abacus 1/30/2016 A Library, CD
disgusting fucked-up filth-bile from British aberrations Kevin Tomkins and Paul Taylor aka Sutcliffe Jugend. tone shredding feedback congestion with low end buzz and drill; warped electronics and twisted vocalizations, shrill pelting and purging of inner torment and revulsion. full of grimace and gag, this is one of the most disturbing power electronics has to offer. beyond perverse, this gives me a tummy ache
abacus 1/28/2016 A Library, Cassette
chaotic noise/jazz layering from local boy Kevin Murray; short attention span overload extreme with tape manipulation/sampling, found percussion skittering and vibraphone improv all stacked together for both sides of this cassingle on his homegrown label Subruckus. Work Life shows no balance with some metal track (ID anyone?) thrown over the top for extra confusion. sounds like someone listens to too much KFJC…
abacus 1/26/2016 A Library, CD
bestial spewing of black bile and blood from The Ghastly Apparition unleashed from his usual Nuclear Desecration to wallow in a most feral fervor of ritualistic depravity. death enticing ravaging defilement with doom damaged billowing of ashen smoke and debris, raging with equal ferocity across all instrumentation, this one man demon will cultivate a most gratifying of evil inspirations. gnash and fume till you bleed.
abacus 1/25/2016 12-inch, A Library
4-track collage kosmische from Parisian tripper Thierry Muller, originally released in 1978 on Oxygene Records and included on the legendary NWW list. shimmering guitar loops, cosmic synthscapes, these kraut journeys explore both ambient and abrasive sonorities. the title track a sidelong of organ freekout minimalism, while the A-side’s Sequences are more angsty guitar driven tension building; the Derriere track stands out, delving deeper into acoustic expressiveness. first time reissue of the influential debut LP that set the stage for a gorgeous yet unsettling body of work.
abacus 1/25/2016 A Library, CD
part two of trilogy precluded by Masturbatorium and followed by the never released I Love You, live recorded sexual energies in tantric resuscitation and paranormal pulsations; strict concentration of inherent self-contradiction emanating resonant frequencies of fatigue in delectation. ecstatic haze of swaying dissolution into dissociated dreams of faded trajectories, lost and broken. a ritual of eroded desire and self-absolution. a sonic mapping of the male orgasmic process.
abacus 1/25/2016 12-inch, A Library
newest work by Swiss musique-concrete composer and plankton fisherman Marc Zeier. an elusive founding member of the Schimpfluch-gruppe, he employs a similar found-sound-psychosis technique of composition but with his own distinctive, more minimal approach, blurring lines between natural/synthetic, real/imagined, internal/external sounds. hyperconscious dissociations lost in the cryptic micro-acoustics of day to day, these pieces can be layered for unsettling additions or played alone for the most mundane of paranoias; recorded at 45rpm, or play at 33 for ultimate audio erosion. impositions to violate your consensual reality
abacus 1/13/2016 A Library, Cassette
ragtag soliloquies from east bay duo, indie punkers down and out with a vengeance; angst and alienation laden catchy tunes with impressive execution, fluid fingerwork and endearing vocals. the listening flows best all the way thru on tape, with the instrumental mock ending hidden between. it’s that frustrating time where nothing goes right and everything is slow and difficult and you don’t seem to go anywhere but you keep trudging along. can’t let the pressure keep you down in the pit as you climb out of your valley of shit.
abacus 1/13/2016 A Library, Cassette
recorded between 2000-03 with Yamaha Rm1x sequencer in a closet or crawlspace. industrial cartoon mutations of layered loops and tethered chaos; much of the sequences took up the entire memory, full of arcade boss-level malfunctions, metal slug invaders. among Arvo Zylo’s most musical work, not harsh noise in itself but not easy listening either. compiled from dozens of hours of archives of limited and unreleased material. 9 fucks given
abacus 12/9/2015 A Library, Cassette
dubwise grime from mysterious electronic beatsmaker out of USA (i want to say it’s east bay but no way to verify). live recorded for grit production but slick beats nonetheless (in aesthetic, not quality). perfect for late night chinatown wandering, flashing lights abound; freeway traffic maneuvers and dizzy all-night haze. simmer and shake
abacus 12/9/2015 A Library, Cassette
musician/promoter Indra Menus spent 5 years compiling this glimpse into the Indonesian underground, documenting a history of noise from a scattering of diverse cultures comprising the archipelago. a vast variety of sounds, from standard HNW (1,2,5), to industrial noise (3), noise rock (4), noise drone (6,18), noisecore (9,12), noise glitch (13,15), and all sorts of unclassifiable variants of the noise genre; some of the tracks (8,10) definitely reveal their cultural influence more prominently and stand out as distinctly unique examples of sonic rarity. unheard sounds from a country notorious for its lack of documentation, this is a historical gem of musical documentation.
abacus 12/7/2015 12-inch, A Library
debut full length from Oregon forest dwelling black metallers. hyper-conscious cosmic trippers bringing visceral melodics to thaw the ice cold guitar swells, galloping drums carrying the waves of psychedelic dynamics. distant torture shrieked and bellowed, ensnaring the listener in the allure of tranquility through pain. meditative anguish.
abacus 11/25/2015 7-inch, A Library
manic grind assaults from these arbiters of misfortune out of Cleveland. confrontational and degrading just the way you like it, Completely Disgusted goes all dirgey and shit. Wil Killingsworth recorded it so you know it’s good. fuck it no one cares anyways
abacus 11/16/2015 A Library, CD
another fucked up aberration of art side project from Grunt aka Mikko Aspa aka the Freak Animal himself. creep ambient paranoid electronics mostly sparse but most unsettling. harsh not in delivery but in discomfort, uncomfortable not just in sonic qualities but in thematic content most of all. the guiltiest of all pleasures; the most taboo of all temptations; the evillest of all human acts imaginable; possibly some clean(er) tracks to play but it’s all so, so dirty and definitely very offensive, and some parts potentially not suitable for airplay. play at the risk of absolute moral corruption.
abacus 11/16/2015 A Library, CD
black noise audio torture at its most tormenting: Finnish black metal ritualists Ride for Revenge fall immediately into a braindead death-march of unerring headache hypnosis; brain burning feedback swells, drums in relentless repetition. the second track a terrifying vision of viscous distortion. German occult electronics outfit RxAxPxE deliver harsh granular walls of blood boiling worship and praise and tribal swamp ambient evoking demons. a showcase of extremes, this split is not for the faint of heart.
abacus 11/16/2015 12-inch, A Library
Oakland based sound artist presents mind altering soundscrapes of agitated industrial friction and hissing factory feedback; bulbous pulsations of infected drones fragmented and spliced into rhythmic ollages of glitched static, field recordings, and ambient noise. sudden drops and transitions sure to confuse DJs and listeners alike: sounds or perhaps the grooves themselves damaged into purposeful scratches? hard to say with various locked ending tracks (B3) or others fading off into near silence (D3), the third disc composed entirely of locked grooves and intruders to really test your focus. the subtleties laid throughout challenge relentlessly, with creeping disturbances to tickle the back of your brain. the sounds here are sinister, and in the most psychically dangerous of ways,,,
abacus 11/11/2015 A Library, CD
who’d o’ thunk Beijing would become one of the hot spots of innovative rock music? but it’s become just that, with recent bands emulating the noise-pop/indie-rock sound from the 90s, sounding like bands like Sonic Youth, Pavement and others. these kids are from Hong Kong but fit nicely in with this scene. recorded on Beijing label Psychic Kong, The Yours’ sophomore album here is definitely meant to appeal to rambunctious youth audiences, with a much more intense and riff-heavy sound but maintaining a catchy song structures. they definitely lean heavier to the noise end than pop, but fear not, these songs shine melodic amidst the shimmering distortion and colossal dissonances. a lo-fi collage dedicated to youth culture and teenage angst.
abacus 11/11/2015 12-inch, A Library
home recordings of German artist/composer/founder of Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble playing Sun Ra’s sun harp/bandura he was given after hosting the Arkestra in Egypt and a swarmandal gifted him by the Dagar brothers during his Kabul years during the comeup on amanita mushrooms one solitary day back in Germany in the 90s. from jarring, incessant strumming, banging and mangling with a purge of absurd vocalizations to polyrhythmic dispersal and focused variations on individual tones and surfaces all in an outpouring of desert delusional harmonics settling into a trembling zen at the end. psychoactive meditations from one of history’s greatest trippers. swallow the caps and stems and start all over again.
abacus 11/10/2015 12-inch, A Library
split release from two of Oregon’s most deathly doom projects. Hell sets the mood with medieval folk intro on guitar, harp and viola; setting the stage for a dark and dismal night, stars obscured by black clouds drifting thru still waters to a solitary gothic tower; exploding off into DMT fueled cosmic doom trip. Mizmor then blasts off immediately into interstellar black metal harmonics breaking thru to higher consciousness, realms of bleak shattered into gut churning sludge; the collapsing beat dragged through dirt and riffs thrown about haphazardly in fits of wrong. despite the two projects being interrelated to the point of sameness the sounds they produce are drastically different though complementary: the visceral effects of their power evoking a cold, haunting terror that only the best can achieve.
abacus 10/26/2015 A Library, CD
a meeting of spirits in Jogjakarta, Java. Japanese vocal trips – Indonesian guitar mantras – American effects entropy. tribal dada psychedelia and celestial funk minimalism. connections to Factums, Seek Six Sick and Yo Yo. the supreme of surreal, the best of bizarre. may trigger flashbacks, use at your own risk.
abacus 10/26/2015 A Library, Cassette
self-declared experimental post-punk out of San Jose. teeth gritting guitar riffage and bellowing bass and drums accompany; snarling vocal delivery gives you that punk rock grimace with spacious song writing that still manages to move and change. these guys got skills and a sound all their own in a sea of same-sounding rock music (the 90s were pretty fuckin awesome though)
KFJC 89.7FM