Michael Graeve - Simple Methods For Complex Times

More sound sculpture made out of piles of dusty old record players. This is not the nimble, nuanced turntable improvisation of Otomo Yoshihide or Martin Tetreault. It's heaps of dirt and crackle stacked messily into mountains of junk. 

Michael Graeve - Simple Methods For Complex Times

Read more...

Michael Graeve - Three Live Recordings 2001-2001

Turntable dust from Australian painter, sculptor and sound artist Michael Graeve, sort of in the same general orbit as Janek Schaeffer or Philip Jeck.

Michael Graeve - Three Live Recordings 2001-2001

Read more...

Jamie McNair - Ocean Dictionaries

Many underground noise and drone artists first came to my attention via CDRs that were published by Birchville Cat Motel's Celebrate Psi Phenomenon label. They weren't so easy to come by here in Ontario, but Mr. Inside and I used to mail-order as many as we could track down. We discovered some of our favorite artists this way: Peter Wright, A.M., Clarinette, Slow Listener, many others. Some artists, though, made one album and quit. Jamie McNair is one of those one-hit wonders, but wow what a hit it is. I haven't found any information about McNair, and none is provided by this CDR. Expect chilly glacial hum, not as rugged as Eso Steel but not too far away either. 

Jamie McNair - Ocean Dictionaries

Read more...

v/a - Le Jazz Non: A Compilation of Nineties NZ Noise

Sometimes, a compilation is the perfect way to reign in a wide, disparate group of artists whose individual releases are scarce and/or obscure. When it works, a great compilation brings its participants out from the shadows and frames them as a "scene" of some sort with sympathetic reverberations across its tracks. Listeners can then refer to it as a benchmark for all related music. "Le Jazz Non" is such a compilation. Put together by Bruce Russell on his remarkable Corpus Hermeticum label in 1996, it's hard to imagine a more fitting object to introduce the New Zealand free noise and drone micro-scene to the world. 

"Le Jazz Non" gathered previously little-known acts such as Thela (aka Rosy Parlane, Dion Workman, and Dean Roberts, all of whom now have productive solo careers), Gate (the extra-Dead C. "band" of Michael Morley), Rain and Doramaar (both featuring members of Flies Inside the Sun), Omit (whose hermetic nightmarescapes we've posted here on Bleak Bliss recently), Surface of the Earth (makers of a self-titled CD that remains the definitive New Zealand drone album, and is still available from Utech. Stop whatever you're doing and buy it now), RST (drone guitarist who would go on to make lovely shimmer for Ecstatic Peace, Last Visible Dog, and Utech), Witcyst (utterly baffling mail-art trash noise), A Handful of Dust (aka Mr. Russell making feedback-laced anti-music with Alastair Galbraith), Lame & Sorry (aka Galbraith with Shayne Carter of Straitjacket Fits), improv/rock heroes (and sometime Gate backing band) Sandoz Lab Technicians, and the still-obscure Empirical, of whom this track is one of the only extant documents. 

Don't rush through this album and form an opinion right away. Spin it a few times. Let its molecules disperse through the air in your home. Live with it for awhile. Let the atmosphere sink in and steadily rewire all of your synapses.

v/a - Le Jazz Non: A Compilation of Nineties NZ Noise

Read more...

Dead Man's Gravel - The Cuckoos Sang in Their Appropriated Nests

Live scrape from Neil Campbell (whose name alone ensures brilliance), Phil Todd (aka Ashtray Navigations, another guy whose music I could listen to forever) and someone called "B. Lewis" who I don't know. Came out as a CDR on Fencing Flatworm, a great little label from Leeds that was run by Rob Hayler. Rob's own work under the name Midwich is highly recommended for anyone who likes this sort of warm, visceral, very human electroacoustic drone music. Lucky for us, he's made most of it available for free/name-your-own-price at Bandcamp! Hayler also ran a sub-label called Ordnance, Tape Only, the entire catalog of which he generously makes available right here. Dig the titles by Julian Bradley, Ceramic Hobbs, Wagstaff, and the usual cast of drone/noise superstars within that orbit.

Dead Man's Gravel - The Cuckoos Sang in Their Appropriated Nests

Read more...

Plagal Grind - st

The only release by this New Zealand band, which included Peter Jefferies (This Kind of Punishment), Robbie Muir, Dave Mitchell (The 3Ds) and Alaistair Galbraith (The Rip, A Handful of Dust, Lame & Sorry). A rare and highly sought-after platter of messy garage fuzz that appeared on Bruce Russell's Xpressway label in 1990 and currently commands some silly prices. Plagal Grind is pretty much the Platonic ideal of NZ indie rock, and neatly sums up the Xpressway aesthetic in just a handful of killer songs. 

Plagal Grind - st

Read more...

Pieters/Russell/Stapleton - Sex/Machine

1/2 of Flies Inside the Sun + Bruce Russell of The Dead C. and A Handful of Dust = Pieters/Russell/Stapleton! As you might imagine, this is some sizzling New Zealand improvised skree. It came out on Metonymic (which was a nice counterpart label to Russell's Corpus Hermeticum) in 1999.

Pieters/Russell/Stapleton - Sex/Machine

Read more...

Dworzec - Wednesday

Predictably intergalactic 2001 missive from the Metonymic label by an Australian free noise unit.

Dworzec - Wednesday

Read more...

Flies Inside The Sun - Cactus Sky




I'm sure it is only a typo, but Le Mal d'Archive was actually Flies fourth release. This is their third, released on Metonymic in 1999.

I would post the 1st "An Audience Of Others (Including Herself)" but it looks as though the CD version is still available on Kranky some 19 years after its release.

Cactus Sky

Read more...

Flies Inside the Sun - Burning Glass

Fifth and final album by Flies Inside the Sun, from 2003. 

Flies Inside the Sun - Burning Glass

Read more...

Flies Inside the Sun - Le Mal d'Archive

Their third album, which came out on Metonymic in 2000.

Flies Inside the Sun - Le Mal d'Archive

Read more...

Flies Inside The Sun - st

Something of a New Zealand free-noise supergroup, Flies Inside the Sun was formed by Kim Pieters and Peter Stapleton in the wake of their band Dadamah (with Roy Montgomery). They were joined by guitarist Brian Crook (of post-punk legends The Max Block, Terminals, Scorched Earth Policy, Renderers) and Danny Butt (Tanaka-Nixon Meeting) and recorded several albums of thunderous improv sprawl. After their debut on Kranky, this self-titled album came out on the band's own Metonymic imprint in 1996.  

Flies Inside The Sun - st

Read more...

Fela And Afrika 70 - Zombie




This post is a result of a small dialogue in the post below. There is no criticism implied or stated.

You can easily research the significance of Fela and this LP and the Zombies of the Nigerian dictatorship and we think that you should.

Just in case anybody wondered where myself and Mrs Inside stand on the question of politics in music. This is the sound of colours being firmly nailed to the mast!

Nazi Punks. Nazi Punks. Nazi Punks. Fuck Off!

Read more...

Ven Voisey - 8L

 
Visceral noise captured outside Ven Voisey's San Francisco apartment in 2002, plus a bonus multi-media file (.exe). Released by Nani Nani as a CDR in a limited edition of 100 copies.

Ven Voisey - 8L

Read more...

V.V. - Note

Taut, tense, thrilling sound art by Ven Voisey, recalling the best of Illusion of Safety, Hands To, or Michel Gendreau. Co-released by CIP and Crank Satori in 2002.

V.V. - Note

Read more...

V.V. - Things Collapse In On Themselves

Dynamic electro-acoustic music by Ven Voisey, released in 2002 as a 3"CDr.

V.V. - Things Collapse In On Themselves

Read more...

Matt Valentine With Alex Neilson & Erika Elder & Moses Jiggs - Untitled



Matt Valentine & Erika Elder(aka M V & E E etc) with Moses Jiggs (aka Michael Ehlers, founder of Eremite Records) and England's own Alex Neilson (aka Directing Hand). Another class LP released on Qbico from 2006.

Untitled

Read more...

Lauhkeat Lampaat ‎- The Most Pöllö




Antti and Jaakko Tolvi who have been in all of your favourite Finnish third-eye explorers on vinyl from Qbico in 2006.

The Most Pöllö

Read more...

Neokarma Jooklo Experience - Peaceful Messages




David Vanzan and Virginia Genta alongside Luca Massolin, Maurizio Abate, Paolo Pascolo, Alessandro De Zan on vinyl from Qbico from 2009.

Peaceful Messages

Read more...

Metabolismus ‎- Sprießwärtsdrall




This is an LP released on Amish Records in 1998. Metabolismus often get tagged as krautrock. I think that the K word is used so often because they are a German collective producing unique music.

Admittedly there are parts of this LP that point towards the motorik groove of early Neu! and Ash Ra and Faust and early Amon Düül but there is never the sense of them referencing previous works. There is even the sense of the collective mind at work from the very earliest Düül recordings. There are eleven people credited on this release including Samara Lubelski (a member of Chelsea Light Moving, The Tower Recordings and so much more), Moritz Finkbeiner, Thilo Kuhn, Thomas Schätzl and Werner Nötzel (who are also in Sinergia Elettronica alongside David Vanzan and Virginia Genta of the various Jooklo projects).

Yeah, I'm referencing what I hear but Metabolismus are entirely their own very special creation. I really love them. I don't have that much of their work and that makes me feel that there is another dark void in my life. There are so many self-released tapes throughout the 1990's that I will never get to hear. Ah well! In the meantime, Freak'n'roll on this.

Sprießwärtsdrall

Read more...

Metabolismus - Terra Incognita




This is an LP released on Blackjack Records in 1998. This is a much more spaced out (in all senses) and considered album with more emphasis on electronics particularly during it's early phases. It's charming and quite hypnotic.

Terra Incognita

Read more...

Metabolismus ‎- Azzafatazzam




An utterly inspired LP released on Swamp Room Records in 1992. If you need a really clumsy hook to drag you in...it's the band that The Velvet Underground wish they had been in recorded by Gnod's parents during a seance exorcising the ghost of Shockabilly. Well, it's not really it's Metabolismus but what the hell, it got your attention....

Azzafatazzam

Read more...

Noumena & Sodium - Live Collaborations as Performed by Noumena & Sodium

Early album of midwest tour recordings by Mike Shiflet & Aaron Hibbs (Noumena) with Amelia Emelin & Jakob Lexso (Sodium), released on CDR in a numbered edition of 40 copies on Shiflet's Gameboy label.

Noumena & Sodium - Live Collaborations as Performed by Noumena & Sodium

Read more...

Tagomago - Dead Souls

Tsuyoshi Nakamaru's second album as Tagomago, released on Pearl Records in 1995.

Tagomago - Dead Souls

Read more...

Tagomago - Heavenly Music

Tagomago's solo albums are varied and much friendlier than the conceptual hijinks of his band, Nerve Net Noise. His debut, "Heavenly Music" from 1994, features pounding beats, rhythms made from backwards tape, even some conventionally pleasing synthesizer ambience.

 Tagomago - Heavenly Music

Read more...

His Name Is Alive - Livonia




This stunning LP was released in 1990 on the mighty 4AD. I bought this on the day that it was released, simply because it was on that label. 4AD not only had a really coherent aesthetic but they were the home of the likes of Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, The Birthday Party, Throwing Muses, Pixies, Cocteau Twins, The Wolfgang Press and Lush. It seemed like everything was solid gold and a new 4AD release was a major event. Naturally, I could not wait to get home to play this...

I had never heard His Name Is Alive prior to this so didn't really know what to expect. Not a major surprise given that this was their debut. It quite simply wrecked my head! It left me exhilarated, transfixed and terrified. The music is the work of Warren Defever (Guitar, Bass and Sampler) with the occasional percussion of Damian Lang (who was later in the great The Detroit Cobras). The vocals of Angie Carozzo and Karin Oliver are utterly sublime and majestic. However beautiful this LP is, it has a really dark heart. Just underneath the surface there is an almost tangible malevolence.

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my parents would go out on the piss at the weekend and leave me in charge of my brother and sister. I'd spend that time watching old Count Yorga horror flicks and such like. I remember one Saturday night when I was at my most scared, I heard a noise in the garden but couldn't bring myself to pull back the curtain because I knew that what was out there was worse than I could possibly imagine. The first time I heard this LP it threw me straight back into that headspace. The only other LP that had ever affected me in that way was Psychic TV's "Dreams Less Sweet" (nothing has affected like this since). There are parts of Livonia that are the opposite side of the coin to "Always Is Always".

Whilst this was released in Europe in 1990, it didn't get an American release until 1992. I don't think that this has ever been re-released since then and I can only assume that this is because of some kind of "contractual difficulties". Criminal really...

This remains one of my very favourite things!

If that isn't recommendation enough, try this: back in the day I knew people that had their own record stores and we used to pull down the shutters and have many all night debauched sessions. On one such occasion, I pulled this off the shelf and played it out. An old hippie completely freaked out and started fighting people. Now there's a recommendation!

I'm following in your evil ways...

Read more...

His Name Is Alive - Cloud Box




You would almost think that we had a plan on here...

This is a ten CDr box set released in an edition of only 50 copies. The discs are housed within a wooden box, handmade, hand-painted, numbered, and signed by Warn Defever and Davin Brainard. This beautiful thing was only available on the band's label site (time STEREO), and unsurprisingly it sold out the same day that it was released (the 10th of November 2004).

This is a truly magnificent thing! Given that there is so much to describe, I'll leave it to the liner notes:

Disc 1 was "recorded during a non-stop marathon weekend session celebrating Elliot's 21st birthday + field recordings from Bhaktapur, Nepal on new years 1999-2000 + recordings made in Ann Arbor, Michigan with Jake's high school orchestra. Previously available at shows, BROWN RICE has now been re-edited and remastered."

Disc 2: Warn, Elliot and Hitoko "recorded several hours of Americanized His Name Is Alive music on a full set of instruments of the Indonesian gamelan orchestra kept at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Bonang, saron, gong, slentem and suling played by Warn, Hitoko and Elliot."

Disc 3 was "recorded circa 1994-95 back when HNIA was starting a lot of projects and not finishing all of then (the Mexican 1/2 speed ambient masters was another). It began as a covers album but since I didn't actually learn the songs, Karin had to sing them acappella, but an acappella covers album didn't seem like such a hot idea so the project got shelved. Later I added "music" and now here it is ten years later, a long lost old school His Name Is Alive album."

Disc 4 features improvised music using pinecones as musical instruments.

Disc 5 features string quartet arrangements of songs from His Name Is Alive's debut album, "Livonia".

Disc 6: "Recorded for an installation in an art gallery in Detroit after a particularly harsh winter, this long piece was designed not for the traditional left and right stereo speaker orientation but top and bottom separation. The installation was in a stairwell with one large PA speaker placed at the top of the stairs on the third floor and the other in the basement. The music tries to recreate the experience of being in a house for several months and then as the ice and snow gradually melt, the windows are eventually opened, the sounds of birds are heard once again, and finally there's a party at the lake!!!!"

Disc 7 was "originally performed Sunday, February 17, 2002 at an all night slumber party at an art gallery in Detroit at 9AM. The music was intended to gradually awaken the guests who had been "partying" late into the evening. Hitoko slowly brings out the organ drawbars, increasing the volume and quietly shifting the harmonic structure of the drone while Warn occasionally adds bells, gongs and percussion. The performance was unfortunately not recorded properly, so a few days later at Brown Rice, the piece was performed again live in the studio."

Disc 8 was "recorded inside Everglades National Park, Jan. 2003".

Disc 9: "His Name Is Alive played a special concert in Detroit on July 10, 2004. Lovetta sings, Warn plays guitar and piano, Elliot plays piano and saxophone, Jamie plays upright bass, and Nicole plays congas, a CD of birds plays quietly through one amplifier, and many bells were handed out to the audience members."

Disc 10: "On Tuesday June 15, 2004, I was trying to work in the studio (located in downtown Detroit on Woodward Ave), but I was interrupted in the evening by loud sounds from the street below. The Detroit Pistons had just won Game 5 of the NBA championship finals, beating the LA Lakers 100 to 87, and the people of the city had decided to celebrate with an unoffical late night drunken parade. The steady stream of car honking, screaming, and gun shots were too loud for me to work so I decided that maybe this would escalate into a cool riot and that maybe I should tape it. I set up some microphones out the window and waited for hours thinking it would soon pass. Eventually I decided to join in. I tried to accompany the orchestra of blaring car horns and the roaring choir of excited sports fans, on the piano. After several hours of not-quite-riot behavior, the police closed off the street, but the party continued in the distance...."

01 Brown Rice

02 USA Vs. Gamelan

03 Dreem Up

04 The Pinecone

05 Mystery Spot

06 Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

07 Wake Up Jin

08 Everglades National Park

09 Free Concert

10 Detrola

Read more...

Little Princess - Catch the Sputnik

Solo noise by Davin Brainard, of Princess Dragon-Mom. This album was first issued as a single-sided tape on Go Sonic in 1997, reissued on CDR by Time Stereo three years later. 


Read more...

Princess Dragon-Mom - Fear of Evil

More PDM madness, this one a Tim Stereo CDR from 1999.  

Princess Dragon-Mom - Fear of Evil

Read more...

Princess Dragonmom - Patches

Long before Gods of Tundra stalked the streets of Detroit and the Michigan suburbs were infested with Wolf Eyes, Motor City's premier noise weirdos were a disconcertingly innocent-seeming band called Princess Dragon-Mom. Led by Davin Brainard and Warren Defever (aka His Name Is Alive), the prolific PDM produced harsh noise tapes adorned with Brainard's primary-school colorful paintings, often with images of cute animals and trees. "Patches" is a CDR issued on the band's own Time Stereo label in 2001. 


Read more...

Tongue Knax - Sacrosanct Pearl Skin


Third missive from whatever grim planet Lust Vessel issues these cassettes from. This tape is the most "normal" of the first batch, sounding like solid (if unremarkable) Japanese noise. Still, if that's the itch you've got, Tongue Knax will scratch it.

Tongue Knax - Sacrosanct Pearl Skin

Read more...

Government Alpha - Dizziness/Lull

Paisley synth/noise swirls by Government Alpha, issued as a tape on German artist [licht-ung]'s Punk Kein Rock label in 2007.

Government Alpha - Dizziness/Lull

Read more...

Mo*Te - Cuffs

Blown-out fuzz by Fumiyuki Nagura/Mo*Te, issued as a cassette in an edition of 53 numbered copies by Labyrinth Recordings in 1998. The cover is burnt around the edges, the cassette tied to it with what seems to be copper wire.

Mo*Te - Cuffs

Read more...

Holy Angels ‎- Metaphysics Meditation




Prescription (UK) was a short-lived label ran by Gary Ramon (who drove the Sun Dial outfit). In 1998, the label released this LP in an edition of 99 on a mail order basis.

My head tells me that it is a remastered version of the Holy Trip tape. However, even if this is exactly (note for note) the same, the feel is very different. Whilst this may be down to the remastering, this is well worth you spending time to listen to it. I've spent ages comparing both and to be honest so should you.

In the world of Asahito Nanjo's La Musica Records everything is confusion and obfuscation. Even the information on the LP fits the bill. There are two recording dates: 1994 and 1995 (which may just be the recording dates of the respective sides). It was apparently mastered at La Musica Studios in 1997 (which I think nails the release date of the tape). Then the vinyl was cut in the UK in 1998.

It's the same and it's different. The LP is going for £150 on discogs. Here it is for free so you can make your own mind up whether it is worth it.

Metaphysics Meditation

Read more...

Holy Angels ‎- Holy Trip




Brilliant spaced out psychrock from the mysterious Holy Angels.

A very appropriately named C40 released by La Musica Records at some point.

Holy Trip indeed!

Read more...

Guys & Dolls ‎- Demo Tape




Guys & Dolls featured Jun Yoshiwara and Tori Kudo with Kiyoaki Iwamoto handling the Drums.

C60 released on La Musica Records in 1996.

Demo

Read more...

Sweet Inspirations ‎– Life Affair Trust Music I: Life




C34 released on La Musica Records in 1997.

Sweet Inspirations were an underground rock outfit featuring Jun Yoshiwara on Bass, Yoshio Kuge on Drums and Tori Kudo on Guitar and Vocals.

Life Affair Trust Music I: Life

Read more...

Sweet Inspirations - Life Affair Trust Music IV




C44 released on La Musica Records in the late 1990s.

Life Affair Trust Music IV

Read more...

Sabu Toyozumi / Mototeru Takagi ‎– If Ocean Is Broken




Mototeru Takagi on Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone and Bass Clarinet with Sabu Toyozumi handling the percussion.

Originally recorded live in April 1971 at Yasuda Seimei Hall, Tokyo, Japan, this was eventually released on double vinyl by Qbico in 2009.

Ocean

Broken

Read more...

Eugene Chadbourne - Country Music of Southeastern Australia




Eugene Chadbourne: The Antidote To Popular Culture!

This was the first vinyl release on RRRecords way back in 1984. It was re-released as CD by Entropy Stereo Recordings in 1997. This featured an extra 20 minutes of live medley mangling from Eugene's 1983 Australian tour alongside Jon Rose, David Moss, Jim Denley and Rik Rue. This a rip of the CD version.

Quite simply, this is fantastic and fucked up and never ceases to make me laugh out loud and dance like an educationally challenged farmer.

Country Music

Read more...

De Fabriek & T.L.A. - WNC in Dub

Excellent c90 of Dutch machine noise from 1990.

De Fabriek & T.L.A. - WNC in Dub 

Read more...

De Fabriek & T.L.A. - The Headlines of Today

1989 team-up of two Dutch industrial bands, De Fabriek and The Lost Attic (aka TLA or Technological Aquiver).

De Fabriek & T.L.A. - The Headlines of Today

Read more...

Karasyozoku ‎– Mischievous Sigyn 1923

Second tape on Lust Vessel, recorded in 2007 and released the following year. This time, we get a different band (or is it?) comprised of Kichi, Dr. Torikabutu, and (the best pseudonym I've heard all day... are you ready for it?) Annoying Labia. The music is an hour of joyless, pounding machine horror and pitiless factory whine and it is excellent.

This is what I mean about the ambiguous messages the Lust Vessel crew spits out: 1923? What happened then? The Great Kanto Earthquake happened, but is that what this tape is about? And the text in the booklet (again scanned for me by Mr. Inside, to whom I must express public gratitude as per our marital agreement) says things like "An event is the origin of cause of another event. Contingency is another term of inevitable for human who cannot admit own incompetence". Oh yeah? If this signifies anything coherent to you, please explain it in the comments. I suspect a Kenji Siratori-style avalanche of cyber-bullshit, with one difference: I like to listen to Lust Vessel.

It bears repeating: Annoying Labia! Come on!! You smiled! Don't be such a dour industrial goofball. There is someone in Japan who makes noise cassettes and calls him/herself Annoying Labia. The world can't be such a bad place after all. Am I right? Of course I'm right. This is a great cassette.

And also... Annoying Labia!!!

Karasyozoku ‎– Mischievous Sigyn 1923

Read more...

Gaze Campaign - Gestalt Bruise

First release from the mysterious Lust Vessel label, which issues cassettes of seriously blasted electronics by Japanese bands (or are they all the same band? the same person? who knows?) whose noise all has in common a crushingly hopeless atmosphere. On the one hand, Lust Vessel tapes pay homage to the usual/obvious 1980's instigators of the genre with black and white photocopy artwork that immediately (and I assume knowingly) recalls "tape culture" of a certain vintage/lineage ( Ramleh & Broken FlagMBGrey WolvesNew Blockaders) ... but there's more happening on these tapes than mere reference to other music. What could it be? What, precisely, is being said? It's hard to say. The art suggests violence, sex, and pain (par for the PE course), but goes about it in an obtuse sort of way. I'm actually not sure what it all means. What we're left with are fascinating sounds, distant crushing factory noise, muffled military machinery, deep throbs of synthesizer gut-massage, unrelentingly oppressive ambience... it all seems intentionally, invigoratingly confusing.

This tape by Gaze Campaign (the people/person behind Lust Vessel? Maybe?) came with an oversized booklet that Mr. Inside helpfully scanned for me... and for you! The tracks were difficult to break up, so I left the sides as one track each. Like it or lump it.

Gaze Campaign - Gestalt Bruise

Read more...