PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[moozz]

Umpio - Kulotus 2xCD (Narcolepsia/Hiisi Productions)

Brand new Umpio release with harsh noise material spanning 10 years. No insect electronics here! If I understood correct this is not a compilation even if some of the source material is old. It sounds like a solid whole due to the mastering (I guess) and oh boy does it sound great! In my mind I connect this sound to the loud crispiness of last year's Skin Graft/Wiese CD that was one of the best releases of 2020 for me. Umpio sounds crisp, crunchy and crushing. There are no dull or lackluster moments on these two discs, it is all quite varied yet coherent. It really feels like the sound could escape your mangled speakers at any moment.

[Bloated Slutbag]

Acknowledging that I'm long overdue to start posting retarded shit again, two fairly recent bits of retarded shit elsewhere posted (very slightly altered in the requisite altered state):

[INCAPACITANTS - GEERT KOHLER - PRIEST IN SHIT - JSH​+​ANONYMOUS MASTURBAUDIOUM - Split 2021]
INCAPACITANTS
No offense to the other contributors to this comp, all of whom deliver, but the whole point of this is the indicated.

One of those "let's see what incaps are possibly up to" moments and scored this puppy. More properly-non-coherent-babble to be applied upon receipt of the physical tape.

For now. Quite the baffler. Incaps. Sounding very much in the D.D.D.D. I Residuum The Tongue vein eg when the banker buds were channeling the not-undue influences of the lower-ended Yank crowd. Y'know, low-brow flatulence. Raspberried hefty-boys. Overworked sphincters clocking up the overtime. At least sez me. Um.

Start again. There's this critical point, see, where Incaps flirt with shambolic, but never quite achieve due to the sheer incandescent fury in force. This one sits somewhere in that no person's land. That shambolic-slash-incandescent-fury land. (A pretty cool spot, but a spot upon which judgement passes but fleetingly.)

Now, I know you probably think you've got Incaps' number. You do, right? I know you do. But lately, they've been seriously fucking with the program. Ostracized Enigmatic Conqueror. Survival Of The Laziest. These are fucking KILLER TIMES TEN. Killer times not on the program. And very recently in the pool. That is to say, indicative of an incaps straining against its own confines and delivering something that is both whole-ly incaps and whole-ly flatulating in exciting(ly) new shades of belchtastic. Love me some belchtastic.

Okay.

Now, this. This... thing, which reminds of a few earlier classics, as stated, but which also verges into peculiar WTF territories of more recent bent. Warp. Strain. Grimace. I mean. The textures. Did I mention the textures? They are the thing. The THING. The thing that converts the sometimes questioning worshiper, aka me. Converts the questioner back to believer. Textures what flatulate. Try to finish a sentence but interrupted by: flatulent-hodai. All-you-can-flatulate, raspberries till the sphincters come home.

Start again. I'd really like to know when this particular incarnation of Incaps was born. It is entirely possible that these chaps are, like, poised to RIP THE FUCKING SHIT off of noise. But, like, that's the kind of thing certain persons would say. Especially when said persons are me.

Dare to hope to dream.


Cracksteel, 道産子アナル, Macronympha, Skin Crime, AMB, Astro - v.a.
The only problem with this little gem from Workturm Ghetto is that Cracksteel scorches out the gate with such incandescent blistering fury that we're pretty much holding at why bother by the time the second track kicks in. And with the possible exception of that second track, much bother is offered. Macro a surprisingly psychedelic turn, harsh heavy bottom-dwelling puritannical onslaught not bothering with even the slightest gaps in which to insert the labored huff. Skin Crime sounding much of thereabouts ('96), burnt raw butcherings wrenched amongst the ill-kempt chalknailed flautelence. Autotoxic Mental Bizarrerie necessarily spelt out in full cuz that's how they are, how he always are, but here even more so and with a title like "Scratch Ahead I" to leave the duly triggered goggly'd bout placement of the chicken and the egg or well suffice it to say I'm yes kinda the sort who kinda digs the noise stuff nonetheless had me popping out the tape just to ensure shit wasn't getting mangled god blesh ye merry Mental Bizarreries! Astro on that charburnt acid safari he'd slowly gentrify in subsequent iterations but I still quite like this raw and say it rude warble with few intentions to let things simmer lush and long so be it. As for DO THANK ANAL, well, caught them live once or twice and yes they certainly live up to the name no further ado.

Oh wait, here it comes, the further ado (and how could it not?)

CrackFUCKINGsteel

[Lazrs3]

Control - Blood Will Rain - last studio album by Control on Ant-Zen from 2018. Massive sound - huge. I am researching the projects recent work as I got a batch of earlier material a few months ago. How the vocal shouts over the top of the noise and falls into it becoming part of it is impressive.

There seems to be an ambitious sound, that is very big, the vocal and synthesizers that cut into it at times I like.

[acsenger]

Masonna- Destructive Microphone (5", Alley Sweeper)

I expected this to be good, of course, but I kind of bought it also for the sake of having a 5" (although I do have Merzbow's Green Wheels). So I was pleasantly surprised by how good it is, especially side A. There are plenty of great and even somewhat catchy vocal loops, plus some psychedelic effects Maso started using around this time (and which I always thought added a lot to his music). It's condensed Masonna in a way, around one and a half minutes on each side. Definitely not only a gimmick record.

Mo*Te - Throw A Stone (CD, Absurd Exposition)

Not surprisingly, this album does not disappoint. All the elements are there that make this project unique (and also different from his own ‘90s material): strange loops, rhythms, and pulses; occasional melodies, sometimes buried underneath feedback; and several layers going on at the same time, with clever changes occurring from time to time. One of the highlights for me is the stereo panning in track 2. The mastering was done by Umpio. As always with Mo*Te, this release is highly recommended if you like noise crafted in an unusual and creative way.

Roland Kayn - Zone Senza Silencio (Bandcamp only release)

The latest in the monthly Bandcamp-only releases of unreleased recordings by this German composer who up to a couple years ago was almost completely unknown, but has been gaining reputation since. This piece, made in 2004, is a morphing, continually changing flow of completely abstract electronic/electroacoustic music that's rich in textural detail and has a mysterious atmosphere. Kayn made utterly singular music, and while he repeated himself a lot (with around 300 works to his name, that's hardly surprising), even those pieces which don't stand out from the rest are worth listening to.

[HateSermon]

Some recent 7 inches:

STRESS ORPHAN - “Colony Collapse”
Great mix of sounds on this and overall a brutal release. Metal scraping, aggressive oscillations, drones - all the good shit. What I like about this project are the vocals. They sound tough, pissed. This is the type of PE/noise that has balls. I was able to see him play at the last Summer Scum and the same feeling carries over to the live performance.

VERNICHTUNG DURCH ARBEIT - “Totenfotze”
I don’t know much about this project. This was a blind buy simply because of it being released on F&V/Wrath - I figured there’s gotta be something there for me. And there is. Both sides present blistering wall of electronics with what sounds like very subtle vocals in the background? Hard to tell. Type of record to listen to at cranked volume and slip into the void.

SADIO - “Piss Drinking Slut”
Ah, yes, good ol Sadio. Does not disappoint. Love the liquid sounding effects as that dude unloads his piss right at the beginning of the title track. Then rips into maniacal vocals and layers of different textured sounds. Something to bum out the neighbors. B side has a different sound with looping instrumental piece underneath commanding words. Deep breathing mixed in for a nice sexually deprived touch.

[Bloated Slutbag]

More random dribblings from the elsewhere posted, with a few choice edits.

Self-stoking in preparation for the two OVMN reissues soon to be molesting the earholes...

OVMN / AUDIBLE XXY split
The best moment in this tape comes about twenty-three seconds in. Just when you think it's going to dissolve into pure and genuflective Incaps worship, a massive thrust of thunderous pelvic sludge-bludger bulges and bursts stage center. From there on out it's all overworked sphinters endlessly ruptured amongst lost overtones, tar-blackened belch rapture, optimum volume maximum thrust, credited to none less than Joe Roemer T. Mikawa Tim Oliveira Fumio Kosakai Rodger Stella Mlehst. Noise bankers meet stoners meet their filthy flatulent maker in fornicating free-for-all fuckfestivities, semi-frequent cuts cumming crude rude and unvarnished amid hordes of saturated unsaturated brutality. And brutality is probably the only viable descriptor. I clearly remember the day this tape first lodged in deck, and prematurely lodged itself the fuck out, sounding a bit overmuch like jerking about with massed piles of shizzlemeat. But in the here and today I'm better placed to appreciate just how much shizzlemeat we're talkin. Like, a lot. So there. Plus, did I mention brutal? Like, fuck. Redzoned oblivia till the overworked sphincters come home hammered n blood crusted. Final "mix and edit" credits distributed evenly among meisters J.Roemer and T.Mikawa, but no question as to whose cock is most 'vested in the corrupt third party power lights-out buttplug in standing on the border with two guns righteously cocked. Riiiiight?

Audible XXY on the flip and it's no contest. Andrew Lersten against the combined exertions of Joe Roemer T. Mikawa Tim Oliveira Fumio Kosakai Rodger Stella Mlehst. Like, the poor stoned banker buggers never stood a chance. In fairness, this particular XXY iteration is "cut up and mixed at Red Zone Studios", like practically everything else that came within range of Roemer's filthy fornications. Still, if it weren't for the semi-self-imposed obscurity I might question why this project weren't more frequently namechecked. This shit is plain fire. Man, fuck OVMN. Bring the XXY, version Audible. How does it sound? Just, hefty. Seriously man-handled hefty-boys, crushing as all fuck. (And all fuck, btw, is seriously of the crushing persuasion.) Against the all-out all-over-the-fucking-place bloodbath that is the banker stoner collective, this shit's incredibly focused and puritannical, occasionally opening into widened reverberant caves just to fuck with the program, then drilling down to the fucking bone, pure bone-grinding furies fed through rickety wrinkled dimemberments of first order limbs conducting current through perfect density of fresh tracing contaminant stream blood. Right.
[/dribblings]

^Since posting the above, I've had a chance to go through a smattering of XXYs of the audible description and it may be fair to conjecture that Red Zone Studios left a heftier mark than the liners might indicate. The material on this split represents the best I've heard from the project, at least as far as the harsh and heavy goes. Some of the less muscular stuff almost wants me sniffing for more testosterone.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

V/A "WITH BRUTAL FORCE" LP
Maruta Records
With my own works, I usually listen so much of it when its being done, and  after it is done - the process where its being evaluated is it worth of being released (read: to be listened countless times) - that once it is finally out, it’s time to bury it on shelves and not return to it any time soon..  With Brutal Force comp LP from 2002, already 20 years old material on it and very much possible I have not touched this since it came out and listened it few times. Pain Nail track feels not far from what upcoming couple Pain Nail albums are going to be (endless process, but I hope this year some of it will be public!). Grunt track is not to be shamed, but nowhere near the best works. Recorded around the time when Grunt/Sickness split/collab CDR was done.
On this comp. Grey Wolves, Lasse Marhaug, Death Squad, Pain Nail and Survival Unit probably survived the best the test of time!  Special edition in wire mesh, regular edition is dirt cheap at discogs, so if one has sweet spot to early 00’s power electronics, line-up is decent!

BRIGHTER DEATH NOW "Great Death I + II" 2xCD box
BDN double CD box listened couple of times. Some of the best, some of the bleakest BDN stuff. I’m sure many have different favorites, but this has handful of absolute ”hit tracks” if one can use such description for material that is not… well.. ”hit music”, hah. Bought it 2nd hand many years ago, already then dusty but never wanted to clean it as the outer box dirt adds just good atmosphere!
There was that one BDN 10” where all covers was moderately damaged by purpose. Ring wear and such. Appearance of 2nd hand item for entire pressing, I think?! In days when everybody is horrified of decreasing resale value, it could be good to publish items in dysty, dirty covers… Anyone into checking out probably best Karmanik interview, I strongly recommend to check out BARDO METHODOLOGY #7!

TAINT / SMELL & QUIM / CON-DOM  3xCD box
Red Stream
Nearly 3 hours well spent here. Its not long since I listened the actual CD box, but this was from youtube due being out of town. After returning home, spend quite a long time to find this damn box, since I had misplaced it during previous listening session...

Taint - there is a plan to re-issue CD as single album at some point. Some may have seen I mention that Keith gave me the right to ”handle his legacy in ways I feel he would feel is right way”. This is tricky thing, as Keith was at the same time against reissues, but few weeks later there could be suggestion that ”do you want to do Indecent liberties…”.  Like as if that would be question with more than one way to answer! My gut feeling is, that stuff tha was originally ”mass produced” is something he meant for larger ”masses” (in context of noise). So it would be respectful to do. Been in contact with most people involved with taint albums and everybody giving thumbs up. Have to write Pat of Red Stream. We used to be in touch a lot, but label has been in slow downshifing process for years. Well, anyways, listening Taint material here, it would be shame if now active new generations would have to settle for youtube stream, instead the way it was meant to be: Compact Disc!
Smell & Quim. I am quite confident to say, that instead of reissuing this, S&Q are now on level of producing vastly better material! Anyone doubting it, I recommend to check out some of the new stuff they have done! This CD, it is partially EXCELLENT, partially almost unbearably disturbing. Latter quality is of course not saying it is garbage. Just saying it is the somewhat different approach to noise. Not ear-candy and harsh blast that gets your juices flowing, but more like questioning what the fuck is this thing I am listening - and soon shifting into response.
Con-Dom is reason why this set could not be reissued as-is. Now retired, and doesn’t want to approve further reissues. I must respect this approach, and I can see the *artistic* merit of it. Release were done for other purpose than ”consumption” or ”mass production”. They had time, place, reason. Each release had point, connected to live shows, connections of sounds by other artists, most likely personal meaning. To have labels churning out CD’s could be like stickers reproduced of paintings. It just aint the same thing. Specific era passed, and those owning the original piece of art have it as part of their own life. Not to be ”cheapened” as bulk reissue.
While I understand that logic, I often do consider repress absolutely positive. Of course depending on mood. Currently preparing couple reissues of my own, which I postponed for decade(s), but I tend to think my own opinion of what c/should have been done with particular recording is not -that- essential. Instead of keeping them hidden in master archive, I may just regurgitate them out there again, hah.. despite there would be most likely more necessary releases, like PERVERSION AT ALL COST, to be availble. One could say, that title of the box, is THE power electronics in the nutshell. If one doesn’t like it, there is option to GTFO.

[pentd]

Vetrophonia "Dadacacophonia Dao"
Zhelezobeton / C67 tape
https://zhelezobeton.bandcamp.com/album/dadacacophonia-dao

xlent sinister and varied, industrial nightmare music from st.petersburg, russia, with tons of dark sounds combined. clear production, not so harsh or muddy, but constantly evolving... apparently took a long time to cook. recommended for ugly noise seekers



VA -- Gudelnaya Polyana – Solar Systo Togathering 2020
Zhelezobeton / 3xCD
https://zhelezobeton.bandcamp.com/album/gudelnaya-polyana-solar-systo-togathering-2020

a monster collection of tons of artists performing at this massive trance festival, all crossfaded into each other to create a huge cosmic trip. mostly beautiful resonating intergalactic frequencies and pulses, but a few darker drones, and even tribal drummings also present... just letting it drone on repeat non stop to forget nightmare of reality. i cant imagine the amount of hours that went into this. recommended for those "voice of eye" moments

[Woundfucker]

First time poster, long time lurker here.

Atrax Morgue - In Search Of Death (big surprise) I feel that this is definitely one of the more diverse entries in the AM canon. There's something almost voyeuristic about listening to it. It's like when that quiet guy you've been friends with for years, who never told you he made any kind of music or noise, finally hands you the tape he's been secretly hammering away at in his bedroom forever. While there are moments that are still somewhat uniform with the simple, sleazy, and hypnotic assaults that would define most of his catalogue, there is also a ton of space, patience, and atmosphere.  Definitely a favorite of mine for the wide spectrum of general creepiness it covers.

White Slug - Cage Paralysis I'm a huge fan of trashy, sleazy shot on video horror movies. Most of the good ones are "good" in the same way a certain kind of punk band is—where only one member can actually play their instrument worth a shit, but the raw, unified vision of the project is strong enough to keep the music captivating. I think I was watching Gorgasm or Gorotica (can't remember) and I heard this incredibly unhinged industrial shit weaving in and out of the soundtrack. Sometimes it would resemble some absolutely crushing death industrial/power electronics and other times it felt like very damaged industrial metal. Through sitting through the credits and then doing a little research, I found out that it was one project doing both—White Slug. I don't hear much chatter about this project, but they traverse the spectrum of industrial music in a pretty raw, batshit way, and I definitely recommend checking out Cage Paralysis.

[Baglady]

UMPIO - Kulotus 2CD (Hiisi & Narcolepsia, 2021)
Umpio has always dabbled with modular and no input sounds, or at least on all releases I have, but I wasn’t quite prepared for this. This is purely oscillator, modular and no input, assembled from tape recordings done over a ten year period. He covers the spectrum from volcanic eruption to restrained rippling, always with maximum pressure and energy. There’s not a dull second here, but if I’d have to pick a favorite it’s the fifteen minute bulge fest ”Glass Crunch Snack” from disc one where he lets the sounds skid, slide, screech and stammer in a lovely way while low end explosions keep things moving (fast!). Best yet so far this year for me. Fans of Keränen’s superb Bats in the Attic take note in particular, and T.A.D.M. fans even more so (in a blind test I’d definitely take ”Phantom Pulse” on disc one for a T.A.D.M track), but any fan of inventive harsh noise needs this.

[Woundfucker]

UMPIO - Kulotus 2CD (Hiisi & Narcolepsia, 2021)
Umpio has always dabbled with modular and no input sounds, or at least on all releases I have, but I wasn’t quite prepared for this. This is purely oscillator, modular and no input, assembled from tape recordings done over a ten year period. He covers the spectrum from volcanic eruption to restrained rippling, always with maximum pressure and energy. There’s not a dull second here, but if I’d have to pick a favorite it’s the fifteen minute bulge fest ”Glass Crunch Snack” from disc one where he lets the sounds skid, slide, screech and stammer in a lovely way while low end explosions keep things moving (fast!). Best yet so far this year for me. Fans of Keränen’s superb Bats in the Attic take note in particular, and T.A.D.M. fans even more so (in a blind test I’d definitely take ”Phantom Pulse” on disc one for a T.A.D.M track), but any fan of inventive harsh noise needs this.

I love Umpio—the sound of total noise obsession. His segments in the doc on Finnish noise are definitely some of my favorites.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

PRURIENT "Barons Chamber" CD
Nihilist
Hot summer day, cleaning up piles and piles of good noise cluttering every free space… This CD ended up to stereos. My recollections of when it came out, was that it was lo-fi gutter rumbles. I guess it is more about stereo set-up how this feels! Vastly better and bigger speakers than back then, now it feels almost crispy! Ripping fierce noise with exaggerated level of boomy bass frequency, some symphonic tones. rarely mentioned cd from his discography. Back then came quite few cds, in quick pace, so easy to be forgotten under the more established albums. Now, many years later this has proven to have survived test of time even better than most appreciated works!

Der Blutharsch" When All Else Fails" 2x10"
noble loop music? I like the earlier works the best. This is good in style what it is, and most certainly better than DB/Skullflower collaboration LP I was listening last week. Tried to like it, and listened multiple times, but just… didn’t really feel any impact other than concluding LP sounds pretty much 1+1=2 of what one could expect at this point from 2020 release of the projects.
When All Else Fails remains vital and well crafted musically and physically. Double 10” in hardcover slipcase.

Institut – Motionstruktures 10”
Hard distorted noise-loop rhythms / drum machines and vocalization from 2002. I suppose CMI made it popular, but this is on small Italian label. I guess its not long since I had this on playlist. Just happened to grab it from shelves and I guess like I said last time, I like Institut way more now than when these originally were published!

Haus Arafna "Blut.." 2xLP
Galakt Horro
It was nice that this was reissued some years ago. Their hardest and noisiest. Sound of HA can be immediately recognized, and brilliance of hard grain on top of all analogue torment and aggressive vocals. I don’t think there is anyone else who really can make this type of sound, even when many probably own some of the similar gear. Even with simplest oscillations and rhythms, there is always something very Haus Arafna in its atmosphere.

Irikarah "Kampf sequenzen" pic LP
Steinklang
Way way less appreciated European industrial-noise project, IRIKARAH… This is the first pic LP, but I have 2nd one also on pile waiting for tomorrow. Hard distorted rhythms from drum machine, but also clearly from turntable loops. XXX film audio samples, throbbing synth noise, oppressive dark kampf sequenzen! Sometimes I wonder how come Irikarah is not praised more? Perhaps the later days CD’s with semi-useless EBM tracks and worse production makes people forget that couple first albums and split LP with Strom.ec are brilliant! Especially the split I see as highlight of their discography.

[Woundfucker]

Sewer Election/Arv & Miljo - Split
While I get a kick out of the numerous essays I've read from Sam McKinlay that give almost academic breakdowns of why harsh noise wall is important (even going so far as to namedrop Philip Corner in the liner notes of the Pieces LP), I find my connection and love/hate affair with the genre to be something totally primal. For every release that I love in this field, there are probably another 20+ releases that I would never listen to a second time. Referring to the Sewer Election side of this cassette as "harsh noise wall" may be a bit reductive, as there are some dynamics and distinct movements, but there are definitely some wallish sections that are incredibly satisfying—thanks to the artisanal textures and crunchy fidelity that Johansson has spent so many years dialing in. It's that kind of commitment that produces the most satisfying results for me. The Arv & Miljo side is also pretty dirty, yet a bit more scaled back and hypnotic with its tape loops and collaging. Anyways, the 20 minute duration went by way too quickly and I have to jam this again soon. Great work.

[Woundfucker]

Agonal Lust/Mania - Split
I've kind of hit a place where I basically want to hear everything that KB worked on (at least whatever has been released in some capacity) at least once. This may be the opposite of what he would've wanted, hence the anonymous projects, but that's how it goes in a section of the underground that thrives on obsession. I was really glad to grab this tape in a trade with an acquaintance recently.

It's my first time listening to more than a short clip of Agonal Lust and it's pretty killer. Texturally—it sounds like a bulldozer running over a field littered with cow skeletons, just crushing. There's a growling death-industrial backdrop of what sounds like droning synthesizers and paced, processed screams. While it isn't necessarily pushing P.E. into the same kind of fresh, paradigm-shifting, and utterly unhinged places that someone like Interracial Sex is, the sound is still really fucking dialed in and satisfying. Curious to hear that Meatpacker tape that just came out on Total Black.

The Mania side starts off pretty spacious and meandering, featuring some of the most bizarre vocals I've heard in any movement from this project—just creepy and ballistic. Things quickly heat up as sonic explosions erupt like tripped landmines, gradually building in frequency. One of my favorite aspects of Mania is the way he would layer varying fidelities—some layers of junk abuse remain crystal clear and cut through the mix flawlessly, while maintaining pretty high fidelity. Meanwhile, some sounds are crushing and completely blown out, while others distantly screech in the background. The sonic assault hits the listener from a variety of distances, which makes it a really immersive listen. Good nasty stuff. Eventually I'm going to listen through all of the known material, so I sure hope to eventually find all of the hidden sections of his discography, but I'm sure it will take a lot of research and scouring through label discographies.  

[Bloated Slutbag]

JH - ill stars
getting some unwell haino scourings off this, those prime haino scourings of the nijiumu kind, the early kind, bleeding the heavens cold. well they- the heavens- were already cold but no help here. a departure for JH and not unwelcome. infinities of sheering sheeting 'hole-abrading oblivia.


An earlier post on a recent James Hamilton beaut [edit above] had me namechecking a specific Haino, and it was this one and I
knew I had to – immediately – hear it again. If two days later can count as immediately

Keiji Haino – Nijiumu, AKA PSFD-7
Know what I fucking hate? Looking for fucking Haino. Not Haino in general, Haino in the specific, specifically this fucking thing, otherwise affectionately known as PSFD-7. The affections bestowed owe as much to the circumstances behind my initial interactions with the work as to the awesomeness of the work itself. Leaving out the trials of digging out the correct all-black indistinctly marked fucking disc.

PSFD-7 is one of those taped-randomly-off-college-radio-and-never-caught-the-name-of-the-artist deals. Slightly surreal waking dream-like circumstances underlay the broadcast, taking place in that 5:30am Lalaland betwixt two concurrently running radio shows in the Toronto of the time- Mitch Kroll's Beyond The Gates Of Hell, running midnight till daylight, and Rock ‘ Roll Cleveland, which blasted in at 5 or 6 am with all the energy expected thereof. But my favorite interval was the one-hour transition during which a no doubt half-dead Kroll would just run the shit, said shit eventually overlapping and collaging with more rockin (if often no the less fucked) early morning brutalities (I think it was a Monday morning to boot).

Short hours later on the bus to school, in zombified all-night-radio-induced state, playing the shit back on my Walkman and the shit just hit it a nerve. Wrenched a nerve. Wracked a nerve. Several nerves. You say you like industrial? Well I said I did and at the time I liked nothing more than the pantomime-level industrial shit. (Or as my schoolmate Pete, who had never heard industrial music, would out put it: “Hey Jim, get the wrench. Let’s make some industrial music!”) Like, I know Haino has all these shamanic connotations n stuff but to me this sounded like someone very slowly murdering a cat in a half abandoned industrial warehouse- as seen from the tortured perspective of the cat. Nerves-plural-wracking feline spasmolytics, metal-on-metal whang, strangulated stringed innards bowing and warping in weirdly tortured resonances. I had no idea who- or what- was responsible, but it would not then have surprised me if a person named “Jim” were involved in some capacity. Long-form industrial strength shamanic ritual animal abuse, did the police know about this Jim feller like christ, but so undeniably sublime so indelibly burnt, deep, into the memory holes.

Years later finally copped the joint, possibly off RRRecords- listed in the catalog, of course, as PSFD-7- still having no idea what I was in for. Somewhere along the way I was given to understand that PSF stood for “Pretty Strong Factory” Records so I was at least certain that whatever it was would be very much of the pantomime spirit.

In pops the disc and out spurts some strangely familiar tinkling upon the ivories, jangling at the edges of befuddled nerves. Then that first cat-guts-wrenching shriekout and the spiritual awakening is immediate. Like, “Holy fuck! THIS IS THE FUCKING ONE!” Couldn’t read the kanji. Didn’t need to. I know a Jim when I hear it. Simply a perfect piece of recorded sound.

The writer of the above would like you to know that no cats were harmed in the playback and listening of this recording.