DANIEL MENCHE - 'Wings On Fire' CD (Tantric Harmonies)
Scorching and searing drones, heated and flaming rhythms and a burning ritualistic sonic force to be reckoned with. This noise inferno soars with volume and intensity that makes it the unheard soundtrack for the flight of Icarus - that is, if his wings did not melt and he did actually fly to the sun. This is Daniel Menche at his most ferocious sonic exploration. Call it extreme ambient or gorgeous noise,' Wings on Fire' is a must-have release to incinerate the speakers and melt the listener to a beautiful submission of sonic power. Presented in an outsized, textured gatefold sleeve. Russian import. Ltd x 555.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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HELMUT SCHÄFER / ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI - 'Bisskraft' CD (Ytterbium)
Great forceful noise / experimental collaborative work and one of the last surviving pieces involving the late Helmut Schäfer (who died in 2007). The composition actually dates from 2004 but was just released this year. The music is divided into four parts. Comes in a shrinkwrapped card sleeve. Ytterbium is a sub-label of yb70. French import.
UK 5£
Europe 6£
World 7£
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K11 - 'Metaphonic Portrait 1230 A.D.' Enhanced CD (Actual Noise)
K11 is the nom de plume of the Italian sound artist Pietro Riparbelli. For "Metaphonic Portrait 1230 A.D.", Riparbelli entered Assisi Cathedral (completed in 1230 A.D.) in the Umbria region of Italy, not far from Riparelli’s hometown of Tuscany. The audio was recorded in the cathedral’s lower basilica, the oldest area, where the relics of St. Francis Of Assisi reside. Utilising short-wave radio as his primary instrument Riparbelli has captured a haunting array of cavernous sounds, displaced signals and found ambiance. With the addition of some voice and organ elements, "Metaphonic Portrait 1230 A.D." sounds not unlike the recordings of Philip Jeck and William Basinski under the influence of Crowleyean Magick and Sacred Geometry. A video shot inside the cathedral by Riparbelli is included on the disc to give the listener a visual picture of the aging structure. As in all K11’s work, the themes of magick, religion, numerology and esotericism are present throughout this reverent document of aural mysticism. Digipak.
LASSE MARHAUG & MARK WASTELL - 'Kiss Of Acid' CD (Monotype Records)
In recent years Lasse Marhaug has almost become synonymous with Scandinavian Noise. From his camp in Trondhem, Norway, he's been launching release after release with brutal noise both under his real name and with groups such as DEL and parts of the Origami Republika projects. London-based sound artist and composer Mark Wastell builds enormous atmospheres on the Tam Tam (here recorded at an abandoned school in Norfolk) with very little actual movement. Wastell's music is dark, deep and beautiful. Slow movements build up sonic pulses that are able to take over rooms and buildings. Together the duo have created over 40 minutes of drone / dark ambient. Gatefold ecopak.
"Masami Akita in collaboration with some chickens. Given his penchant for animal kingdom-themed releases in recent years, that actually makes some sort of sense. Another theme in recent Merzbow releases has been the reappearance of analogue electronics, and true to form, Higanbana finds Akita using EMS synth alongside his laptop. It's hard to tell exactly what's making the noise at any given time here, but the intensity is often pretty overwhelming. Fortunately, in amongst the fuzz and feedback you'll hear a few cleaner oscillations penetrating the mix, adding elements of colour, and avoiding the all-out overload that might have otherwise foiled the album... This is an intense, largely unrelenting assault on the ears, and that's probably exactly what you expected to hear from Akita" (Boomkat). Packaged in a hardback 6-panel digisleeve.
MZ. 412 - 'Burning The Temple Of God' CD (Cold Spring CSR140CD)
This is the ultimate statement in Swedish Black Industrial, summoning forth the act's controversial black metal side and recalling the Norwegian church burnings of the early 90s. Nightmare inducing ritual old school industrial, alongside raw black metal, this album has been hailed as one of the greatest albums in the genre by noise and black metal fans alike! It could actually be considered the first real crossover album between the genres. Remastered and extended version of the 1996 album with bonus tracks ('Taking The Throne Part 2' and 'Untitled') and alternate takes culled from the original masters. 61 minutes of music housed in a matt laminate digipak with spot varnishing.
A four track mini CD combining the never released two 10" vinyl 'Maus' and 'Die Hennen Zähne'. 'Die Hennen Zähne' opens with 'Die Kralle', actually a David Jackman track from his archive, recorded in the early 1980's. Next is the title track 'Die Hennen Zähne', a joyful noise not unlike some of the The New Blockaders / Organum material including the sound of broken glass and tibetan horns. 'Maus' is the centre piece of this mini album and typical 'old school' Organum. The album closes with the more quiet and haunting 'Kazi', a live improvisation featuring collaborator's Michael Prime and Emma O'Bong. Nice lttle 3" digipak. Ltd x 600 copies.
UK 10£
Europe 11£
World 12£
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STEMCELL RESEARCH PROJECT - 'Charnel Houses' CD (Syzmic Records)
Five songs inspired by death and post-mortem rituals with each passage delving deeper into the stygian abyss. "Charnel Houses" is profoundly imbued with feelings of despair brought forth with field recordings of actual autopsies taking place. Somber moments layered with metal percussion, white noise and rhythmic drones that envelope the listener like a lead blanket. SRP is J. P. Whetzel of Welter In Thy Blood. Mastered by John Stillings of Steel Hook Prostheses. Ltd x 300 copies in a digipak.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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THE NEW BLOCKADERS - 'Schadenklang' LP (Hypnagogia)
40 minutes of new '30th Antiversary Wreckordings' by TNB on 12" vinyl with full-colour sleeve. TNB have always had a much-more tactile/hands-on approach than most of their noise contemporaries, often favouring junk and industrial debris to actual ‘instrumentation’ and for the ferociously beautiful "Schadenklang" the feel of DIY ritual remains gloriously intact, even as the levels of electro-violence are insanely amplified. For this release The New Blockaders are Richard Rupenus, Michael Gillham and Hal Hutchinson. Numbered limited edition of 350 copies.
UK 15.00£
Europe 18.50£
World 22.00£
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THOMAS BEY WILLIAM BAILEY - 'Strangelet' CD (Belsona Strategic)
A psycho-acoustic song cycle / carries on the artist's ecstatic program of 'self-actualization through voluntary alienation,' while making his previous work as The Domestic Front sound almost trivial in comparison / covers the full spectrum of electronic music compositional techniques, from the generation of all-engulfing noise to the use of nearly inaudible passages of sound. Digipak.
ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI & TETSUO FURUDATE - 'World As Will IV' CD (OHM Records)
"IV" in the 'World As Will' series ("III" Sub Rosa, "II' 23five, "I" Staalplaat). "‘World As Will’ is a work in which Zbigniew Karkowski and Tetsuo Furudate combine orchestral music with computer music - read: noise. At the basis here lie two performances, one for sax, trombone, flute and sine waves and the other for a small ensemble called Sonic Boom. These recordings are slaughtered by the composers during a concert in Tokyo and turned into a racket of noise. Another heavy weight release, with lots of cascading noise samples of orchestral origin spliced on the spot together, fed through the lions of granular synthesis - and who knows what else. Its however in the power of these hands that they know, somewhere in the middle how to pull back and go deeper and deeper into what seems to be the crackling of surfaces with contact microphones, before returning to the world of crashing noise and only to return once more to that somewhat dark underworld, going back up after for a cascading finale. Noise indeed and perhaps I should have left this in the capable hands of Jliat, but this is actually noise of the more intelligent kind" (Vital Weekly). Limited to just 200 copies in a digipak!
Great forceful noise / experimental collaborative work and one of the last surviving pieces involving the late Helmut Schäfer (who died in 2007). The composition actually dates from 2004 but was just released this year. The music is divided into four parts. Comes in a shrinkwrapped card sleeve. Ytterbium is a sub-label of yb70. French import.
