ZINE: SONIC-BOOM Issue 3.7
Jester
number of requests for a text based version has flooded my mail spool, so
I have decided to start posting the text issues again, even after swearing
it off at the end of last issue. There are apparently enough of you
without web browsers to warrant posting this still.
There is only one interview this month due to my hectic schedule. Howver
inthe months to come you can expect interviews with Chemlab, Thine Eyes,
Noise Box, Kill Switch... Klick, Journal of Trauma, Die Krupps & Dead
Voices on Air. Most of the interviews have already been conducted, they
just need to be transcribed for future issues. Instead this month we have
a ton of music reviews from all walks of the industrial music genre.
Jester
--
#define<20.minutes.into.the future.h>
/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SONIC-BOOM
The Net Industrial/EBM/Cyberculture Band List v3.7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
Welcome to _The Net Industrial/EBM/Cyberculture Band List v3.7
Check out the Sonic-Boom ftp site where all the old reviews are posted, as
well as sound files, lyrics, and band press releases. All bands previously
reviewed are welcome to send me anything involving their bands including
sounds, lyrics, press releases, and the like, and I will work through the
site maintainer to get them archived.
The address for the ftp site is as follows:
ftp.morphine.com /pub1/cvoid/net-bands
This site was donated by cv...@netcom.com (Christian Void), much thanks
to him for his time and effort, now and in the future, setting it up.
Also, Sonic Boom has a web page and the bonus is all these reviews are already
on the web site with cover graphics and links where applicable to the bands.
So check out: http://www.synet.net/sonic-boom/
And give me all the feedback you can positive, negative, or whatever. I'm
hoping to make the site as high quality as possible so no suggestion too small
like a typo, would be apprciated. Look around, and get back to me.
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Purpose behind this monthly posting:
This list surveys the works of various net entities who in their spare time
write and compose the sounds that make our ears perk up. Contents of these
reviews vary from traditional EBM music, to ambient/atmospheric, to driving
cyber music. Various reviews and discographies were written by the bands
themselves, others sent demos for reviews. This is not by any means a
definitive listing of a whose-who industrial band listing on the net, but to
make a dent in the surface of a hugely untapped resource for audio enjoyment.
Submissions of discographies, sound files, press releases, and reviews
should be E-mailed to: jes...@expert.cc.purdue.edu
Demo's sent for review should be snail mailed to:
Sonic Boom Online Reviews
c/o Chris Christian
2355 North 25th Street
Lafayette, IN 47904
Bands are by no means encouraged to send demo's, and are by all means welcome
to send personal reviews of their work themselves. Of course, if you want
an objective 2nd opinion, demo's are always welcome.
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This months band & literary reviews are:
Absolute Body Control - Eat This
Anubian Lights - The Eternal Sky
Batz Without Flesh - Initial Stages
Black Lung - The Depopulation Bomb
The Compositions Of Brian Dorbach
Convulsions of Creation - Moomba is Here
Cult of Jester - Demo
Dessau - Details Sketchy
Steven Dressler - Dotlip
Endless Compilation
Final - One
Idiot Stare - Blinded
Instagon - The Most Creative Thing I've Ever Seen In A Slight English Accent
Ipecac Loop - eX
Jagd Wild - Jagd Wild
Leaetherstrip - Getting Away With Murder
Mandible Chatter - Grace
Morpheus Sister - Morpheus Sister
Not Breathing - Time Music For Quazars
Northwest Electronik Coalition Compilation
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Pink Tribute
Quartermass - Coolie Joolie
Ras Dva - There is No Time Compilation
Sirvix - Rivers
Smersh - Super Deformed
Smersh - Join The Radium Girl Movement
Sun God - EFA
Terminus - Victim Culture
Tinty Music - Anterior Interior
Tinty Music - Stumbling Into Blindness
Nik Turner - Travellers of Space
Violence & Hate - Violence & Hate
Xorcist - Phantoms
Gear Issue 42
Industrial Nation Issue 11
Mondo 2000 Issue 14
Option May-June 1995
Wired: Scenarios Special Edition
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Spahn Ranch Interview 9/20/95
Industrial Noise Control KDVS UC Davis 90.3 FM
with Krista Fechner
Krista Fechner: Why don't you tell me a little bit about your band and who is
in it?
Athan: Okay, there is Matt Green who does all the programming and the
keyboards. Our former member Rob Morton who left the band at the end of the
recording of The Coiled One. He was a keyboard player and programmer as well.
Now we have a couple of new members. Kent Bancroft on guitar. We have a stand
up electronic drummer named Harry Lewis.
Krista: I know before that Rob was in New York and you had to mail music back
and forth. Is that still the situation?
Athan: Everyone lives in the Los Angeles area now which makes it much more
convenient.
[ A mild segue is made while they discuss old tour dates in the California area
which have long since passed. ]
Krista: Have you toured a lot before on your other releases?
Athan: We've done two complete tours of the U.S. One for "Collateral Damage"
and one for "Blackmail Starter's Kit." We did a bunch of dates in southern
Mexico in the Mexico City area. Those were great and we just jogged back east
and did CMJ and a few other dates on the east coast. So two complete tours and
a couple of spotty shows. We're looking to do a tour with The Electric Hellfire
Club in November.
Krista: The shows you are playing are to support your new album called "The
Coiled One." You mentioned your other releases, "Blackmail Starter's Kit" which
was an EP of remixes that came out last year from "Collateral Damage." Your new
album differs quite a bit from the previous releases; can you give any
indication as to why?
Athan: It was just time to try something new. We had played with the distortion
effects on the vocals on a number of releases and to us it wasn't simply just
one full album and one EP with it. There was also a slew of compilations and
then both albums were reissued in Europe, so to us it almost seemed that we had
done fifteen some odd releases with my voice in distortion and the music being
really hard and heavy. As much as I love those albums, I think it was just time
to open things up a little bit and that's what we did. We kind of let the songs
breathe and write songs this time as opposed to write a mood.
Krista: After we talk for a few more minutes I'm going to play a track off the
new album called "Compression Test." Can you tell me what that is about?
Athan: I've said this a bunch of times so it seems sort of cliche' to me, but
recording this album took a lot of blood out of all of us. I'm in a band with
two of my best friends from almost ten years ago in New York and I'm watching
their friendship start to really dissipate. So there was a lot of pressure
during this release. A compression test is something you do on an automobile to
check its horse power. We were kind of ready to explode. That is what that song
is about. Just being down, real down about watching a real rough time in all of
our lives financially and occupation wise, our love lives, etc. When it all
comes together and you're watching your band it's depressing. "Depression
Test" maybe it should be called.
Krista: Do you want to tell me about the other band that you're in called
Tubalcain?
Athan: I was in that band.
Krista: You're not anymore?
Athan: We put out a few releases and kind of after the last EP we parted ways.
That band is in Philadelphia. I lived in Philadelphia for five years and when I
moved to Los Angeles I was doing the back & forth thing for a very long time,
for almost three years of my being in California. I couldn't do it anymore. I
just had to commit to one thing. It was like having two women that you want to
marry, and it just doesn't work.
Krista: Before Spahn Ranch and Tubalcain you were in some other bands, some of
which were pretty well known, some gothic bands?
Athan: I was in Executive Slacks. Before that I was in a Goth group called
Fahrenheit 451. So I've been doing this awhile.
Krista: Right now you also work for Cleopatra Records and they put out quite a
bit of Goth stuff. In fact they seem to get a lot of flak for that from all the
industrial types. I know that sometimes your band has been called Gothic. What
do you think about that?
Athan: I've heard about the flak. One thing I don't understand is that both
scenes are so small and in many areas they just seem to embrace each other I
almost wish it would be a little more often. The industrial and gothic genres
are the two most outcast genres by all other forms of alternative music. I
think that they should just face the facts and stick together because the whole
joke punk scene, the garage punk, all that junk is just really bad. They turn
and laugh at us. So we should try and stick together and laugh at them.
Krista: I know some clubs in San Francisco where it is combined gothic and
industrial and I think it works out pretty well. Especially if it's separate
rooms so you can split the music.
Athan: I like that idea a lot. They are the only two forms of dark music that
exist. I like to think that we've managed to combine to the two. Most of the
people I know were goths as teenagers and then became a little tired of it and
found industrial. Rarely do you ever see it the other way around. I think
industrial is maybe the adult version of goth, because it is futuristic. The
goth thing gets a little tedious after awhile but I still appreciate it and it
is still a big influence of mine.
Krista: I would say your previous albums were dark in the sound and the
lyrics. Would you say that that's changed a bit on the new album?
Athan: I don't think so. I actually just sent you a copy of the full length
with all the lyrics printed. My lyrical output really hasn't changed. It's all
very vague the way that I write. I write in sort of a diary type form. I don't
actually keep a diary, so songs are a way for me to do anything close to it.
So in a song I may even talk about five to six different topics that have very
little to do with each other but that's the way that I write. It is generally
dark. The lyrics that I had written ten years ago and the lyrics that I've
written now - I've matured a bit as a writer but overall they still have the
same feel. Rarely do they ever get a positive, like high-five, let's go to a
toga party-type of feel from my lyrics.
[ The interview cuts into playing a few tracks from Spahn Ranch's previous work
as well as the new album. ]
Krista: A lot of the songs on the new album sound like they have a European
influence. Are there any particular bands that you've been listening to in the
last couple years that influenced you more than others?
Athan: Are you speaking vocally or musically? They are two distinctly different
entities.
Krista: Musically. In fact, the first three tracks - I've talked with other DJs
and we keep wondering "where have we heard that?" It's got that catchy, really
familiar sound, like we've heard it before, yet it's different, which is good
since it sticks in your mind.
Athan: To speak for Matt - Matt has been listening to a lot more techno dub
oriented, maybe European music for the most part. He's been going to a lot more
of those type of clubs. And so in the music that he is bringing across, there
are still a lot of metallic-type sounds but there is even what I find a
soundtrackish element to the album. Speaking for Matt that is what his songs
are about these days. In terms of what you were saying about hearing it before,
maybe we've brought out some of our older influences from the 80s: Wire,
Sisters of Mercy, Bowieisms and stuff like that. We weren't listening to much
stuff from our own genre when we recorded this album. It is generally not a
good thing to do. Oddly enough when we were recording "Collateral Damage," it
was all that I was listening to was Klute and stuff like that, and although I
love that kind of music I would walk into the studio maybe even humming
something that Claus had written. I tried to stay away from most of that this
time.
Krista: I think that definitely shows in the influences. There is definitely a
very techno feel to some of the songs. Even running throughout the remainder of
the album even on the songs that aren't very techno. I just was to ask you
about the name of your band. I didn't actually know what it meant until my
radio listeners called me and let me know.
Athan: The band was named before I joined the band. They had released an EP
before I joined and the name was already set in stone. Matt's explanation at
the time was that they needed a name and he grabbed that and it stuck. It was a
sufficient name to use. The Manson connotation that it has - I don't
necessarily adhere to the ideology of it.
Krista: Do you get any fans of your band that are obsessed with it or focus on
it at all because it is associated with Manson?
Athan: There is a lot of that out there. There definitely is a decent amount of
people seriously interested in it. I would be a liar if I didn't say that at
one point in my life I was fascinated by it too. I think I was fascinated more
with how far someone could actually go, not that I wanted to become that. I am
fascinated with a lot of odd freaks from history, literature, and from film.
All of them as strange as a Manson type but more creative, and you can respect
them more. There are a lot of people out there that are fascinated by serial
killers, but I wonder what the fascination is - do they want to become one, or
that they are fascinated with how far someone could possibly go?
Krista: There was something that happened when you were playing a gig with The
Electric Hellfire Club at the Asylum in Philadelphia. Do you want to tell us
about that?
Athan: Yeah, you just never really expect anything to come so close to home
like what I am about to say. Some twenty-one year old guy named Caleb out in
the suburbs, twenty minutes outside of Philadelphia apparently killed this
mother and this toddler and got rid of their bodies and an hour later he was at
the club in Philadelphia at 7:30 exactly when we started. So apparently he was
in the front moshing according to the newspaper. They nailed him on it the next
day. Apparently he had really done a number on these two people and all of
that crazy satanic stuff.
Krista: Wow! I didn't know about the satanic stuff. I heard that part of his
excuse was that he had all these finger nail scratches all over him and his
parents asked him where it was from and he said he was moshing at your show. As
if people who mosh end up with cuts like that.
Athan: Well, he tried to use that as an excuse. Apparently there was all this
blood at his place of work and what not.
Krista: It sounds really horrible. I wonder if he was there to see you or The
Electric Hellfire Club. It sounds like it might have been Electric Hellfire
Club, if he was into all the Satan stuff.
Athan: I really don't know. Granted, in Philadelphia, it is a very limited
music scene. The people who are into this style of music make up a very small
portion of the population so there is only one club devoted to it. He simply
went to the one club that he heard of that had to do with his world and I don't
know if he was into the music or what.
Krista: I think it was the look. From what I heard, he was dressed as a
vampire, all gothed out, with fangs.
Athan: That's what I heard too, but according to the picture he looked like
Chris Farley from Saturday Night Live. He didn't look much like a goth.
Krista: Goths come in all shapes and sizes.
Athan: Oh they definitely do...and usually larger shapes...
Krista: Okay, we'll end this part of the discussion right now. Any parting
words?
Athan: Just give our album a chance, that's about it. It took a lot out of us
to make, so it is the least you can do.
[end]
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Absolute Body Control: Eat This - A Collection Of Material From 1980-84
1. Clouds 3:59
2. Melting Away 2:40
3. Faceless 2:43
4. Love At First Sight 2:53
5. Eat This 2:25
6. A Broken Dream 3:17
7. What Is The Disease? 3:10
8. Arabesque 2:42
9. Automatic 3:54
10. Lonely This Xmas 3:54
11. Is There An Exit? 4:27
12. I Am Leaving 4:54
Before there was the Klinik, before Dirk went solo with Dive and Eric formed
Insekt, there was Absolute Body Control. The band name itself evokes bad Nitzer
Ebb nightmares of the european EBM movement of the early eighties. ABC was one
of the first electro bands to break away from the trendy euro-pop and add a
distinct razor edge to it's music. It also provides an excellent insight into
the early musical career of the men responsible for much of the european
electro movement being what it is today. With such bands as The Klinik, Dive,
Orange Sector, & Insekt derived as the end product of the early work in ABC you
can't help but feel akin to the music and ignore the dated sound. Definitely
something for the nostalgic electro crowd to add to their collection.
Absolute Body Control are:
Dirk Ivens - voice, electronics
Eric Van Wonterghem - electronics
Contact:
VUZ Records
P.O. Box 170116
47181 Duisburg
Germany
E-mail: v...@vuz.du.gtn.com
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Anubian Lights: The Eternal Sky
1. Breaking The Seal
2. Soul Herder
3. Anubian Night Destiny
4. Grid Coordinate - Vorp One
5. Jackal And Nine
6. Trismegistus
7. Pulse of The Nile
8. Arc of Ra
9. Medulla Mirage
10. The Various Hazards Of Being In The Underworld
11. Field of Reeds
The Eternal Sky tells the tale of a journey through space & time of a merry
band of travellers who are destined for something greater than the typical
Egyptian afterlife. The journey is told via modern and traditional arrangements
and composition. The use of vocals is kept to a bare minimum instead the focus
of story is told through the inflection of the music itself. As usually with
the gang from Hawkwind the drops in and out between ambient spacesapes to
middle eastern percussion with time out for one or two more modern tracks. The
context of the story is contained in the liner notes with the appropriate
tracks labeled within the context of the literary work. The album itself
functions best as an entire work of fiction rather than as individual cut up
tracks and would fall under the concept album moniker. Anubian Lights leaves me
wondering just exactly how many side projects Nik Turner really has and if
anyone will ever let the man ever pass onto the afterlife himself?
Anubian Lights are:
Nik Turner - flutes, voices, sax, light
Len Del Rio - synths, programming, tapes, tronics, coordination
Grenas - keyboards, synths, tapes, hieroglisstic guitar
Paul Fox - loops, synth, keyboards, programming, cryptic hiss
Doran Shelley - guitar, electrostatic lyre
Del Dettmar - pitch to the midi orchestration, synths, protection
Simon House - electric violin, hiding
Brandon Labelle - percussion, loops, anteroom antics
Contact:
Cleopatra Records
8726 S. Sepulveda, Ste D-82
Los Angeles, CA 90045
E-mail: cleo...@cyberden.com
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Batz Without Flesh: Initial Stages 1987-1989
BWF Mini LP
1. futureshock
2. retention
3. residue
4. auto suggestion
5. stop
a million bricks
6. oil
7. watch your back
8. yen-lo
9. 21-375
10. avalanche
11. direction
12. i deliver you
13. life bait
14. intra-course
15. eeg
Batz Without Flesh skirt the edge of what is affectionately called electro
gothic music. This particular disc contains all the tracks from the first two
BWF vinyl releases. It is hard to get a definite handle on the particular
electronic style the BWF utilizes. A number of the older tracks subtlely remind
me of "No Comment" era Front 242 but the remainder of the album breathes a
unique life all of it's own. Perhaps the most apt description would be a
comparison to all the rest of the late eighties industrial bands struggling to
find a style all of their own and as a result wandering all over the audio
spectrum to develop a sounds for themselves. The net result is the utilization
of the same samples as everyone else and no concrete direction for the music.
This isn't inherently bad as this specific album is only meant to showcase the
early work of BWF and not any of their most recent work.
Batz Without Flesh are:
Claude Willey - voice, electronics, synthesizers, effects & all programs
John Dugan - voice, horn & synthesizer
Sloth - sloth guitar 73, effects & messages
Contact:
VUZ Records
P.O. Box 170116
47181 Duisburg
Germany
E-mail: v...@vuz.du.gtn.com
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Black Lung: The Depopulation Bomb
1. The Unreality Industry
2. The Depopulation Bomb
3. Eugenics
4. Joyful Slaughter (Of The Capitolist Swine)
5. The More Confusion... The More The Profit
6. God Was The First Cop
7. Angstlos
8. Batch Consignment
9. Blood Sacrifice
10. The Drone Of The Cattle
11. Population Control
12. Unreality Again
The members of the infamous Australian band Snog are back with their sophomore
collection of soundtracks for movies which do not exist. The message is clear
and the solution is simple, remove yourself from the fascist governments of
this planet who hides behind shades of grey. After all, who watches the
watchmen? This time Black Lung moves away from sound experimentation of dreams
towards more of techno ambient style of instrumentation. Don't construe that to
mean that it is just another rave album, but simply that the programming has
become more beat oriented with a great deal of focus on rhythms and melodies
rather than soundscapes of the past. This album definitely favors my hint of
favorism of the Black Lung side project over the more dance rave styles
utilized in Snog. Each project has it's place however Black Lung spends a great
deal more time in my stereo due to its superior sound complexity and rhythm
structure.
Black Lung is: D Thrussel
Contact:
Fifth Column Records
P.O. Box 787
Washington, D.C. 2004
E-mail: Fifth...@cyberden.com
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The Compositions Of Brian Dorbach
Side 1:
1. They Do A Lot Of Worshipping Around Here
Performed By The Village Of Burnside Impossible ShortWave Orchestra And Chorus
Side 2:
1. I Live At The Bottom Of The Mountain, Near The Big Turn
Performed By The Village Of Gowen City Impossible ShortWave Orchestra And Chorus
2. Uncle Went Tending And Never Returned
Performed By Pressure Works
This tape consists of various sound constructions varying in diversity from
found sound sampling and orchestrated ambient sound textures to obscure vocal
samples taken from film clips of antiquity. Various tonalities of vocals are
also utilized to bring the bring the music to life creating a visual that in
many respects reminds me of the old films of the forties & fifties with the
news shorts appearing prior to the actual film. Almost a Twilight Zone affair
mixing the past and present ideologies together to create a anthology of the
ages via music. I am not sure if that was the intention of the artist but the
imagery presented was very clear to me.
Contact:
IMMP
P.O. Box
Princeton, NJ 08542
E-mail: dmb55...@aol.com
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The Convulsions Of Creation: Moomba Is Here
Side 1:
1. Chinese Murder Music
Side 2:
1. The Dirty Outlet
2. 5 Second Wasted
Wean the mongrel offspring of a jazz experiment ending a torrid affair with a
pipe organ and a drum machine and you might end up with the Convulsions of
Creation. A little adventure into ambient percussion with a number of jazz
overtones. Not a great deal of depth is present in the music itself instead the
music just sort of wafts throughout the mix. The abruptly short length of the
tape precludes any in depth meaningful dissection of the music itself as the
three short tracks only begin to offer a glimpse into the mindset of the artist.
Contact:
IMMP
P.O. Box
Princeton, NJ 08542
E-mail: dmb55...@aol.com
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Cult of Jester: (demo)
1. Master V1
2. The Death Of Cool
3. Master V2
4. Soundtrack
5. Opium
I have to have a soft spot in my heart for anyone who names a band after my
nickname so I can't help but enjoy this demo tape for the simple fact of it's
chosen nomenclature and the music isn't bad either. Ed's been recently accused
that much of his music sounds a great deal like all the other European electro
bands but I feel that those claims are not justified. I had a chance to listen
to several of these tracks prior to the release of this demo as well as several
others that did not make the cut and the music the made it to the final demo
release is leaps an bounds above the stuff remaining on the cutting room floor.
The first side consists of two different versions of Master as well as The
Death of Cool which was recorded at the THD studios in Pennyslvania. Each of
the tracks has a harsh electro feel which in my opinion doesn't resemble any of
the numerous bands thats I've heard previously, then again Ed is the only
person I know who religiously samples cartoons. The second side changes in
style to a more ambient programming without vocals which would seem to fit
under the the moniker of 'unreleased soundtrack work' which seems to be popular
these days. I think Ed has improved a great deal in his musical endeavors and
there are still a few rough edges that need to be smoothed out in a few places
but with any luck perhaps this demo will turn a few ears in the right places
and these words of encouragement can lead to a contract of some kind.
Contact:
Ed Finkler
2211 Lakeshore Drive
St. Joesph MI, 49085-1840
E-mail: efin...@sun1.iusb.edu
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Dessau: Details Sketchy
1. Sun
2. (Un)Shakeable
3. Muscle
4. Chalk Line
5. Sun Burn
6. History
7. Chalk Rub
8. Old Dudes Rest
Look mom, it's Nine Revolting Ministers Filtering Dead Inch Cocks in Warsaw!
The sheer number of collaborators of this EP make me wonder if the band
actually did any work. But seriously it looks like the it is the return to the
foregone days of yesteryear when everyone and their best friend all dropped
into the studio to help and band produce and album out and get their name in
the liner notes. This time they are all helping out a band whose had more than
it's share of time between musical releases. The music itself is kind of a
light-hearted dance festival with catchy lyrics with the occasional guitar
chord thrown in for good measure. In fact in sounds a great deal like the
watered down version of Filter with RevCo programming structures. Funny how
using other bands as collaborators tends to amalgamate the end products isn't
it?
Dessau is:
John Elliot - Programming, Drums, Keyboards, Vocals
Norm Rau - Guitars, Percussion, Vocals
Contact:
Fifth Column Records
P.O. Box 787
Washington, D.C. 20044
E-mail: Fifth...@cyberden.com
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Steven Dressler: Dotlip
Side 1:
1. Mutation
2. Ground Dweller
3. Ropa Sucia
4. Sofokos
5. Mustard Been
6. Isto Watso
7. Colonial Behavior
Side 2:
8. Intrilligator
9. Merry Go Wrong
10. Nitce
11. Aster
12. Thick Cuticle
13. Liger
14. Impugnent Square
A varied collection of sound construction and manipulations varying in length
and intensity but usually centering around short percussive pieces derived from
found sound samples. The remainder of the pieces, as I hesitate to call them
music in the classical sense, and longer experimental ambient warbles drifting
through canyons of echoed dissonance. There isn't enough substance in most of
the pieces to pin down any specific concrete musical style other than
experimental. I kind of felt cheated at the end of the cassette because just as
any one of the pieces became remotely interesting they simply ended. Perhaps
next time the artist can extend his work a few more minutes per piece to
tantalize the ear just that much more.
Contact:
IMMP
P.O. Box
Princeton, NJ 08542
E-mail: dmb55...@aol.com
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Endless 1
1. Paul Schutze the memory of water, part one 5:08
2. Null rain trees 4:26
3. James Plotkin slow revolutions 7:58
4. Lull way through staring 23:45
5. Pointless Orchestra red meat holiday 7:17
6. P. Children reverse pool 5:01
7. Mesh i address the roaring
sea with a mouth full of stones 6:18
8. Trance aurora borealis (light) 7:55
9. Sheephead bay of hopelessness 2:00
10. James Plotkin live 1/3/93 4:08
An astounding ambient experimental compilation from many of the some of the
premire groundbreaking artists of the ambient genre. Resembling much of Brian
Lustmords's work this album relies heavy on the ambient sound instrumentation
of nature as a focal device upon which to base music. The concept is beat is
conspicuously absent from almost every piece instead relying heavily upon the
layering of sound structures to develop the depth of the performance. I found
the absolute best time to listen to this album is either during periods where
nature is at it's extremes or as a sleeping aid evoking luminescent dreams. An
epochal achievement in the realm of deep ambience suggesting that perhaps one
ought to experience more work by the bands present on this compilation.
Contact:
Manifold Records
c/o Vince Harrigan
P.O. Box 12266
Memphis, TN 38182
Ph. (901) 278-7431
Fax (901) 278-1004
E-mail: soun...@aol.com
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Final: One
Side 1:
1. Flow 7:46
Side 2:
2. Openings 7:23
Two long gripping chunks of ambient exploration by none other than members of
Godflesh. This 7" is quite a polar opposite to the usual thunderous ebbing
guitar work you've come to expect from these two. This single is part one of a
two part series on sound deconstruction and experimental ambience. The only
real downside is that both tracks have an uncanny resemblance to each other.
This might have been on purpose for all I know since the press release didn't
mention the exact reasoning behind the duality nature of this music experiment.
Each of the tracks are very good as backdrops for whatever you task you may be
performing. Now I have to find a damn good turntable to dub this 7" to a decent
sound cassette for my car since it doesn't have a portable record player.
Final are: Justin Broadrick & G.C. Green
Contact:
Manifold Records
c/o Vince Harrigan
P.O. Box 12266
Memphis, TN 38182
Ph. (901) 278-7431
Fax (901) 278-1004
E-mail: soun...@aol.com
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Idiot Stare: Blinded
1. To The Head 5:11
2. Mad Drunk 4:28
3. Cash Out 4:22
4. Oranges 3:31
5. Black Heart 3:47
6. Now Hear This 5:35
7. Blinded 3:35
8. Everything 2:25
9. False Death 4:28
10. Copper Eyed Martyr 3:41
11. The Power 3:26
12. Fade 4:17
It a damn shame that Idiot Stare had to go and release this album with their
own blood, sweat and tears rather than allowing a label to take care of those
costs. I still have a soft spot for independent who spend the time and effort
to self release such an precise cohesive piece of work but I can honestly say
that this is the best unsigned self-release CD that I have ever had the
pleasure of owning. When Idiot Stare formed out of the remnants of STG
(Screaming To God) about a year ago they had very high hopes for this new
project. With the album finally in my hands I can firmly agree that this is
also the best work of the aforementioned bands career as well. Gone are the
true punk (not Green Day 'punk') guitars, instead replaced with cohesive
electronic and guitar mesh. The lyrics have lost their flagrant stupidity and
have been replace with well thought out societal value lyrics. The cover and
interior artwork by John Bergin of Trust Obey also accent the album. One of
the few bands who still can skirt the corporate musical boundary and still
produce high quality music finance entirely by themselves and for
that them have earned my respect musically.
Idiot Stare are:
Chad Bishop - machines, vox
David Ivy - machines, drums
Bruce King - guitars
Mike Smith - guitars
Contact:
Idiot Stare
P.O. Box 4208
Burbank, CA 91058
(818) 368-0676
E-mail: bod...@primenet.com
http://www.primenet.com/~bodybag/
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INSTAGON: The Most Creative Thing I've Ever Seen In A Slight English Accent
CD Release / limited to 1000 hand numbered copies.
1. WSB10.93 00:16
2. THEE BLOOD OV 33:26
3. MORE MUSICUS 04:50
4. BABY STEPS ON HOUSE 33:14
5. COYOTE 00:26
This 75 minute epic in noise and tribal sounds is wonderful. Especially for
having sex to. The 2 really long tracks were recorded live with no overdubs and
sounds remarkably like fine old school industrial music, ala Throbbing Gristle.
The opening cut is a welcome from William S. Burroughs in all his ancient glory
wishing good luck to Instagon. The packaging for this release is really pretty,
in comes in a 7" fold out sleeve printed by Dagon Productions. It is filled
with artwork, and a booklet with information about the project and Thee
Instagon Foundation itself. The remarkable thing about this release is the
return of THEE TEMPLE OF PSYCHIC YOUTH. This a North American TOPY release. The
1st of it's kind and it is very nice, very much unlike the silly dance music
that most TOPY groups (PTV,PWOG,EDEN224) have been releasing in the past few
years this one goes back to basics and shows you what ritual music and
spontaneous interaction between player is supposed to be like.
For this project Instagon were:
Lob Opus PEEK
Myke Quest Christopher tm. Will Rage
Sock DAT Andy Warthog
Jeff McMillan Cutie Pie Jason Stein
Sharon 444 Rev. Lothar Thad Matson
Joy Lew WSB Tom
Contact:
Thee Instagon Foundation
P.O. Box 894
Huntington Beach, CA
92648-0894
(714) 554-2804 ext 23
E-mail: inst...@netcom.com
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Ipecac Loop: eX
1. Ipecac (All of It) 2:02
2. Clusterfuck 4:48
3. Again and Again 4:38
4. Blinded 2:09
5. Out of My Spine 4:54
6. Backbreaker 6:40
7. Mountains and Fleas 2:28
8. Vacuum 7:34
9. Music Box 1:03
10. Blur 6:50
11. Repress 4:49
Stumbling into the bathroom looking for something to calm you stomach you
mistakenly pick up a bottle of Ipecac Loop and down the entire container thus
beginning a journey into the musical paradigm that is the home of Cameron
Lewis. Percolating trickles of ambience drip from extreme heights into a
swirling pool of radiance sound. Focusing on a minimalistic approach to sound
construction Ipecac Loop provides access to realm where a lack aural depth
doesn't deter from the overall quality of the music. Overall a very solid first
release for a band whose only previous musical releases where on the RMI CD's.
The talent is obvious otherwise how do you justify a record contract so soon?
Definitely one of the new breed of up and coming ambient experimental artists.
Ipecac Loop is: Cameron Lewis
Contact:
Fifth Column Records
P.O. Box 787
Washington, D.C. 20044
E-mail: Fifth...@cyberden.com, Ipeca...@aol.com
http://users.aol.com/IpecacLoop/private/IpecacLoop.html
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Jagd Wild: Jagd Wild
Side 1:
1. Collapse
2. Assume The Position
3. Lurking Fear
4. The Longest Night
Side 2:
1. Loud Blows Heimdall
2. Come Join The Hunt
3. Iron World Blues
4. Cry For Salvation
Talk about an the unexpected, who in their right mental state of existence have
ever thought to conceive an electro industrial band whose primary area of
interest lays in utilizing Norse mythology into modern electronic genre.
However, Jagd Wild have done just this, and excessively well I might add. In
some sick twisted way I actually fell into a laughing fit trying to imagine a
group of viking warlords in the middle of Scandinavia with a few dozen drum
machines and sequencers composing music to pass along their religious believes
via DAT instead of word of mouth. No matter how stupid that visualization might
sound the bands manages to pull off the concept amazingly well. Even the
electronic percussion appears to sound like it could have existed right along
side the more traditional instruments of the Scandinavian culture. I have to
give Jagd Wild a great deal of credit for designing, developing and
implementing a truly original feel to their music without sacrificing the
cohesiveness of the music and ending up sounding very tacky.
Contact:
JAGD WILD
c/o Byrna Kortness & John Berthold
E9874 Co. Hwy EE
Elk Mound, WI 54739
Fax (715) 836-3945
E-mail: jagd...@aol.com
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Leaetherstrip: Getting Away With Murder
1. Tear of Stone (Confinement Tour Intro)
2. No Rest For The Wicked (No Vox Version)
3. Dreaming (Two Track Demo 1982)
4. Never Trust Anyone At The Carnival (Two Track Demo 1984)
5. Satanic Citizen
6. Touchdown Breakdown
7. Crash (Flight 232)
8. Zyclon B
9. Leaether Strip Part II
10. Murder
Finally the long awaited compilation album from the US Leaetherstrip fanbase &
RAS DVA Records. This CD compiles unreleased tracks from 1982-1995 and ranges
from lives tracks from a Zoth Ommog tour in 1990 (tracks 5-9), original demoes
from the early eighties and unreleased singles. This album is definitely a
diehard Leaetherstrip fan ultimate wish. What impressed me the most on this
compilation was the time span from which the tracks originated. Getting a change
to listen to some of Claus's first demo tracks, cheesy as they might be, give
the listener a great deal of insight into the musical direction of the Danish
mastermind. This CD is a definite requirement for all Leaetherstrip fan but you
better pick up a copy fast because it has a limited edition release of 500 in
the US and 500 in Europe.
Contact:
Ras Dva Records
P.O. Box 92575
Milwaukee, WI 53202-0575
E-mail: lac...@aol.com
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Mandible Chatter: Grace
1. Never Mind the Credits, Start the Dream
2. The Silent Presence
3. Piper in the Woods
4. Beyond the Valley of Blue Rosebuds
5. The Elements
6. Sleepless Night #37
7. Forty Mile Lullaby
8. Night of Falling Trees
9. Grace
One of the truly ground breaking experimental ambient projects I've heard
recently. Incorporating the conventional instrumentation of the acoustic guitar
along with several other classical instrument in conjuncture with ambient sound
washes and more modern apparatuses of musical construction Mandible Chatter
harvest a unique musical style from the roots of multiple musical types. The
outcome of this particular chosen music clique range from very mellow guitar
pieces, hauntingly beautiful soundscapes encompassing the listening veil to
spelunking into the depths of apparition of the human soul. The juxtaposition
of modern versus classical style harmonize at a level of almost utter
perfection. Assuredly an aural experience that would delight a extremely broad
listening audience.
Mandible Chatter are: Grant Miller & Neville Harson
Contact:
Manifold Records
c/o Vince Harrigan
P.O. Box 12266
Memphis, TN 38182
Ph. (901) 278-7431
Fax (901) 278-1004
E-mail: soun...@aol.com
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Morpheus Sister: Morpheus Sister
1. Straight Jacket
2. Killer
3. Requiem Mass (exerpt in D)
4. Slow
5. Wrack
6. Turn Out The Lights
7. Right To Riot
8. Lesbians
9. In The Flesh
10. The Gift
If it's one thing that bugs me is a band that seems to be throwing away a great
deal of apparent talent in electronic programming in favor of the popularity of
guitars in todays' music industry. Each and every one of the tracks on this
album begins with a wonderfully orchestrated prelude with is entirely
constructed out of electronic rhythms only to be eventually be washed out by
thundering death metal guitars. The aptitude is self-evident but the logic is
certainly skewed. The end result is another Ministry which could have been
avoided by toning the guitar dependence down a few notches in favor of the
programming and vocals. Perhaps with time and experience Morpheus Sister will
realize that turning up the volume of the guitar in the final mix of the track
won't always sell records and that perhaps a serious look at a unique balance
of the vocals, electronics and guitars will produce a highly marketable and
successful band like many of it's peers.
Morpheus Sister is:
Dan Kucza - Guitars, Programming
Skully - Drums
Warlock - Vocals, Keyboard, Programming
Contact:
Decibel Records
17125C W. Bluemound Rd. #122
Brookfield, WI 53008-0949
E-mail: dec...@earth.execpc.com
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not breathing: time music for quazars
1. the amoebic sea
2. space between
3. 3-legged beetle eater
4. dhyana
5. no more rainbows
6. combustion
7. birth of rotorhead
8. aether traveller
9. cloud modulation
10. darth vader disco luv
After three years, four demos, three hundred minutes of music, one 12" and one
7" not breathing breaks into the digital arena with the release of their first
full length album. The past three has year have done nothing but improve the
musical endeavor and diversity of the band. This new album focuses primarily on
ambient acid trance which percolates throughout the cerebral fluids just as any
other chemical enhancer. Acutely bound sound washes break onto the deserted
shores of undiscovered planets while the native wildlife breaks into a melody
proclaiming the solution of the ultimate question of life. The vibrance of the
music on a recording medium other than cassette is astounding. It makes me wish
that the band will repackage and remaster all of their original music onto
digital media so that their listening audience may full enjoy the depth of
music which exists on this album.
not breathing is: dave wright & bruce brindamour
Contact:
Visible Records
2443 Fillmore Street
Suite 336
San Francisco, CA 94115
FAX (415) 380-3963
E-mail: vis...@calon.com, atlan...@aol.com
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Elektro Industrial Sounds Of The Northwest
1. Kill Switch... Klick Go Man Go [Klaustrophobic Mix]
2. Waiting For God Two Extremes
3. Noise Box I Hate U [Club Mix]
4. The Fourth Man Plague
5. Noxious Emotion Symbiosis
6. Einar Ak & The Same People Say
7. Corpus Christi Viral Daze [Airbourne Virus Mix]
8. SPM Listen Up
9. And Christ Wept Halcyon
10. Children Of The Atom Minority Of One
11. SMP Backwards
12. Unit 187 Burn
13. Bytet Time To Play [Live Edit]
14. Mindvirus Brickbat
15. RU-486 Dos Fatcha [Track-Ter Mix]
It's good to finally see the Northwest Elektro-Industrial Coalition finally get
the large scale publicity that a compilation of this kind can produce from a
midsize label such as Cleopatra. With the recent record contracts for SMP, Kill
Switch... Klick, Noisebox & And Christ Wept there is an obvious well of
untapped talent in Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. The music is wide and
varied as would be expected from such a diverse genre. The label on the jewel
case might implicitly state Elektro-Industrial but that doesn't even begin to
do justice to these bands. The sound varies all over the sonic spectrum audible
to the human ear from grinding chunks of guitar, dancefloor mayhem to aural
masterpieces of ambient experimentation. If you haven't had any experience with
the NEC I highly suggest you check any of these numerous bands out. And
remember there is more than Grunge music in Seattle!
Contact:
Cleopatra Records
8726 S. Sepulveda, Ste D-82
Los Angeles, CA 90045
E-mail: cleo...@cyberden.com
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A Saucerful Of Pink: A Tribute To Pink Floyd
Disc 1:
1. Psychic TV Set Controls For The Heart Of The Sub
2. Controlled Bleeding Another Brick In The Wall Part 1 & 2
3. Spahn Ranch One Of These Days
4. Sky Cries Mary Wots...Uh The deal
5. Spiral Realms Interstellar Overdrive
6. Leaetherstrip Learning To Fly
7. Ron Geesin To Roger Waters, Wherever You Are
8. Eden Jugband Blues
9. Din On The Run
Disc 2:
1. Alien Sex Fiend Echoes
2. Furnace Hey You
3. Nik Turner Careful With That Axe, Eugene
4. The Electric Hellfire Club Lucifer Sam
5. Helios Creed Pigs On The Wing
6. Pressurehed Let There Be More Light
7. Penal Colony Young Lust
8. EXP A Saucerful Of Secrets
9. Melting Euphoria Point Me At The Sky
10. FarFlung The Nile Song
The thought of a bunch of gothic industrial bands covering one of the greatest
bands in the existence of music kind of scared me at first. After a few
listens through both CD's and several terrifying moments wondering how the song
might possibly end up maimed I decided that it wasn't that bad of an attempt.
Sure some of the tracks sound practically nothing like the original, but what
do you expect from music that is 15-30 years old? The bands that did the most
justice to Pink Floyd were the gothic & ambient bands who seemed to be able to
find that spark that made Pink Floyd such a brilliant band and at least try to
interweave it into the music. The electro noise bands terrified me with their
renditions. Under most normal circumstances I love everything ever made by
Leaetherstrip and Controlled Bleeding but their attempts at covers made me
cringe. All things considered the tribute album wasn't half bad as long as you
are not expecting classical renditions of your old favorites but rather modern
interpretations of old manifestations on a theme.
Contact:
Cleopatra Records
8726 S. Sepulveda, Ste D-82
Los Angeles, CA 90045
E-mail: cleo...@cyberden.com
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Quartermass: Coolie Joolie
Side 1:
1. Hiddens Blows Strike The Human Spirit
2. Fever Powerful
3. Sleepy Head
4. Physical, Mental, Social
Side 2:
1. Black Ghost
2. It Would Be So Nice
3. Gunfest
The bastard child project of those wicked little munchkins of Smersh who seem
to love to embellish upon the fact that music is the last thing they seem to be
producing but rather an addictive drug that one can never quite get enough of
or break the nasty habit of listening too. As you can see that's quite a mental
mouthful. This time the little demon spawn have descended upon experimental
aerie of the harpies and begin to play even more games with the mind at a
mildly respective bpm. One might even begin to call it ambient trance if only
we all knew better. Once again these guys evade being anything they actually
set out to be and without any justification. It's just good old fun music with
seems to be written more for the artists benefit than the end listener and yet
we can't seem to get enough.
Contact:
IMMP
P.O. Box
princeton, NJ 08542
E-mail: dmb55...@aol.com
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The Ras Dva Quadruple Compilation: There Is No Time
Disc 1
1. Dive Blood Money 3:06
2. Mentallo & The Fixer Decomposed (Grimpen Ward Mix) 4:27
3. Venus Walk Isolation 4:20
4. Leaetherstrip No Rest For The Wicked (No Vox Version) 5:30
5. Genital A-Tech Neovagina 8:02
6. Godheads Eternal Youth 4:37
7. Total Harmonic Distortion Hypo (S.A. Mix) 4:57
8. Out Out Null (V.0.9) 5:00
9. Idiot Stare Oranges (Unreleased Track) 3:36
10. Informatik At Your Command 4:53
11. Lights Of Euphoria Reaching Out 3:25
12. Pain Station The End of You 4:58
13. Psychopomps Superpsycho 4:38
Disc 2
1. Benestrophe Shall Now Want (Unreleased Track) 6:55
2. Fiction 8 In The Dark (Final Mix) 4:53
3. Suicide Commando Where Do We Go From Here? 4:15
4. Whirligig Dead-N-Gone 4:50
5. Fortification 55 Tibet Gate 3:54
6. Klinik Animal Torturer 6:07
7. Spahn Ranch One Of These Days (Unreleased Track) 5:21
8. X Marks The Pedwalk Facer 5:39
9. Mainestai Y (Ma Ma's Crazy Kitchen Mix) 6:56
10. A-Head Deep Down Keep My Soul Down 5:27
11. Noxious Emotion FPMO 6:14
12. Oneiroid Psychosis 81 X Ray (Unreleased Track) 4:10
Disc 3
1. Jihad Hands That Hide (Exclusive Version) 5:10
2. Yeht Mae Gun Control 4:55
3. Blok 57 Mean Machine 4:22
4. Monastery Disease 3:08
5. Din_fiv Terminal Condition 4:30
6. Abscess Dead Days 5:24
7. Thine Eyes Taunted 5:18
8. Vatican Requiem (V1.2) 4:21
9. Nightmare Lodge The Glorious Animal 3:20
10. Violet Arcana Liquid Bleeding (Unreleased Track) 6:38
11. Alien Faktor Clip The Wings (Exclusive Version) 3:43
12. Ringtailed Snorter Void 4:31
13. Haujobb Maternal Instinct 3:46
14. Necrofix Welcome To The Big Sleep 5:25
Disc 4
1. Zero Defects Duracell 6:03
2. Hate Dept. Won't Stay Lit (Unreleased Track) 3:41
3. Orange Sector Polizisten 5:06
4. Pounce International Wire Thief (Exclusive Version) 4:18
5. Kevorkian Death Cycle Veal 4:47
6. Project Pitchfork Carrion 5:37
7. Crocodile Shop Celebrate The Enemy 5:28
8. Good Courage Building & Destroying 2:44
9. Morpheus Sister Killer (Exclusive Version) 4:06
10. Numb Blood 7:14
11. Eighth Man Smart Bomb (Exclusive Version) 3:34
12. U-Tek I Am Moving (Short Mix) 3:39
13. Evils Toy Dear God 5:29
14. Wumpscut Soylent Green 6:06
15. Parking Lot In Drug Form Step Away (Unreleased Track) 2:40
How does one begin to even do justice to a five hour long, four disc CD
compilation that only costs $25? How can anyone possibly supersede this volume
of musical talent for your hard earned money? There simply is no conceivable
way that any other industrial music compilation can attempt to stand up to the
sheer musically proficient bulk present here. My album collection is literally
huge and yet I am hard pressed to find more than four tracks on any particular
CD that I already own. The compilation itself is a whose who in where
electro-industrial music is heading into the new millennium. Conspicuously
absent are those post industrial bands that many people have placed on the
altar as deities. This in itself suggests that the industrial genre as a whole
is moving into a brand new generation of music styles and definition. Taking a
manifestation on a theme, it is the dawn of the third age of the industrial
movement and Ras Dva is here to herald the dawning of that new age.
Contact:
Ras Dva Records
P.O. Box 92575
Milwaukee, WI 53202-0575
E-mail: lac...@aol.com
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Sirvix: Rivers
Side Androgynous
1. Archeron
2. Cocytus
3. Phlegethon
4. Lethe
5. Styx
6. The Dark Tides
Side Bestial
1. Voices
2. The Calling of Charon
3. Lost (rev.1)
4. Feed the Nightmare
5. Faucet
This tape is broken up into two distinct halves with the first side the musical
accompaniment of the five rivers of hell and the second side focuses more on
the individual aspects, personas and divisions of hell. Sirvix does an
excellent job in developing and designing what I feel an appropriate soundtrack
to hell might sound like. I think that Lucifer might want to give these guys a
job assembling all the wailing torture souls into a cacophonic orchestra
designed to annihilate any mortals survival instinct and pound them into
submission. To get an idea what each of the various tracks sound like you might
consider picking up a copy of Dantes Inferno and examining the reference maps
of what Virgil felt the physical layout of hell was. Then compare the classical
reference context of what each region idealizes and then insert various ambient
experimental soul torturing as an acoustic reference and you can get an
reasonable idea of the talent evident in this band.
Contact:
Sirvix
P.O. Box 1421
Mountain View, CA 94042-1421
E-mail: sir...@west.darkside.com
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Smersh: Super-Deformed
Side 1
1. The Tastiest Nerve
2. The Helmsman Sets The Ocean Course
Side 2
1. Little Arabella
2. White Teen Cola
Experimental techno might be a fairly simplistic account of this vividly color
clear yellow 7". Nothing else I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing can
quite measure up to the level of audacity this single evokes. It's definitely
not even vaguely in the industrial realm nor the dance techno genre but instead
lies somewhere in the middle off to one side near the music that tends to avoid
a category label. You can't dance to it, you can't meditate to it, in fact you
most of the time begin to wonder if it's a government audio experiment that
somehow escaped into European vinyl market to test it's progress on the masses.
Whatever Smersh truly is escapes even me with it's bewildering and sickenly
entrancing sound.
Smersh are: Mike "Specs" Mangino & Chris "Tickles" Shepard
Limited Edition 7" 500 Copies
Contact:
VUZ Records
P.O. Box 170116
47181 Duisburg
Germany
E-mail: v...@vuz.du.gtn.com
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Smersh: Join The Radium Girl Movement
Side 1:
1. Cosmic Torpedo
2. Go Power
Side 2:
1. Milestone Dub
2. Stoned Again
Imagine my surprise when within a matter of days of acquiring my first taste of
Smersh an second course appears on my plate. This EP at least has the decency
to stay consistent enough to be listened through in one sitting as well as
skirting the edge of the techno genre instead of impersonating an escaped
military audio experiment. You might still have to be on some type of
artificial stimulation to consider this music rather than an aural disease
descended upon mankind to destroy us all with it's hypnotic beat and drug like
lethargy. You do have to at least consider the fact that Smersh has gone beyond
having a unique sound to being confused as an alien mating ritual recorded at
Arecibo. How this is supposed to market their sound is beyond me, I'm just
content with the artificial sensory perception it seems to stimulate.
Contact:
IMMP
P.O. Box
princeton, NJ 08542
E-mail: dmb55...@aol.com
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Sun God: EFA
1. Legba
2. Oya
3. Ayizan
4. Damballaj & Ayida Wedo
5. Simbi
6. Guede
7. Agwe
8. Gran Ibo
9. Erzulie
10. The Ancestors
Sun God features members of Cassandra Complex & Project Pitchfork performing
music written around Voudou and Santeria rituals of magick and religion.
Contained within the liner notes are vivid descriptions about the use of dream
speech via the invocation of Loa to communicate the lyrics and music to the
artists while they slept. Unlike most albums this was not written for
entertainment but rather via the inspiration of the spirits of the Voudou
religion. Even if you think this concept behind the music is a little on the
hokey side the musicians go out of their way to be quite sincere in their
approach and honestly try to make the listener believe that the music was
influenced by dream spirits. The music itself is very tribal oriented with
heavy focus on electronic percussion and as well as the live instrumentation of
violas, flutes and gnostic chants. The album is a modern day interpretation of
what many of the early pagan magick ceremonies might have been in the middle
ages. The music inspires meditation, celebration and escape from the constraints
of society on its listeners. Perhaps that this is good advice no matter what
the source of counsel, mortal or immortal?
Sun God are: Marcus Giltjies, Rodney Orpheus & Patricia Nijiani
Contact:
Fifth Column Records
P.O. Box 787
Washington, D.C. 2004
E-mail: Fifth...@cyberden.com, Rod...@eworld.com
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Terminus: Victim Culture
1. Words 3:13
2. Purest 4:33
3. Etched In My Scars 3:37
As I was leafing through the press package which came with this CD single I
became acutely afraid that yet another misinformed metal band had send more
music my way. The insert of the CD didn't even mention either one of the
artists using an electronic instrument. So, I dropped the CD into the discman
and prepared to cringe. Luck was with apparently me as the first track began
with a sampler and drum machine, slowly drifted into guitar chords, here is
where the problem began. Whereas the guitar and electronic percussion meshed
particularly well and the sample utilization was intelligent, but the vocalist
should be replaced. His vocal style is the stereotypical heavy metal thundering
bass tone that has been overdone to death. Apart from the horrendous vocals the
band shows promise, maybe a few hours with a vocoder and a voice filter can save
the band from it's eminent label as metal industrial crossover or maybe not.
Terminus are:
Peter Johnson - Bass, Vocals
Derek Norberg - Guitar
Contact:
Terminus
P.O. Box 1553
Pacifica, CA 94044-6553
(415) 634-9765
E-mail: term...@netcom.com
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Tinty Music: Anterior Interior
Side 1:
1. Half the Length of the Chamber
Side 2:
1. Tincture #1
2. Tincture #2
Exquisites layers of soothing ambience float lazily through the atmosphere
seeming to stretch of for miles echoing the amongst each like awakened biomes.
Kevin of Tinty Music has continued the strong ambient theme that worked so well
for him on his previous CD release. A total absence of beat or percussion in
conjunction with the the utilization of nature and weather samples makes this a
very robust organic release. This is the kind of music that I adore playing in
the background when I study or to lull me to asleep because it places the
listener on the edge of inner harmony and complacency. Also very useful piece
of music to center oneself emotions with. Perhaps I'm getting a little to
mystical but I tend to place a great deal of value in music as a tool to evoke
vividly extreme or calming emotions and this music does the latter excessively
well.
Tinty Music: Stumbling Into Blindness
Side 1:
1. No Escape From Time 8:52
2. Theory of Miscommunication 21:44
Side 2:
1. Tincture #3 29:32
This time Tinty Music moves away from the lulling ambience for the first side
of the tape and instead strives for more of a structured noise expose centered
around phone operators, appropriated percussion, and other titillating metallic
objects. The music still remains light, unabusive and generally pleasing to the
ear quite unlike most noise experimentation. The second side of the tape
returns to the wafting ambient tinctures that constantly never cease to amaze
me. What impresses me the most about this and other work by Tinty Music is the
sheer quality of the music. Everything that Kevin O'Connor produces is down in
the privacy of his own home without the luxuries of an expensive studio or
recording equipment and yet he still manages to produced an amazingly high
quality audio cassette release.
Tinty Music is: Kevin O'Connor
Contact:
Tinty Music
P.O. Box 85363
Seattle, WA 98145-1363
Voice: (206) 632-9369
Fax: (206) 545-2868
E-mail: tntm...@halcyon.com
http://www.halcyon.com/tntmusic/welcome.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nik Turner & The Travellers Of Space
1. Nik Turner Master Of The Universe
2. Nik Turner Isis & Nepthys
3. Spiral Realms A Trip To G9
4. The Anubian Lights Grid Coordinate: Vorp 1
5. Pressurehed Slo Blo
6. Nik Turner Careful With That Axe, Eugene
7. Zero Gravity Space Does Not Care
8. Melting Euphoria Venusian Skyline
9. Robert Calvert Lord Of The Hornets
10. Helios Creed The Master
11. Spiral Realms Voyage To Pluto
12. Steve Peregrine Took Scorpius
13. Chrome 3rd From The Sun
14. Nik Turner Bones Of Elvis
A live album recorded during the Travellers of Space tour in the summer of
1995. All of the tracks exists on their original forms on each respective
artists albums on Cleopatra Records. Nik Turner has once again taken space rock
to another level and this time he has combined all of his related musical
projects into one single touring element. I used to not be able to tolerate Nik
Turner due to the sheer gaudiness of his performance and his music but in the
past few years I've begun to see him in a new light as he expands on his
musical horizons. His work on the Anubian Lights album with former members of
Hawkwind is a picture perfect example of the leaps and bounds that he has taken
with his music in the past few years. Just when you think this guy just won't
die he enters the second leg of his life and begins to develop an whole new
arena of music.
Contact:
Cleopatra Records
8726 S. Sepulveda, Ste D-82
Los Angeles, CA 90045
E-mail: cleo...@cyberden.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Violence & Hate: (self-titled)
1. I Need God 4:32
2. Given 4:08
3. Society 5:04
4. Evil 6:44
5. Why 4:47
6. Tin Man 4:36
7. Down 5:14
8. Drug User 4:25
9. I Need God (God's Remix) 5:08
Maybe it is something in the drinking water but something seems to be lacking
on this album and I can't quite exactly place it. The mix between guitar and
the electronics is well within the guitar industrial genre, the lyrics hook the
listener in, but something seems to be lacking. Perhaps it is the fact that
Violence & Hate has hidden itself amongst the rest of the guitar industrial
bands and by not have a distinctive unique style they sound rote and
repetitive. The sheer number of crossover bands that have hit the music market
within the past year has been phenomenal and as they all try and jockeying for
listenership and a distinct sound more often than not many of them fall flat on
their back in defeat. I think that this band might be able to avoid that
circumstance if they can find some definite stylistic sound to grasp onto and
not let go. However, this album definite does not have anything that remotely
that resembles that uniqueness. Maybe given more time this might occur but
until then we can only wait, watch and listen.
Violence & Hate are:
Danny Tallerico - Vocals, Guitar, Programming & Keys
Jason Rinn - Bass, Guitar
Dausin Ramirez - Guitar
Chris Bower - Drums
Contact:
Violence & Hate
3020 N. St. Mary's
San Antonio, TX 78212
E-mail: t...@mail.utexas.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xorcist: Phantoms
1. Bitchend
2. The Gift
3. Shortwave
4. Iron Helix
5. Be With Me
6. Club Life
7. Christy
8. Is Love?
9. I Just Want To Learn
10. The Harmonic Convergence
This album is much more of a collection of assorted works from the previous
eight years than a sophmoric attempt at a new album. What appears to be a total
remastering of the older tracks is a definite plus for the album as most
compilation of past work tend to leave the work is it's original state which
often lack the benefits of the technological upgrade. The musical style is in
the same vein as all the Xorcist's previous work, hard driving synth work
meshed with a plethora of samples and a multi level programmed style that gives
the music a unique sound of which no fair comparison could be made between
Xorcist and any other band. Peter still continues to amaze me with the
recording and musical quality of each of his releases. However the music cannot
begin to do justice to a live show. Definitely pick this album up if you
haven't and if you are ever in the San Francisco area find where the House of
Usher is currently residing and maybe you'll be lucky enough to catch Xorcist on
a night when they are performing.
Xorcist is Peter Stone
Contact:
21st Circuitry Records
P.O. Box 170100
San Francisco, CA 94117
E-mail: xor...@cyberden.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gear: Issue 42
GEAR is quickly approaching it's fourth anniversary at the end of 1995. In the
past four years we've seen 42 issues, published religiously once a month with at
least two band interviews and one other main feature besides the editorial,
musics reviews & epilogue. No other magazine in the industrial arena can even
begin to compare to the dedication of the people of Gear at meeting the
deadline and publishing a quality product all in a sixteen page, full sized
FREE magazine. Starting with the next issue GEAR is going to be adding a glossy
cover page, adding more features, moving to a six week publishing schedule all
while finally charging a mild $2 fee for the magazine. Hats off to Michael
Brighton of GEAR for consistently producing a high quality magazine always full
of intelligent band interviews like Die Krupps & Young Gods. Make sure to add
GEAR to your monthly reading list.
Contact:
Gear Magazine
P.O. Box 140790
Nashville, TN 37214
(215) 552-8805
E-mail: zine...@aol.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industrial Nation: Issue 11 Summer 1995
How shall I begin? Five issues of Industrial Nation in four years, and the last
two within the last six months. It appears that IN is finally going to deliver
that quarterly status that it has been advertising for years. As usual the
front covered is gratuitous models having little to do with any feature inside
of the magazine. I for one would think that perhaps putting a band on the cover
of the magazine might actually increase sales. The overall format of the IN is
the same as it's been for the last 5 issues, full sized, glossy cover, 96 pages
of newsprint chocked full of typoes. It's amazing that every other industrial
related zine is ALWAYS compared to IN when IN has consistently offered shoddy
production. Enough with the philandering of the torrid editing criteria and
onto the meat of the magazine.
This issue features no less than eight band interviews like: Mentallo & The
Fixer, Dive, Killing Floor, SMP & Lords of Acid, but also an in depth look at
H-Gun Labs, the premire industrial video pioneers. The usual columnists Chase,
McNellis & Zacharitz are ever present along with the plethora of reviews this
time with many of the album covers scanned in beside the reviews. If you've
ever had an experience with IN before expect more of the same. IN has stayed
pretty constant with it's contents over the years. The only real saving grace
for the magazine is the interviews and the reasonable price. Perhaps I've being
a bit harsh but if I had the cash to put out a printed publication like IN I'd
try to be a little more professional in my appearance.
Contact:
Industrial Nation
114 1/2 E. College St.
Iowa City, IA 55240-4005
E-mail: i...@ripco.com
http://mozart.fin.depaul.edu/IndustrialnatioN/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mondo 2000 #14 Spring/Summer 1995
Interviews with Poppy Z. Brite, Bruce Sterling, the editor of Spin, abound in
this overtly late issue of Mondo 2000. Joining the trend of other popular
counterculture magazines in never meeting a publishing date, Mondo 2000 at
least has it's outstanding graphics and page layout team as it's saving grace.
The concept of quarterly has been sacrificed for the sake of content. The usual
metaphysical menagerie that made Mondo famous is ever present along with the
half naked models, conspiracies theories, little gray men and obnoxious letters
to the editor.
What exactly is the deal with Bruce Sterling? The man must be getting slightly
annoyed with the volume of interviews he's given out in the past few months.
It's as if his fifteen minutes of fame has been extended to fifteen years and
the sheer amount of work published by and interviews given has increased almost
as fast as people flock to get connected to the Internet. I enjoy Sterling's
work tremendously, but come on here can;t we give this guy a moments peace?
Aside form the usual fluff are the mainstay articles. Poppy Z. Brite of gothic
homoerotic fiction is displayed in all her resplendent glory (read: naked) for
all of her adoring fans. Her two previous books are discussed in detail as well
as her new work of fiction entitled "Exquisite Corpse". My only experience
with Brite's work was a four blitz of the gothic fluff novel, "Lost Souls"
which I thought was more of a satirical jab at the gothic community than
perhaps was actually intended. I enjoy a dark macabre world as much as the next
freak but it seemed to lack any depth of character of finality of plot. The new
novel is supposed to be a departure from much of the fantasy vampire world
favored by Brite with the introduction of 'hacker' characters. Perhaps I'll
pick peruse a copy for the literary value.
Not to be any more nitpicky but I never could quite figure out the point behind
Mondo 2000. Maybe I'm too mainstream behind the black clad exterior but
publishing nudity, alien domination, drug induced nightmares amongst industry
leaders in fiction, science fiction, comics, art in order to try and make us
feel members of the subculture they are trying to purvey is a bit of a stretch.
Nonetheless Mondo has always been an excellent hit of brain candy to point out
what the counter culture is accomplish and what to avoid. If that is all Mondo
is trying to do at the face value of the magazine then perhaps they are doing
their readership some good but if they are trying to foster a cult of
generation x wannabes I can recommend them a good psychologist for their
delusions of grandeur.
Contact:
Mondo 2000
P.O. Box 10171
Berkeley, CA 94709-0171
PHONE (510) 845-9018
FAX (510) 649-9630
E-mail: subscr...@mondo2000.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Option: May-June 1995
Option claims to be the Music Culture magazine for Generation X. It is like the
Details of the alternative music world. I primarily picked up this magazine for
the Chemlab interview and the simple fact that it contained advertising for
such diverse labels as Extreme, Paragoric, Fifth Column & Instinct. Any
newstand magazine that carries that kind of music label backing must at least
have an inkling of what music culture is today. After thumbing through most of
the magazine I concluded that Option did indeed cater directly to the
'alternative' music culture at just about every single level and genre in
existence. Option is the only other Newstand magazine that I have had the
pleasure of reading besiding Alternative Press. The only drawback is that it is
published bimonthly but at the attractive cost of only $3.50 an issue for a 154
full color glossy magazine I'm not complaining too much.
Contact:
Option Magazine
1522-B Cloverfield Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
E-mail: none
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wired: Scenarios 'The Future of The Future' Special Edition
After almost four years of a regular monthly magazine Wired has recently
published it's first special edition, the chosen topic: The Future. Amid the
numerous advertisements, the huge font sets and nifty graphics lie the usual
articles found in monthly issues concerning the speculation of what the various
aspects of life will be like on this morbid planet in the years ahead. All the
usual guest authors are present spouting the same old rhetoric that Wired has
become known for almost exclusively. Why this was ever published as a special
issue is beyond me? Perhaps it was the abounding commercial presence,
considering that at least half of the 120 page magazine was advertisements, or
maybe it the huge type face that was used for half of the articles in order to
try and fit more text into a magazine full of commericial sales pitches. Thank
goodness I didn't have to pay full news stand price for this special issue as it
came right along with my normal subscription or I might have simply not spent
the $5.95 cover price for the only one article that bothered to catch my eye.
If your used to the usual Wired future auguries expect more of the same in this
special edition. Not much new in the way of foresight in the future of Gaia
that hasn't already be rehashed to death by every dark seer, prophet or jesus
christ reborn.
Contact:
Wired 140 E. 45th Street
37th Floor
New York, Ny 10017
(212) 682-5544
E-mail: subscr...@wired.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
%END%
--
PGP PUBLIC KEY available upon request
URL: http://www.synet.net/sonic-boom/
Sonic-Boom - The Net Industrial/EBM/Goth/CyberCulture Music Review Zine
neXus siX
>Well kids I got my Puppy advance of The Process today and I'm going to give you my play by
>play review... as it happens...
>
>Desribing a recording this deep (errrr ummmm on cassette) in this breif of terms is impossible but
>here goes anyway...
>
>* IF any of you guys (cEvin/Ogre) [are reading] these are my first impressions...*
>
>Despite everything that has gone on to make this record, I think that in the end it is fucking great!
>Perhaps not all Puppy fans will be able to make the journey from LAST RIGHTS to THE
>PROCESS, but all should at least give it an honest listen....
>
>TRACK LISTING form the American Recordings Advance Cassette follows ->
>
>JAHYA -> Signature Puppy intro...
>
>DEATH -> Sounds like it would be the "aggro" single, heavy gtrs, very heavy... HEAVY
>
>CANDLE -> Ogre w/ clean vox and acoustic gtr and then...Whamo! - Puppy Orgasm!
>
>HARDSET HEAD-> Groovy... cEvin/Ogre at their best... you know this sound...
>
>CULT -> BIG SOUND... Ogre w/ harmonizer but clean... Catchy, cool... deep...
>
>PROCESS -> Soundscape intro Puppy style then... deep production... requires CD listening
>
>CURCIBLE -> More gtrs, squeals, Ogre, metal, quantize, arrangement, breakdown, repeate
>
>BLUE SERGE -> Dare I say almost TRANCE like... As in Puppy does Trance? You judge...
>
>MORTER -> Upbeat, aggressive and electronic without being NINE INCH NAILS - A hit!
>
>AMNESIA -> Piano... Ogre... Like "The Killing Game"... Spiral complexity... Simply themed
>
>CELLAR HEAT - > Media Overkill Sonic Barage... outro... brief...
>
>I gotta say the first listen or two were odd and strange... but now... well... I'm hooked... This
>cassette will probably not leave my cassette deck for weeks...
>
>Oddly of all the guests listed on the one sheet with the advance CS Genesis P. Orridge was not
>there. Very odd considering THE PROCESS...
>
>More later
>
>- McNelis
>
>
r paul seymour
awaiting...
| pau...@primenet.com |
P4UL S3YMOU2 | rsey...@artcenter.edu | 933943
| http://www.primenet.com/~paul23/index.html |
CROCUSDES
clutters my download. If I wanted your mailing I would have asked for it.
I thought only my post office stuffed junk mail in my box and didn't know
I would be so priviledged on line as well.
CROC...@aol.com
Ripple n' Hookers
: I'm really tired of deleting the sonic boom thingie that continually
: clutters my download.
I've got an idea then... don't download it. It's not like you _have_ to
look at it.
: If I wanted your mailing I would have asked for it.
It's not a mailing, buddy... it's a post. Quite different.
: I thought only my post office stuffed junk mail in my box and didn't know
: I would be so priviledged on line as well.
Buy a clue before you get so curt.
--
Ed Finkler
[========================================================================]
[********* CULT OF JESTER *********]
[********* New demo of Industrial-Ambient-Trance *********]
[********* 5 Songs -- $3 (cash or checks made to Ed Finkler) *********]
[********* 2211 Lakeshore Dr/St. Joseph, MI/49085-1840/USA *********]
[========================================================================]
Jester
CROCUSDES <croc...@aol.com> wrote:
>I'm really tired of deleting the sonic boom thingie that continually
>I would be so priviledged on line as well.
Um, This is a Usenet newsgroup, NOT a mailing list.
I am the editor of this zine, and I did not mail it to you
I posted it to rec.music.industrial, a public forum, not private e-mail.
If for some reason you are recevign a newsgroup via an electronic mailing
list, INSTEAD of the newgroups forums available on AOL, then you seriously
need to reconfigure the way you read news.
Jester
Sonic-Boom Editor
MrJupiter6
as mail items. I guess Jester better stop spamming the rmi with his
tedious, long waste of text that passes as SONIC BOOM. ;)
Good thing my ISP doesn't charge exorbitant fees by the hour, and better
yet, i should be so fortunate that I've configured my news/mail systems to
keep them independently of each other.
m.c.d.
J.C. Tabone
>as mail items. I guess Jester better stop spamming the rmi with his
>tedious, long waste of text that passes as SONIC BOOM. ;)
Well I find that one of the few things that gets posted on here that is
actually of some use to me. He does excellent reviews, covers a wide
range of industrial music, and has interviews with industrial artists.
Which is exactly what I would like to see on here.
As opposed to stupid things like people going on about what KMFDM stands
for over and over again, or whether Trent smashes his keyboards, or
is industrial music racist, or about 2000 posts asking when the new
Skinny Puppy will be out. or whether bootlegging is ethical, etc..
Now that is what I consider spam. But rather then complain about them..
I just don't read them.. and suggest that you do the same if you don't
want to see it.
_john
Ripple n' Hookers
: >something must be screwy when Usenet newsgroup posts are being downloaded
: >as mail items. I guess Jester better stop spamming the rmi with his
: >tedious, long waste of text that passes as SONIC BOOM. ;)
: Well I find that one of the few things that gets posted on here that is
: actually of some use to me. He does excellent reviews, covers a wide
: range of industrial music, and has interviews with industrial artists.
Mmmmm.... I'm pretty durn sure that the original poster was _joking_.
That's what the ;) would indicate.
;)
--
Ed Finkler
[========================================================================]
[********** CULT OF JESTER **********]
[******* New demo of Industrial-Ambient-Trance *******]
[***** 5 Songs -- $3 (cash or checks made to Ed Finkler) *****]
[**** 2211 Lakeshore Dr/St. Joseph, MI/49085-1840/USA ****]
[*** http://sun1.iusb.edu/students/stu1/efinkler/html/coj/coj.html ***]
[========================================================================]
Paul W. Campbell
: >something must be screwy when Usenet newsgroup posts are being downloaded
: >as mail items. I guess Jester better stop spamming the rmi with his
: >tedious, long waste of text that passes as SONIC BOOM. ;)
: Well I find that one of the few things that gets posted on here that is
: actually of some use to me. He does excellent reviews, covers a wide
: range of industrial music, and has interviews with industrial artists.
: Which is exactly what I would like to see on here.
: As opposed to stupid things like people going on about what KMFDM stands
: for over and over again, or whether Trent smashes his keyboards, or
: is industrial music racist, or about 2000 posts asking when the new
: Skinny Puppy will be out. or whether bootlegging is ethical, etc..
: Now that is what I consider spam. But rather then complain about them..
: I just don't read them.. and suggest that you do the same if you don't
: want to see it.
i don't usually leave a whole thing in quotes, but i just agree with it
so strongly, i had to. the jester reviews are very good, and there is
actually good content. everyone that posts something you don't want to
read isn't spamming. that word is getting overused. save it for when you
get 300 copies of a mailing or are forced to see make money quick ads
that are totally off topic. good reviews of the music we are here talking
about is something i look forward to.
cheers !
paul
POUNCE INTL. = Rev. Paul W. Campbell, Jr. = pou...@infinet.com
cd "The Populace Oracle" due out in January 96 on Furnace Records
http://www.infinet.com/~pounce