Kama Rupa – :Kama:Kontra:Kontrol: CD
Regimental Records
Here’s a release from the esoteric New York city based outfit Kama Rupa. This digipak is beautifully packaged with iconic design and simple text layout that makes for a professional presentation.
Oddly enough there is a tracklist of 5 different songs listed on the back but the audio is presented all in one track on the disc with obvious movements showing each individual passage.
The style here is intimate and sordid which is what makes Kama Rupa so special. Spanning dark ambient, death industrial, sound collage and …
Ophibre – Psyllium Husks C38
905 Tapes
Another sick release from 905 Tapes this time from Boston native Ophibre. My first exposure to his work was his release Drone Works for Differing Digital Audio Formats and Encoding Methods which wasn’t so much a proper release but an experiment that yielded rather interesting results.
Side A sounds consists of one long evolving track which is an in-studio live recording. I mean to emphasize evolving because the composition here is great. What starts out with awkward circuit bent sounds eventually forms into a drone piece …
Skin Graft – Dystrophy CD
Hanson Records
Skin Graft is the harsh noise industrial project hailing from Cleveland that has taken the noise world by storm over the last few years. Operated by Wyatt Howland, the project often makes live appearances and features frequent collaborations and splits.
With Dystrophy Howland presents 4 tracks clocking in at 30 minutes. Although it’s harsh and noisy this is not quite harsh noise, nor is it quite industrial. Skin Graft finds that fine line in which he straddles both genres perfectly and this allows him to be …
Pusdrainer – Ejaculation Spree C32
Jungle Crunk
Pusdrainer is the project of Justin Lakes hailing out of the midwest US. If you’re not familiar with the project you can usually expect the crudest and rawest of harsh noise mayhem with a sleight power electronics edge to it.
Ejaculation Spree is no exception. Housed in a pasted together photocopied artwork from the outset the release screams filth. What you will find inside is lo-fi harsh noise which could be derived from a plethora of pedals or from a menagerie of homemade electronics.
One thing that …
Amalgamate – Spark I 3″CDr
Intangible Cat
This is one from left field. Amalgamate is a previously unknown project to me and they present a quick fix of floating ambient drone with electronica beats intermixed within in.
The sound is dreamy yet fluid with this odd combination of styles much reminding me of acts like Plaid, early Aphex Twin or Autechre while at the same time not being quite as complex or technical as those projects.
The longest track here A Wedge of Raging Cygnets is the most original with a sing-song like quality …