Bleak Bliss: May 2015

White Gimp Mask - Engineering Stress

C20 released on Robert's own WGM Tapes & Vinyl in 2011.

... yeah, that's not the real cover ...

Engineering Stress

White Gimp Mask - Destruction Is The Americans Masturbation

Robert Newsome on a self-released CDr from 2010 that has been resurrected from the Harsh Noise Wall Graveyard. That blog has been inactive for 18 months which is a shame. Some of the links are still active tho' ... this one isn't ...

insert your own apostrophe

Streetmeat - Show Me Your Work

Bouncing harsh glitch static from Streetmeat who are M. Jones and Robert Newsome. This is a C60 and business card set released on Fusty Cunt in 2011. The b-card is a collaboration with Richard Ramirez.

Show Me Your Work

Four Flies - Your Wife Is My Vice And Shall Be Killed

7" released on Urashima in 2011 in an edition of only 20 copies and was the last of the Black Glove Mania series. At this point, Four Flies were Richard Ramirez and Robert Newsome.

Your Wife Is My Vice And Shall Be Killed

Murder Corporation - Butcher Meat

Murder Corporation is the industrial / power electronics leaning project of Moreno Daldosso (but, of course, you already know that). Originally, this was a C40 released on Moreno's Murder Release in 1993 and as a CDr in 1997. This is the loving vinyl treatment given to it by Urashima in 2013.

No. Brainer.

Butcher Meat

Sshe Retina Stimulants - Krionika Soshiki

Originally, this was a C46 released on Marco Corbelli's Slaughter Productions in 1995. Then it was re-released on vinyl on Urashima (or as they are better known "fucking hell, I love Urashima").

The Italian triumvirate of Paolo Bandera, Slaughter Productions and Urashima? What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing at all.

Krionika Soshiki

Burning Star Core - West Coast Spring 2004

Talk about reductionist improvisation. This album began life as a triple cassette documenting Burning Star Core's West Coast USA tour, featuring six live documents of the Spencer Yeh/Robert Beatty duo. It was reissued as a double cassette with only four live recordings. The most recent version is a vinyl LP that includes only two concerts. Released on Yeh's What The... ? label, a very clever tribute to/approximation of the bootleg LPs that used to litter "collectable" record shops in pre-internet times.

Burning Star Core - West Coast Spring 2004

BXC - 4-25-03 SGH Violin & Electronics

One-sided c30 by BXC, aka Burning Star Core, aka C. Spencer Yeh on violin and electronics (but you knew that already) captured live in concert 12 years and a month ago. The tape was issued on Yeh's Drone Disco label in 2003 in an edition of 50 copies.

BXC - 4-25-03 SGH Violin & Electronics

Sshe Retina Stimulants - Zatsuon Junk

An early outing for Paolo Bandera's Sshe project. C44 released on Old Europa Cafe in 1994.

Zatsuon Junk

Sshe Retina Stimulants - Some Whores And A Camera Zaibatsu

CD released on Old Europa Cafe in 1995 which features source material from Stefan Alt (as Salt and Nimoy), Akifumi Nakajima (aka Aube), Mark Solotroff, Andrea Chiaravalli (aka Iugula-Thor) and Koji Tano (MSBR).

Some Whores And A Camera Zaibatsu

Sshe Retina Stimulants - Heaven 39

This is three sides of vinyl released on Kyle Wright's Diophantine Discs in 2006. It takes it's theme as the Heaven's Gate cult. In 1997, 39 of these deluded humans committed suicide in some bizarre preperation to join the space aliens as they passed by. Each of the bodies were found covered with a purple shroud. You can still find the cult leader's (murderer's) utterly psychotic proclamations on line but I'm not going to link him. Shame the fucker is dead ... he should be rotting in jail. The real shame is that there were people who followed him when they could have been receiving treatment and living happy lives.

Heaven 39

Sshe Retina Stimulants - Special Bill

C84 released on Tape Fiend in 2008 featuring two live performances in Toronto and Chicago in September 1997.

Special Bill

John Olson & Kalojan Witanski - I Was Reincarnated as a Busy Road

One of the earliest American Tapes releases, this inzanely rare item came out in 1997 as an edition of only 20 cassettes in a wonderfully elaborate sculpture package. Witanski, as you all know, makes inscrutable junk-noise under the names Kadef and Use Your Pain.

John Olson & Kalojan Witanski - I Was Reincarnated as a Busy Road

Swans - Love Will Tear Us Apart

On the 18th of May 1980, Ian Curtis took his own life. On the 18th of May 2015, I heard Peter Hook on the radio talking about his new band going back to Macclesfield and playing in a chuch there. They were going to play all 48 Joy Division songs with funds going to the Epilepsy Society and to save the Grade 2 listed Church from falling apart. I couldn't get there. Is it really 35 years ago ... ?

With a graceful nod to Ian and Deborah:

Love Will Tear Us Apart

Subvert Blaze - Subvert Art Complete Works

Subvert Blaze only released two albums. Both were on Alchemy Records in 1990 and 1992 respectively. Thankfully (for me at least), Jojo re-released them as a double CD retrospective in 2004 with an additional two tracks that appeared on the Osaka Greasy Truckers compilation in 1990.

Their physical output is virtually impossible to find these days. I won't spoil it too much with my random words (but, the cover of Black Sabbath's "Wicked World" is something to behold!) ... you need to download this!

Subvert

Art

va - Japan Bashing Volume 1

This 7" needs less introduction. The Boredoms, UFO Or Die, Omoide Hatoba and Hanadensha.

Released on David Hopkins' Public Bath in 1990.

Japan Bashing Volume 1

va - Japan Bashing Volume 2

Obviously this is the second in the 7" series on Public Bath, this time from 1990.

Side A features Subvert Blaze who were Hiroaki Fujiwara (who was also in Slap Happy Humphrey with Jojo Hiroshige), Okano Futoshi (who was in various incarnations of Acid Mothers Temple including the recent Acid Mothers Temple & Space Paranoid as well as Andromelos with Makoto Kawabata and Maso Yamazaki) and Yoshihiro Kakinoki (who was also in Garadama and Gomidama). Five minutes from a short-lived stoner-psych outfit that has just the right amount of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol to make everything go swimmingly.

Side B has the female four piece, Playmate. I don't know who they are or what other releases they made. On the back of these two tracks I'd love to hear more if anybody can steer me in the right direction...

Japan Bashing Volume 2

va - Japan Bashing Three

A classic 2x7" compilation of what was, in 1991, a strange new thing: Japanese Noise Music. For historical context, consider that in 1991, the only releases that Solmania had were some self-released cassettes that were hardly distributed (if at all?) outside of Japan. The Hanatarash released two LPs and some tapes, and Boredoms' "Pop Tatari" was still a year away. Masonna had just released his "Shinsen na Clitoris" CD on Vanilla, a small handful of cassettes, and those one-off acetate singles that no one will ever hear (and in 1991, no one particularly wanted to). The most (ahem) "well known" band on this comp was Hijokaidan, who had been very active and prolific but still virtually unknown outside of Japan. 1991 was the year they released the "Windom" CD, which is an essential classic but did not have the international impact of anything that Merzbow would put out later... and speaking of Merzbow, he was still two years away from "Venereology" and five from "Pulse Demon". All this is to say that when Public Bath issued "Japan Bashing Three", it was intended as an introduction of four very obscure and extreme bands to Western audiences who would likely be hearing of them for the first time. This absolutely had the stun-gun effect it aimed for, and the vinyl format suited it perfectly. Each side is an enormous blast of raw noise... flip the 7", and it's just as shocking. This comp booted the door open for me, and probably for lots of other people who began sifting through record shops asking for "noise music" and getting the clerks' hard stare in return.

va - Japan Bashing Three

Hijokaidan - 雑音伝説 (The Neverending Story Of The King Of Noise)

Ah! Now I find myself in that empty room again. This is a truly astonishing box of tricks and if you haven't heard it then you definitely should! But is this one of the greatest 4xCD Japanese noise boxsets ever released? Well it certainly used to be but maybe it isn't anymore...

Jojo has been very busy remastering the Hijokaidan back catalogue and now there is a new version that includes another hour and a half of material. Until we become fabulously rich we won't be able contrast and compare. However, no new version will compete with the simply world-changing impact of the original. Mrs Inside is right again.

This was released in 1992 on Alchemy Records.

One
Two
Three
Four

Merzbow - Metalvelodrome (Exposition Of Electro-Vivisection)

Well, it turns out that the Mrs is right again! Whilst I freely admit that I could have an argument in an empty room, I find it difficult to argue with her summation of the best four CD boxsets. I also freely admit that I love everything that Masami Akita does. Even by those rose-coloured standards, this is an exemplar.

Released in 1992 on Jojo's Alchemy Records.

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Three
Four

B.B. King

Well, I woke up this morning ...

As I opened my eyes, the radio told me that B.B. King died in his sleep last night. He is literally the king of Blues guitar and Blues singing. I saw him when I was a kid (many years ago) and he took the entire audience in the palm of his hand and could have done exactly what he wanted with us. One of the most spellbinding nights of my life and I still remember every second of it. The world was a better place for having him and a poorer place now he has gone!

The sun is shining over here. I'm gonna get myself some beers and listen to the man all day long ....

Live In Cook County Jail

K2 - Sexencyclopedia

By day, Dr. Kimihide Kusafuka is a pathologist in rural Suntō-gun, Shizuoka, Japan. But since 1983 or so, by the light of the full moon, this mild-mannered country doctor (do pathologists have any free time?) transforms into a fierce, prolific producer of harsh synthesizer music, metal-bashing industrial scree, tape-splice audio junk collage, and (most recently) pure-electronic noise. This 4xCD boxset collects metal junk noise from 2000 and 2001, including studio work (discs 1 and 4), newly remixed music taken from split tapes and CDs with Vita-Verbum-Lux and Veprisuicida (disc 2), and live recordings (discs 2 and 3). It was issued by K2's own Kinky Music Institute label in a run of 500 copies, and came in one of those chunky multi-disc jewel cases with the thick spine that looks so great when sitting on your shelf. Along with Merzbow's "Metalvelodrome" and Hijokaidan's "Neverending Story of the Kings of Noise", completes the unofficial trilogy of essential 4xCD boxsets of Japanese noise.

disc 1
disc 2
disc 3
disc 4

The Velvet Underground - Sweet Sister Ray

Sterling Morrison. Moe Tucker. John Cale. Lou Reed.

This is an "unofficial" double CD that came out of Japan in 1996 and has four live recordings of Sister Ray recorded between 1968 and 1970. Given that these recordings are nearly fifty years old, the quality isn't top class but I could still listen to this all day.

If you don't like it then you are free to suck on my ding dong ... just like Sister Ray said.

Ding
Dong

Up-Tight - Lucrezia

Takashi Ogata on bass, Takashi Shirahata on drums and Tomoyuki Aoki on vocals and guitar. Make no mistake, this is a truly great album!

CD released on Alchemy Records in 2004.

Lucrezia

Up-Tight - Sweet Sister Session (Uncut) - For Lucrezia

Last year, Essence Music re-released "The Night Is Yours" which initially was an LP released on Sloowax in 2011. The re-release has a boxset edition of only 91 copies that contained a bonus CDr. In one of those "dream come true" moments, it's the full (previously unheard) Sweet Sister from 2004 recorded during the making of the Lucrezia album. Quite rightly, the boxset sold out immediately. So here is the bonus disc ... forty-six minutes of heaven!

Essence Music create some really fine releases and you should really check them out. You should pass by their Bandcamp to whet your appetite.

Sweet Sister Session (Uncut)

Up-Tight - Up-Tight

Kazuhiro Nakanishi on bass, Takashi Shirahata on drums and Tomoyuki Aoki on guitar and voice. Self-released in 2001.

Up-Tight

Up-Tight - Sweet Sister 1994-2003

More riffs on Sweet Sister. The first two versions (from '94 and '98) feature Yoshifumi Kira on bass. Other than that it's the same line-up as the previous post and is another self-released CDr from 2003.

Sweet Sister 1994-2003

Up-Tight - Live 2003

This is a self-released CDr from 2003. By virtue of being a set of live recordings, this takes them up another notch. It includes a 16 minute version of Sweet Sister which, if you were to continue the VU metaphor, is their Sister Ray. More of which later ...

Live 2003

Up-Tight - Five Psychedelic Pieces

Alan Cummings reckoned that "the ghost of The Velvet Underground, Rallizes and Amon Düül loom large over there their personal feedback song-distruction universe". He is correct as always (and where is Alan these days btw?).

This is Tomoyuki Aoki on guitar and vocals, Takashi Ogata on bass and Takashi Shirahata behind the kit. If ever a release did whatever it said on the tin then this is it. Beautiful in every way!

Released on Static Records in 2004.

Five Psychedelic Pieces

LSD March - Sep/22/2008 Usine-4 Geneve

Given that this was around the time that Jurando and Uretakumo Nakunarutorika were released, I think it's safe to assume that this is Ikuro Takahashi and Shinsuke Michishita. The two discs sound as though they were snatched from the mixing desk to rip to CDr to sell at the next gig the next night...some of the vocals are very muffled so it feels as though that makes sense. Either way, everything LSD March touch turns to gold.

There are three more listed on Discogs (and there may even be others) that were for sale in Amsterdam, Madrid and Prague ... so if you are sitting on those and have nothing better to do ...

CDr released in an edition of 20 to support their European tour in 2008.

Sep/22/2008 Usine-4 Geneve

LSD March - Sep/18/2008 Museu Do Chiado Lisbon

CDr released in an edition of 20 to support their European tour in 2008.

Sep/18/2008 Museu Do Chiado Lisbon

LSD March - Untitled

CDr initially released on White Elephant Records in 2007 that served as tour mersch in Japan and the USA in very limited quantities. Only Shinsuke Michishita and Ikuro Takahashi appear to be involved here.

Untitled

LSD March - 漏刻の炎・凛然・雨・嵐の青春

On the first three tracks, LSD March are Miyazima Hitomi, Makoto Inoue and Shinsuke Michishita. On the final track the line up is Shinsuke Michishita, Ikuro Takahashi and Masami Kawaguchi.

This is a rare CDr outing released on White Elephant Records in 2004 in an edition of 50.

漏刻の炎・凛然・雨・嵐の青春

Niplets - Uramado

Niplets were Hiroshi Nar, Junko, Kyoko, Taizo and Zin. Hiroshi Nar was the bassist and occasional guitarist with Les Rallizes Dénudes. The other members of Niplets are mysterious in my part of the world so I can't add anything else I'm afraid.

This CD was released in 1997 on Hören and it's so retro it's already happened in the future.

Uramado

Niplets - 泥棒ごっこ [Dorobo Gokko]

Really classy rock and roll on a CD released on Hören in 1999. In what is probably my most tangential link, the lovely cover design was created by Masahiko Ohno (aka Solmania).

泥棒ごっこ

Niplets - 講堂ブギ [The Lecture Hall Boogie]

OK, it features the dreaded word "boogie" and it starts with a drum solo. What can you do? CD released on Hören in 2003.

講堂ブギ

va - Visual Sound

This CD-ROM was actually the catalog to the "Visual Sound" exhibition that ran 2000-2001 at the Mattress Factory, a contemporary art museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. More than just audio by heavyweights Rolf Julius, Robin Minard, Hans Peter Kuhn, Christina Kubisch, Takehisa Kosugi, Terry Fox, Patrice Carre, and Qin Yufen, the disc also included Quicktime video and .aiff files by the artists. Due to the size of the files, I've separated the CD-ROM into three parts which you'll have to download separately.

audio
video part 1
video part 2

Les Rallizes Denudes - December's Black Children (Live at Shibuya Yaneura, Tokyo 13/12/1980)

The story of Les Rallizes Dénudés and the opaque authenticity of the plethora of "no label" releases has been told on here before. This is a double CD set apparently released in an edition of 100 in about 1989. They start off in the style of Gram Parsons or a very mellow Meat Puppets but the feedback is never very far away! Needless to say, it's brilliant.

And just in case you missed it, the latest "no label" release was recently posted on the excellent Vacuumworld.

One

Two

Chainfight - Prison Sweat

Greh Holger (Hive Mind, Pure Ground, Crook & Scourge, etc) + Khristopher Reinshagen (Liable, Body Collector, etc) = Chainfight! This double cassette came out in an edition of 50 copies on Chondritic Sound in 2008.

tape 1
tape 2

Chainfight - Blessings

The first fight by Michigan basement creeps Hive Mind and Body Collector on this cassette, blessed by Chondritic Sound with an edition of 50 copies in 2008.

Chainfight - Blessings

Contagious Orgasm - Voltage Controlled Filter

I love it when Hiroshi Hashimoto creates sounds like these! Hypnotic loops, blasts of metallic noise and smothered sampled vocals. Reminds me of the implied terror of early Psychic TV (which is always welcome). You know that unspeakable things are happening behind the curtain but you don't really want to know the full details. You couldn't handle the truth. This would sit very well as a Shinya Tsukamoto soundtrack (any of the Tetsuo films or maybe even Haze).

CD released on Tesco Organisation in 1993.

Voltage Controlled Filter

Contagious Orgasm ‎– When Thin Skin Split

Sweeping industrial synths and dungeon noise on a CDr released on SSSM in 2000. This is a reissue of the Thin Skinned tape from 1989 and includes two bonus tracks.

When Thin Skin Split

Contagious Orgasm - The Music Which Draws Something

Two live recordings from concerts in Nagoya and Kyoto in 1999, issued as a CDR by SSSM in 2000.

Contagious Orgasm - The Music Which Draws Something

Duncan Bruce - New Glass Tapu

Have you had enough warped explorations from New Zealand? "Never" I hear you cry! That's the spirit ...

Here you get Clayton Noone and Lee Noyes contributing to a track each whilst Tim Cornelius mucks in with the final three. As if that is not enough, there is a wealth of Duncan on his own. What does this leave you with? Well, I've searched the Bleak Bliss lexicon and there are not enough words in there to do this justice. Let's just say that this is a genius CDr released on the totally recommended and Bristol-based LF Records in 2008.

New Glass Tapu

Sandoz Lab Technicians - The Three Imposters

Triple 8" lathe cut set which sees each member of Sandoz Lab Technicians (James Kirk, Nathan Thompson and Tim Cornelius) choose a SLT track for the A Side and then take it in turns to record solo outings for the reverses. An Ummagumma for the New Zealand sub-underground if you will (or even if you won't).

The Three Imposters

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