A basement pioneer in his own right, J.D. Emmanuel has had a resurgence of sorts in recent years, making his a real synth Cinderella story. Spurred by a record collector who suggested he post his work on the internet, Emmanuel's 1982 Wizards was soon reissued by Bread and Animals' Lieven Martens, whose own Dolphins into the Future project is among many currently drawing inspiration from the meditative arpeggiations practiced by Emmanuel over 25 years ago.
Give us an hour, we'll give you music to remember. This week we bring you an episode with brand new music from Softcult, Jim Rafferty, karen vogt, Ex-Easter Island Head, Jon Collin, James Devane, Garth Erasmus, Gary Wilson, and K. Freund, plus some music from the archives from Goldblum, Rachel Goswell, Roy Montgomery. Rubber ducks and a live duck photo from Matthew in the UK. Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!
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Humorous though their name may be, Blue Sabbath Black Cheer actually sounds like anything but. Primarily the duo of wm.Rage and Stan Reed, this collection pulls from several out of print releases while also adding two unreleased tracks. Call this fine collection a "best of" if you want, but be warned: this is some brutal material. Perhaps "best of the worst" would be more apt.
Hailing from the northern reaches of Europe, Sweden based Skull Defekts return here, further honing their distinctive blend of tribal hard rock into a taut set of highly focused songs. Seeking to tread the line between overt psychedelia and more prog-based power rock, the group's aesthetic finds some deep pockets of funky groove along the way while also setting foot into trenches that perhaps lie a little too close to a brand of pop-rock that a group of this caliber certainly has the capacity to avoid.
Subtitled Minimal Compositions, Instrumentals, and Experiments 1980-1983, J.G. Thirlwell's CD-DVD retrospective casts an entirely new and surprising light on his already diverse and infamous Foetus moniker. Some of these songs are close to being 30 years old, however they share more in common with Thirlwell's Manorexia and Steroid Maximus projects than with anything found on albums like Hole or Nail. Steeped in the theory and aesthetics of modern composition, Limb is a revelatory collection that adds even more depth to Thirlwell's already rich musical history.
Although still in his early 20s, Jon Borges has long been a dominant and influential figure in the American noise underground. Austere is the first new Pedestrian Deposit release in three years (due to a shift in focus towards his more ambient Emaciator project) and the first to feature a second band member (cellist/violinist Shannon Kennedy). As expected, it is well worth the wait.
Cold Cave's brilliant yet cruelly brief set at No Fun Fest most closely resembled a low-fi New Order perverted by (un)healthy doses of bleak intensity and menace. Regrettably, this compilation of early releases does not sound anything like that, so I must content myself with mere memories until a release emerges that more accurately captures Wes Eisold's current vision. Thankfully, however, Cremations is still a fairly compelling and unusual release in its own right.
In Trunk's catalog are many bizarre treats. The label has issued obscure soundtracks, musique concrète by an ex-Spitfire pilot, poetic porn, tunes from forgotten children's TV shows and much more. Now comes their very first CD release of easy listening sunshine pop adaptations of Church of England hymns, which has long enjoyed a cultish following and bootlegged life since its original 1960s release. These swinging arrangements of traditional melodies are amusing, perplexing creations; they are by turns delighful and repulsive.
Heavily sourced from both field recordings and guitar, the material on this disc gives the natural color of its geographic location: an ammunitions bunker and its surrounding wilderness the spotlight. As a whole the pieces are staunchly minimalist, allowing the core sounds to be the focus rather than a great deal of electronics or processing, which is surely artist Cameron Webb’s intent with this work.
While he first made a name for himself with the balls out psych rock of Loop, Robert Hampson always had an inclination towards the esoteric and avant garde. The slide away from rock into musique concrèt for him is pretty obvious to anyone familiar with his Main project, which began as a krautrock inspired industrial band and ended with the pure sonic abstraction that has segued into this new solo work. Rather than working with guitar (as Loop and Main were based upon), these works, two of which were commissioned by GRM, instead allow for a wider sonic palate to be used, and the results are captivating.
Taking a moment to not release yet another album, this retrospective DVD features videos for some of the band's studio cuts, live footage from across their career and behind the scenes vignettes. There is three hours of great music included here and hardly a dull moment. The videos are a treat for the eyes and while the live footage is no Bon Jovi spectacular, it fully captures the energy and excitement of the group's live performances. The whole package is a great way to get re-acquainted with a concise but frequently brilliant body of work.
