Griffith, JP and Peters, H – “Experiment In Sound” – [Self Released]

Trippy guitar distorted/hip hop beats/spoken word/jazzy. Playful and creative. The sort of thing you make someone listen to and watch their reaction while it’s playing.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Glen Or Glenda/ Dinosaurs, Baseball & Hopscotch [coll] – [Cupid Is Stupid]

Glen or Glenda has been described as “jazz music for a horror movie” and I agree. They are Adrian Riffo, Christophe Ratier, Mathieu Fuster, Melody Gottardi.
Dinosaur, Baseball & Hopscotch is Clare Hubbard, Justin Clifford Rhody, Keith Wright Sounds like a slow grind. Horn drums and panting breathing beat boxing. Both noisy hippy jam freak outs. Really groovy.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Dempster, Stuart – “In The Great Abbey of Clement VI” – [New Albion]

This album came out thirty years ago. Bay area dude. He’s done a lot of important stuff like taught at Washington University and had fellowships. He is associated with the Deep Listening Institute founded by Pauline Oliveros This is three long minimal droney toney pieces. Horns on tracks 1 and 3 and didj on track 2. Absolutely delicious. Good for calming down or staying bummed out.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Galbraith, Kole – “Alptraum” – [Self-released]

From Washington. Poem about birds and soft dark nights.
One 30 minute track sounds like humming. Drone. Ambient. High frequency. Guitar flickers and crackles and tones. Becomes more chaotic as it goes on.
– BJT

Subotnick, Morton – “Music For The Double Life of Amphibians” – [Wergo]

LA experimentalist. Long moody tracks from different times and recordings. Sounds like abstract stringed instruments. Some quiet moments. Mostly you can really zone out on this rollercoaster.
– BJT

Ikeda, Ryoji – “0 Degrees C” – [Touch]

Japanese sound scientist. Sounds like glitchy upload download fast forward symphony radar bloops chimes skipping static no signal. Short to medium tracks. Blends well so would recommend continuous play.
– BJT

Sammartano, Ray – “Dream Switch” – [Self-release]

Analog synth and public domains sounds.
Spacey sparkly pretty with some indecipherable low vocals.
From Eugene, Oregon.
- BJT

Bastard Noise / Brutalomania [coll] – [Skull Records]

Noisy oh my gosh and screaming vocals about veganism and animal rights. Good stuff. Brutalomania is a solo noise artist who has worked under many different aliases such as Cadaverizer Noise, Feral Squat, and Manuel M. Cubas.
Bastard Noise of course is a California group founded by Eric Wood, Henry Barnes, and WT Nelson. They’re discography is quite extensive. They have been making noise since the early 90s and have worked with countless other artists.
BJT

Thomas Carnacki – “Where’s My Love,My Eyes Are Gone,The Rains Are Coming” – [Alethiometer]

Limited edition printing.
Chickens. In stereo.
Humorous tuba.
Dedicated to those lost in Ghost Ship.
Made from a batch of 7″s he got in the mail and farm field recordings.
Veheug is dutch for “looking forward”
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Levitas, Asher – “Lit Harness” – [Planet Mu]

Previously of Old Apparatus and a collaborator with Michael Crowe. From London. This is his first solo album. He is also a video artist. Sounds like buzzing electronic ambient with rhythm. Pretty. Spacey. Pew pew laser guns. Engine. Ambient hazy details and wooshings. Said to be about his sleep paralysis.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Haxel Garbini – “URI” – [Snowdonia]

Italian artist who has made all kinds of music. This is concrete experimental stuff. Uses a stethoscope in water on A1, 2, and 5. Synthy melodies, bells clanging and echoing, twangy strings on A3 turns into lovely space out. Birds. Organ-type sounds.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Radio Cliff Hangers [coll] – [Radiola]

Damsels in distress, dastardly villains, theme songs, Ovaltine ads, racism, spies, organs, weather sound effects, and over acting. What’s going to happen next? Tune in to find out.
- Billie Joe Tolliver

Black Scorpio Underground, The – “Necrochasm” – [Prison Tatt Records]

Black(ened) noise metal from LA. Been together for more than ten years. Members include: Thee Sluglord, MS 45, and Thulsa Doom. You will hear: Dialog under crunchy noise metal. Crashing war-like bangs. Echoing hollow vibrations. Monster roars. Demon screams. Sermon on hell.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Black Sun Productions and Val Denham – “Somewhere Between Desire and Despair” – [Tourette]

Abstract, spoken word, album released in 2009. BSP is Massimo and Pierce of Switzerland who are known for their live performances and underground porn. AKA Anarcocks. Worked with HR Giger. Denham is from England and has worked with Throbbing Gristle, Marc Almond, and Psychic TV. She is also a visual artist. Much like the album art I have no idea what is going on and that is okay! Lyrics about pain, trans soldiers, gender, despair, and hope.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Thought Forms – “Ghost Mountain” – [Invada Records]

From Bristol, UK. Psych. Doom. This came out in 2013. Sounds like echoing screaming vocals and heavy sounds. Lots of feels and vibrations. Track five is poppy punk upbeat. Six could not be slower. Lots of varying sounds.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Fella, James – “Inactive Parts” – [Weird Machine / Gilgongo]

Prolific artist from Arizona. Sounds like tones, knocking, buzzing, and noise crunch.
This album was made this year and is from a 2014 art installation that explored sounds and printmaking. What you hear are acoustic sounds played back in amplified volume. The title, “Inactive Parts” refers to the amount of time metal plates used for making records sit before being discarded if not used.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

De Brauw, Trevor – “Uptown” – [Flenser]

Solo debut from the guitarist from Pelican. Also associated with RLYR and Chord. From Chicago. Sounds like humming buzzing tones from a chord organ with occasional acoustic and electric guitar, keyboard, vocals, and cat collar. Moody. Layered. Dramatic. Chill. This is one of my favorite kinds of rock n roll. Vocal on track 3. Spacey basey on track 4.
– Billie Joe Tolliver

Palermo, Dario – “Difference Engines” – [Amirani Records/Amirani Contemporary]

Italian composer with two vocalists, percussionist, and a string quartet. Track one is your standard experimental strings. It’s so wild though I have a hard time imagining it being composed. Sounds like spacey screechy tones with operatic vocalizing on track two. Track three is male vocals and a little more dada and out there. Still excellent. Very long tracks let you really settle in for a transcending ride. My kinda jam.
- Billie Joe Tolliver

Cage, John/ Sun Ra – “John Cage Meets Sun Ra” – [Sundazed Records]

Live performance concert in New York in the 80s. Big long synth freak outs. Cage voice blips and chanting in a non-language. Lots of silence. Untitled keyboard solo 3 and 5 are my favorite because they are nice and chaotic. We have the 12″ in the library but this has more songs. Not as many duets as I’d like but still very enjoyable. Highly recommended on continuous.
- Billie Joe Tolliver

Etant Donnes – “Royaume/Aimant + Aimant” – [Penultimate Press]

This is a duo based in Grenoble, brothers Eric and Marc Hurtado originally from Morocco. This album was a CD released in 1991. This is a remastered 2016 release. Creepy whispers in French, swishes, smacks, crackles, stomps, tinkles. Very sinister. Even the laughs are not comforting. Royaume means kingdom in french. Aimant means magnet. Matin means morning. There’s some writing online about how it’s taoist and has to do with the four elements. Interpret as you will. More in the library for you to chew on.
– Billie Joe Tolliver