Pulse Emitter – Meditative Music 4 CDR
Self Released
Reviewing music that is made for a certain purpose can be a challenge. Because I always listen to music for the purposes I intend for it, so sometimes it’s difficult to try and remove yourself from what you’re used to and imagine what it would be like to listen to this in the way it’s intended for. For instance I don’t meditate, so the music on this disc may be interpreted differently by a guru, or someone who knows about meditating.
My first impression …

Suburbia Melting/Cory Schumacher – Departure C30
Darker Days Ahead
Here’s a split tape with a side project of Andrew Quitter from Regosphere (quickly becoming the man with many faces) and Cory Shumacher. First off the artwork is great on this beast: high contrast black and white comic style drawing as the cover with simple text and photo on the inside adds a realistic yet fantastic touch.
Mr. Schumacher is up first with heavy noise walls. The distortion is piled on thick as molasses here with a ton of delay in the mix. Not …

V/A – Auris Apothecary Sampler #2 C45
Auris Apothecary
Here’s a very eclectic offering from the excellent Auris Apothecary label. For those that aren’t aware Auris Apothecary defines the concept of a boutique label with elaborate and artistic packaging, strange sounds, and an unwavering aesthetic. They are truly at the top of their game with this sampler smartly packaged in a folding case and sealed with wax. The sampler is also available online here for those who can’t get their hands on the physical release or are too lame to have a …

Lisa’s Trip – Lisa’s Trip C24
Monster Heaven
Monster Heaven is…kind of ambiguous and fairly anonymous. On purpose. I will leave it at that.
Lisa’s Trip is a project you’ve likely not heard of just yet, but I am certain you’ve heard the likes of it’s creator’s project REGOSPHERE, or perhaps the affiliated label, DUMPSTERSCORE HOME RECORDINGS. Andrew Quitter is behind this material, and his game this time is bleak, melting, bending and totally strange. The album title is fitting. I am not sure who Lisa is, but it’s definitely a trip.
There is nothing …

The Changeless Round – Unspeakable 2xCDR
MoSo Label
Here’s a rather enigmatic release from a label whose website appears to be long dead and there are little-to-no links about the project itself. Upon even setting eyes on the package containing these two CDRs one can see the minimalism seeping through, and so I prepared myself for a long journey.
Although the first disc has just one hour long track according to the booklet it is split into 4 movements which are actually quite audible. Each movement seems to have a particularly gaudy subtitle …

Filivs Macrocosmi – Сталкер CD
OMS Records
Filivs Macrocosmi is a project by Sergey Svistelnik also of Old Monk’s Saga hailing from the Ukraine. With Сталкер – which I believe means Stalker – he has crafted an audial interpretation of Andrei Tarkovsky’s classic film of the same name. For those of you who have not yet witnessed it, I strongly recommend it, as it is one of my favorite films.
It is clear that Svistelnik has an understanding of the concept and aesthetic that Tarkovsky put into the film because Сталкер is certainly …

Cincinnatus C – I Don’t Have A Future/I Don’t Want A Future CDr
Self-Released
I have always been a fan of glitchy, strange, completely wacky yet tasteful feedback loop manipulation. It bores and annoys many people in the harsh noise scene, but I believe it to be more than possible to create soundscapes of this type to where they stimulate and even hypnotize. In the sea of feedback loop toggle-flippers and knob-twisters, Craig Hodgkins of Philly/Pittsburgh/DC stands out like a bruised apendage. This is especially because of other releases of his where …

Sunken Cheek – Depths C30
Self Released
Sunken Cheek is a Syracuse noise act, and this tape is his latest output. Variation is for sure present here and Sunken Cheek meshes harsh and sparse sections fairly adeptly. While it doesn’t quite work always, “Depths” overall is fairly solid.
The first side is very minimal most of the way through, with scraping and clanking sound along with whispers that apparently are narrating a tale of habitat destruction, and while one would be unable to tell this as most of the whispering is buried enough …

2673 – A Saffron Wasteland CDR
Self Released
Here’s another dose of minimalism from 2673 and I’m happy to report that this time it works quite well. The tracks are untitled here which leaves little interpretation for concept but the sound is somehow dense in it’s sparsity.
8:31 kicks off with high pitched harsh tones that alternate in sound finally dipping down to a separated bass/treble tone. I really enjoy how the frequencies fuck with your head. My hearing felt “off” somehow during and after this track. You can tell there’s thought put …

Pacing – Pacing & Friends CDR
Self Released
Here’s a full-length from these Buffalo, NY kings of noise featuring many collaborations with friends. It appears it’s mostly collaborators offering vocal performances here with the exception of the last track where a friend Aaron is credited to “scrap”.
The album kicks off very strongly with A Sea of Teeth and Hands which features high pitched electronic squeals joined by intense crunchy noise walls. An assault of vocal attacks appears and we have a full-on war with the listener. The follower Abuse is equally as …