Bleak Bliss: June 2021

Wigglepig - Meat Market Icons

G.Roscoe Johnson whose home-grown sampler / electronics surfaced on quite a few of those international mail-art compilations of the mid-late Eighties but there seem to have been only two full releases as Wigglepig.

A self-released C90 from 1986.

Meat Market Icons

z.e.l.l.e. - Rjctd::nw

Second & final album by a short-lived Italian duo comprised of Maurizio Martusciello (metaXu, Dogon) and writer Nicola Catalano. Ultra-minimal digital clicks and pops released as a CD on the Japanese label Cubicfrabric in 2003.

z.e.l.l.e. - Rjctd::nw

Electro Static Cat - Dysteleology

To be honest, I've never known much of anything about who the people behind the Cat and the Consort are. Or, why they did this nor where they went afterwards. I'm just grateful to be alive at a time when I can hear their work. Maybe they just concentrated on rescuing cats ... I hope so ...

LP released on Freedom In A Vacuum in 1988.

Lethologica

Electro Static Cat - Lethologica

Prior to Empirical Sleeping Consort, there was Electro Static Cat ...

7" released on the brilliant Freedom In A Vacuum label in 1988.

Lethologica

Nicola Frangione - Mail Music Project

Rare LP from 1983 by performance artist, sound poet and writer Nicola Frangione. The record is made up of 47 very short collaborative tracks that all run together. The collaborators are folks from the fine art world as well as the industrial mail-art underground. Some are names you'll recognize: Masami Akita, P16.D4, Gerald Jupitter-Larsen, Naif Orchestra, Lief Brush, SWSW Thrght, Rod Summers, Maurizio Bianchi, Vittore Baroni. The rest are more obscure (at least to me).

Nicola Frangione - Mail Music Project

Empirical Sleeping Consort - Aegri Somnia Vana

A stunning piece of demonic industrialism that seeps into every pour of your skin. Discogs has this as having four tracks on Side A ... the fourth track ends in a locked groove and if you just move the needle slightly you get a fifth hidden track, obviously it's included here.

LP released on Impressure in 1990 in an edition of only 100.

Aegri Somnia Vana

Empirical Sleeping Consort - The Layers Of Awakening

A "manufacturing fuck-up" meant that this was mastered as a single track rather than the intended thirteen. Serendipity strikes, it works wonderfully.

CD released on Kronotop in 1994.

The Layers Of Awakening

Empirical Sleeping Consort - I've Got Tears In My Ears From Lying On My Back Catatoning Over You, Dear

This is Fido Samworthy and Carra Geenan (who were the short-lived and wonderfully named) Electro Static Cat who are joined here by Sylvia Fischer. There are eight tracks but it plays as a single mix of wonderful wtf explain it for yourself. It's really a damn fine piece of music ...

CD released on Dragnet Records in 1993.

Tears In My Ears

sc.all - Live at Silk City

Delicate, minimal noise by Scott Allison released as a limited CDR in 2004. This is, as far as I'm aware, his only release other than a collaborative CD with Ben Owen on Winds Measure/Senufo Editions. If you like the Winds Measure aesthetic, this is for you.

sc.all - Live at Silk City

Macronympha - Beehive / Gargoyle Mechanique Laboratory

... and as an unnatural antidote, here's one of Rodger's later MSNP tapes that regularly turned up back in the day (as the old people say) along with Mr Olson's latest gifts to the world on the finest message board (was it HN_AM? as this old person says). Y'know, one day I'll remember my real name. Anyway, this is a reflection of happier times when Macronympha were still Joe and Rodger.

Live recordings from 1992 and released as a C90 on Mother Savage Noise Productions in 2012.

creative destruction

DJ Yo-Yo Dieting - Dormant Mirrors / Drum

More mind-dissolving melted beats and loops ... lovely.

C90ish released on Cherried-Out Merch in 2008.

i need warp speed in three minutes or we’re all dead

DJ Yo-Yo Dieting - Blest Witches Flexing

In my time, I developed a fondness for "enhancing" my consumption of live music with various pharmaceutical and / or "natural" products. That is all now tagged as "life experience" and I've decided that I have more metaphysical concerns which also equates to: "I'm too fucking old for that shit these days". So, erm, yeah. What I on about? OK, back in the room. This is Pat Maher's take on slow motion, warped hip hop beats ... there is a part of me that wishes I had heard this in the context of a search for a quieter space of the club. What is left of me is just grateful that I remember some things occasionally.

A CD released on Permanent Marks, LLC in 2009.

flex my witch up

Negro / Crank Sturgeon - Split

The first half is Chris Freeman (who I think started Fusetron) with a person whose parents could only afford one name. It's quite entertaining DIY junk guitar feedback contact mic scree. Obviously, the pure genius lies with the B side ... an early missive from the gloriously sane helmeted saviour of the planet: Matt Anderson.

A C60 that was an early release on Fusetron in 1994.

smack my crank up

va - Vatra/Brand

Obscure compilation of obscure industrial whatnot released by Staalplaat as a CD in 1997. Features music by Ron Sluik (who you might know from his "Back to Burnsley" 7" on Minimal Wave), Kurpershoek, Ivan Faktor, NURR, Kees de Groot, subREAL and a long track that's not credited to anyone.

va - Vatra/Brand

Macronympha - The Right Is Always Wrong

It's Joe and Leo again.

An edition of 50 CDrs released on Haunted Exp Labs Records in 2016.

be strong. stay wrong

Surgical Mental Klinik - The Unconscious World

2003 CDR released by Self Abuse sub-label Solipsism. Harsh noise by Shunichi Imako, who has a few other albums yet unheard by me and has since re-branded as one-man black metal project Satanic Mental Klinik, also unheard by me.

Surgical Mental Klinik - The Unconscious World

K2 / NRYY - No More N.P.P.

A split tape from Kimihide Kusafuka and the prolific Norihito Kodama. The K2 tracks are for sale on his Bandcamp, a copy of the actual tape is available on the Phage discogs seller page for five yankee dollars nine years after it was released ... I'm assuming not for long. So kind of breaking our own rules but (on this occasion) you down with N.P.P.?

C60 released on the immaculate Phage Tapes in 2012.

yeah you know me

Nun - Neuronale

Compilation CDR of early industrial music from 1983 to 1986 by Italian artist Ezio Albrile, released by Menstrual Recordings in 2011. The first two tracks were taken from his 1983 7" single, the rest from compilation tapes.

Nun - Neuronale

Goat - The Book Of Revelations

One of the best albums by Goat, aka Texan harsh noise master Andy O'Sullivan. It was a CDR, released by Beauty and Pain and packaged in a slimline DVD case in 2004. Features guest drones by Gruntsplatter and Steel Hook Prostheses on the first and last track. Really good.

Goat - The Book Of Revelations

Macromenia - Micro Cunt / Worm Juice

Joe Roemer and Leo Sabatto. Obviously.

C46 released on Bacteria Field in 2015.

Micro Worm

Goat - Goathammer (Post-Apocalyptic Raids)

An early Goat assault, released by Cyber Blast as a CDR in 2002.

Goat - Goathammer (Post-Apocalyptic Raids)

Goat - Baphometamphetamine

An early noise explosion from Goat, released as a CDR in 2003 by Cyber-Blast in collaboration with his own Philosophy Shop label.

Goat - Baphometamphetamine

Mikami Kan - Enka-shū: Hiraku yume nado aru ja nashi

"Grief Song Collection: There Are No Dreams To Open".

I should fucking hope not. Optimism is totally overrated, were all going to die so basically everything is pointless. [take a deep breath, now you feel better ... no, you do ... concentrate ... now, there you go].

This is a whole heap of true genius ... the first track on it's own is one of the finest things that I have ever heard! A 50 year old recording that manages to come from the future with Nik Turner's Inner City Unit sax, some chunky funk and dancehall / jungle / rap vocals. That's the first two minutes covered then ...

Originally released as a vinyl LP in 1972 ... this is the Kitty Records CD reissue from 1989.

sweet dreams are made of grief

Kan Mikami & Kazuki Tomokawa - 御縁

I've got to admit, this week has been full on. I came home thinking I'm really going to blast some harsh noise into my face in order to disinfect. For some reason I went into the garden, opened a beer and listened to this first. Now, I'm going back into the garden to play it again.

Recorded live on the 7th of May, 1994 at Nihon Seinenkan and released on P.S.F. Records in the same year.

thank fuck

it's the end of this week's wage slavery

Goat - Oceanic Thrones

Limited CDR released by Nurse Etiquette in 2007.

Goat - Oceanic Thrones

Spykes - My Twin The Worm

Clearly an example of the highpoint of Western civilisation. So, enough about that. Appropriately enough, there was a sibling tape (it's AM964 btw). Unfortunately, I didn't react in anything resembling a responsive manner so I haven't heard it. So, enough about that as well.

C72 released on American Tapes in 2013 in an edition of 40.

It's AM959

btw

Goat - Goatmeister

Tiny-edition business-card-CDR that came with copies of "Goat's Holy Mountain" in 2006.

Goat - Goatmeister

Goat - Abominogoat

2004 CDR on Chondritic Sound.

Goat - Abominogoat

Various - Revenge Of Wechselbalg

A genius compilation of Japanese post-punk exploratory awkwardism. It features Sadie Sads, Nubile, Auto-Mod, G-Schmitt and more and more ... It's now a rare thing and was released in Japan on Wechselbalg Syndicate in 1987.

Wechselbalg Syndicate was a sub-label of the revered Telegraph Records so just crack on. It's a lossless rip and sounds great ... really really great.

thing

and ting

va - Neus-318 Compilation Vol. 3

Kazuya Ishigami/Daruin has run the excellent (and still active!) Neus-318 label out of Osaka since 1997, but it's more low-key than other noise labels from the era. A small amount of the back catalog is available at the label's Bandcamp page, so here's a title that you won't find there (at least, not as of this writing). It's the 3rd volume of what I think was a 10-part series of international compilation CDRs, with tracks by Daruin, Ames Sanglantes, Anemone Tube, EHI, SA-909, Tender Love, Recalcitrant and OCO. This is some deep underground, hometaper-type noise.

va - Neus-318 Compilation Vol. 3

Goat - At the Radar Station

Goat's Andy O'Sullivan makes no-joking-around flamethrower harsh noise, but his titles give away that he doesn't take himself too damn seriously. A single 40-minute scorch from 2004, issued as a CDR by Belgian labels Audiobot & Imvated.

Goat - At the Radar Station

Aburadako - ADK Years 1983-1985

I recently found two basement shops that had boxes of rare noise tapes that I didn't know anything about. I'm just sitting down going through the boxes piling up loads of things to buy and then the highlight was to find two Rudimentary Peni tapes from 2019 that I knew nothing about. So, I'm queuing at the counter to buy them all ... and woke up and it was Saturday morning. I was fucking devastated and tried to dive back into that better place.

For the first minute, I was happier than I can remember. Once reality kicked in, I started to hear Aburadako in my head. No idea why. Until I went to listen again ... the first track of this (at least) has true Rudimentary qualities. I posted this in 2014 and the only difference is this one is lossless.

This is what I said at the time and it's still true: "Legendary Japanese outfit displaying their punk roots, taking the best of British Anarcho and early Eighties U.S. "hardcore" and turning into something else entirely. This was released on P-Vine Records in 2008 and is pretty much the same as the compilation released on OK Records in 1999 with the addition of some extra live tracks".

Sweet Dreams

... just don't snort the Stilton. Just saying.

John R. Spykes - Monthly Maddness = August

And now you finally realise why John Olson is so much better than Earth, Wind & Fire. John covers all of the months ... suck my disco as Steve Albini once memorably said!

Twelve sets of four CDrs from 2020, which is turning out to be a better year than I suspected at the time.

Dance

August Wonderland

Ché-SHIZU - Glimmering Star

1999 LP of live Che-SHIZU, reissued on CD by Alchemy with extra tracks in 2015.

Ché-SHIZU - Glimmering Star

John R. Spykes - Monthly Maddness September

The video is just because ...

Four CDr set that was self-released in 2020 in an edition of 12.

our hearts were ringin'

in the key that our souls were singing

Ché-SHIZU - Nazareth

Stunning live album by Chie Mukai's Che-SHIZU, with recordings made around Tokyo from 1983 through 1992. Some guests include a young Hiroshi Hasegawa (CCCC, Astro) on drums, Masami Shinoda (A-Musik) and Masayoshi Urabe on sax, Shinji Shibayama (Nagasa Ni Te, Idiot O'Clock) on drums. Released as a CD by PSF in 1993.

Ché-SHIZU - Nazareth

Johnny R. Spykes - Monthly Maddnezz Oct & Nov 2020

The highpoint of Western civilisation continues to strike us straight between the eyes ... in the finest way.

A double CDr let loose on New Years Day this year ... I think there were 12 of these.

maddnezz, maddnezz ... they call it maddnezz

adjustment disorder

terminal boredom for the equally opportunistic

Boring shit that I shouldn't need to say but unfortunately ... pcloud has a 2TB per month download limit. Yeah, we all found that out recently! So in the meantime I've been duplicating in mega. My plan going forward is to keep the p files active and gradually delete the m links when I hit the free limit (first in first out). So I have to think about it a bit more ... if I am on a run of 320s then I don't need to back the file up to m. If there isn't a m link attached to the post then it's because you're not going to get one.

Please take a deep breath before you feel the need to tell me something we both already know is pointless.

Ché-SHIZU - Live 1996 水晶

Live recordings around Tokyo. Mukai is joined by Koma Keita (Inu, Up-Maker) on guitar and Ikuro Takahashi (Fushitsusha, Kokoukuya, Overhang Party) on drums while Takuya Nishimura sticks around on bass duties.

Ché-SHIZU - Live 1996 水晶

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