Chaton, Anne-james and Moor, Andy – “Transfer” – [Unsounds]

Transfer’s theme is transitions and transportation. Moor’s lush speaking voice in rhythmic French combines with off-kilter guitar that is sometimes twangy, sometimes rocking. Beats come and go. Recorded words from events and movies are used to good effect. Topics include Princess Diana and Grace Kelly, transit stops, plane crashes, and suspected murderers from Agatha Christy novels. Very cool sounds, engaging, I liked this a lot.

Radio Free Clear Light – “Nomina Nuda Tenemus” – [Black Note Music]

San Francisco based Radio Free Clear Light (RFCL) does evenings of “invocational” improvised sound. This album mixes strings, vocals that are sometimes disturbing moans, noisemakers and electronics to make electroacoustic tracks that flow together. Some tracks (such as 7) have beats or at least a hint of beats. Intriguing, moody, introspective.

Pereslegin, Anatoly – “Xenophobia” – [Electroshock Records]

From 2010, a strange Russian release on a strange Russian label. Anatoly Pereslegin, as best I can tell, is also Russian, and not just a composer of electroacoustic music but an architect too, the latter presumably as a profession, the former maybe as a beloved avocation. The three tracks on this release, all in excess of 20 minutes, were composed and performed by Pereslegin on his own; with what, it is difficult to say, beyond ‘electronics.’ Some noise (a term i’m not too fond of, really– isn’t all music noise?) has roots in the confrontationist ethos of punk, and some in the studied conceit of the 20th-century avant-garde. This falls somewhere in between, not quite Incapacitants but not really Stockhausen either. It’s too reserved to be ascribed to audio sadism, but does get mighty annoying with multiple consecutive listens. I don’t really know what ‘power drone’ means, but in a just world the term might apply to these pieces. They shriek and hum and hiss and gradually change shape like slow-motion clouds of burning gas. T.1 is all about THE PULSE. T.2 is more dynamic and aggressive. T.3 is slightly calmer and contains the album’s strongest hints that there may be actual chords hidden beneath the sonic gauze. One may, however, find more similarities between compositions than differences. As to the slightly provocative titling of the (completely instrumental) album and its tracks, one can only guess vainly at whether Pereslegin (many of whose earlier works seem have a strong Christian theme) is presenting any concept and all, let alone what said concept might be. There is certainly some kind of menace behind the sound, but that could be coming from any number of places. In any event, here is a decent soundtrack to paranoia.

Grunt – “Europe After Storm” – [Force Majeure]

Formed back in 1993, in Finland. This release is from 1998-1999. Re-mastered tape recordings, unreleased studio stuff, and some live tracks at the end. Dark, power electronics, industrial noise. Pressure, intense, screamed unintelligible lyrics mixed with moody spoken words. Burning walls of sound, with growling underbellies. ‘Crushing, heavily repeating loops with near random metal junk noise and feedback on the top, with furious effected vocals and spoken word samples.’ Blasting and harsh sounds.

Liberez – “Sane Men Surround” – [Alter]

Liberez “Sane Men Surround”
UK unit with an interesting blend of This Heat meets Crescent.
Yeah I hate those DNA-tracer examples too, sorry and even that
was meant as a high form of praise. This project is its own
beast, slouching towards the industrial hearts and jaded ears
of many a KFJC listener. Pure noise, impure rock, airport paging
vocals, spiky violin. Just tremendous, especially in sitting
through it whole, (as opposed to us radio types isolating tracks)
the sequencing is stellar. The leadoff track “Nema Te” has a
muffled/maxxed out sing-song from Nina Bostic, the lullabye
gets delayed and then displaced into a musique concrete
parking garage. Better than EVP since it’s real. That triggers
“A Warning” where a synth siren oscillates in the space left
by Bostic, and deep thrumblings and a hint of strings set the
stage for more “vocals” (really a chant, or pre-recorded
alarm message) as the sound stirs up, gunfire percussion
has a party in the re-militarized zone. But John Hannon is
smart enough to let a drone float in and thru, dynamics are
a key throughout the album. Evidently he’s a recording
engineer, but here is a great example of the mixer as
instrument. Rounding out the quartet are Peter Wilkins, a
longtime collaborator and also guitarist and other-items-ist
Tom James Scott. Guess he’s the violin that flecks in (rides
the crushing star of “What’s Mine is Mine” for example).
Plenty of challenging moments (“My Madness Offends” cycles
staccato static bursts, Scott pizzicato prances underneath
it) but even more rewarding moments. Good news this is their
*second* release, better news if there is plenty more to come.
From the very first till now, this remains an exciting
sound escape.
-Thurston Hunger

Dim Past – “Black Dolphin” – [Other-Electricities]

Black Dolphin is the debut release from Dim Past. Mixed and mastered in Miami, Florida this release highlights the new and upcoming Negative Rave clique. Occult Circuitry (no computers) were used to create this album full of synth-heavy, beat driven, techno, industrial, post-punk underground palpitations. Rivers of winding electronic croaks rip through the opening track, whereas “Spectre in Wire” brings heavy delays and a progressive house-synth vibe. “Night Shade” shares eeire repetitive vocals and spooky pianos that reminds me of Wednesday nights at the old Trocadero in SF. 30 minutes of mind bending beats and scratches to satisfy your musical itches.
-Dianthus-

Ghostface Killah – “Twelve Reasons to Die” – [Soul Temple]

The full title of this release is Adrian Younge presents 12 Reasons to Die, and that is important to note. Adrian Younge is LA’s current head procurer of dark soul with his interesting style that sounds like he’s composing 70s movie score type jams on an Akai MPC sampler/sequencer and then having his resident soulburner band, Venice Dawn, replay his compositions (utilizing old timey recording techniques [read: protools plug-ins] I’m sure) with a careful intent not to lose any of the original dirty feeling that a sample-based rap jam has to have to be just that. This style was effective on Younge’s earlier projects (the Black Dynamite Soundtrack, Something About April, and AY presents The Dramatics) and his record remains unblemished here. Only the Roots, Dr. Dre’s Niggaz4Life opus, and Above The Law’s post-Black Mafia Life catalog pull off a live hip hop thing better. Younge is on his shit. Now to the raps. I wouldn’t say this is a GFK career defining lyrical presentation but it is way above par and he gets an A+ for a cohesive story throughout all 12 songs about a ruthless black gangster preyed upon and murdered by the evil DeLucca family with his remains being mixed into melted vinyl and pressed into 12 records to be held by the 12 heads of the family. Problem is when the records are played the spirit called the Ghostface Killah rises for bloody revenge. This is Elmore Leonard-Donald Goines-Blaxploitation on wax. On top of that the CD comes complete with a full instrumental version that should really be filed under dark soul rather than hip hop, it has a really heavy plot even without the crazy vocal vengeance. The CD also comes with a “tape” version of the first 11 tracks where up and coming Detroit producer Apollo Brown remixed the whole shit, which has affectionately been dubbed “The Brown Tape” by real rap heads who prefer Brown’s lo-fi all sample-based compositions to Venice Dawn’s attempts to interpolate Younge.

His Divine Grace – “Reverse Aleph” – [Tesco Organisation]

HIs Devine Grace (aka “Moonchild Erik”) is an elusive dark ambient artist. This was released in 2001, there hasn’t been a release since ’07, where did he go? Perhaps he slowly disintegrated into a pile of sand in a vast and desolate desert. This is 66 minutes of sleepy, dark drones. This creeps along for a full 66 minutes but only really develops towards the last few minutes. Its not much of a crescendo and the end leaves you wanting but if you are looking for a layering track of just a chunk of drone, this will fulfill your needs.

Penguin Feet & The Teardrop Kid – “S/t” – [HDM Records]

This is the re-issue of the classic late-70s novelty record and Dr. Demento fave: Larry Move Your Hand, about a backseat girl’s (or rather a male impersonation of a brazen female) struggle with her date Larry’s wandering extremities. The funniest part to me is when she guzzles the white lightning straight out the bottle, good long gurgle, ha! The classic is accompanied by its instrumental and 5 other burning and sexually insinuative 70s funk jams recorded by raw, funk-drenched session players during leftover studio time after real sessions went down. You Got The Makings Of A Real Freak (which also has an alternate remix version) could make any down-and-out disco dean into an all night groove-machine. Save your funniest moves for Penguin Feet & The Teardrop Kid, a lot of PG-13 Blowfly/Bobby Jimmy & the Critters going on here. Mann the General.

Ocoeur – “Light As a Feather” – [N5MD]

aka French electronic musician Frank Zaragoza. “Ocoeur” translates as “to the heart” and this definitely stole mine. Beautiful and lush sounds that are truly mesmerizing. Waxing and waning from dark to light, fast to slow, these soundscapes are so compelling. Classical instrumentation and delicate melodies, layers of rain and ambience interspersed with IDM beats. This release is too good to be true. I’m addicted.

Adventures In Modern Electronics [coll] – [Pinch a Loaf Productions]

This is a collection of noise from Spastic Colon’s Pinch a Loaf Productions label. Based out of Downey, CA, PAL has 18 releases under their belt and Adventures in Modern Electronics is #13. 10 tracks by 10 different noise artists/outfits, each between 5 and 9 minutes long. 1) Aube: notable for it’s use of silence after the initial crash. Those who wait thru it are rewarded like counting the seconds btwn flash & thunder. 2) Not Breathing: waxpaper-winged cicada, space probes, hallucinatory boiling meter-less jungle, ends humid. 3) Pain Jerk: industrial loop, harsh edges keeps steady metronome with competing plods then burns into total DHRish chaos, smolders and space phasers out. 4) Smell & Quim: industrial loop and dry beep distortion code, constantly morphing patterns, tempo-twists tight. 5) MSBR: piercer phases into electronic robot gatling gun and laser weld fades out with soft pierce. 6) dB Orgy: starts with effective silence and fades in extremely slow for a full minute then becomes a satellite floating the nebulous. 7) Kazumoto Endo: intemittent harsh blasts, with lower sounds between, bangs more frequent with friends joining in, goes insane for 2 mins then chills to catch breath then destroys again, chills at end too. 8) Thirdorgan: possessed fax machine/calculator watch combo, with a live contact slammed thru a raggy woofer cone. 9) The Haters: sheets of tin banging in a far off and cavernous warehouse. 10) Spastic Colon: the hosts for the evening created a beautiful and edible center piece to decorate and nourish their guests who are the main course with some bubble bath drill at the end. Eat yourself. Mann the General.

Fjellstrom, Marcus – “Epilogue -M-” – [Aagoo]

Marcus Fjellstrom’s “Epilogue-M” is quite an amazing piece of work. While staying mostly within the ambient / dark ambient genre, the BPM is all over the place. It’s spooky and haunting, cerebral and involved; it seems to have an ability to send piercing chills down your spine with precision stabs, while at other times completely engulfing the listener in a wall of ambient noise. It’s difficult to describe exactly, but if you listen to this at a higher volume, the music envelops you completely and takes you to its own strange, dark recesses of consciousness. It’s quite orchestral, in the sense that it creates huge open spaces, and then fills them entirely without ever resorting to using harsh elements, hard percussion or any overuse of what one would consider typically “dark” samples. Film samples, dreamy synths, piano harps, tympani drums and clever use of filters – Fjellstrom?? use of instrumentation and ambient electronics to create expansive moody soundscapes is quite brilliant.

Steven Severin – “Unisexdreamsalon” – [MP3.COM]

This 2001 release from Siouxsie and the Banshees bassist Steven Severin is an collection of dreamy, cerebral electronica. For the most part, I consider this an ambient / downtempo album, with a few notable exceptions – the fast and drum and bass influenced “Sometimes” sounds like it could have been used on David Bowie’s “Earthling,” while “I Persuade You” is a cover of Throbbing Gristle’s “Persuasion,” and “Sometimes” is certainly a window into Severin’s past. The opening track, “Typhoid Mary” sounds a bit out of place on the album, and parts of this feel like unfinished outtakes at times. However, overall this is a very pleasing album and the ambient/downtempo tracks are quite good.

Mackrosoft – “S.E.M.E.” – [Mackrosoft Records]

With 27 musicians uniting to create a musical collection of funk, fusion, soul and jazz, Mackrosoft has done a creative job. S.E.M.E is named after Steely Dan’s classic 1977 LP. You can hear Fagen’s influence along with the likes of George Clinton, Herbie Hancock and Bootsy Collins. Seductive and unpredictable, Mackrosoft winds through slick high-hat beats accompanied by synth joints and mythic horns. Juicy underground funk and borderline porn-flick score all in one creating an instrumental party of artwork to make you dance. If you need to get that funk out of your trunk, try this one on.
-Dianthus-

Ridgley, Tommy – “Tommy Ridgley Collection, The” – [Acrobat Music]

Two discs chock full of R&B nostalgia. I thoroughly enjoyed how this made me feel like I was doing domestic chores like my mother, listening to excellent music to help me through the mundane nature of what I was doing. The New Orleans native performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival from 1972 until his death in 1999. You can???t go wrong, no matter which disc or song you sample. Enjoy.

Villalobos, Ricardo / Lodenbauer, Max – “Re: ECM” – [Ecm Records]

Cool when beats turns up in places you might not expect. Not much
of a church-goer, but is there a mass that is the “laptop” mass
these days? Anyways, beat priests, Villalobos and Loderbauer (from
Sun Electric and the Moritz Von Oswald Trio) were allowed into the
ECM catalog catacombs in 2011, and came up with this sacred celebration
of the label. ECM has always had a really clear, often icy sound
to me, the liner notes refer to importance of “space” in the
“ECM-esthetic” and for minimalist techno moves, that can work
well. One of KFJC’s beat DJ’s was less enthralled, and I can
understand…despite the mention of dance clubs in the liners
this is way more clean room, than night club. Out of 13 sources,
we only have the Arvo Part source, “Kanon Pokajanen.” But it feels
like the source of the samples comes through pretty strong, even
when clipped and chipped and mix’d with mic’d up gasps of sound from
the mixing lab. Some are listed as merely arranged by the duo here.
Tracks like “Remergence” with its dead fly buzzing on a snare, aren’t
going to pack a dance floor, but work for weird ears. I like voice
when inserted into electronics, some that would fit in a cathedral
“Reblazhenstva” and “Rekonakion” or a mosque “Reannounce.” “Resole”
also has a voice but it feels like an opera star stranded on a
space shuttle. Each of the two disks starts with a riff on a work
by Christian Wallamrod that sounds like that moment in a fantasy
film when the audience is meant to understand fairies are real.
Other epiphanies are not as ethereal, but nice work overall.
-Thurston Hunger

Bubbly Mommy Gun – “Los Estados Amigos” – [Self-released]

Fluffy little bits of music, it’s got a candy pop shell but
inside every bite there are all kinds of strange flavors.
Among them : prog rock nougats, animal collective droppings,
maybe a Burt Baccharach Fan Club card, too much time at
the circus, gummy art brut bears. Honestly, on first take,
I would have bet this was one guy locked in his attic with
a four-track. Tiny little guitars, tons o’ reverb swirl,
keyboard kooties, all in that kind of suffocating bedroom
sound. So discovering this is a band (from Athens) kind of
spins my ears again. There are times I was reminded of Peter
Gabriel’s second solo album, but that is definitely my fault
(driven by the kind of gentle and thin vocals). This collects
everything they’ve done so far, and some things they haven’t.
And to make it more confusing, if you add a Julian Bozeman
they turn into Quiet Hooves. Remember the time you left
the crayon pack on your dashboard last summer, this is how
that sounds. A pretty mess of melted colors.
-Thurston Hunger

feedtime – “Today Is Friday” – [S-S Records]

It is probably safe to say this was project carefully considered, compiled and wildly desired to be put together by the mighty S-S Records‘ Scott Soriano (maybe even ripped from the virtual arms of Seattle’s SubPop?). A project of all previously unreleased material by this Aussie noise rock outfit, formed in 1979, that ultimately crashed and burned due to the lead singer unable to keep it all together. Personally, as a serious fan of Amphetimine Reptile sounds of the 90′s, this thing completely schools all those fucking great bands and releases. There are three covers on here (Richard’s and Jagger’s) Street Fighting Man. Fear‘s blown out I Don’t Care About You and Flipper‘s Life. The rest is all feedtime including some ripping sax on nice and possums (the live versions). Overall, it’s a miraculously wreck-less (front-page, top-o-the fold headlines screaming “Unbelievable” where there should have been gallons of blood and gore, no survivors at all, after a horrendous jack and cocaine fueled vehicular manslaughter night on the town fiasco) straight up stripped down wreck n’ role affair. In other words, the whole thing is as dangerous as a rabies infested grinning possum let loose in a kindergarten (have you seen how many fucking teeth one of them bastards has got?). Thank you SS Records for your labors of love.

Soil

Fuxedos, The – “Fuxedos, The” – [Glazed Yams, Inc.]

The Fuxedos are an interesting band to classify, to say the least, as is their album “The Fuxedos”. Is it art? Is it high school nonsense? Is it good? The answer to these questions is really up to the listener. They have a somewhat obsessive following of dedicated fans that eat up the stage antics and theatrics, and for good reason. It’s all pretty silly, crazy stuff. But is it good? Again, it’s up to the listener. Pretty much the brain child of Danny Shorago, he writes the music and the lyrics. He produces, directs and edits the video. He does all the vocals. He is almost every character on the cover. He’s equally comfortable in a dress as he is in a 70′s/80′s tuxedo with ruffled shirt. But what is this all about? Think Zappa with the adolescent lyrics. Think Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (before they were Oingo Boingo). Think Firesign Theater and Polkacide. It’s theatrics and extremely accomplished musicianship and lyrics about cephalopods and robot vampire wombats and jellybeans and Disneyland. The band is tight. Constantly changing time signatures, different tempos within the same song, and saxophones and sousaphone. The members are experienced, coming from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Morris Tepper. They know what they are doing. Try it. See if you like it. Who knows.

Aderlating – “Spear of Gold and Seraphim Bone Part One” – [ConSouling Sounds]

Belgian conjurer of demons Maurice de Jong is the disturbed mind behind this most evil of dark ambient nightmares. Murky death drones that emanate from the deepest recesses of bog-filled caverns. Bleak and barren despite the overwhelmingly dense layering, or is it that the sounds figure so prominently on their own? Cataclysmic eruptions of ritual exorcism burst forth, bolstered by the vague drums that linger in distant tunnels. At times we sink deeper and deeper to the molten center, where the drums pound with metallic, omnidestructive fury like a blackened hurricane of smoke and disease. At other times we blast to the outer edges of consciousness, eerily drifting along the ether. Organic sounds of grimy cesspools and viscous mires give birth to parasitic creatures echoing poisonous incantations. Morbid, grisly and at times terrifying, this is an ancient evil come to haunt us.