Tuesday, May 23, 2006

CJ Borosque - They

Artist: CJ Borosque
Release: They
Label:
Harshnoise
Year: 2006
Format: CDr (pro)
Tracks: 4
TRT: 56:07


Newest release out of the Harshnoise label. I will start off by saying that I really had no idea who CJ Borosque was and the proof is that I didn't even know a woman was making this great noise. I'll be honest, that's not the first thing that comes to mind when I hear noise, but I'm glad to see that I now know another woman making great pedal noise. After checking out CJ's very cool web page: www.noisegoddess.com, I found out how much of an artist she truly is. Now, getting to the noise.


Four harsh tracks with two of them busting over the 20-minute mark. The noise in this release has a very old quality sound to it. Like it was released in the late 80's or something. I like this. There is a real fresh sound and you can tell it wasn't much rehearsed at all. During the listen of this disc you get really confused with what "CJ" is trying to do in her tracks. An example is the title track "They". Lots of spastic noise at first and then a harsh noise wall where just as you start to get bored with it she comes back with more spastic noise...a great combo. She gives, then takes, then gives, then takes...it's a fucking marathon sometimes. There are also some very good loops mixed with just straight pedal static bliss. I like this noise a lot and it's something that reminds me a little bit of nkondi, except not as harsh as his material. I would rate this release a 3/5, not because of the noise or artwork but because the record seems to lack a hold on my ears. Not much bass. Call me a noisehead that likes a lot of bass but if you don't mind that then ignore my last comment.


Of the harshnoise artworks out there I find this one very calming than the rest. Two deep blue horse heads face you with an ominous stare. Looks very olde English. My first listen of CJ Borosque and I can tell her one think now; "You left an impression girl!"

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Random Insults - Wir Siegen Wieder - Ja, Ja...

Artist: Random Insults
Release: Wir Siegen Wieder - Ja, Ja...
Label: Roil Noise Offensive
Year: 2006
Format: CDr (pro-pressed)
Tracks: 16
TRT: 76:35



The latest offering from Puerto Rico industrial/noise artist Random Insults. Sixteen ear bust'n, bass blast'n tracks that put you in the heart of war. What Random Insults does in this release is great. He mixes the perfect style of noise and industrial music to gives us fans of both genre's something to smile about. Hard pounding drums with great use of guitar samples and synths. As with each RI release you get Kai's great vocals. However, in this release they are mostly in German. But who really cares anyway. I ended up buying most of Wumpscut's releases in German anyway. Something about the language screams attention with industrial music. "Listen to this you fucks! I'm pushing forward and don't get in my way!" Well, sort of.

There are a lot of great tracks on this disc. "The Last Time Ever", "Last Warning", "Obey!", "The Hammer (of Zeus)", "Needles In My Eye", and the title track "Wir Siegen Wieder - Ja, Ja..." is bloody amazing and should be marketed as a 7" single. If I had the money I'd do just that. Heavy bass and synth with great vocals, a very well produced track. With Random Insults your getting great music and I can't say anything wrong about this release except for one thing. After listing to this release in one sitting you kind of get a bit too much of it. I think 60 minutes would have been perfect but at 76 minutes I find myself not really getting as interested in the last 5 tracks than I did with the first few. After putting this disc on random I found that the last tracks were well done too, so it wasn't as if they bored me. Just to much of a good thing I guess.

The artwork was very well done also. Done by Cole Morse and Noah Fleischman as a kind of online request, they did a good job. A dark faceless army approaches. Subtle and effective for this release. A pro-press release for $8 even. You get it all with Random Insults.

Torturing Nurse - Does Utmost

Artist: Torturing Nurse
Release: Does Utmost
Label: Roil Noise Offensive
Year: 2006
Format: CDr (DIY)
Tracks: 2
TRT: 40:34


You like "live" noise?
Yes, it has a very real sound to it and I think it is the most artistic form of performing out there. Have you picked up the latest release by Torturing Nurse?
Yes I did and I must say it made me fell like they were in my fucking house bashing thier vocal distress about my face.
Really? What makes this release "Does Utmost" so special for you to say something like that? For starters Youki and Junky mix a lot of sounds together in both tracks and you can tell that they are using their bodies in their noise performance. Moving and shaking around the room, bashing drums with their skulls and just all around creating a hell of a sound. Lots of yelling and emotion going on. Gets me very involved I'd say.
Yes. TN has been known to have that effect on their listeners. Does the noise seem to be something that would attract new listeners?
No. In fact, get your children out while you can. It will attract them too much I'd say. There have been people that have come out of their live shows and have then gone on to go crazy and start killing people. Body dismemberment and just plain weird shit.
That so? Well, I'd better get out of here then (*laughs*). Seriously now, what kinds of sounds are in this newest release?
Hmmmm, lots. What you hear is junk noise at it's best. Vocals, drums, scratches, toys, harmonica, and broken bones. Great mix of material and gets me back to what noise creativity use to be instead of this newer laptop shitte!!!
Wow, a bold statement coming from (name omitted due to privacy law)...let's hear a sample folks, shall we?

This is the final part of this interview done at a radio station in Canada. After a sample of the track titled "You are my jonky" was played, crowds gathered all around and the town literally turned it into a blood bath. The master tape of this interview was found after the 2 week clean up. The performance of this release can be found for $4.56 at the Roil Noise label, but listeners are now warned.

Ctephin / GX Jupitter-Larsen: The Shards of Turin - The Second Coming

Artist: Ctephin / GX Jupitter-Larsen
Release: The Shards of Turin - The Second Coming
Label:
Roil Noise Offensive
Year: 2006
Format: 3" cdr
Tracks: 1

TRT:
19:20



The very idea of these two artists getting together had me drooling, and it wasn’t long before I got my wish. Here we have a great ambient artist named Ctephin collaborating with the legendary GX Jupitter-Larsen. Before I go anything further I will say that this is kind of a part two to the original track done by Ctephin titled Shards Of Turin. This track can be found on the Roil Noise page as well for download. I've listened to both tracks a number of times and they are totally different. The Shards of Turin 2 has that good'ol Haters touch to it and I would have loved to have had both tracks on one disc, but the 3" cdr is done very well and kudos to Noah of Roil Noise for a job well done with the label's second 3" release.

What the track sounds like to me is a tumbling circus of crashes and booms slowed down. It also doesn't seem to vary too much through the 19 minutes except for little hints of hisses and rings. If I had been hearing this on some noise radio station I would clearly think that this was a Haters track and not a collaborating at all. I do like the fact that you can still hear Ctephin's effort in this track though, even if it maybe drowned out a bit. This release will get mixed feelings I think and they are pretty simple: a) if you like the Haters you'll like this and b) if you don't like the Haters of the sound of GX then it's not for you, but fuck, at $4.18 you're getting your monies worth anyway.

Ghoul Detail - Trail Of Tears

Artist: Ghoul Detail
Release: Trail Of Tears
Label:
Roil Noise Offensive
Year: 2006
Format: CDr (DIY)
Tracks: 10
TRT: 67:47


Ghoul Detail has come out with more releases this year and the last than anyone out there, including Merzbow. Some would say that this is not a good thing and that when an artist comes out with some much material in one year that you're going to get some crap. Well, I haven’t found that yet with GD and this latest release proves it yet again. Although this is an official release from Roil Noise it is not included in their catalog....yet, and the reason for that is this disc is to be part of an upcoming Ghoul Detail Box Set on Roil Noise. So watch out for that soon.


Getting back to the release. An ambient, drone, experimental release to the fullest. Ghoul Detail has a remarkable effect with his tracks that makes you think of the cold depths of space every time you hear one of his tracks, even if he doesn't mean it. The gravity of each track in this disc pulls you forward towards a distant star and then lets you circle it while you think and contemplate life...at least for me. None of these tracks bore you in this disc as only two manage to crack the 10 minute mark, which is hard to do for an ambient artist. If I were to say anything negative about this release it would be that the harsher of the ambient tracks aren't as good as the more softer ambient tracks. Not sure if that explains it enough but to me a harsh ambient track can sometimes sound like wall noise or white static, and I just don't look for that with ambient, drone type artists. But some like it anyway so it's not too bad.

The styles of sounds used in this release are very high pitched and focused. Some tracks, like Fading Yesterdays have a very musical quality to it and create a very relaxing tone for your ears and pineal gland. Something to get high off of as well. I'm not saying go out a buy drugs now, but use weed, crack, LSD, hell anything, with this release (and anything by Ghoul Detail without the drugs) you get the same effect.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Android In Motion - The Final Temptations

Artist: Android In Motion
Release: The Final Temptations
Label:
Roil Noise
Year: 2006
Format: CDr (Pro-pressed)
Tracks: 13
TRT: 79:04


Android In Motion brings his latest release, The Final Temptations, from the Roil Noise label and what I can say about this release is that it is my favorite so far to come out of that fast growing label. Being a noise/industrial/hardcore/heavy-beat driven fan of music, and owning a lot of CD’s from that style, I’ll say that this is right up there with bands like Converter, Terrorfakt, and SINA (minus the lyrics and hot German chick). This is a full CDr and I would have paid the HMV price for this one.

Each of the 13 tracks holds its own and they range from 3:15 to 7:51. Noise usually begins the track then the build up of hard pounding beats begin, and these aren’t just mindless techno drums either, there is purpose with these beats and they don’t feel repetitive at all. In short, I don’t get bored listening to any of these tracks. To note: Track #2 (Polarity Shift), Track #3 (Enamoured Lover), Track #6 (Happy Kitties) and Track #13 (Life’s Glow Fading) are true kickers on this CDr and would have made great 7" singles on labels like D-Trash. The thing I like most about AIM’s style is his way that he builds up tracks and stays with it. He knows how to make music, it’s as simple as that, yet he uses noise blasts and distortion to his advantage giving us hard-heads something we all crave and a good excuse to smash shit up when were done listening.

Something to note about AIM is this release by Slayv Axis - Remixez V.1 which features remixes by Panzer Division, Terrorfakt, and Android in Motion, to name a few. Good show. If you feel you’re the type that likes hardcore beat driven noise, and not the flower-shop Merzbeat shit, then pick this up. You’re bound to like at least half the CD, if not all. I dare you to cure your Final Temptation.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Anthony Saunders - Susurrus

Artist: Anthony Saunders
Release: Susurrus
Label: RSM /
Audiobot
Year: 2006
Format: 2 x CDr
Tracks: 12
TRT: Disc 1: 59:34 / Disc 2: 65:36


Susurrus \su-SUHR-uhs\, noun:A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.

This 2-disc set by Anthony Saunders released on RSM and Audiobot fits this definition to a "T", disc one is a whisper compared with disc two’s rustling freak-out. Minimal ambient soundscapes that run together and meld with one another so perfectly that it seems very "musical" at times is disc one. Then we have disc two, which features an onslaught of loud noise. There are 12 tracks that range from 5 to 17 minutes and each are titled Movement I, Movement II, etc.

The sounds represented in the first disc can sometimes be so quite that I had to turn up the stereo a bit to see if it was still running. Not really a negative thing but if you’re an impatient person than this is not the disc for you. As with most ambient music I find you have to be either reading, sleeping, or listing to it while having a chat with some friends. Each disc runs like one long track broken up into parts and this is how I like it best. There are a few loud parts, like in Movement IV for example, but for the most part these recordings on disc one will not harm anyone. Sounds range from what sounds like crashing snowflakes slowed down to by a magical watch, an orchestra of clicks and scrapes played by the Gods, and recorded movements of clouds building in the sky (which is movement VI for me, my favorite).

Disc two is a great style of crunching noise and blissful rips. Lots of experimentation going on in the second disc, like in Movement IX for example. Pops and loud echoed pushes of noise which sometimes repeat and then fade, a very unpredictable track with lots of different features. I prefer disc two mainly because I am a harsh noise junky but also because it is very random and seems to have been produced better. Not sure if that’s true and I’m sure Anthony spent a good portion on disc one, but two has a lot more to offer and a lot more going on. Some good wall noise appears too.

This 2-dsic set is packaged in a DVD slim case with great artwork on the cover that wraps around the backside. The liner notes states "All photos taken during the first snowfall of the winter 2005/2006 season". Now, the artwork is bloody beautiful, but I can’t see what Anthony did to those winter photos to make the art what it is. Truly colorful and variant. More than just an experimenter of sounds, Anthony is a true artist.