Welp, here we are at the end of what we all pretty much collectively agree is maybe THE shittiest year in modern memory. The year was mostly defined by the covid pandemic and when I came to the full realization of what this would actually mean for us as a society I also realized how there would be some absolute incredible music that would come out of this experience.
Sadly the pandemic has crippled live music events to the point where they are basically nonexistent which means I will not be …
This year was a good year for music and I saw many of my favorite artists releasing very good albums. My honorable mentions list was big this year, so big in fact that I decided to ditch it all together for fear of being so inclusive that it wouldn’t do justice to the top ten that I chose with care to stand a head above the rest.
10. Volahn – El Tigre Del Sur [ Nuclear War Now! Productions / Iron Bonehead Productions ]
FILE UNDER: BLACK METAL / FOLK
El Tigre del …
1. V/A – Amplified Humans Festival 2xDVD [ New Forces / Skeleton Dust Recordings ]
FILE UNDER: HARSH NOISE / EXPERIMENTAL / INDUSTRIAL NOISE
I am old, and so this is how I prefer to experience festivals now. Fuck having to buy a plane ticket, travel all the way to a distant city only to spend countless hours holed up in a dingy club. Now I can appreciate the festival sights and sounds, energy and vibes all in the comfort of my living room. This DVD has really incredible quality featuring mixing …
I haven’t had nearly the time I wanted to dedicate both to creating and listening to music this year but I did my best – at least with the latter. Out of all that I heard – and there is certainly more I’m already seeing pop-up on other’s year end lists I need to check out – here are my favorites from 2017.
10. Isenordal – Shores of Mourning C60 [ Eternal Warfare ]
https://isenordal.bandcamp.com/album/shores-of-mourning
FILE UNDER: Cascadian black metal/pagan black metal/gothic metal
Incredible atmospheric black metal album from this Seattle-based metal band. Great …
We would like to introduce Headstone Brigade which is the new folk project of Egan Budd/Xiphoid Dementia with this free downloadable and streaming EP featuring covers and traditional arrangements of folk songs. Headstone Brigade’s sound can be described as neofolk or melodramatic pop with a sea shanty twist due to the main instrument of accordion being featured in almost all tracks. This free EP is a precursor to a full-length which is coming later this year on Brave Mysteries.
Please check out the EP Divine Vestiges over at Headstone Brigade’s bandcamp …
End of 2015.
Here are a few things created this year that I liked more than I liked other things.
No order of preference implied, though bias for the artists featured certainly is.
-DEMO-
Nycterent – Imprisoned By Reflection, Last Mercy
I asked myself whether or not I could separate the compelling backstory behind the artist (which I’ll keep to myself) from the release itself since this tape is so sparsely adorned (it is a tour tape after all). Upon re-listening, it is evident that this is a powerful demo tape which stands on …
Way back in 1999 when I first started making noise I was contacted by Jonathan Kans who wanted to release some of my music. So it came to be that the first Xiphoid Dementia release was on L.S.D.Organisation for a 4 way split with Azoikum, Baal, and Quell. L.S.D.Organisation went on to create massively intricate releases of a very high quality for a formidable price. At some point it seemed things got too hot and heavy for Jonathan and he disappeared leaving several large orders unfulfilled. It’s a pity because …
Offering 1_1: Noise As An Appliance
“Tank Killer” by Man Is The Bastard…I first heard this song in high school through borrowing a couple of Man Is The Bastard CDs from a friend. It’s a 30 or so second juggernaut from the Sum Of the Brutality Of Men album released in 1991 that combines short, fast and loud hardcore punk with warped oscillations and high end filth. While not the first to combine noise with aggressive music like hardcore and metal, they were the first band I …
Baroke Misty Queens – Tacked Into It
[one-sided 6inch lathe cut with silkscreened b-side]
Auris Apothecary is a label that stands on its own, isolated from many scenes but especially from the main stream. It is the embodiment of “boutique” more than any other label today. Having received numerous releases for review from the label I simply couldn’t ignore the fact that what they are doing is something quite different. An emphasis on creative package design, carefully curated releases and most importantly; uniting the physical with the aural.
Auris Apothecary was introduced to …
NOISE WALLS HAVE BECOME SMALL
OUT OF HIS PITY FOR THE LAST MAN HATH GOD DIED
By clemon09
Noise walls have become small, and on it there hoppeth the last man who maketh everything small. His species is inexterminable like that of the ground-flea; the last man liveth longest.
“We have discovered happiness”- say the last men, and blink thereby…
Everything is intrinsically meaningless, but things can be extrinsically more or less meaningless, if not absolutely so. I call this their noisiness.
Social Drift’s somewhat bold idea is that nosiness has become a quality of …
Summer Scum is the second annual Buffalo, NY noise fest focused on Harsh Noise and Power Electronics. This years fest will take place at The Flesh Tunnel (1245 Niagra st) on July 18th,19th, and 20th. The lineup features over 50 acts from all over the country such as: Ferveur Noire, John Mannion, Ahlzagailzehguh, Deterge, Skin Graft, Envenomist, Gnawed, Xiphoid Dementia, Hostage Pageant, and many many more.
Summer Scum was conceptualized in early 2012 when curators Justin Lakes and Matt Goodrich decided to start doing a fest shortly after Lakes …
Now in its eighth iteration, the Milwaukee Noise Fest returns with a facelift, promising to be bigger, better and noisier than ever. From August 22nd to the 24th, FTAM productions will fill the Miramar theatre with twenty four of North America’s absolute best in controlled (and uncontrolled) dissonance and sound wave hijacking.
While the festival continues to focus on local musicians playing host to twelve of the city’s best noise artists, this year will include an expanded roster of international musicians. Creative commons crusaders and plunderphonics masterminds Negativland – best …
The survey is now over. A total of 97 people completed the survey and here’s what they had to say:
Vancouver, from the view of a postcard.
By Kate Rissiek
Vancouver is a city of mixture and contrast. It is a young city still trying to define itself. Home of the 2010 winter Olympics and the city in Canada with the mildest weather. It’s gray and it rains most of the time. It is embarrassing to only be known for hockey riots and marijuana activism. It is expensive to live here. There are many cultures and religions and always many tourists visiting. There are wild forests, mountains and water. Laid back attitudes …
Annihilvs Records is the label of seminal U.S. new school power electronics Navicon Torture Technology’s frontman Lee Bartow, who is now operating musically under the moniker Theologian. The label has released many CD, and tape releases including such classics as Jarl – Sealed Void to IRM – The Cult of Young Men all with little fan fare, continuing to stay an underground and unsung entity. Existence Establishment has reviewed several of the releases coming from the Annihilvs camp with very high ratings so we really felt like the label needed …
Danvers State Recordings was started in 2008 by Andrew Grant as a means to release his own material, but since the beginning he knew he wanted to release other artists as well. The first release was his own project The Vomit Arsonist, a cassette called “Reciprocation,” limited to 20 copies. Even though he released an extremely low number, it sold out much more quickly than he expected. Grant started contacting other acts he wanted to release, and it kind of snowballed from there. Less than two …
Article by Ian Duncan-Brown, video by Rat Chasinil
Several inches of snow didn’t deter the usual reprobates from attending Friday’s noise show at the Starlab in Somerville. Shane Broderick set the evening in motion with a seething, taut power electronics set. Surprisingly melodic synth patterns underscored the brutality of Broderick’s vocals, and his brief performance featured an element of control and precision sometimes missing from his previous ensemble, Two Dead Sluts. The set created an unsettling level of tension as melody gave way to gusts of harsh noise, …
By Luis Gonzalez
I caught up with Luis Gonzalez on the Lavas Magmas/Regosphere/The Dios Poject Summer Tour 2010 and asked if he could write a tour guide for me. Here, he covers his own tour experience, offers advice for fellow noisers looking to tour themselves, and reflects on his motivations for doing what he does.
This was my third tour around the two month mark. I went with my friend John (Behavior, What We Do Is Secret) from Portland, OR down to Columbus, OH. John flew home and I picked up my …
Organizer and resident DJ Deftly-D. photo: Observationpost
By Deftly-D
ORDNANCE! is the only multimedia club night of it’s kind. On the first Friday of the month at 234 Main St. in Everett, MA, DJs conduct live drummers that in turn trigger lights, lasers and video to a bed of hard dance music including industrial, rhythmic noise, speedcore, gabber, techstep, idm, and more without caving in to pop music that is played far too often at other industrial related club nights.
Each ORDNANCE! features live guests that range from idm to power electronics …
By Peter J Woods
Just about every picture of Milwaukee is of the art
museum. This is a picture of our gross ass lake.
It’s a filthy city, grimy and decidedly unpretentious, filled with violent crime and enough racism to make segregated schools feel like home. It’s just an hour and a half north of Chicago, so most people don’t even bother with it, either moving away or never even stopping by in the first place. Despite all this, I like the place and am happy to call it home.
This is Milwaukee, and …