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[k.p.g]

Gernstein - The Death Ointment (Tribe Tapes)
I’ve had this disc for a little over a year now, and just decided to sit down with it. What an odd disc! Lots of piano suites cut in with noise blasts & vocals cutting in and out. Great job on Max’s part to doing the reissue. I would’ve never heard it if he didn’t.

K2 - Tekhnodrug (Narcolepsia, At War with False Noise)
I don’t know how much of a wild claim it is to make, but I find the more synth heavy K2 stuff to be far more interesting than the harsher junk work he’d go on to produce. This is a weird & hypnotic record. The cut-up is nowhere near the precision perfect brand he would go onto produce, but that’s the most charming part of this entire thing.

Gene Pick - Shit or Go Blind (Dead Gods)
This release takes a while to pick up. I almost thought of bailing on it towards the end of the A side. But as soon as the thought crossed, then the dynamics kicked in. Raging synth attacks from everywhere. A sleeper in the dead gods catalogue.

Oozing Meat - Contaminated (Dead Gods)
Noisecore at its finest!! Oozing Meat always proves to be a powerhouse band, both live & on record. I love the spliced in parts of tape skipping & what sounds like throwing around construction materials in between the blastbeats.

Meat Casket - Piece of Shit (Mechanical Presence)
One of my favorite new acts to emerge from this year. A single, 21 minute piece makes up this release, and it keeps you hooked for that entire run time. An excellent combination of searing harsh noise & junk rumbling that can’t help but make you smile from ear to ear by the end. I love when harsh noise is this much fun.

[Scream & Writhe]

MERZBOW - Aqua Necromancer DLP (Absurd Exposition, 2022)
Been nagging loudly about vinyl reissues of old CD albums, especially where new/old stuff has been shoved right into the middle of the original tracklist. But here I am, enjoying this with no complaints whatsoever. Guess I'll just shut it in the future, hah.
A much slower affair than the surprisingly little else I have of Merzbow (is there more Merzbow like this one or is it... well, what is it?). I'm very fond of the looped samples of music which he showers in distorted hiss, warm blasts of noise and just... meandering knob-twisting. Come to think of it, this reminds me time and again throughout of the STAR album on Hospital. It's all just so relaxed and comfortably lost in a way that I love. No rush getting anywhere either. Noise with a slight smile to it, if you will. Charmed!

The Star comparison is a good one. There's plenty to kick back to and just soak in the warm wash. The same techniques are employed on Door Open At 8 AM, but there's less urgency here. Aqua Necromancer's rhythms are more relaxed, tantric.

I admit I was at first dismayed when Masami presented this new track listing, but I was pleased to discover that the additional material elevates the experience and I quite enjoy the extra pieces.

[murmur]

Ezia Piermattei - Rosume (Joy De Vivre)

Really varied, interesting, and sparse sound collages on this tape, with contents ranging from strange vocal and field recordings to fragments of music. The way it’s all put together keeps you guessing and is very affecting. It’s hard to put words to, but is excellent.

Max Hamel/Zach Rowden - TPMMUTON (self-released)

I got a copy of this after getting (and enjoying) the second one, which is a single tape. This is a double (in a butterfly case, very cool) with each artist taking one cassette. The Max Hamel one sounds like synths (modular ones, maybe?), but used in a unique and atypical way, to my ear anyway. The result is really dense without many tones, more bursts of sound that are related somehow, but not clearly or directly. The Zach Rowden tape is more in the tape music-zone, droning but with sudden, brief pauses in the sound that are really effective in being kind of unsettling and forcing your attention back to the music should it wander. There’s a frantic energy to it, which isn’t something I would normally associate this sort of music with.

[k.p.g]

Johnny R. Spykes - Monthly Madnezz [Volume 1: March 2018] (self-released)
It’s Olson doing his thing. You know how it is; flutes, synth, mixer feedback. It made for a very fried out, 3AM listen this weekend.

Bill Nace/Diagram:A - Collaboration (Open Mouth)
This & the Olson record were two random finds after stumbling into a record store I’d never been to before in the city. I’m not even sure what year this came out. It just had a post it note detailing what it was. It’s certainly not out of the question that Bill could’ve dropped these off in person to the store, but I wish I had more information on the release as a whole. Like when did it come out? I’m unsure, so I can’t really count it in my end of the year list. But it really rips well enough to make any year end list. Bill & Dan make for an unexpectedly great combo; guitar, tape(?) & regurgitated synth jams galore.

Josh Hydeman - Fatal Ninja (Broken Ear Records)
A pretty flawless tape. Is it maybe the ultimate C10? For me, it’s a toss up between this or Prurient’s “African Division.” But let’s discuss Josh… this tape is such an oddball brand of power electronics that switched between home built synths, live excerpts, manipulated tape & fuck-you aggression. Whenever I’m in need of a quick listen, this tape will always deliver.

Scar Crowe - A Sudden and Unexplained Drop in Temperature (Cipher Productions)
The audio equivalent of being invited to sit by a crackling campfire. It’s just that you are also lost in the middle of the woods when you discover this fire. It’s a warming ambience found within a haunting backdrop.

[33033]

Worth - Hamper
Macronympha - Crack
Double Leopards - Halve Maen
Varathron - His Majesty At The Swamp
Bradung - Treife / Haram
Execrable - From Cave To Slave

[xIncorruptibleCorpse777x]

Am Not - Incursions
Controlled Bleeding - Knees & Bones
Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
John Coltrane - (his first eight albums)
Ahmad Jamal - Happy Moods
Poison Idea - Feel the Darkness
Backworld - For the Life of the World
Acid Mass - Agonizer
Warsore - (the second discography)
Negative Reaction (US) - Zero Minus Infinity
Cannibal Corpse - Chaos Horrific
Bongzilla - Gateway
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Disrupt - The Rest 2xCD
Lordship (US) - s/t
Om - Variations on a Theme
Pink Lincolns - Back From the Pink Room (Remastered Reissue)
With Honor - Boundless
The Julies - Always and Always
Hatebreed - The Rise of Brutality
Outburst - Miles to Go
The First Step - Open Hearts and Clear Minds
Modern Life is War - Witness
Youth of Today - Break Down the Walls
Side By Side - You're Only Young Once...
Gorilla Biscuits - s/t
Righteous Jams - Rage of Discipline

[D345]

K2 - Tekhnodrug (Narcolepsia, At War with False Noise)
I don’t know how much of a wild claim it is to make, but I find the more synth heavy K2 stuff to be far more interesting than the harsher junk work he’d go on to produce. This is a weird & hypnotic record. The cut-up is nowhere near the precision perfect brand he would go onto produce, but that’s the most charming part of this entire thing.

I think the same! That's a really good record! But it's no lovers in the sun

[murmur]

Lapse - Powerline (Small Mercies)

One of the best purely harsh noise releases I’ve heard of the last few years. It’s absolutely merciless - fantastic.

Glass/Constance/Nyoukis/Nimmo - Calibre One (Chocolate Monk)

I guess this would be a compilation? Each of the first three artists have one track, with Nimmo having five to close. All the tracks have a similar feel and approach to them, sound collage-y with some unexpected sounds that move around in interesting ways. I especially liked the Glass track.

Sick Days (s/t) (Hyster Tapes)

An artist I’m only now becoming familiar with, but glad to. Really wonderful drones, using field recordings as well as more tonal sounds.

[Ineffable Slime]

I wish someone would reissue Requiem in the Sun tbh, its bangers all the way down

[Vermin Marvin]

Contortus - Truncated 3"

[thelastdaysofdisco]

Work/Death - Contained in Proper Place names
really love the beauty of this one combined with the crushing sounds underneath

Muqata’a - Kamil Manqus
maybe less straightforwardly noise but super interesting album from a palestinian producer, has some really great sounds

[k.p.g]

Max Eastman - Model of Malehood (Tribe Tapes)
Turntable and tape creeper loops from a modern day freak master. Love Max & I spent my morning jamming this. Had a very bad nightmare right after this CD finished. That’s the best endorsement I can give it.

Kyle Flanagan - Stuck Inside (Anti-Everything)
A straight 90 minutes of Kyle letting the synths do the talking. Jammed the A Side as I fell asleep last night, and played the B to wake up this morning. Although there is not much movement across both sides, this release sucks you into the world it creates & makes it very hard to drop out.

Deaf Lions - Eine Nacht (Tribe Tapes)
One of my favorites from last year! Revisited this one yesterday while experiencing a particularly slow day at work. I find the simplicity of old 80s & 90s industrial noise to have its charm. This release barely ever uses more than 1 to 2 sounds at a time across a track, and certain passages just go on for more time than anyone today would allow for. What’s the most fascinating part of this projects story is how the man behind is essentially MIA now (not dead, just disappeared completely from his noise life). The sounds have some added mystery after living that.

Zach Rowden - Slipped Again (CZR)
First experience with this highly touted artist was a good one! The mix of strings through tape make for an uneasy listening experience that doesn’t overstay its welcome. If anyone knows another tape from Rowden in a similar vein to this, I’d love to know.

[Tribe Tapes]

Mystery Hearsay - Unknown & Collab W/ Swinebolt 45
Team up of Mike Honeycutt (RIP) and fellow Memphis artist Swinebolt 45. Industrial with a ritual tinge. Lengthy jams punctuated by sound collage snippets. Not sure more than a few copies of this one were made — insert doesn’t have any info except for xeroxed art, the only clue it’s a collab is a sticker on one side of the tape.

Mystery Hearsay - Ear Gear
This one was released on Chris Phinney’s Harsh Reality Music label, Two side long pieces, alternating between brooding industrial collage and more relaxing elements. Probably a good starting point since a digital version is now hosted on the Harsh Reality bandcamp page.

MH 98 Collage Mix (Ramscan)
This Mystery Hearsay tape from 1998 is unlike anything else from the project I’ve heard. Side A is an absolutely punishing piece of noise, blending found tape elements with raw data (?) sounds. Side B is completely different — an ambient piece with a drum machine rhythm.

[Lactating Tardigrade]

C.C.C.C. - Community Center Cyber Crash / Live In Pittsburgh CD (Helicopter/Troniks)

First time this has been reissued since it was first released on LP in 1993. A 35-minute live set at the Wilkins School Community Center on October 11th, 1992 in Pittsburgh, PA on C.C.C.C.'s first-ever tour of the US. Mayuko Hino recently posted about this on social media and said they played with Macronympha and Crash Worship and that the Crash Worship set was so intense, that it left a lasting impression even 30 years later. She also mentioned that the original master was in pretty rough shape, but Wiese was luckily able to restore it.

Classic C.C.C.C. lineup for this show with Mayuko Hino (electronics, voice), Hiroshi Hasegawa (synthesizer, voice), and Fumio Kosakai (electronics, tapes). This live set sounds like it was reached absolute peak levels of volume and density. Classic C.C.C.C. on display with crushing electronics and of course the iconic psychedelic synthesizers. Can't imagine how immense this felt in person.

Kind of blows my mind that all of this incredible C.C.C.C. material has been reissued over the last few years across CDs and LPs. Thanks to all of the labels keeping this material alive.

[oZiris]

Aphex Twin - Blackbox Life Recorder 21f [EP]
Boredoms - Seadrum/House of Sun
Kill Alters - Armed To The Teeth L.M.O.M.M.
United Nations - Never Mind The Bombings, Here's Your Six Figures [EP]

[D345]

the new boyfriends - univeral noise

not boys anymore. pictures are beautiful, and cherry on top of it is the picture from movie "ponterosa" on the last page of booklet

[ChicagoAnimal]

Just purchased Gymnasie​å​ren by Andre. Really great, and the first time in a long time that a very young artist (18 years old) has impressed me with something emotionally evocative and with sonic attitude that is particular to a region/philosophy (hint: Gothenburg). I love Discreet Records! I wish they would respond back about distroing some stuff in my deadstock, as I feel it would fit with what they are doing.

I think that while a lot of the Discreet Records stuff is very primitive, it is also very forward-thinking. You don't have to be doing laser zap post-club industrial to be unique in 2023 and 2024.

[lovelife]

Killer Bug - Shitsuke (totally bonkers. hard stops. cuts deep.)
Pharmakon + Work/Death - True Criminals (took a couple listens. super visceral. enjoy that but not like compelling in a come back to it way. might be a mood listen kinda situation.)
Work/Death - Tender Comrades. (ascension of the many steps to porter square always gets me. it's got a magical movie-soundtrack quality to it, the piano is beautful.)
C.C.C.C. - Gnosis (really love this release. lots of different layers and sounds. kind of a go-to. somehow motivating to me, gets me to do shit around the house every time.)

Still kinda stuck on GX Jupitter-Larsen- Big Time Crash Bang in terms of like. hilarity and also genius. ordered it on vinyl bc of this board. thanks for that.

not noise, noise adjacent?:
Night Lunch - Table for Two (supposedly "doom pop" super silly like post punk situation. house full of shit is a consumerist nightmare. and scary car is relatable in hilarious ways)

[D345]

last noises of 2023

Militia - The Face of God
Edge of Decay - Vein of Metal
Gelsomina - Pythogenetics: The Collection
CCCC - Gnosis
Secret Apex - s/t
Augmented Atrocity - Anomaly
Test Dept. - Terra Firma
K2 - Tekhnodrug

not with a whimper but a bang

[D345]

C.C.C.C. - Gnosis (really love this release. lots of different layers and sounds. kind of a go-to. somehow motivating to me, gets me to do shit around the house

!!

[lovelife]

C.C.C.C. - Gnosis (really love this release. lots of different layers and sounds. kind of a go-to. somehow motivating to me, gets me to do shit around the house

!!

Haha twins! Did you get stuff done???? Lol

[D345]

C.C.C.C. - Gnosis (really love this release. lots of different layers and sounds. kind of a go-to. somehow motivating to me, gets me to do shit around the house

!!

Haha twins! Did you get stuff done???? Lol

started to mix and edit new album, so nothing done!

[lovelife]

Noise based on a ship sinking.

[murmur]

TVE - Diseased Fancy (Podunk)

Weighty, excellent tape music, as tends to be the case from this project. This one is very physical sounding, and has an interesting mix of fidelities/material on it.

North Shield - Seine and Frozen Red (Buried in Slag and Debris)

Beautiful, calm and calming new age-y drones and and some field recordings mixed in. There are some subtly strange parts of it as well - really good.

D.D. Dobson - Generic Girls

It’s crazy that this was recorded in 1982. It’s extremely varied, and seems to predict a lot of current sounds in noise/experimental.

Dull Boys - Dull Boys (Hyster Tapes)

The A side of this tape (“Talk”) is made up of layered field (?) recordings of people talking. The B side (“Sing”) is the same idea, but with singing. The talking side is more varied (understandably) and is more compelling because of it,

[adult human]

TVE - Diseased Fancy (Podunk)
Weighty, excellent tape music, as tends to be the case from this project. This one is very physical sounding, and has an interesting mix of fidelities/material on it.

Nobody does it quite like TVE. Not sure if I've heard this one.