Recently Sold
There will be a posting of 150 used items at 10AM EST tomorrow (January 2nd).
After some semblance of a past life returned briefly in the summer and into the fall, curfew has now returned to the Montreal area (and Quebec at large) along with further lockdown restrictions – some that surpass the measures taken during the initial wave in March of 2020. Venues are still struggling here. Some are gone entirely, some have changed hands and the future for others remains uncertain. But! We managed to pull off an outdoor noise gig on Halloween with locals UN REGARD FROID, SKIN TONE, JUTE and OBSCENE MIRROR (a collaborative project between myself and Nick from TASKMASTER). It was a great afternoon with an excellent turnout considering the rain and cold. Urbania covered it. There are some talks of certain gigs in the spring, but it will depend on the pandemic/venue situation. Once the nice weather hits again we’ll look to do outdoor gigs on a more frequent basis.
To round up the year on the label front: MO*TE – Throw a Stone CD was the major release and I see it making appearances on some year-end lists now, as is deserved. There were also tapes for ASTRO, JULIUS MENARD, NORMAL RITUALS, OUR WRONGS / SLIT THROATS, SCALD HYMN and UNSUSTAINABLE SOCIAL CONDITION, plus a triple 3″ CD-R set featuring Canadian underdogs AAIESIEUX, BIEN PARAITRE, FINGERS OF THE EMBALMER, GUILT, MOLENA, NIGHT TIDE, RxUxL, SHAMEFUL, TRAUMA BONDING and WHIP OF THE UFO. Everything is sold out from me aside from the Mo*Te CD and Normal Rituals tape. White Centipede Noise will be receiving the last copies of the 3″ CD-R set.
2022 is already stacking up. The first batch will be released in the coming months and will consist of tapes for HERMIT / CHIK WHITE, KNURL, MOT & VIOLENT SHOGUN, ANDREW NOLAN / MISERY ENGINE, THE RITA and ALEX YORK. More tapes and CDs should drop throughout the year and of course the expanded double LP reissue of MERZBOW’s “Aqua Necromancer” album. Originally released on CD by Montreal’s own Alien8 Recordings in 1998 and on vinyl for the first time. Remastered by Masami Akita in 2021 and sanctioned by Alien8!
PRIMITIVE ISOLATION TACTICS: There should be several new releases this year after a quiet 2021, with the ‘Deconstructing a Purpose’ tape releasing on White Centipede Noise in the closing hours of 2020. Recordings were completed at various points throughout the year and are all in label hands now. There will be a split tape with RUSALKA on Cipher Productions, solo tapes on BISAD and Lead Lozenges and a CD on Narcolepsia. I’m looking to complete a tape for Modern Decadence in these early months as well. Hopefully Nick and I can churn out some OBSCENE MIRROR material soon. The first release will likely be on Nick’s own Skinwalker label.
On the writing front, I did a fanzine on Jean Rollin’s film ‘The Night of the Hunted’ as well as a small private publication for a few friends. Coming up I’ll be writing for the Film-Field section in the next issue of the Untitled zine. I intend to start writing more seriously about film in general and do another zine or two this year. Any heads on Letterboxd can follow me there, if interested.
My listening habits were a bit all over the place this year. The distro takes up a lot of my time at home and due to the setup of my apartment I’m rarely near my records or turntable, so the collection has been neglected for some time. I recently was able to move the tape deck and CD player into the office, but for the majority of the year I’ve been listening to streamed or downloaded music. As such I didn’t have as many opportunities for dedicated listening to new releases as I would have liked, but I have cobbled together some sort of list of favourites out of what I did manage to engage with nonetheless.
A FAIL ASSOCIATION – Chaos Is a System CS (No Rent)
JOE COLLEY – Trance Tapes 2CS (No Rent)
EMIL BEUALIEAU – Korm 88 CS (Adhuman)
FORM HUNTER – Violent Adaptation CD (Helicopter / Troniks)
KJOSTAD – Knuckle Gash 7″ (No Rent)
MO*TE – Yeha! Pink Piss Tapes CS (Pink Piss Tapes)
THE NEW BOYFRIENDS – The New Boyfriends 3 CS (Satatuhatta)
NOISE NOMADS & SKIN GRAFT CS (Evidence Tapes)
TINNITUSTIMULUS – Leachate Phases LP (Hot Releases / Psychic Liberation)
UMPIO – Kulotus 2CD (Narcolepsia)
Plus the MACRONYMPHA – Grind CD reissue on Influencing Machine for good measure.
Above and beyond all of that the real highlight continues to be the White Centipede Noise podcast. If you have any interest in noise you owe it to yourself to watch these weekly video interviews. Audio-only versions are available, but the visual engagement provides a more complete and personable experience. This podcast is quickly becoming one of the most important parts of our current noise culture and calling it essential is the least I can do.
All in all, it was another solid year for noise – though maybe not as extremely intense as 2020’s onslaught of release heat. Pressing plant delays and increasing costs are starting to show their effects, but that’s not something without historical precedent per se. We’ll figure it out and make it work.
Thanks for all of the support past, present and future.
All the best for the new year!
Taylor
