Bleak Bliss: September 2015

Voice Crack - Kick That Habit - A Sound Movie By Peter Liechti

Originally, this was a VHS released on RRRecords in 1993. In 2005, it was given a multi-label Swiss release on DVD and in 2009 it appeared again on Drag City.

What drives this fascination is the eternal human question: how do you use crazy golf as a sound source for quality cracked everyday electronics? Relax everyone ... problem solved!

This is in three parts and they all need to be extracted to the same folder.

Kick

That

Habit

Norbert Möslang, Andy Guhl - Kick That Habit

The soon to be Voice Crack recording live Cracked Everyday Electronics on this LP released on UHLAng-PRODUKTION in 1986.

Kick That Habit

Eric Lunde - N3845 W10452.5/7.5

17 tracks of phoned-in cracked electronics across two pieces of 7" vinyl. A high point of RRRon's RRRecords catalogue from way back in 1989.

N3845 W10452.5/7.5

Eric Lunde - Expositions Of The Virus

Cracking tape full of electronics that uses media coverage and educational material to wonderfully disconcerting effect. A glimpse of the moral panic surrounding the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in 1980's America.

C30 released on his own N4300 W8752 label in 1988.

Expositions

Jeph Jerman, Eric Lunde ‎– Animist Ark Project

Two masters of raw field recordings collaborate to produce a series of recordings in which the listener is encouraged to "utilize the components to create your own variations." There are 60 tracks on disc 1 and 3 on disc 2.

A self-released double CDr from 2003 in an edition of 7.

Disc 1

Disc 2

Eric Lunde ‎– Suites For Solo Analog Cassette Recorders Volume 1

This has to be one of my personal favorites. The recordings are composed of 4 different cassette recorders recording themselves through their own condenser mic. Each deck was placed into a sound-proof box and allowed to record the sound of their own mechanism for 30 minutes.

A self-released double CDr from 2002 in an edition of 30.

Disc 1

Disc 2

Jeph Jerman ‎– Beech Tree And Birds

The first track is a recording of beech tree, birds, and bamboo. The second is Sycamore Creek, Puget Sound, and birds. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Except the tin was a digipak with old National Geographic maps pasted to it. They peeled and fell off my copy years ago.

A CDr released on A Pyrrhic Victory in 2001, and apparently again in 2005 .

Beech Tree And Birds

People Like Us - Hate People Like You

I think I've nailed my colours to the mast as far as Vikki / People Like Us are concerned. This is a CD that was also released on Staalplaat in the happier times of 1997.

...and we hate you ...

People Like Us - Hate People Like Us

This contains remixes and reinterpretations of PLU by the likes of Negativland, Bruce Gilbert, V/Vm, Christoph Heemann, Xper Xr, Dr. P. Li Khan, Coil, Felix Kubin and Mika Vainio. Genius from start to finish.

This is a double CD from People Like Us released on Staalplaat in 1999. This was deleted very early into its run due to a fall out between the two parties and were possibly only 150 that saw the light of day.

... we hate ourselves ...

... and each other ...

Vicki Bennett - Smiling Through My Teeth

Vicki Bennett (aka People Like Us) is a pluderphonic genius with an impeccably sly sense of style and humour. Really, is there any other person who would think of throwing together the likes of Raymond Scott, Nihilist Spasm Band, Ground Zero, MC Hellshit & DJ Carhouse, Christian Marclay, Xper Xr and '50s radio favourites into one big melting pot?

CD released on Sonic Arts Network in 2008 and you can find the booklet here.

Smiling Through My Teeth

Sun Ra Arkestra - Live From Soundscape

The previous post rang a bell that was heard on Saturn! Here we have our favourite universe travellers recorded in spellbinding live form in New York on the 11th of November 1979. Initial copies of this came with a bonus disc where, the day before the gig, you have Sun Ra discussing life, the universe and everything.

Double CD released on DIW in 1994.

Sun

Ra

Material - Live From Soundscape

Here's another ingredient from the same soup. On this album of roaring free improvisation, core Material duo Bill Laswell (on bass) and Michael Beinhorn (on electronics) were joined by guitarist Fred Frith and three percussionists: Charles K. Noyes, Mark Miller, and David Moss. Though the music was performed in 1981, "Live From Soundscape" didn't come out until ten years later as a CD on Japanese label DIW. For an indication of how weird it might have seemed to audience members at the time, the contemporary Material studio album was mostly radio-friendly disco funk featuring Archie Shepp, Nona Hendryx, Brian Eno, Nile Rodgers, and a singer called Whitney Houston.

Material - Live From Soundscape

Various - Turntable Solos

CD released on Otomo Yoshihide and Sachiko M's Amoebic label in 1999. It's on the former's Valve subsidiary so you know where you're heading, especially given that the cover gives you a clue about some of the people involved.

Turntable Solos

Otomo Yoshihide - Early Recordings

This is a CDr that he gave away to 50 lucky people at a gig in Tokyo in 2005. This features three short pieces recorded between 1976 and 1983 (or 1984). When I say they are short ... the entire thing only comes in at seven minutes but it's a valuable glimpse into the younger mind of the great man.

Early Recordings

Otomo Yoshihide - Early Works I '81-'85

This is a C40 of live recordings released on Maboroshi No Sekai in 1994.

Evidentially, it is wonderful and is a key piece of the "Japanese noise" jigsaw and a gateway for those who don't quite "get" Otomo Yoshihide.

Naturally, if you think that I am wrong then you are, of course, free to be wrong ...

Early Works I

Otomo Yoshihide - The Night Before The Death Of The Sampling Virus

"This conceptual recording by the Tokyo avant-garde composer was a groundbreaking experiment in deconstruction released in 1993. The piece is based on a system that exploits the malfunction of the CD player, whereby the listener is instructed to play the CD in shuffle mode to achieve a random replay of very small fragments of sound and thus hear an entirely different piece of music with repeated listens. Much in the way that Oval worked with the destabilization of the CD medium."

CD released on Extreme in 1993.

The Night Before The Death Of The Sampling Virus

Otomo Yoshihide - Modulation With 2 Electric Guitars And 2 Amplifiers

CD also released on Doubtmusic in 2007.

Modulation With 2 Electric Guitars And 2 Amplifiers

Otomo Yoshihide - Modulation With 2 Electric Guitars And 2 Amplifiers - Alternative Version / Limited Edition

"Recorded from Chapel Concert @ Oriental Hotel, Hiroshima on May 12, 2007. No overdubs, no edits, no mixing. This is everything that happened in the first set of the Chapel Concert. The idea of this release is that whereas the main version has the modulation effects built into the recording, this version requires the modulation to happen on your own home system. Sort of a soundboard (this) versus live (the other version) recording. Play it as loud as your audio system permits."

CD released on Doubtmusic in 2007.

Alternative Version / Limited Edition

Otomo Yoshihide - Guitar Solo: 12 October 2004 @ Shinjuku Pit Inn, Tokyo + 1

Great live set that veers between considered contemplative pieces and complete equipment demolition.

CD released on Doubtmusic in 2005.

Guitar Solo

Emil Beaulieau, Due Process, Merzbow - 5th Anniversary Boxset Thing

RRRecords is a record store and label in Lowell, Massachusetts. It isn't just any shop, though. For people of a certain age, RRR's photocopied mailorder catalog was one of the few places in the world where one could buy noise music. As a label, RRR put out the first LPs outside of Japan by such unknown weirdos as Merzbow, Masonna, Violent Onsen Geisha, and the Hanatarash. In its first years, it also made vinyl by American industrial punks Boy Dirt Car and Blackhouse, as well as underground guitar (and rake) hero Eugene Chadbourne. RRR CEO Ron Lessard performed destroyed noise under the alias Emil Beaulieau (named after a former mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire) and had a weekly radio program of improvisation and dense collage as part of his band Due Process. This amazing boxset thing was released in 1989 to mark the occasion of RRRecords' 5th year of existence, and oh boy is it remarkable. Five records for five years. The first LP of needle-wrecking screech is all Emil solo, having fun on stage in the summer of 1988. The middle three LPs are by Due Process, partly excerpted from the RRRadio show (and featuring tape contributions from Arcane Device, the late Agog, Smell & Quim, PBK, Lawrence Crane, Asmus Tietchens, Disco Splendor and more, plus spoken text readings) and part live in concert. The final LP is a fantastic mail collaboration by Due Process and Merzbow.

Emil Beaulieau - One Man Penis/One Man Buttocks
Due Process - RRRadio Long Island/RRRadio 19
Due Process - RRRadio 16/17-22
Due Process - Pro-Rock Explosion/Choke the Chicken
Due Process & Merzbow - Collaboration

Otomo Yoshihide, Bill Laswell, Yoshigaki Yasuhiro - Soup Live

How do you improve your favourite soup? Add Akira Sakata on saxophone, Naruyoshi Kikuchi on saxophone and organ with a pinch of Yuji Katsui on violin. Then simmer for 2 hours over the course of two nights at the Shinjuku Pit Inn in Tokyo. Bon appétit!

Double CD released on P-Vine Records in 2004.

Soup

Live

Otomo Yoshihide, Bill Laswell, Yoshigaki Yasuhiro - Soup

Does exactly what it says on the can.

CD released on P-Vine Records in 2003.

Soup

Coil - Get The Coil

Takeharu Hayakawa, Natsuki Kido and Yasuhiro Yoshigaki.

To quote Stan Lee: "'Nuff Said".

CD released on Maboroshi No Sekai in 1998.

Get The Coil

Coil - Big Games

This is a different kettle of fish than the previous post. This time around Takeharu Hayakawa and Natsuki Kido are joined by Yuji Katsui on violin (who was in the likes of Black Stage, Bondage Fruit, Rovo and Shibusashirazu Orchestra). The drums are profoundly dealt with by the wonderful Yasuhiro Yoshigaki who was in Ground-Zero, Soup, Rovo, Altered States and a dozen other great outfits. The drums are recorded right up front to the point where it feels like he has set up his kit right in front of you. Splendid!

CD released on Chitei Records in 2000.

Big Games

Coil - Coil 3

Coil are Natsuki Kido on guitar (who was also in the likes of Black Stage, Bondage Fruit, and Korekyojinn), Takeharu Hayakawa on bass (who was in the Kazutoki Umezu KIKI Band alongside Natsuki and in the great Satoko Fujii Quartet) and Eiji Tanaka on drums (who is also in Nagisa Nite).

It's Rock Jim but not as we know it ... kind of like early Allman Brothers Band but with a frenzied NoMeansNo rhythm section. I love it, you'll probably hate it, but that's par for the course on here.

Released on Maboroshi No Sekai in 2002.

Coil 3

Keiji Haino & Coil - Play The Blues

This is a 192kbp/s digital "release" from 2003 featuring a set at Manda-La 2 in Tokyo on the 28th of September, 2003 from a gig to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Maboroshi no Sekai label. This was a request attached to a previous post, I've had this sitting on a drive for at least a decade, had almost forgotton that I had it and can't remember for the life of me how I managed to get hold of it.

This isn't the John Balance / Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson Coil by the way ... as you will see shortly.

Play The Blues

Mikami Kan, Motoharu Yoshizawa, Keiji Haino - Live In The First Year Of Heisei, Volume 1

... and this LP and single sided 7" was the 5th release on P.S.F. also in 1990.

Live In The First Year Of Heisei, Volume 1

Keiji Haino, Mikami Kan, Motoharu Yoshizawa - Live In The First Year Of Heisei, Volume 2

Three people that should need no introduction on an LP that was the sixth release on P.S.F. Records in 1990.

Live In The First Year Of Heisei, Volume 2

Hoahio - Happy Mail

Ricardo Sex is one of the best things that you will have heard for a very long time ...

This is the first release on Sachiko M. and Otomo Yoshihide's Amoebic label in 1997.

Happy Mail

Hoahio - Ohayo! Hoahio!

Haco, Michiyo Yagi and Sachiko M putting some real bounce into your stride with this mesmerising CD released on Tzadik in 2000. Haco's vocals remind me of being transfixed at the feet of Lisa Germaine Gerrard (which in itself is enough) and Sachiko M even manages to infiltrate some glitchcore ... what more could you possibly need today?

Ohayo! Hoahio!

Hoahio - Peek-Ara-Boo

Now, here's a change of pace. Hoahio were the all female group featuring Haco, Mari Furuta and Michiyo Yagi. Their other two releases also featured Sachiko M (who was in Ground Zero). This is a CD full of twisted pop sensibilities and traditional instrumentation and was released on John Zorn's Tzadik in 2003.

Peek-Ara-Boo

Incapacitants & T.A.D.M. - Stocks & Bonds

Jason Kushnir and Incapacitants (Fumio Kosakai and Toshiji Mikawa obviously) offering up two long tracks each with a short collaborative piece in between. CDr released on Patrick O'Neil's Self Abuse Records in 1999.

Stocks & Bonds

Two Assistant Deputy Ministers / Cracksteel - Official Channels

This is a CDr released on Patrick O'Neil's Solipsism in 2001. Jason Kushnir delivers two long harsh static glitch tracks but (for me) it's the half hour of Kazuhiro Matsuyama's Cracksteel that nails this one.

Official Channels

Daisuke Suzuki - DDD

This is, as far as I'm aware, the only solo recording by Daisuke Suzuki, who you might know as a member of Ghosts on Water (with Andrew Chalk) or Lost Shadow (with David Jackman & Michael Prime), or for his recordings with Darren Tate. Daisuke also runs the excellent Siren Records label in Tokyo, which has released music by like-minded artists such as Jonathan Coleclough, Robert Haigh, and The New Blockaders, sometimes in cooperation with Robot Records and Chalk's Faraway Press. This gives you an idea of the world Daisuke lives in, which makes his only solo album a strange thing indeed. "DDD" includes two seemingly unaltered field records of ducks (on one side) and crickets (on the other). The album was recorded in 1996 and 1997, then released by IDEA as an LP in a run of 300 copies in 2001. It's difficult to hear the connection between this documentary-style presentation and the weighty, sober drones made by the artists' associates, but then maybe it ought to be listened to as simply what it is, without bias.

Daisuke Suzuki - DDD

Sister Iodine / Masaya Nakahara - Meth: Live In Tokyo

Q: What do you get when you cross a great French band with Hair Stylistics / Violent Onsen Geisha as a live encore?

A: A great LP released on Premier Sang in 2010.

Meth: Live In Tokyo

Being - Battery Cages

Being is the work of Luke Tandy. Everything that I have heard by him is solid gold.

An early C20 released on Skeleton Dust Recordings in a miserly edition of 15 copies in 2006.

Battery Cages

Being - Battery Cages III

Swill your mouth out with this little beauty. Contact mic fuckery that explodes into joyous harsh slaps to the face with a b-side full of galloping wall. C20 released on Skeleton Dust Recordings in 2012.

III

Various - Broken Flag: A Retrospective 1982 - 1985

In 2007, Vinyl-on-demand revisited the legendary Broken Flag output with a plush vinyl boxset and re-released it as a five CD set five years later (without the members only 7" unfortunately).

You get extracts from releases by Giancarlo Toniutti, Maurizio Bianchi, Mauthausen Orchestra, Le Syndicat, Controlled Bleeding, Un-Kommuniti, Male Rape Group, Ramleh and Kleistwahr plus a compilation featuring the likes of Sutcliffe Jügend, The New Blockaders and Consumer Electronics.

A compulsory stained (glass) window into the world of the early Eighties pioneers.

I

II

III

IV

V

Wolf Eyes - Fork Over Your Face

Now here's a conundrum (part 2). This is another Am255 ... same story ... go figure!

Hey There, Forkface!

Wolf Eyes - Strangled In Filth

Palette cleanser? Pah! I like my tongue furry ...

Now here's a conundrum (part 1). This doesn't appear on John's AmTapes release list. Discogs has this CDr as Am255 but that catalogue number is taken by Wolf Eye's Droll Vol. 11 tape ... conspiracy theories ahoy!

Strangled In Filth

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