• Music

    Various Artists – The Dystopian World of J​.​ G​.​Ballard

    July 15, 2022 - By 

    Our dear friend Raffaelle Pellezza has curated another masterful compilation of dark ambient music focused on the British writer J. G. Ballard.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “In April 2009, J. G. Ballard died at the age of 78. By the end of his life he was recognized as one of the greatest British writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. The acclaim his work has garnered stems from its unsettling ability to describe the present in collision with near but unexpected futures. His narratives operate according to the temporalities of car crashes, epidemics, and physiological shocks. The…

  • Music

    Donny Vegas – Pharmakós

    July 5, 2022 - By 

    It seems like Donny Vegas has been listening to all the right post-punk records for my taste.  One can hear influences of early Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, a touch of Throbbing Gristle, and yet, by some odd miracle, it sounds both fresh and lo-fi.  A quirky release, but I like this. Thanks to Filip of Z Tapes for the magnificent suggestion.

  • Music

    Pyroclastic – Welcome To The Abusement Park

    June 3, 2022 - By 

    Sometimes it’s an absolute pleasure to take a stroll down memory lane.  My friend Ryant Reeleyes, who worked with Los Angeles legends Jugend Staat many years ago, never gave up the aggro-Industrial-techno bug, and has kept the spirit of bands like Skinny Puppy and Front 242 alive. The album is harsh, ugly at times, cavernous and it makes for a brutal listening experience.

  • Music

    Orphan Sound System – Tantric Tantrums

    March 22, 2022 - By 

    Experimental music isn’t a genre that avails itself to the power trio.  In this case, however, Jeff Gburek, John El-Manahi and John Palumbo should be given such a venerable title.  The music they produce as Orphan Sound System is reminiscent of vintage progressive rock bands like Faust or Cranioclast but with production input by the Gyuto Monks.  This is sitting on the nexus point of psychedelic music, post-Industrial and experimental.  Challenging listening, but ultimately rewarding, as the listener will feel as though they’re being transported on a not-unpleasant tour of Saṃsāra. Lineup: Jeff Gburek: electric guitar, bassic guitar, microfreak, drum machine,…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Anthology Of Experimental Music From Japan

    February 13, 2022 - By 

    One of the most remarkable things about the series of compilations released by our friends at Unexplained Sounds Group is the great number of new artists they come into contact with, and serve as a launching board for. Of all the artists on this compilation, only Ryo Murakami’s work rings a bell.  Masayuku Imanishi’s work sounds like a newsroom printing press staffed by Throbbing Gristle and Hélène Sage.  USG continue to release the finest in post-Industrial music.

  • Music

    Various Artists – Zona Electronica

    February 5, 2022 - By 

    Zoharum are one of Poland’s longest-lasting experimental, ambient, minimal and industrial/dub/illbient labels.  On January 30, they released a comp of musicians who are critical in Poland’s underground music scene.  Among familiar names, of course, are Jeff Gburek, Hubert Heathertoes and Mike Majkowski, but the new names I’m hearing on this release are equally as intriguing.  Zoharum have done sterling work documenting the current goings-on of their local scene.

  • Music

    Dragon & Jettenbach – Tales from the Algorithm

    February 2, 2022 - By 

    This is so pleasantly dark and focused that I don’t think calling it ambient would do it justice.  Dragon & Jettenbach are a project out of the United Kingdom who produce a sound that, while bleak, is also musically organized, reminding me of some of the modern Berlin School electronic artists of the 1980s, mixed with a vibe one would have heard from post-Industrial music on cassette during the same time period.  As this is the period where I was reared on great music, it brings a sense of nostalgia to me, and I feel that, for those between 40…

  • Music

    monobeat original – Rough Mixes

    November 19, 2021 - By 

    One of the true founding fathers of Krautrock, Zappi W. Diermaier, is still going at it with a new album slated to be released in December of 2021.  The tracks blend together the Krautrock Zappi is obviously known for, while adding psychedelic, progressive and even post-Industrial elements into the brew.  For what should be a rather brutal sounding mix of sounds, it’s actually makes for a hypnotic and lovely listening.  Much respect to our friends at áMARXE Records for releasing this record.