Bleak Bliss: January 2020

va - Electronic Music From High Schools

There must be a story to this one, but I can't figure out what it is. Released as a CD on Flexidisc ( not the format, but a label run by Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto), this album claims to contain electronic music recorded by high school kids in 1968, 1972 and 1973 with one track at the end from 1984. It seems to be a reissue of an LP released by Recorded Publications Company from Camden, New Jersey, which was, in fact, an imprint that would manufacture vinyl records for school bands. My husband assures me that this was a real thing, and that his high school band recorded such an LP (he played the trumpet, of course. I was more of a French horn girl) in the late 1980s. It's possible that Dangers made all of this music himself and grafted a believable concept onto it. It's also possible that a high school had an electronic music lab, made an LP for the kids and parents to keep as a souvenir, and this was a Creel Pone style small-run reissue for fans of outsider electronic music. If you have more information or inside knowledge than I do, please enlighten us all in the comments.

va - Electronic Music From High Schools

Speculum Fight - Lost

If you're not careful you will underestimate this. From the onset of the machine hum there is real agency and over the course of one hour it evolves into a quietly triumphant aside from the fuss that other people have generated inside your head.

CDr released on P-Tapes in 2002.

lost and found

Autopsia - Wound

An archival album of early machine noise and oppressive tape loop doom by Czech industrial band Autopsia, who are still going strong today. These tracks were recorded between 1981 and 1987, released in 1993 as a CD on Hypnobeat/Gymnastic Records. Fans of Vivenza or (early) Laibach take note!

Autopsia - Wound

Speculum Fight - White Elephant

An alter-ego of Damion Romero with saturated drones and scratchy homemade electronics.

C54 released on his own P-Tapes in 1994.

White Elephant

Dead Machines / Damion Romero / John Wiese - Friday The 13th

On it's own, the attendance list makes you bend the knee but then each get their own side of vinyl and the fourth side is everybody at the same time including Mr O on the old skronky saxophone. When I was a kid I always looked forward to the next edition of the Marvel Team-Up comic so yeah, this always works for me. The crackle is all part of the show.

Double LP recorded live on Friday January the 13th 2006 at Il Corral and released on Anarchymoon Recordings later that year.

Friday The 13th

Religious Knives & Dead Machines - In Brooklyn After Dark

Shaman clank and fiery drones ... everything you could possibly need.

C40 released on American Tapes in 2006.

In Brooklyn After Dark

RU-486 - Disease and Development

Texan power electronics filth from 2009, released on tape by Danvers State Recordings in a run of 65 copies.

RU-486 - Disease and Development

Scott Davey - Goner (Solo Electronic Music, 1988-'93)

Here's an ultra obscure tape to start your week! "Goner (Solo Electronic Music, 1988-'93)" is, as far my pal Discogs and I can tell, the only album by Scott Davey, who played synthesizer in the San Francisco post-punk band Red Asphalt (1978-1982). Homemade electric noises, Residential song-like things, samples and radio buzz recorded after Davey's Red Asphalt days, released on cassette by Egg & Anvil in 1993. Warning: it's an old cassette, and I made the best possible rip, yet artifacts remain. If you don't like it, go buy a copy and rip it yourself. "This is your mother, you poop! You're gone and you didn't return my call, you poop! Call me, you shit ass! Alright, bye bye."

Scott Davey - Goner (Solo Electronic Music, 1988-'93)

Dead Machines - Future Funerals

How to sneak up behind people using stretched electronics.

C40 released on American Tapes in 2003.

Future Funerals

Double Leopards & Dead Machines - Fuck Victoriaville

A legendary group of people delivering thirteen minutes of threatening temple drone.

Single sided LP released on American Tapes in 2005.

Fuck Victoria-ahh

The Dead Machines - Organs Without A Body

Quite possibly the high point of Dead Machines and AmTapes and (by definition) everything else.

C80 and C54 set released on American Tapes in 2003.

Organs Without A Body

The Dead Machines - Discontented Statics

There's no discontent here. Don't judge it by the first bit of contact mic conversation ... it's a lot more developed and engaging than that. As you would be right to expect.

C56 released on American Tapes in 2003.

Discontented Statics

Chris Cooper - Special Bonus Thing

Solo 3"CDr on Kissy Records from 2003 by the main guitar mangler from Fat Worm of Error, Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase, The BSC, Commode Minstrels in Bullface and more.

Chris Cooper - Special Bonus Thing

Dead Machines - Communique Received

The interception of warped and degraded messages from the Olson dimension.

C32 released on American Tapes in 2003.

Communique Received

Ultra Bonbon & Pak - Split

Another micro-edition noise tape from Bonbon Bruises, this time split between Ultra Bonbon and Pak, aka Philadelphia multi-media artist Lauren Pakradooni. Those with ears finely attuned to the sub-sub-underground may know Pakradooni from her tape loop bloop under the Tether moniker.

Ultra Bonbon & Pak - Split

The Dead Machines - Live From The Sandblasters Court

Simply excellent live outing from John and Tovah.

CDr released on American Tapes ‎in 2003 ... it's AM276 btw.

Live From The Sandblasters Court

Ultra Bonbon - Paradise Vol 1

From deep within the Canadian noise underground comes Calgary's own Ultra Bonbon, aka Danny Milanese (who also records as Gel Nails and Fat Legs). This tape came out in 2009 on Bonbon Bruises as an edition of just 20 copies, packed inside a neat little manila coin envelope.

Ultra Bonbon - Paradise Vol 1

Saicobab - Live In OVA At Aoyama Cay On Nov. 2001

Nuanced new age drift.

CD released on Mau Recordings in 2003.

Live In Aoyama

Haare - Doomsday Sunrise

2011 cassette of Ilkka Vekka's sun-blasted drone noise, released by Cathartic Process. Of note: Freak Animal's Industrial Recollections subdivision has just released a 6xCD Haare boxset collecting his out of print cassette material, including this one! I haven't heard it yet, but I'm certain it is worth your hard-earned Euros.

Haare - Doomsday Sunrise

Saicobaba - Live In OVA At Yokohama Bay Hall On Apr. 2002

A self-explanatory release that is more horizontal than the previous post.

CD released on Mau Recordings in 2003.

Live In Yokohama

John Wiese - Bubble Pulse

Recorded in 2002, released as a CD in 2003 by Kissy Records. One of Wiese's earliest full-length albums after a run of 7" singles and splits.

John Wiese - Bubble Pulse

Psycho Baba - TabLoveDubLa

A clubbed up trio of drums, electronics and sitar courtesy of Yokota Yoshimi, Katsuki Kagawa and Yoshida Daikichi. A 54 minute track whose opening seven minutes is like System 7 at triple speed hovering above your head ... and then the tablas start.

CD released on Japan Overseas in 1999.

TabLoveDubLa

Various - Maboroshi No Sekai Samples

Compilation to showcase the label with Melt Banana, Black Stage, Bondage Fruit, Painkiller, Harpy and Yuji Katsui with Tatsuya Yoshida amongst the throng.

CD released on Maboroshi No Sekai in 1995.

Samples

Various - Cruel Beasts

The likes of Seiichi Yamamoto, Children Coup D'etat, Otomo Yoshihide, Tatsuya Yoshida, Yokota Yoshimi and Harpy. Very very good!

C40 released on Maboroshi No Sekai ‎in 1994.

Cruel Beasts

Jurajium - Jurajium

Hatta Naohiko's synth-noise with Jojo Hiroshige adding guitar to the mix. Again, other than the split (and an appearance on an early Hijokaidan tape) I can't find any other recordings that he made.

CD released on Alchemy Records in 1997.

Jurajium

NG - Ugomeku Ego

Utterly fascinating piece of vinyl that swerves between gabba, Talking Heads and AFX. Forty years ago. As far as I know, other than the contribution to the previous post, this is all they wrote.

7" released on Unbalance in 1981.

Ugomeku Ego

NG / Jurajium / Hijokaidan - Shumatsu Shorijo (+1 Noise Remastered Edition)

The 1980 LP released on Unbalance only came in an edition of 200 so became vanishingly rare. This is a remastered reissue of the original (with a bonus Jurajium track) so it can be heard in it's full new-wave noise-rock synth-weird majesty.

CD released on Reveil in 2014.

Shumatsu Shorijo

R. Sundin - Dreamsketch

A very early album by Ronnie Sundin under his own name. Recordings from 1997 and 1998, released as a CDR by Bake Records (a sub-division of Korm Plastics) in 1999.

R. Sundin - Dreamsketch

Rsundin - Internal Reference

Sorry for the low-res image here. If someone owns this and wants to scan it and send us a better image, please do. Otherwise, this 2000 CD (self-released on Sundin's own Bonbon label) finds the Swedish artist composing computer music by only using sounds generated acoustically by his computer. Barely-there sound from fans, keyboard taps and electric hum. Actually, he cheated his concept on one track, but in a clever way; he recorded the sound of a roomful of computers that were on, but not being used. This was from 20 years ago, remember.

Rsundin - Internal Reference

Hijokaidan - Shumatsu-Shorijo

The first track was originally released in 1980 as Hijokaidan's contribution to a split LP. It would appear it's recorded live and it's a magnificent example of just how far ahead they were of the No-Wavers and future noise-rock freak shows that were to come. A genuinely brilliant 27 minutes. The following track is an unreleased improvisation that brings to mind distant alien jazz skronk.

CD released on Alchemy Records in 2014.

Sewage Treatment Plant

Rsundin - Sleepwalk

Ronnie Sundin (formerly known as Bad Kharma) left harsh noise behind for something much much stranger, making a big splash with his 2001 Ground Fault CD, "Sleepwalk". 44 short tracks for navigating in darkness and bumping into walls. For fans of RHY Yau, Schimpfluch, Francisco Meirino and being uncomfortable.

Rsundin - Sleepwalk

Olson & Gross - Sax & Electronics

John Olson (Wolf Eyes, Spykes, Dead Machines, Graveyards, etc ad infinitum) plus David Gross on the obviously-titled "Sax & Electronics", released in 2002 as a CDR in an edition of only 25 copies by American Tapes.

Olson & Gross - Sax & Electronics

Solmania - The Basement Tapes And Discs

Ten years ago this week I foolishly started this blogging malarkey and initially thought I'd do it for a couple of months ... and here we are.

This is in the Holy Grail territory of reissue compilations. The first five discs cover the CDs released on Alchemy Records between 1990 and 1998. The next four include eight of the impossible to find Fatagaga Tapes released between 1984 and 1987.

As if that isn't good enough, four of the six live performances on the DVD hadn't been released previously (those files are large and they all need to be extracted to their own single folder in order to work).

Nine CDs and a DVD released on Youth Inc. in 2013.

01 Metamorphor Chorus

02 Psycledelic

03 Trembling Tongues

04 Evil Bed

05 DLO

06 Gakinoizz / Hadayro

07 Vexation / H.C.P. Resolvent

08 Wörkenemy / Re-Rurr

09 Highdrophobia / Erosion

10 Movies - Live And Rare

part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6
part 7

Various - No Skull Left Unturned

A compilation that embraces the wider Bastard Noise family. Most of the BN is Wood Wiese (which includes three collaborations with Kimihide Kusafuka) but there is also a live Wood Nelson offering as well as plenty of Amps Of Christ and Bill Nelson's Unicorn. Of equal interest, you get to visit more obscure outposts such as Antennacle, Sleestak and Hierophant (which is a collaboration between Eric Wood and Kohei Nakagawa aka Guilty Connector).

Triple CD set released on Hear More! and 200mg in 2007.

No Skull Left Unturned

va - Molten Strings, Train Wrecks, and Birdsong

A solid compilation, released as a CD by Students of Decay in 2006. Tracks by Birchville Cat Motel, Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood, Peter Wright, The North Sea, Family Underground, Zaimph, C. Spencer Yeh, Robert Horton, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Taiga Remains.

va - Molten Strings, Train Wrecks, and Birdsong

Zikachudoku - Untitled

The other 1993 self-released cassette by Zikachudoku.

Zikachudoku - Untitled

Zikachudoku - Untitled (Sept 93)

The first of two cassettes released by Tsuneaki Toki in 1993. Then changed his band name to AMB and was active for only three more years.

Zikachudoku - Untitled (Sept 93)

Bastard Noise - The R.A. Sessions

It doesn't mention it on the release but for me it's Wood Wiese all the way down aka Quality!

7" released on Riotous Assembly in 2000.

The R.A. Sessions

Bastard Noise - The Progression Of Sickness

The first time I heard this was a proper head-scratcher. Then I figured out that the counterpoint to Eric's guttural roar was actually Aimee Artz who was also in Progeria and is the only women in grindcore that I can think of.

10" released on Deep Six Records in 2012.

The Progression Of Sickness

Thuja - Pine Cone Temples

Double disc zoner of strange forest soundscapes made out of material recorded over five years and released in 2005. Fans of Small Cruel Party, Jim Haynes or G*Park will love it.

disc 1
disc 2

The Locust - Molecular Genetics From The Gold Standard Labs

Who could possibly forget such toe-tapping classics as "Twenty-Three Lubed-Up Schizophrenics With Delusions Of Grandeur", "The Half-Eaten Sausage Would Like To See You In His Office", "Spitting In The Faces Of Fools As A Source Of Nutrition" and "Get Off The Cross, The Wood Is Needed"?

Excellent compilation released on Anti- in 2012.

Molecular Genetics

Thuja - All Strange Beasts of the Past

2002 album of folk-tinged abstract rustling ambience from the Jeweled Antler-related group featuring members of Coelacanth, Of, Franciscan Hobbies, Hala Strana and more.

Thuja - All Strange Beasts of the Past

Man Is The Bastard / Locust - Our Earth's Blood Pt 2 / Locust

This time around MITB are a full-on 7-piece cacophony orchestra with the central section being an apparent attempt at noise onomatopoeia. The Locust are just a shitload of fun!

10" released on King Of The Monsters in 1996.

Our Earth's Blood Pt 2 / Locust

Born Against / Man Is The Bastard - Born Against / A Call For Consciousness

I've never really spent that much time with Born Against but based on this offering of Beefeater meets Fugazi at a steroid party I'm going to remedy that oversight. The Bastard donate some splendid post-hardcore doom jazz. A cracking release.

8" released on Vermiform in 1994.

Born Against / A Call For Consciousness

Bastard Noise - Skull Report

The Wood Wiese noise wing of the Bastard strike again!

7" released on No Fucking Labels and Spanky Planky Records in 2002.

Skull Report

Man Is The Bastard Noise / Gerritt - Split

The same Wood Wiese combination joined by the always reliable Gerritt Wittmer (who also runs the Misanthropic Agenda label).

7" courtesy of said Misanthropic Agenda in 2002.

Man Is The Bastard Noise / Gerritt

Bastard Noise & L'Idiot du Village - Split

The Eric Wood and John Wiese side may well have been recorded in the bowels of the Nostromo using alien technology. Probably not but you'll hear what I mean. Morgan Landuré then proceeds to set everything on fire.

7" released on Broken Brains Records in 2003

The Idiot Bastard Son

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)