comic take on the future. Befriending Robert Moog, he became one of the first Moog musicians, creating "far out electronic entertainment". In 1965 Perrey met Gershon Kingsley, a former collaborator of John Cage. Together, using an Ondioline and Perrey's loops, they created two albums for Vanguard: Perrey - Kingsley - The In Sound From Way Out! (1966) and Perrey & Kingsley - Kaleidoscopic Vibrations(1967). Perrey & Kingsley also collaborated on sound design for radio and television advertising.

Perrey returned to France, composing for television, scoring for ballet and continuing medical research into therapeutic sounds for insomniacs. Some of his compositions on library labels like Editions Montparnasse 2000 are credited to his daughter Pat Prilly. He said in an interview that she didn’t compose as such, but provided him with ideas and inspiration when she played on the organ. For this he gave her recognition). 

Snares of the end of times

Chaos and complexity of ionic flows painted on air.

(Multidisciplinary drummer and artist Katharina Ernst unites abstract composition and polyrhythmic solo performance on her absorbing debut solo album, Extrametric. The basis of the recording initially comprised drum exercises requiring deep concentration to propel separated elements forward into richly patterned grooves. Extrametric is the result of a long-lasting process of personal focus - the oldest rhythm on the record dates back a full 7 years - Katharina having dedicatedly refined her practice to focus on unusual structures and polymetric beats. The resultant performances reveal hitherto unexplored rhythmic layers. Tellingly, the artist refers to these pieces as études - musical ‘studies’ - describing the album as based more around a concept than any musical genre.

Alongside her drum set, Katharina employs various drum synthesizers, gongs, tam-tam, myriad small percussion, plus an amplified kalimba via guitar effect pedals . Furthermore, the music is playable live, solo, and miraculously without the use of playback. The breadth of sounds on display is bewildering for a solo drummer  - distorted melodies weave their way around jagged snare drum hits, while vibrant tom fills scurry elsewhere around hefty blowouts of monstrous distortion. On the album’s 8-minute centrepiece, a cavernous lattice of gong notes slowly collides to gain a creeping colossal power, taking rhythm far out beyond the confines of more standard beats.

While Extrametric is certainly a dizzying physical display of uncanny multitasking, it’s only by Katharina’s canny orchestration that her rhythm sketches become thoroughly compelling musical studies. Consistently danceable, Extrametric’s interlocking rhythms offer a gateway for the listener to perceive hitherto arcane polymetric complexities.

The possibility for listeners to take what they want from polyrhythmic music is keenly courted on Extrametric. Katharina suggests listeners can dance along at different tempi (according to which rhythmic layers they choose). But the implications of the music go beyond testing our perceptions of complex and chaotic musical systems. “Polyrhythms are an interesting political issue,” says Katharina. “Several different patterns/activities are going on at the same time with and/or without interfering; without any of them being superior.”)

A mirror with black reflections

Endless waves of harsh meditation.

(Tales Of Murder And Dust is a dark, experimental neo-psychedelic rock band from Aarhus, Denmark, founded in November 2007). 

Searching fro an empty space

A flow of dead spirits from the forest.

(Yann Faussurier has been making music under the moniker Iszoloscope since 1999, crafting pulsing, pounding soundscapes with a core of industrial, hard-core, break-core and rhythmic noise layered with intelligent and often surprising details, such as melodic percussions and carefully placed breaks, rich, orchestral textures and dark, cinematic distortions. Experimental in nature and charged with energy, the music evokes a darkness, tension and atmosphere which immediately carries the listener away on an immersive, complex journey of introspection. Founded as a collaboration in 1999, Iszoloscope became Faussurier’s solo project in 2001. Since then, the project has amassed an impressive oeuvre: 7 full-length albums on European labels Ant-Zen and Spectre, 8 successful tours in Europe and North America, several EPs and collaborations, a long list of remixes and compilations, and appearances at shows and festivals around the world, including a regular spot on the lineup at Germany’s Maschinenfest. In recent years, Iszoloscope's live and studio lineup has also included Shane Whitbread, Guillaume Nadon and Frédéric Scarfone).

Save the world from the world

Distorded sounds to face reality.

(Hypnoskull emerged as a project of Patrick Stevens in 1992, who combines the power of pure analog electronics with harsh rhythm structures to form an anarchic assault of noise and techno-industrial. After years of underground activism in the worldwide electronic underground network of industrial music, Hypnoskull reached a larger audience by putting out the album 'Rythmusmaschine 1-2' (1998), followed by 'Ffwd>Burnout!'(1999) and 'Electronic Music Means War To Us' (2001). Before that, Stevens also made a name as one half of the duo Sonar, a hardcore Belgian rhythmical industrial project. He also works with miss Mieke M. (Tunnel), and with Raoul Roucka (Noisex) under the name "Cybernetic:Fuckheadz". His solo projects like Sona Eact, Reset, Sliding Elements, Trivial Gender and 33MHz are released on various labels all around the globe). 

November 7, 2018

Winter years to come

Songs to frighten the night loneliness... (dedicated to JF, a light in darkness)

(Lycia is an American dark wave band formed in 1988 in Tempe, Arizona. The main personnel of the band are Mike VanPortfleet, Tara Vanflower and David Galas. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the ground breaking groups in darkwave and ethereal wave styles. Lycia's music is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of echoed guitars, dark and ethereal keyboards, doomy drum machine beats, VanPortfleet's melancholic, whispered vocals and Vanflower's vivid voice).

Invoking gods of joy

Enjoy the brand new wine fest in two acts.

(Dead Can Dance is an Australian musical project formed in 1981 in Melbourne by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London, England, in May 1982. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as "constructed soundscapes of mesmerising grandeur and solemn beauty; African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, Middle Eastern mantras, and art rock."

Having disbanded in 1998, they reunited briefly in 2005 for a world tour and reformed in 2011 when they released and toured a new album, Anastasis. Right now they are releasing their new record,"Dionysus", more oriented in almost an instrumental way of musical expression)

Last noise-machines attack

The sky is turning black under the grinding machines.

(Maschinenfest is a yearly, three-day underground music festival in Germany, featuring industrial, power electronics, noise and other alternative electronic performers. There are both independent and signed bands who are booked to play, as well as many vendors for music and related paraphernalia. Featured record labels and noteworthy companies include: Ant-Zen, Hands Productions, Pflichtkauf, Spectre Records and Ad Noiseam. This is the last year fest compilation made by Pflichtkauf Label) 

November 5, 2018

L'artiglio del diavolo si nasconde in modo permanente

Hymns to rest in the necropolis.

(...E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore is a prog rock/psychedelic/ost compilation made by Black Widow Records, inspired in death as a central point).

A mind crushed again

Sounds to create internal eye spots.

(Astrobrite is the Chicago-based shoegaze noise-pop project from the musician Scott Cortez (STAR, lovesliescrushing). Interestingly enough, Astrobrite solely played live and released no official records until 2001, all the while building a reputation as a band that “transcends shoegaze by destroying the fuzz/noise boundaries setup by previous shoegazing outfits and manages to make the most beautiful and melodic noise you’ll ever hear).

Across a desert of thoughts

A last mission to leave life.

(Auburn Lull create lush space-rock and ethereal, Brian Eno-inspired soundscapes, at once filmic and pastoral. Despite the fact that the once-thriving Michigan space-rock scene has all but faded out, Auburn Lull continues to evolve their brand of technicolor sound, steadily attracting critical acclaim and an ever-growing fan base. Auburn Lull formed in Lansing, MI in 1994 by Jason Kolb (guitars), Eli Wekenman (guitars), Sean Heenan (guitars, vocals), and Jason Weisinger (drums). They were joined after by Ron Gibbs (bass, guitar)).

Here

гитары в оде в Годзилле

The heavy silence of deerland.

(Pinkshinyultrablast is a dream pop/shoegaze/thunder pop band from St. Petersburg, Russia; a clear homage to Astrobrite).

Same old tunes from tomorrow

Songs to sleep in a misty forest.

(Amp is an English ambient/space/drone group based around the core members Richard Walker and Karine Charff. Walker was a member of a band in Bristol called The Secret Garden that incubated a number of groups including Flying Saucer Attack and Third Eye Foundation. In 1992 he left the band; singles from Amp began to come out on a number of small English labels and a debut album called Sirènes was released in 1996 on the Wurlitzer Jukebox label in the UK and a short-lived American label called Petrol).

Dancing the Ghidorah style

Thinking of you, Mothra...

(Slitherama Volume Three is a Japanese Garage/Psychedelic Rock compilation cured by Planet X label).

Here

November 1, 2018

Two drops of lemon juice on wide eyes

Love comes in a fuzzy way.

(Astrobrite is the Chicago-based shoegaze noise-pop project from the musician Scott Cortez (STAR, lovesliescrushing). Interestingly enough, Astrobrite solely played live and released no official records until 2001, all the while building a reputation as a band that “transcends shoegaze by destroying the fuzz/noise boundaries setup by previous shoegazing outfits and manages to make the most beautiful and melodic noise you’ll ever hear).

Fighting against the vice of killing

Once upon a time in the four cardinal points just were bullets.

(For A Few Guitars More is a compilation based on a tribute to Morricone's spaghetti western themes in a surf guitar challenge mood).

Popel zapomenutých...

Contemplating the covered corpse on Drosophila funebris.

(Previously unreleased soundtrack music by Zdeněk Liška for the 1969 Czech New Wave masterpiece Spalovač Mrtvol (The Cremator), directed by the movements master of macabre Juraj Herz). 

Nosweithiau yng nghefn gwlad Cymru

Feeling the cold wind in the Gwynedd countryside

(Welsh Rare Beat is a compilation series of Beat music from Wales curated by the great label Finder Keepers)

 

גנגסטרים יהודים שרים כל הלילה

 Dangerous fellows reading the Torah.

(There’s a whole lost world of Jewish-American gangster music in this creepily alluring compilation of tunes from the Twenties to the Sixties put together by artist Almog and DJ Shantel. While it’s interesting to hear Tom Jones and the Andrews Sisters adopting Eastern European melodies, it’s veteran Yiddish performers such as Aaron Lebedeff and the Bagelman Sisters who steal the show.
 
Kosher Nostra is an unparalleled journey back in time to the music clubs, vaudeville theaters and gambling casinos in the U.S.A. The sound can be described as a wild mix of swing, jazz, twist, Charleston and the adorable charm of Yiddish songs and ballads. The idea of Jewish gangsters in America is not something that is deeply engrained in the popular imagination. Yet nobody who looks into the history of the American mafia can deny the extent to which such figures as Meyer Lansky, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Dutch Schultz or Louis "Lepke" Buchalter shaped the machinations of the underworld, along with the classic Sicilian godfathers).

Le mal personnifié chez une femme

Honoring the Feuillade's gang.

(Château Flight is an electronic/experimental french duo formed by Gilbert Cohen and Nicolas Chaix; this album is an original soundtrack for the 1915 movie "Les Vampires" by Louis Feuillade, composed for special screenings in 2006). 

The c(o)urse of life

Grinding poisoned spaces.

(The Dagons is an USA L.A. based band, who mix fuzzy guitars, pounding drums & haunting vocals with dreamy lyrics referencing fairy tales & mythology to create their distinctive sound. They are a two-piece band from Los Angeles, made up of Karie Jacobson (guitar, vocals) and Drew Kowalski (drum set and sitar). The Dagons have “a unique, otherworldly feel which adds a sprawling, surreal quality to the genre of indie rock” and for their distinctive juxtapositions of contrasting elements, such as the short, stripped-down song forms of punk with dark, otherworldly psychedelia, or the contrast of fuzzy guitars and pounding drums with minor key melodies and dreamy vocals. Also unusual is the group’s use of distorted electrified sitar, played by The Dagons drummer and producer Drew Kowalski).

Pink dragonflies on heaven

Cherryflavor bursts of candid noise walls.

(Astrobrite is the Chicago-based shoegaze noise-pop project from the musician Scott Cortez (STAR, lovesliescrushing). Interestingly enough, Astrobrite solely played live and released no official records until 2001, all the while building a reputation as a band that “transcends shoegaze by destroying the fuzz/noise boundaries setup by previous shoegazing outfits and manages to make the most beautiful and melodic noise you’ll ever hear).

In the way of the druglords

Welcome to the illness of mankind.

(Milk Cult is an experimental side project of rock group Steel Pole Bath Tub, which was formed in 1990. They produced four albums and eventually went on hiatus in 2000).

Feeding worms with green water

Two pathways to get inmortality.

(...It Just Is: In Memoriam: Jhonn Balance is a compilation tribute album to John Balance, founder and central mind of industrial heroes Coil; the majority of the songs are covers, remixes, or reference Coil songs. The image on the cover was created from the Hieronymus Bosch painting Christ Child with a Walking Frame)