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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Sshe Retina Stimulants - Zatsuon Junk

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

Zatsuon Junk

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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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