Biava/The Smartlemon – Split C55
Heretic Recordings
This is the first tape release for the Italian label which also offers material from these two Italian artists. The split tape contains a wealth of material from both artists with Biava being featured on side a and The Smartlemon on b.
Biava’s material is much more to my liking here. Although it sounds quite digital in many places the artist manages to create a cohesive and engaging showing of morphed sounds using various effects. The sounds are quite unique yet perhaps remind me of the …

Nyodene D – Edenfall CD + Bonus CD (feat. Sektor 304)
Malignant Records
This is the second full-length CD release from this Ohio based death industrial act. If you are not quite familiar with the project yet Nyodene D focuses on repetitive crusty noise reminding me of a combination between Brighter Death Now and old school Grunt.
On Edenfall the influence of Europe After Storm-era Grunt is quite palpable. The most obvious element here is the repeating loops that act as a backbone to each track and then added noise and distorted vocals. …

FRKSE – Scholar Drugs C40
I Had an Accident Records
FRKSE is back with this conceptual cassette representing something quite different from the project. If you’ve read previous reviews you know that FRKSE normally merges industrial, middle eastern music, noise, and even hip-hop into a strange 70s psychedelic trip. Live, they come off more as an old school death industrial unit presenting pummeling dirges – but playing AKAI samplers with drumming fingers – it’s a strange and wonderful site and sound to behold.
But with this tape they offer droning dark ambience combined …

Sigulda – Sickness and Health C20
Side of the Sun Recordings
Here is both a label and an artist of which I have no previous exposure. Both seem to have been mostly only active in 2010 so who knows if they are still functioning. Either way, the release must be documented.
The tape is split into two tracks with one on each side. Side A features Sickness which uses electric oscillator drones to kick things off with delay and modulation and quickly build to swashes of noise. The noise gets aggressive yet continues …

Katze – Berg CD
Individual Lines
Katze is a project of which I have some familiarity, I’ve performed on the same bill with the project and witnessed their live set which is quite fantastic. This is my first exposure to their recorded material and it bears a different sound.
More cerebral and minimalist than their live performance is, the style falls more on the electroacoustic side of things rather than noise/drone. The first two tracks A Man A Plan A Canal Panama and Meeps are digitally source driven tracks. Delicate buzzing drones collide …

The Dadacomputer – The Birth of 5XOD CDr
Iceage Productions
The Dadacomputer was created in 1981 as an experiment in long-distance collaboration from Cardiff to Bristol which were separated by the Bristol Channel and are about 40 miles apart. The collaborators are Mark Phillips and Robert Lawrence who had met about 6 months earlier in Bristol due to Lawrence putting an ad in a record shop looking to work with similar musicians quoting Throbbing Gristle, Kraftwerk, Chrome etc as influences.
It took several years for the collaboration to finally be complete but on …

Brume – Quicksand C70
Cipher Productions
First of all, the packaging on this one. Hoooollllyyyyy sshhhhiiittttt!!! A sealed clear plastic baggy silkscreened and filled with sand! Inside the baggy is yet another sealed plastic baggy holding the tape so as to not get sand in it. Very well done. My only complaint is that it’s difficult to preserve if you want to open it. I guess that means I suggest you buy 2 copies each, one to open and listen to and another for your collection.
This work is a bit different for …

Scald Hymn – Primary Wilts
Holy Page Records
Scald Hymn is a solo noise project by Erik Brown, hailing from Massachusetts. Scald Hymn seems to be a newer project, with little info on his bandcamp, and no discogs page.
Something must be said about Holy Page’s diversity in sound. One moment they can be releasing casio midi jams, and the next moment be releasing lo-fi noise bangers. This tape kind of hits you over the head with trudging feedback loop generated rhythms in its opener. It flips around rumbly bass and then back to weirdly organic …

Morgan Evans-Weiler – Strata C32
Individual Lines
Morgan Evans-Weiler is a violinist/improvisor/electronic musician based in the Boston area. He programs electronic music using PureData, and improvises on violin and prepared violin. He keeps an active performance schedule in the New England area. Current projects include; Katze (duo w/ Noell Dorsey), HMQ (Michael Rosenstein, James Coleman, Howard Martin).
Strata is a succinct manifestation of Morgan’s composition techniques as side A features a heavy electronic drone coupled with fast stroking violins that although quite frantic seem to stay within a certain pitch as to …

Filivs Macrocosmi & Charadriiform – Ex Vivo CD
A5 Productions/OMS Records
I’m not sure how I feel about the packaging on this one. The CD looks nice, but it’s only delivered in a clam shell case which I find kind of disappointing. No art, but I guess it follows along with the concept. Filivs Macrocosmi is Sergey Svistelnik who holds it down in Lithuania as one of the staples in the ambient/noise scene. Past projects include Old Monk’s Saga, Fragments, and In Meditarium, yet it appears the only currently active project of …