SOUND CRUNCH 3

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LESLIE KEFFER/KIM GORDON/THURSTON MOORE CASS (ECSTATIC PEACE)
This cassette is 2 live recordings of noise maven Leslie improvising with Kim in Massachusetts, and Thurston in her native Ohio. Though all three of these folks are seasoned improvisors that have covered a lot of field, this cassette disappointed me for several reasons: first, the recording quality is so bad that you can't pick out very much out of the excessive low-end, and two, there's not a whole lot going on that would necessitate other people wanting to hear this other than the fact that its got big names going for it. Although this cassette sports a lovely, painting by Kim of Leslie, you're much better off avoiding this one.

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OUBLIETTE: MORE TAPE FUCKERIES CASS(TUSCO EMBASSY)
My personal introduction to Seth Oubliette came in the form of the Tape Fuckeries cassette released on Hanson several years ago. This is the official sequel to that wonderful hand-spliced release. More tape hiss, edits that jump out of uncomfortable silences, and other classic tape manipulation methods of inching, speed-up/slow-down, etc... This cassette doesn't have as much variation in textures or spacing as its predecessor, but for any fan of lo-fi tape gunk, its a welcome treat amidst thousands of serious dudes being as 'harsh' as they can. Oubliette is ridiculously prolific, and has done collaborations with virtually everyone, and uses a minimum of effects, which sets apart him from many others in the "junk-noise" category. This comes in a cruddy 2-color silkscreen case from some Ohio folks.
www.myspace.com/Oubliette


MARRIED IN BERDICHEV! S/T CASS(SELF-RELEASED)
Nice marriage(pun intended) of looped vocals and varied feedback pulses going on over the course of 30 minutes, which is divided up into loose song structures. This tape marks a transition from straight forward song-structures of past releases into more haunted atmospheres that warm vocal choruses weave thick spells. No point here in trying to make comparisons to other female noisicians like Can't or Eva Inca Ore who employ spacious textures and wispy vocal patterns. Some of the songs have a nice upbeat nursery rhyme feel to them which contrasts well with the more ominous pieces. The only minor fault I can find with this is that some of the feedback textures don't always match well with the stretched-out vocal explorations on the second side. However, most of the time it is successful and translates for a blissful escape from reality into inner fantasy worlds. Listening to this evokes meditative dream-states and introspective joy. This lady has stepped up her game a couple of notches with this release, and is finally getting some support with an appearance on this year's Deathbomb Arc Tape Series and upcoming vinyl on Gilgongo. Nice to see more Colorado locals getting in the 'limelight' that exists within the underground...
www.myspace.com/marriedinberdichev
stillsoftrecs.com


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MYSTIFIED: KRELL MUSE C-52(ABANDON SHIP RECORDS)
This project has been another one of those names that I've seen all over the Troniks board. His sounds, however, are a far cry from the 'harsh walls' craze so in vogue at the moment, bringing to mind the dark interior vapors of Nocturnal Emissions or early Coil . Deep dish drone served up with small bits of field recordings peppering the surface and adding subtle, barely-noticeable textures of slow-moving fear and disease. Much of Mystified's output could be termed as being minimal, repetitive, and hypnotic if experienced with headphones at the top of a hill, watching the sun set.
The Krell were natives of the planet Altair IV in the classic science fiction film Forbidden Planet. There's your reference point. Go snap some of this stuff up if you want dark sci-fi soundtracks.

sound crunch 1

ASTRONAUTALIS: GOLD BONES CDR
nice, smooth hip-hop with dynamic vocals that sing, spit, and harmonize over the course of six tracks, several featuring collaborations with Colorado hip-hoppers Otem Relik, and Com. Pare. The beats are well-executed and the production stands out. Third track makes good sparing use of a Johnny Cash track that I would normally consider over-played right now, but it flows so well with the heavy message of the song that i totally overlook it. I got this EP at a house show by complete accident and fell for it right away. Hey, I can review something other than noise, all right? "The Audience: Skinny Fat Kids spins in a nice brief Wu-Tang sample over a jazzy beat, keeping this out of the usual cliches of white-boy electronic bliss hip-hop. And wow, even some nice sing-alongs as well on "Sea of Grass". See this dude on tour and see the light.


DIRTY LORDS: DEMO '05 (TUSCO EMBASSY)
Members of Ohio's Tusco Terror do nasty start and stop thrash with guitar feedback filling in the odd spaces between the blastbeats. The cover features a traditional metal-style gritty red and black photo of the guilty parties. Not straightforward at all, getting into some kind of proggy Lightning Bolt style jams for a few seconds before disintegrating into backwards tape and hollow, raw yelling. True insistence on this here lo-fi document that is for the fans of all things overblown, heavy and rotten despair. They get into these weird grooves that actually rock out a little bit before disintegrating into feedback buzz. Very nasty in that Cadaver in Drag/early Hair Police sort of fashion. Apparently there is supposed to be a new cassette from Tusco Embassy in the works for the future. This should still be available as well, so get it while its hot.
http://www.tuscoembassy.com/

SOUND CRUNCH 2

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FROZEN BODY: SKIN TROUBLE ONE-SIDED C-24(I JUST LIVE HERE)
More scummy rattling pulses from Mike Zorman, who runs Vile Bile Tapes out of Portland, Oregon. I guess I'm a bit biased about this, seeing how the dude is my friend and I've released his work. But damn, there is some good stuff going on here. Weird shifts going on between low-end throbbing and high-end scree throughout this very precise piece. Somehow this reminds me of some aspects of Aaron Dilloway's tapes, but that is not to say that its a rip-off by any means. The whole piece has this organic feel to it, and the way the tones work in layers, building upon one another is very satisfying.


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BDRMPPL: S/T CDEP (STILL SOFT RECORDINGS)
strictly clubb jammmz from ex-Transistor Radio dude getting down with the progressive house Euro-fall out. Very nice soft rhythms on track 2 that have me feeling mellow. When Nick handed this to me, i was dazzled by the neon strobes flashing BDRMPPL on the cover and Carl Sagan chillin' with some cosmonauts and a space ape on the back. This makes me think that there is cosmic white-boy dub going on here with a nice light psychedelic feel. The 2 members made this record by collaboration over the internet, which isn't really apparent since the sound is very unified around some nice casio flourishes and sick 80's sounding high hat action. This record screams, "Take ecstasy with me!" and though I don't do that stuff, i might have to reconsider if BDRMPPL come to town. Definitely worth tracking down if you dig the blissed-out stuff.
stillsoftrecs.com/BDRMPPL.htm

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BUDWEISER SPRITE: MOUTHBREATHER C-30(IATROGENESIS)
low slurping tones criss-crossing your nerve impulses tinged with static plenty of distortion abuse on this one, but filtered through hovering fluttering strainers. gross-out edits with incredibly hypnotic tape delay sections. a true brain-fucker. with the way he builds monotonouse layers and then pulls then plug on the whole thing.... one of my favorite discoveries of 2007. New tape out now on Deathbomb Arc as well. All sounds courtesy of Dan Rizer of Shitty Vibe Smasher/Moisturizer/Together Tapes.

DAMNO TE: SERIAL KILLER SERIES CDR (SNAPPED IN HALF)
dynamic harsh noise utilizing pedals with rapid movement, although somtimes the movement gets a little bogged down in the one-two rhythm that pedal noise can have for me sometimes. although there are no vocals on any of the tracks, the sound is very reminiscent of early industrial/PE like SPK but more monotonously mind-numbing brain-suck of feedback bounce. i guess the theme of this is serial killers. i could care less about that honestly, as that theme only works for me most of the time when there are more extensive lyrics or art that suck me in. This CDR was preciously released as three 3-inch cdrs in 2005. i could care less about that honestly. "32 For Bela Kiss" has breakbeat-y drumbeat stuff going on that i could do without, sounds kind of cheeseball 'tuff' like goth-rave, if ya ask me. that is not to say that all of this album is not worth your time listening, its just that volume-saturated white static played through five distortion pedals won't get you far with me, especially if there's any "wall-riding" going on at all. The last track is pretty much redeems the previous six, with its heavy synth tones and scree tone clusters making constant shifts. i probably woud've liked this whole album if the drum machine patters were erased. five of ten.
www.snappedinhalf.blogspot.com