Bleak Bliss: September 2020

va - Love Not Devotion

Three-way split of post-punk/pop and dub/funk nonsense by Instant Automatons, Hamburger All-Stars and Blue Midnight. The latter two bands featured Mark Perry (Alternative TV) and Grant Showbiz among its ranks. I'll assume you already know Instant Automatons, because why wouldn't you. Released as an LP by Deleted Records & Fuck Off Records in 1982, reissued on CDR by Waterden in 2004.

va - Love Not Devotion

Government Alpha / Evil Moisture - Split

A contender for the most decorous seven inches of all time.

Yes you've all gone cock vajazzle ... disgusting, every time I try to raise the tone you let me down.

A delicious pink seven inches courtesy of Le Petit Mignon in 2000.

See, you've done it again ... you don't deserve me ...

i'm in the mood for moist, simply because i'm leaky ... and honey when i'm leaky ...

The C&B - 1991 Pre-Shadow Ring Recordings

Darren Harris and Graham Lambkin's pre-Shadow Ring band, four songs recorded in 1991 and released in 2010 as a 7" on Siltbreeze. There was, apparently, a cassette released under this band name as well, though it remains unheard by me.

The C&B - 1991 Pre-Shadow Ring Recordings

Discom - Smuglo

Luckily for the human race, RDJ has a lot to answer for ... and all is well in the world.

CD on Deco from 2000.

rhubarb smugglers

Discom - Automoto

Discom was Erik Minkkinen and Lionel Fernandez. The latter was also in Sister Iodine and half of a melevolently damp bubble party that ended in tears. So, what's all this about then? A psychonaut's partial memory of a life presumably well lived, that's what.

CD released on Deco in 2003.

here in my car i feel nothing at all

Intertecsupabrainbeatzroomboyz - 69 Luftgitarren

Andy Bolus and Erik Minkkinen (Sister Iodine, Discom, etc) with a short CD of mad shit as I believe da yoot refer to it.

Released on Nneon in 2004.

69 Luftballons

John Oswald - Plexure

Plunderphonics might be the John Oswald album you know, but Plexure is far-and-away his masterpiece. It may be just 20 minutes long, but this densely-packed information-heavy collage of mainstream pop requires several listens before you truly hear what Oswald has done. Live with this one for awhile. It's worth putting in some work to get at the gold.

John Oswald - Plexure

Evil Moisture - Bone Mics Give You More! Vol.1

"4 x C30 in vinyl box, first edition limited to 25 copies. First in a series of unreleased and remastered (as in repaired and often re-spliced) material taken from the very glued up reel to reel master tapes from old Evil Moisture releases which were edited with razor blade and splicing tape (or Halloween parcel tape in some cases). Often the tapes were bought second hand and had for example Dire Straits or Shirley Bassey on 2 tracks, and these tracks are remastered keeping the sound from all 4 channels, so sometimes you'll hear Bob Marley backwards chopped up in time with a bunch of tiny edits..."

Imagine Itchy and Scratchy versus Ren and Stimpy in an intracranial tag-team death match.

Courtesy of his own Royal Sperm and More Death And Horror ‎imprints in 2018.

well, stew my pork!

Dead Body Collection‎ - Stockings Bloody Stockings

So what is the fascination that some noise heads have with stockings and nylon in general?

Hang on a minute, I've just thought of something ...

CDr released on Scorze Records in 2010 in an edition of 18.

no more tomorrow ... life is killing you

Xylex - Electronic Glue Gun

It's that man Andy Bolus again. This time he's slicing and dicing electro, cartoons, big beat and schizophrenia and delivering them on a gorgeous ten minutes of vinyl. You thought that Evil Moisture & Hair Stylistics was a weird combination? Sick minds think alike my friend.

There's a party goin' on right here on this 7" released on Doomation in 2002

we gonna celebrate and have a good time

Dead Body Collection‎ - Dead Body Parts

So ... how do you fancy seven and a half hours of Harsh Noise Wall to brighten your weekend? Oh, that's a shame.

DBC is the work of Aleksandryuki Nenawasetsu who also records as Kosmodrom, Creation Through Destruction and Order Of The Violence and also ran the personally much missed Victimology Rec. label.

Five C90 tape set released on HarshFuckedForLife Records in 2011 in a combined edition of 30.

NOTHING.

LABEL IS DEAD.

FUCK YOU.

Derek Bailey - Notes - Solo Guitar Improvisations

Some geezer making it up as he goes along. Released as an LP in 1985 by Incus.

Derek Bailey - Notes - Solo Guitar Improvisations

Kakerlak - Motel Dwelling

You should definitely be aware of this man's work ... if not, then starting off with one of his best creations is a stroke of luck. Well done. Even though there was a massive edition of 75, this is as rare as a politician's genuinely felt humility.

Two C30s and a C40 released in one of those nice vinyl VHS style snapcase arrangements.

Released on Dan Johansson's legendary Harsh Head Rituals in 2006.

It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes

Cindytalk - Camouflage Heart

This is the CD reissue of Cindytalk's intense debut LP from 1984.

Cindytalk - Camouflage Heart

Smrznik - Gletscher Kassette 60

One perspective of the artwork is that it is the closely observed bark of a tree. I see it as the large scale excoriation destructively created by a glacier over a period of geological time. Luckily, this is brilliant Balkan harsh noise courtesy of Neven Misaljević so you probably won't give a shit about what I think about the cover.

A tape that is inconveniently 62 minutes long and released on Zvukovina in 2010. There were ten copies of this for sale.

ice ice baby

Evil Moisture - Tongue-Phones Earstick Tri-Ax Chakka Khan

You're on your own with this one ... it's brilliant and entirely WTF!

CDr released on Ignivomous in 1997 in an edition of seven copies.

let me rock you, that's all I wanna do

Evil Moisture - Ghost Meat

So finally something vaguely familiar then ... a moist Pain Jerk perhaps? I'm going to have to wash my hands now after typing that. Then just when you think you know where you are, you flip it over and it fucks with your brain stem. So finally something vaguely familiar then ...

Excellent 7" released Smittekilde Records in 2007.

it's still murder btw

Evil Moisture - Hostess Double Breasted Windpipe

Again, this is the brilliant Andy Bolus. A man who stretches even my hyperbole to breaking point but frankly it's never stopped me before so here we go: William Seward Burroughs II decides to become a noise artist, opens up the best/shittest/best techno club ever then moves in with Rudolf Eb.er and they live happily ever after. Indeed, the hills are alive with the sound of moisture! Now that wasn't so bad was it.

A seven inch released on Stomach Ache Records in 1993.

for those about to hostess ... no, that doesn't work ...

Evil Moisture / Cock E.S.P. - Monsters Of Cock

There are 381 individually named blurts on less than six minutes of vinyl ... did I split the sides? Erm ... no.

5" vinyl apparently released on at least a dozen great labels in the year 2000.

for those about to cock ... we salute you

BC / TM - Gun Metal Black

So, you get the master of tasks and prior to that the admirable Khristopher Reinshagen ... seriously, what the fuck is trying to claw it's way to the surface on his second track?

C90 released on Nurse Etiquette in 2008.

Gun Metal Jacket

Taskmaster - Ruined Hope

Never trust a priest with a stiff pole in his hand ... that's all I'm saying!

C30 released on the sublime Nurse Etiquette in 2010.

in a private space, no one can hear you scream

Taskmaster - Get Dead

I never bothered to try and find out who Taskmaster / NFW is ... not relevant I suppose.

Thirty minutes of taped carnage courtesy of Rundownsun in 2007.

choose death

Taskmaster - Kriemhild Anal Saxon

So ... unfamiliar with Taskmaster?

C30 also released on Harsh Head Rituals but a year earlier in 2006.

thank the lord it's not actually Saxon

Wall Riders - Documents 1, 2

Well, actually, I'm having a lovely day ... thanks for asking!

I got up this morning (insert chicago blues bass line) and a certain "Roman J" (no asterisks needed btw) had left a comment in the Cremation Lily post. Being a nosy bastard, I quickly found out that it's the person that ran the Atavistic Transformations and Compulsion Rites labels. He's also the brilliant Plague Mother as well as being (at least partially) responsible for inflicting other aural atrocities on the public. He even manages to scrape enough time together to run the Harsh Truths Podcast. Turns out Mrs Inside knew about it but I didn't ... I've dived in and it's very good. Oh yeah, he's got a blog as well where amongst many treasures, he's posted The Rita's "Toe Cleavage" set that I have been looking for since what feels like forever. According to wikipedia he spends his remaining spare time helping fluffy kittens cross busy roads.

Until this morning, I had forgotten that I had this tape and was triggered because Roman has posted Document 3. I had put this into the very large Richard Ramirez side-projects sub-folders where it had lay unplayed for a long time.

However, I have been educated: "Wall Riders is an absurdly underrated project that involved contributors such as The Rita, Taskmaster, Richard Ramirez, and others - although the actual lineups for each recording are purposefully obscured as the goal of the project per Sam was "deconstructing the audio and any idea of personality behind projects."

The New Blockaders for a new and more imaginative generation if you will (or won't). Now, has anybody got Document IV?

C40 released on Harsh Head Rituals in 2007.

wall rider motorcycle hero

Derek & the Ruins - Tohjinbo

Second album by the power trio of Derek Bailey with prog/punk duo The Ruins. Released by Paratactile in 1998.

Derek & the Ruins - Tohjinbo

David Payne - Feedback 53

Middle James Company is/was one of the greatest ever tape labels. Period. I am so lucky to have been around and buying MJC over a decade ago. This isn't one that I own, it was gifted by a friend. Thirty brilliant minutes that only saw the light of day in an edition of 13 in 2009.

sometimes genius is hiding in plain sight

Cremation Lily - It's OK To Say No

Controlled high end to the point where it feeds back, sampled drums and shouty business from the brilliant "Zen Zsigo".

Be Supportive.

Just Say No!

Derek & the Ruins - Saisoro

First album by the legendary Derek Bailey on guitar and the Ruins' Masuda Ryuchi and Tatsuya Yoshida on bass and drums, a combination that seems inevitable and thankfully lives up to expectations. Released in 1995 on Tzadik.

Derek & the Ruins - Saisoro

The Maytals - Never Grow Old

I assume that Trojan history left Funky Kingston out of the equation. If that's the case then this is the missing release of the previous box set. This is very early and you clearly get the Ska chops, there's Rocksteady, a hint of their Gospel roots and a bit of 50's R&B / doo-wop. Toots and the people that sailed with him coined the word and (arguably) created the style of Reggae. This is a key stepping stone in the evolution of Jamaican music.

Originally released as an LP on Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One in 1964, this is the Heartbeat Records CD reissue from 1997 that has four bonus tracks.

they never will

Toots & The Maytals - Roots Reggae: The Classic Jamaican Albums

"The box set includes six of the seven Jamaican albums the group (as "The Maytals" and "Toots & The Maytals) released before signing with Island Records in 1975." Except that it doesn't. Pre-1976, neither of the two versions of Funky Kingston are here and there is one other key omission.

A box set I bought 15 years ago.

The Classic Jamaican Albums

Toots & The Maytals - Funky Kingston

I choose not see much of my family. I seem to have escaped before the gene pool dried up and it seems pointless to bother. However, in a weak moment on Friday I got drunk with my brother (when will I ever learn) and at a certain point of the night I was playing this whilst he tried to impress me with his phone accessed conspiracy theories that Covid doesn't exist, BLM and Extinction Rebellion are terrorists (he is black btw ... just saying ... false consciousness in action) and all kinds of other bullshit. I woke up the next morning to find out that Toots had contracted Covid and ended up in an Intensive Care Unit where he died. I would rather it was my brother so that the global IQ could increase by a small percentile so that we all had a better chance.

This is basically a reworked compilation of a prior compilation ... Mango not Dragon. It's from 1975.

Funky Kingston

Tear Ceremony - Film Decay

Lovely drone by Texan artist Todd Gautreau, who also records as Tapes and Topographies, Sonogram and Crushed Stars. Released as a CD on his own Simulacra label in 1998.

Tear Ceremony - Film Decay

Suburbia Melting - Street After Street

Another CDR from 2008, this time released by Scarbox. The Italian label only existed for a couple of years, but they put out some good noise by Seed Mouth, Astro, Kylie Minoise, Bloody Letter, Fecalove, Kenji Siratori, Mutant Ape and others.

Suburbia Melting - Street After Street

Suburbia Melting - Self Defense

2008 CDR by Andrew Quitter (who also records as Regosphere, among other aliases), released on a German label called Soundo Maso Records in an edition of 78 copies.

Suburbia Melting - Self Defense

Seed Mouth - 99 Pieces

Double disc album by Seed Mouth/Hirohito Taneguchi, released by Scarbox in 2008.

Seed Mouth - 99 Pieces

Saint Francis & the Christmas Donkey - How Saint Francis Tamed the Very Fierce Wolf of Gubbio

Much better than the silly title might suggest, this is the only available album (as far as I can tell) by psych/drone/noise artist Ben Collins, released as a CDR on Thor's Rubber Hammer in 2007. The label existed for five years and was run by American public radio personality Lars Gotrich.

Saint Francis & the Christmas Donkey - How Saint Francis Tamed the Very Fierce Wolf of Gubbio

Macronympha - Macronympha Vol. 1 - American Chaos

It's an appropriately prescient title for these end of days times. However. This marks the start (or end) of the most impressive collections of "American Noise" that I can currently conjure to mind. Classic 90s Macronympha that you probably haven't heard before unless you have the tapes or your first name is Joe and you used to work very closely with a bloke called Rodger (or vice versa ... see, nothing gets past me). When the second wave hits, do yourself a favour and play all 18 tapes back to back ... never mind drinking bleach or shoving fluorescent tubes up your fundament, this will sort it right out.

Another set of six C46s released on Mother Savage Noise Productions in 2015.

Fuck

Trumps

va - Дичь Авангарда - A Cross-Cultural Compilation Vol. 1

Excellent Russian compilation CD released in 2002 by Insofar Vapor Bulk, featuring (as you might have guessed from the title) noise from Russia and elsewhere, sometimes in collaboration. Features The Haters, Roughage, Erinys, Streicher, De Fabriek, Cotton Ferrox, Nocturnal Emissions, Cisfinitum, Nomusic, Kallibris, Kapotte Muziek, Ultra Milkmaids, Leif Ellgren, Alexei Borisov and more. The album's design was very strange, and challenging to store on a shelf without damaging it. It came in a digipack, but the front cover was deliberately cut at an angle, as if it was attempting to fly away from the spine and tray. I don't think there was ever a volume 2.

va - Дичь Авангарда - A Cross-Cultural Compilation Vol. 1

Fossils - Four Cassette Box

Funnily enough, this is four cassettes. In a box. Another tape set that I posted nine years ago and have recently done some work on to improve the sound to the casual indifference of all.

Eight live recordings from 2008 released on Middle James Company in the same year.

Repeating History

Dead Traveller - Plays the Ghost

Strange album of ghostly field recordings made in Greece at the end of a weekend carnival. Dead Traveller is Nicholas Malevitsis, who ran the Absurd, Harsh Dept, Noise-Below and A Question of Re-Entry labels. This CDR was released by Kururuku Records in 2008.

Dead Traveller - Plays the Ghost

Fossils - Black In Black BoxXx

I've been listening to a lot of Middle James Co. / Hermitage Tapes style loveliness recently and my mind lurched back to this post from over nine years ago. It's a collection of tapes released on MJC in 2007 in an edition of 11. I've gone back and made some tweaks to the original rip and it sounds so much better than before so if you got it then, get this instead. Casual observers of the blog ... walk away now.

Anyway, in anticipation of me reposting this in 2020, DP dropped the following descriptions into the comments just to save me the mental effort:

"middle james co. is proud to present...4 x cassette box set

mjc140-143 fossils "black in black boxXx" nonstop onslaught from this Hamilton collective can you dig it?

mjc140 c90 ~ home spun jams ghetto style to tape at mjc hq summer/fall 2007 ~

core trio of Payne, Johnson & Buchan shoot to thrill= tapes destroyed guitar crunching metal horn ripping decay~train garage garbage can vibes~ hiss and swirl of fire tornado

mjc141 c90 fossils family; mixed-up bag of cuts and bruisers ~ various incarnations from the dogs boneyard.~.

recorded to tape in various locations in Hamilton...\\duo to four-piece always wtf---fossils3 welcome Steve Smith (Thousand Year Frog), Johnny Scarr (Mantile),Darcy Atkinson (Autoerotic Asphyxiation) and/or Josh St. Denis(Ghostfood) ~~~ jungle junk & zoo drool~ storm of rambling roadside puzzles feedback flutes and fruits steeping time guts of trilobites casting stoned lost at sea lost in noise pollution swallowing wandering.

mjc142 slomo weirdoh back to black recycled tape. DJ Payne-cake remixx~

heavy icing drips can't hide what's inside~ undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined underwaterwalking friends symbolize certain darkness rolls in rolls by blueroommachines and electricity a streets rain covered grey sky drainage with insects

mjc143 c20 ~ total akktion zombie--

takin out the trash complete mess mash crust breakthrus remix of mjc114 "zombie black" tape in Fag Tapes Action Mono style // seperate cuts in either speaker - listen simultaneously or seperate. 3 tapes in 1 ! dirty worms can crawl"

History

Repeating

Macronympha - Macronympha Vol. 2 - Amplified Pittsburgh

It's those men again ...

Another set of six C46s courtesy of Mother Savage Noise Productions in 2015.

Amplified

Pittsburgh

Reed : Rage - Rules

The aforementioned providing the best ten minutes that you will experience this month without having to pay a lot of money in advance ....

C10 released on !MONDO ANTHEM! in 2019 in an edition of fifteen.

Duck And Cover

Nihilist Assault Group - Saturation Point X

My favourite assemblage of capricious minstrels!

If you look beneath the balaclavas (that no doubt come in very handy in our hazy Covid days) two of these tracks are Richard Rupenus (The New Blockaders etc ... obviously) with Stan Reed and William Rage (of the eternally brilliant Blue Sabbath Black Cheer). The other track is RR with Mike Gillham of Smell & Quim etc) and Allan Zane (who with Richard and Stan is part of the latest incarnation of Mixed Band Philanthropist but has his own shit sorted).

C40 released on Mr Rage's !MONDO ANTHEM! in 2019. There were 10 copies of this that came with a shortish dvdr ... nope, don't ask ... you'll make me cry.

Nihilist Assault Group Assemble!

Macronympha - Macronympha Vol. 3 - Extreme Havoc

A broad selection of classic 1990's era Joseph Roemer and Rodger Stella. Previously released but impossible to find work sitting next to things that have never seen the light of day prior to this. Nuff said really.

A six tape box set released on Mother Savage Noise Productions in 2016.

Extreme

Havoc

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