• Music

    Love 666 – Take a Chance on Death

    A quick warning ahead of time – do NOT put this in your hi-fi stereo system.  Love 666’s latest album is about as lo-fi as it gets, and considering the audience chatter, this has to be a live recording.  The music is harsh, brutally in-your-face noise-rock that bands like Les Rallizes Desnudes or some of Keiji Haino’s side project fans are going to be very much into.

  • Music

    Gold – Premium

    Gold has made an appearance on the blog before and left a great impression, reminding me that noise can still be a valuable genre.  His latest release is more wall-of-feedback sound, but rather than something horrid and abrasive, this has a more natural feel to it, like an immense wave of water crashing down on rocks.  Powerful, but with an organic element to it that I appreciate.

  • Music

    The Tapes – A Touch of Despair

    Though the ever-amazing Unexplained Sounds Group have an impeccable record when it comes to releases, this one has the feel of a diamond hidden in the mouth of a long-lost corpse.  It’s a gem that should have seen the light of day ages ago, and USG have made things right by publishing this long-forgotten release by The Tapes.  From the USG Bandcamp site: “”A Touch of Despair” dates back to 1986. It was recorded live on a standard 2-track cassette recorder, using a 4-channel Fostex mixer, the infamous echo unit, a Korg MS-20, and toy instruments like a plastic trumpet.…

  • Music

    Various Artists – The Jewel Garden: Clarities

    Absolute respect to the estimable Ernesto Diaz-Infante for telling me about this noble cause.  Foxy Digitalis has a nearly 3o-year track record, first as a xeroxed zine, and the in its current digital incarnatiom, of reviewing what I would rate as the absolute best of non-mainstream music.  This compilation, featuring Ernesto, Lawrence English, Yann Novak, zàke, Stephen Vitiello and a number of names who are new to me, but no less impressive, have contributed tracks for the purpose of helping to keep Foxy Digitalis up and running.  Do consider a donation.  The magazine, as I hope is the case with…

  • Music - Podcast - Soundcloud

    [Podcast] Jeff Gburek – Rifles & Garbage Podcast 4 Sumud

    Something rather different from friend of the blog Jeff Gburek, whose work you know quite well if you have been following our page for a while.  From the Soundcloud site: “The Rifles & Garbage Podcast is named thusly to create a strong an mental association between militarism, waste and pollution. I am not opposed to subsistence hunting but maybe use a trap rather than firearms or maybe even try subsistence farming instead of the venison survivalist hype. This podcast has three movements. One introductory, paying homage to sources. The second featuring a recital of poems by Yahia Lababidi, Ghassan Kavafani,…

  • Music

    Harae – Kagura

    Words fail to describe the beauty of this release, even if it is an acidic beauty.  Harae are a band run by beloved friends, and both innovative musicians in their own right.  Combined, however, they have made magic, especially if you like a harsh wall of noise cascading over you like molten steel in an industrial factory.  The vocals are frightening, which works seamlessly with the music.  It’s a harsh but rewarding listen.  I cannot wait to hear more from them! For those of you who prefer a hard copy of the release, you can order a mini-CDR edition from…

  • Music

    Meat Beat Manifesto & Merzbow – Extinct

    Neither Merzbow nor Meat Beat Manifesto will need no introduction to connoisseurs of either Industrial music or the sound that made Wax Trax! Records famous.  I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that these two would join forces for an album, and, miracle of miracles, their styles actually work well together.