Bleak Bliss

Yasunao Tone - Untitled

Tone's career spans all the way back to the 1960s, when he was a key figure in the legendary and influential Group Ongaku and was at the forefront of radical Japanese avant-garde music and performance art. This eponymous album was released by the Asphodel label in 2003.

Yasunao Tone - Untitled

John Duncan & Carl Michael von Hausswolff - Our Telluric Conversation

John Duncan collaborating with Carl Michael von Hausswolff (aka King Michael I of The Kingdoms Of Elgaland-Vargaland) makes perfect sense. Even by the high standards rightly expected, this is a subtle triumph. Subdued and sparking drone meets spoken word noise.

CD released on 23five in 2006.

Our Telluric Conversation

va - Vatra/Brand

No idea what to make of this 1997 CD compilation, so I'm just going to leave it here for you. Five tracks by some people I've never heard of: NURR, Ivan Faktor, subREAL. One track by Sluik/Koerpershoek (you may have heard Ron Sluik's "Back to Burnsley" on Minimal Wave) and one by Kees de Groot (who made two cassettes of stark synth bloop in 1982). The disc ends with one long untitled track for which no artist is credited. What does it all mean? I haven't a clue.

va - Vatra/Brand

John Duncan - First Recordings 1978-1985 V1.2

... and just when you thought it couldn't get any better. This collection has a predominant focus on the early vinyl releases including his collaboration with Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni-Tutti and John's connections with the Los Angeles Free Music Society. Very recommended!

A glorious five LP and 7" box set released on the much lamented Vinyl-on-demand in 2012.

First

Recordings

va - Ohrenschrauben/Ohrensausen

Double CD reissue of two excellent industrial compilations originally released as two separate LPs in 1985 by HNAS' Dom label in Germany. The reissue came out on the related Dragnet label in 1990. Quite a varied line-up of tape-splice tomfoolery, austere electric buzz, ugly noises and who-the-hell-knows electronic weirdness. There's some truly great stuff on here, including wonderful songs by P16.D4, Vagina Dentata Organ, Whitehouse, Toll, Current 93, The New Blockaders & Organum, Nurse With Wound, Chrystal Belle Scrod, Smegma, The Haters, Sema, Asmus Tietchens, and HNAS in a few guises (as themselves, and masquerading as Duka Bass Band and Mieses Gegonge).

disc 1
disc 2

John Duncan - First Recordings 1978-1985

Wonderful collection of early tape releases from Mr Duncan receiving the loving VOD touch.

Triple LP released on Vinyl-on-demand in 2006.

First Recordings 1978-1985

John Duncan & Bernhard Günther - Home, Unspeakable

Here's a favorite of mine, released as a CD by trente oiseaux way back in 1996 and still profoundly shocking and powerful today. A slow-build of threateningly deep bass tones and bodiless clicks that demands full attention on headphones for the duration. The better your sound reproduction system, the more of this elusive music you'll hear. In other words, laptop speakers won't cut it. If you meet "Home, Unspeakable" at its level, however, it's one of those albums that you can hear hundreds of times and discover new facets with each listen. There isn't anything else that sounds like this.

John Duncan & Bernhard Günther - Home, Unspeakable

Kiyoshi Mizutani - Yokosawa-iri (12 Pieces Of Mixed Soundscape)

This is one of the most beautiful and life affirming set of field recordings that I've ever heard. Magical.

CD released on CMR in 2002.

Yokosawa-iri

Kiyoshi Mizutani - Scenery Of The Border: Environment And Folklore Of The Tanzawa Mountains

Kiyoshi Mizutani's work evolved into exquisite field recordings drawing true musicality from the world that surrounds us that we genuinely take for granted.

Double CD released on and/OAR in 2005.

Scenery Of The Border

Kiyoshi Mizutani / Hideaki Shimada / Kiyoharu Kuwayama - Gambetta

... and here they are joined by Hideaki Shimada who also recorded as Agencement.

CD released on Monochrome Vision in 2008.

Gambetta

Masami Tada & Morimura Yasumasa - Kokoro - Improvisation

Released on both LP and CD by Soh Gallery in 1998, this album is Tada's collaboration with "appropriation artist" Morimura Yasamasa.

Masami Tada & Morimura Yasumasa - Kokoro - Improvisation

Kiyoshi Mizutani & Kiyoharu Kuwayama - Interlude

A former member of Merzbow meets Lethe to create a suite of blissful otherworldly harmonic sound sculptures

CD released on and/OAR as part of the either/OAR series in 2011.

Interlude

Masami Tada - 異 I [Sound Encounter Electric LIVE Recording]

Recorded in 1995, released by Soh Gallery in 1997.

Masami Tada - 異 I [Sound Encounter Electric LIVE Recording]

Akio Suzuki - Gelbe Musik Editions 1999 - 2000

The final part of the puzzle that includes three previously released and rare CDrs: Suzuki Type- Glass Harmonica; ’75.6.30; and Tanabata.

Double CD released on and/OAR in 2014.

Gelbe Musik Editions 1999 - 2000

Masami Tada - 無 Mu [Sound Encounter]

1998 CD by sound artist and East Bionic Symphonia alumnus Masami Tada, with some short tracks for bamboo and beanbags, then two electric live performance documents. Released by Soh Gallery.

Masami Tada - 無 Mu [Sound Encounter]

Akio Suzuki - Rub Music

The second part of what would become the "either/OAR Editions 2014" set released as part of the label's either/OAR series ...

CD released and/OAR in 2014.

Rub Music

Masami Tada - 音 Ne [Sound Encounter]

Double disc album of live recordings in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, plus collaborations with Keiko Yamada and Makoto Ito on sound sculpture.

disc 1 Live Document A - In Europe 12-28 May, 1994
disc 2 Live Document B - Collaboration of Three Ears 17-18 Dec, 1993

Akio Suzuki - Dancing Cat

I don't have the Editions 2014 box set that Mrs Inside refered to but I do have it's constituent parts. This was recorded at Ichinomiya City Memorial Art Museum of Setsuko Migishi on July the 12th, 2008.

CD released in and/OAR in an edition of 50 in 2014.

Dancing Cat

Masami Tada - 存Son [Sound Improvisation]

1993 CD released by Tokyo's Soh Gallery by Tada Masami, a sound and performance artist and former student of Taj Mahal Traveller Takehisa Kosugi who first became known to listeners as part of the legendary East Bionic Symphonia, In his spare time, Tada and some other former East Bionic collaborators (notably, Che Mukai and Kazuo Imai) perform as Marginal Consort. These improvised percussion pieces are full of small, sparse movements not unlike Jeph Jerman's Animist Orchestra.

Masami Tada - 存Son [Sound Improvisation]

Various - Danza De La Vida - Rest In Peace, Again, Syntactic

The final in memoriam for the great Syntactic. Four of the tracks come from 7" releases with the remainder being previously unreleased. Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Werner Möbius, Andrew Liles, O Yuki Conjugate, Blaine L. Reininger, The Broken Penis Orchestra and more ...

CD released on Klanggalerie in 2007.

Danza De La Vida

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THE FUTURE?

We still don't know...we're making this shit up as we go along!

As always, dripfeed us a few requests, we still have changeable minds!

All requests are welcome, no matter what genre!

PRACTICALITIES!

We have had to change file hosts many times since we started in 2009.

Most of the older links are undoubtedly dead. If we were to try to keep every link going there would literally be no time for new posts.

Given that we have an untold number of things that we think need to be heard, it's not possible to do both.

Some things may be re-upped but (as always) we are unlikely to pay any attention to "anonymous" requests.

Entertaining (rather than desperate) requests may stand a chance but don't bet on it!

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