PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[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!!!

[Baglady]

UMPIO - Molesterol CD (Freak Animal, 2020)
Been a while since I checked out any new Umpio, so this traded disc came most welcome the other day. And what a record! Style wise all over the place, but with a palette of junk, maltreated modulars and burnt electronics that he’s made his own over the years. A careless fuck-it-approach that works backwards in a way; by (I’m just assuming here) not trying to work out something very specific he ends up with a mixed bag noone else offers. And the sound is just perfect; big, wide and roomy, yet with so much punch. Studio wizardry that doesn’t sound polished. Ripping, inventive and unhibited harsh noise! Best Umpio I’ve heard so far, and a very late addition to my best-of-2020 list.

[tiny_tove]

Caligula031/Rotat (tape, Daddy's Entertainment):

It's Northern Central not Rotat!

[ConcreteMascara]

Seefeel - (Ch-Vox) CD - Rephlex, 1996 - I feel a bit miffed that the day after this arrived in the mail Warp announced a massive Seefeel reissue with this album, Succour and a bunch of out of singles and unreleased material. Especially considering the cost of the LP box set was just slight more than double for what I paid for this one CD. Bad fucking timing, but now the LP package is sold out so I'm double fucked. The record itself, well it's easily the most dour record Seefeel released. Mostly it falls in the realm of treated guitar dark ambient spooks, but the presence of guitar is not obvious. It's very cold, somewhere between cave cold and void of space cold. Mournful might be another good word, but not in a gothic way. Hive is the prickliest tune of the bunch, almost feeling out of place, but very much in line with prior prickly tunes mixed in with smoother tracks. The CD is short too, just over 30 minutes, which feels like the perfect length for the material. All the tracks are very good even, it might even be a perfect record in a sense. I'll be interested to see the remastered and expanded version stacks up against, whenever I get my hands on it.

Delta Files - Body Bags CD - Re-Load Ambient, 1996 - I didn't realize that the guy behind Imminent Starvation was behind this until right before it arrived. If you're familiar with that project this won't seem far afield. It's reminiscent of the slow and creepier songs on those early Imminent Starvation records, except all the songs are like that here. I've only given it one listen so far but I liked the first track best. For the level of repetition at times, some of the songs are too long, but not annoying. I wonder how my feelings will change with repeated listens.

V/A - Ambient 4: Isolationism 2xCD - Virgin, 1994 - What a great mix of artists on this comp put out by Virgin [!!!]. Man the '90s were wild. I've been interested in picking this one up for years and I finally pulled the trigger a few weeks ago. For such a varied and lengthy collection there isn't anything I don't like. Quite the accomplishment! Part of the trick may be that much of this isn't particularly ambient in the way you might expect and that the tracks remain varied so you never feel like you're hearing the same schtick over and over. The linear notes go into detail as to the  idea behind the comp and why you get artists like Scorn, Thomas Koner, Jim O'Rourke and Keiji Haino in the same collection. I especially like the section on disc 1 that goes from :zoviet*france: to Labradford to Techno Animal to Paul Schutze. really good late night vibes. so far it's only been headphone listening but I'm excited to get it on the speakers and really feel the music while I lay on the floor like a slug.

[Eigen Bast]

Gomikawa Fumio - The Rise and Fall of Gomikawa Fumio CD Hello from the Gutter 2020
Completely unhinged Japanese noise from this monster of a super group. I legit started laughing as soon as the noise started it; it's so fucking heavy!!! Huge low end, dynamic feedback piercing through, shredding vocals, non stop madness for 25+ minutes sans a few brief "track" breaks. Catching this live would have split my wig A++ pure psycho

[HateSermon]

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 your review. New material is in the works.

[Duncan]

Gomikawa Fumio - The Rise and Fall of Gomikawa Fumio CD Hello from the Gutter 2020
Completely unhinged Japanese noise from this monster of a super group. I legit started laughing as soon as the noise started it; it's so fucking heavy!!! Huge low end, dynamic feedback piercing through, shredding vocals, non stop madness for 25+ minutes sans a few brief "track" breaks. Catching this live would have split my wig A++ pure psycho

Yes! I've been quite surprised at the lack of attention/interest around this. It so rough and ridiculous, I love it.

[ConcreteMascara]

Proof Of The Shooting - Demonstrative Evidence 4xCD - Fusty Cunt, Self Abuse, 2020 - I've only had time to digest the first disc of this box set but man am I happy I took a chance on it. Setting aside the two live sets on the first disc, this is a really pleasant mixture of tearing and searing harsh noise, some metallic textures, feedback, clangs and probably tape manipulation. It's not wildly dense, but it's not super thin or tinny either. 8(3) is probably my favorite of the bunch with it's full stereo spectrum of sound and really unpleasant mixture of rapid squalls with slower up and down distorted motions. Fucked up, this is fucked up stuff. Quite excited to get into the next 3 discs. I really appreciate this type of reissue where I've never even heard of the artist but can tell from the labels doing the reissue and their description that's its something previously lost to the sands of time that needs to heard today.

Curtis Roads / Todd Barton ‎– Split CD - Nekorekords, 2020 - did I review this yet? I can't remember. It's a classy reissue of a classy tape on Nekorekords from 4 years back. Noisy material from more "academic" type artists. I think I prefer the Todd Barton material but I'd say the styles are two sides of the same coin, so quite complimentary. Definitely worth checking out if you want less blistering noise from some leftfield names.

[impulse manslaughter]

Proof Of The Shooting - Demonstrative Evidence
Curtis Roads / Todd Barton ‎– Split CD - Nekorekords, 2020 - did I review this yet? I can't remember. It's a classy reissue of a classy tape on Nekorekords from 4 years back. Noisy material from more "academic" type artists. I think I prefer the Todd Barton material but I'd say the styles are two sides of the same coin, so quite complimentary. Definitely worth checking out if you want less blistering noise from some leftfield names.

New Curtis Roads LP on Slowscan coming up. Really great!

[Ashmonger]

Caligula031/Rotat (tape, Daddy's Entertainment):

It's Northern Central not Rotat!

Haha, of course. Now I could say: that's what you get without artist names, but I won't, because it's all my fault and I think I was sleeping while typing Rotat...

[Ashmonger]

XE - 18 (CD, Filth&Violence): I guess everybody here knows what to expect. Seems to sound a bit less ear-piercing, but it delivers.

Femeheim - Peinheil (CD, Total Black): I can't remember the aggressive vocals from the former albums, but they're pretty good. Aside from that, good, but not mindblowing straight away, but I think it will grow a bit more.

Infektionsabteilung - Hier ist kein Trost (CD, At War With False Noise): Recommended CD, mixture of PE/DI with junk metal sounds or chains, then some parts are more Ambient like. Track 2 and 4 are perhaps a bit less interesting, but the others are very good. Infektionsabteilung manages to have diverse sounds etc, but the overall atmosphere keeps it coherent.