Bleak Bliss

Various - Get The Punk: J Punk & New Wave 1972-1991

Granted, 1972 to 1991 is a very broad time-span for such collections and would normally hugely dilute the contents. This gets away with such things by just being very good throughout. Many will be familiar with Phew, Ultra Bide, Pablo Picasso, The Stalin, YBO² and (the now mainstream) Shonen Knife and The 5.6.7.8's. Maybe not so much Kenzi & The Trips, The Pogo and dozens of the others contributing their brief slice of history. In any case, it's a good excuse to hear Non Band's Duncan Dancin' again ...

Four CD box-set released in Japan on Imperial Records in 2003.

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2

3

4

Various - Batofar Cherche Tokyo

Gorgeous screwed up techno flavoured compilation of Japanese artists in a well deserved nod to the Batofar club in Paris

CD released on Sonore in 2001.

Batofar Cherche Tokyo

Various - Bears Are Not Real

Quality compilation of people who have played at the legendary Namba Bears in Osaka. Some you will already know ... the rest may well become your new favourite things.

CD released on Japan Overseas in 1998.

Bears Are Not Real

Various - 電子雑音 Denzatsu

Two CDs that cane with Koji Tano's "Denzatsu (Magazine For Noiz Generation)", issue 2004.

Life's too short ... any doubts?

Noiz

Generation

va - Stanzas on Sexual Hygiene

Second compilation on Xper.Xr.'s Regelwidrig label, again with a terrific selection of machine noises and unhygienic goo. Music from some of the same characters that appeared on the previous tape, plus a few ugly new faces: Nocturnal Emissions, Viktimized Karkass, Contact With a Curve, Shock City, Grey Wolves, Illusion of Safety, Lagowski, Jouissance, Konstruktivists, Bourbonese Qualk, Due Process, Xper. Xr., blackhumour, and De Fabreik.

va - Stanzas on Sexual Hygiene

Various - Wakened By Silence

Big City Orchestra, Michael Gendreau, Crawling With Tarts, Allegory Chapel Ltd., The Haters, Trance, AMK, Master/Slave Relationship, Nux Vomica and more ...

Two C50s (...ish) released by Mason Jones' Charnel Music in 1991.

Wakened

Silence

va - A Person's Healthy Guide To Listening

Classic 1991 compilation cassette, released by the British label Regelwidrig, which I think was run by Hong Kong ex-pat Xper. Xr. Features industrial grey blorp by Nocturnal Emissions, Muslimgauze, Contact With a Curve (who I would love to hear more of... if you have their tapes, please share!), Illusion of Safety, Asmus Tietchens, Due Process, Konstruktivists, Jouissance, Bourbonese Qualk, Das Kunst, and Shock City.

va - A Person's Healthy Guide To Listening

va - Stuffing

Another Christmas gift? Oh, you shouldn't have! Really. You really should not have. But you did, and here it is: another too-long 7" single of deathwish-inspiring "cheer" from 1998, with lots of bands that are all probably V/Vm wearing false beards and soiled Santa hats. Ho ho oh my god no.

va - Stuffing

Various - Monumentally Retarded

It's always too early for Christmas. My least favourite shithole of the year. Fake bonhomie. Fake familial obligation. Fake "I'm really happy to see you once again since this time last year you offensive waste of skin". Anyway, this sums up the jollity perfectly. A whole heap of "WHAT THE FUCK?" followed by four minutes of live lovely by the brilliant Feederz ... just to try to convince us that it's all worth doing again next year ... will we ever learn?

CD released on Burping Turds Musick in 1998.

Monumentally Retarded

va - Turkey

It's too early for Christmas, but that's okay because this is a horrible holiday record. Seasonal favorites given rough treatment by V/Vm and friends, released on a 7" single by V/Vm Test Records in 1998.

va - Turkey

Various - Video Games Of The Twelfth Century

Ultra weird collection of established people like Faxed Head, Dave Phillips and Schimpfluch Gruppe, MSBR and The Tape-Beatles alongside random lo-fi turd burps ... genius in it's own special way.

CD released on Burping Turds Musick in 1999.

Video Games Of The Twelfth Century

Various - The Kingdoms Of Elgaland~Vargaland, 1992-2002

"This release marks the tenth anniversary of the moment when, at 12 noon on 27th of May, 1992, the State Of Elgaland-Vargaland was proclaimed by Leif Elggren, founder of Elgaland, and CM von Hausswolff, founder of Vargaland."

Here we have a plethora of plenipotentiaries performing their deferential duties: Sten Hanson, Mats Gustafsson, Gen Ken Montgomery, John Duncan, Jim O'Rourke, People Like Us, Oren Ambarchi, Fennesz, Mika Vainio, Henrik Rylander, BJNilsen and so on and so forth.

Wave your passports in the air like you just don't care!

Double CD released on Ash International in 2002.

Elgaland

Vargaland

va - Privileged Frames For Reference

From 1996, this compilation LP was the second ever release on V/Vm Test records, which would go on to produce some horrible examples of lazy "plunderphonics" by just slowing down and distorting music that wasn't any good to begin with. In the beginning, though, they showed promise, as this record makes clear. Underground DIY electronic tunes by Mild Man Jan, Alien Porno Midgets, Brioche Kretzaal, Jega, and other "bands" that were probably V/Vm under different names.

va - Privileged Frames For Reference

Sten Hanson - Canned Porridge

More majesty from Mr Hanson composed between 1970 and 2002 ...

Double CD released on Kent Tankred and Leif Elggren's Firework Edition Records in 2004.

Canned

Porridge

Sten Hanson - More Canned Porridge

All praise goes to Mrs Inside who finally made my inattentive brain understand the full glory of Sten Hanson. This is a series of compositions conceived between 1964 and 2004 that will absorb you once you ignore the outside world.

Double CD released on Firework Edition Records in 2004.

Canned

Porridge

Various - Text-Sound Compositions: A Stockholm Festival

Excellent compilation bringing together contributions to the International Text-Sound Compositions festivals held in Stockholm between 1967 and 1968. Sten Hanson, Svante Bodin, Bernard Heidsieck, Bengt Emil Johnson, Åke Hodell and so much more ...

Five CD compilation released on Fylkingen Records in 2006.

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Two

Three

Four

Five

Sheriff Lindo & The Hammer - Ten Dubs That Shook the World

A 2005 Japanese reissue of a heavy, obscure 1988 dub album from Australia.

Sheriff Lindo & The Hammer - Ten Dubs That Shook the World

Various - Hip Hop Shop Sweepers Vol.01

And the prize for misnomer of the week goes to ... this compilation that features people like Charles Balls & Crank Sturgeon, Robedoor, Smegma, Blood Stereo, Nautical Almanac, Id M Theft Able and Witcyst.

CDr released on 777 Was 666 in 2006.

Hip Hop Shop Sweepers Vol.01

We™ - As Is

The 1997 debut of "illbient" (aka instrumental hip-hop/dub/noise hybrid) trio, with guest appearance by violinist Eyvind Kang.

We™ - As Is

Various - Beginners Night At The Tape Loop Club

Quality compilation of people producing lovely looped drones including Sindre Bjerga and Jan-Morten Iversen, Stefan Kushima, Ian Najdzionek's Dream Safari, the wonderful Spoils & Relics, Terje Paulsen, and Joseph Martin.

CDr released on Sindre Bjerga's Gold Soundz in 2009.

Beginners Night At The Tape Loop Club

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