"I'm here to destroy your babies. I hate your children born or unborn and I'm going to kill them. Abortions is for wussies [sic]. If women that want abortions had any balls…" This may be Black Cum's double cassette masterpiece. It's just as horrible sounding as always but the singing and lyrics are on a whole new level. Brand new insanity is reached on the first track of completely nonsense right off the bat in a song about killing children. I swear to god halfway through some pretty descriptive rants about what else an umbilical chord can used for I can hear the guitar star playing The Stooges "I wanna be your dog". The songs that follow are equally as brilliant in it's weirdo primitive anti music terribleness. It's a god damn disaster and you may hate me for enjoying this but I kinda love it. Oh yeah. I almost failed to mention how many songs are on these two cassettes. 59 songs. 59. 59 titles. Let me give you a selection of those: Cop Consentration Camp [sic], We Only Listen to Dubstep (and we like it that way), I have a Dream, Mr. Rodgers Pulled Pork Sandwich, Kill Me So I Can Trip, Scalping the Elderly… and many more. The packaging is awesome and kinda horrible as well. Just like the band. Two tapes sewn into a handmade bag with two spray painted patches and a huge list of song titles and their manifesto. Which might explain Black Cum a little better to you:

Black Cum doesn't write songs.

Black Cum doesn't practice.

Black Cum doesn't do second takes.

Black Cum just gets fucked up, presses record and plays.

Whatever happens, happens.

God bless them.

Oh yeah, they have a kickstarter up right now for a 10" lathe. They only need $200 total so go over there and help them out. I am going to. I can't miss one of these… It's going to be psychotic.

Sunken Cheek "Depths" cs

2012-02-22T22:11:00.000-08:00

Sunken Cheek

Depths

self released

(4)

Restraint. That is my first thought. The first part of this tape is so minimal and deep that I am a little in awe of it. It mostly sounds like the sounds like distant battle heard from a mountain top. Huge, deep slow rhythms smash under layers of reverb. Scrapings whispers and shuffling sounds exist subtly but closer and somehow more menacing. A just when you get used to the distant sound of horror something loud and brutal happens to your speakers that might make you jump. It's a good one. Packaged in an "o" card with three separate inserts with lyrics and information. I kinda wish there was something besides the "o" card to package this one. Like a bag or box or something more sturdy than card stock. Either way though, this is good. Check out more on the artist's site.

La Mancha Del Pecado "Untitled Somber Demos" cs

2012-02-22T21:44:00.003-08:00

Rab’ha

Dust Cult

Pete J Woods

Songs for Nothing

After Music Recordings

(4)

Wow, this is awesome. Noisy and dark tracks that feel like they have almost been sculpted instead of played. I guess Peter J. Woods is a multimedia artist of some sort and this work is a excellent way for me to me to be introduced to him. The tracks have this eerie, almost cinematic feel to them. Noise, synth drones, small cymbals, detached voices and alien rhythms all make up a huge atmosphere. I fully recommend searching this one out. It's an excellent work and I can't imagine you will be disappointed. The artwork and screen printed covers are gorgeous as usual for this label.

Andy Gallagher/Boy Dirt Car split 12"

2012-02-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

Andy Gallagher/Boy Dirt Car split

After Music Recordings

(2)

I started off this record with the Andy Gallagher side and upon listening to the first song I was a bit surprised. I didn't know what to expect from this label as this is my first encounter. Andy Gallagher's music is very reminiscent of Dinosaur Jr. in a way that actually kinda irks me. J. Mascis has a voice that you would not label as a strong singing voice. Often slightly out of key and a bit strained but it really works in some way. No one can really quite sound like him and I think Andy Gallagher tries. It's not bad music really, it just makes me really think that I should just put You're Living All Over Me on instead. The recording itself may be where some the issue is with me. The vocals are way, way too loud in the mix. Interestingly enough Mike Watt plays on the first track of this album, I Should Have Stayed in Bed Today, and it is a very catchy piece of indie type noise pop. The strongest track for sure. I think if Sebadoh, Neil Young and Dinosaur Jr are your hands down favorite type of music I think this may be for you. It just wasn't for me. Boy Dirt Car play some pretty interesting orchestrated noise/free jazz/experimental sound scape. It's a little unbalanced for me though. It feels like half of it is this awesome rhythmic, psychedelic force that is moving straight through my being and the other half has samples of cats meowing and my IKEA alarm clock going off. I actually had to check and see if my alarm was going off and if my cat was okay the first time I put this on. I guess that's pretty awesome actually but I don't think trolling me was the artist's intent. It's still pretty amazing when it's on though. I think this is definitely one artist to look for. Boy Dirt Car has piqued my interest. I have to say that the artwork is amazing and the rough screen printed covers are beautiful. Aesthetically, this label is already winning.

Carl Kruger "Gary, New Duluth" cs

2012-02-02T11:33:00.001-08:00

Carl Kruger

Gary, New Duluth

Fusty Cunt Tapes

(4)

This is a solid piece of HNW from Carl Kruger. It's long, massive and unrelenting. It is similar to Dried Up Corpse or Taskmaster in it's intensity but the sounds are a little less guttural and a bit more psychedelic. You hear some synth type squelches here and there. It has a sorta being torn apart by evil robots vibe. I like that. As I said it is a bit on the long side but that's just the kind of punishment he wanted to deliver. The cover picture is way more creepy than I first thought at a glance. They used a photo printing machine to make full color glossy covers and it's a pretty inventive way to go about it. I am pleased.

Dust Cult/Horrible Mess "Urine Soaked Rag" cs

2012-02-02T11:28:00.001-08:00

Dust Cult/Horrible Mess

Urine Soaked Rag

(3)

I am glad I got to hear Dust Cult lately. In the world of noise and HNW they are doing some good work. This cassette is no exception. I have been saying releases are "totally solid" a lot lately and I need to get away from that turn of phrase but it works here as well. Although I feel like I want to hear more because I am not quite getting a unique "voice" from this but I really do like it. Horrible Mess is an awesome name for a noise act. It's really not much of a horrible mess aurally though. It's also quite good but it's pretty straight forward noise edging towards HNW. I would like to hear a bit more of what this person or people are up to. This cassette is well worth picking up and packed with potential. Limited to 20 copies and probably almost gone.

Crystal Hell Pool "Domain" cd

2012-02-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

Crystal Hell Pool

Domain

Debacle Records

(5)

For anyone familiar with Crystal Hell Pool and with Chris Majerus' work in general they know he has not nearly released enough music. I have found that there are slight but deliberate differences throughout the few CHP releases that I am familiar with. First time I had experienced him was on the Wind Blows Through Me cdr which was ambient and atmospheric drones that somehow found the balance between dark dissonance and almost melodic drone. Next the Weapons Cache cassette was similar drone but with all analog synths that created an awesome Soundscape similar to John Carpenter's work. The forthcoming Absolute Night is extremely minimal, dark and distant guitar work and then this release, Domain changes things up again. This is almost like an updated and less cheesy Tangerine Dream. Maybe even closer to Klaus Schultz solo releases. Full on synth driven songs that live between drone, pop and rock. This is for fans on Fuck Buttons, Megabats or Emeralds. Pretty much crucial for anyone that loves that stuff. It's a full length cd with eleven tracks and interesting artwork by the artist. Packaged in a high gloss digipack wallet.

Seven Lies about Girls/Derek Rogers split cs

2012-02-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Seven Lies about Girls/Derek Rogers split cs

Teen Action Records

(3)

My first encounter with SLAG is going pretty well. Noisy loops and lo-fi drones move across my speakers with a bit of immediacy that add a little tension. The three tracks they offer are varied and all very interesting with the last track sounding pretty much like a room recording of a high school cafeteria. It's actually kinda disconcerting. I know a little of Derek Rogers. I have a split he did with Scott Miller of Al Qaeda/Sutekh Hexen fame and it's great. His tracks on this tape are not what i expected but I love them. Low resolution boxing noise juxtaposed with swelling keyboards and drones. In general his tracks have a sadness that is hard to put your finger on but it's effective. My life is pretty much dog shit these days and it's stuff like this that really puts it into perspective. My only issues with this cassette have nothing to do with the tracks themselves. The artists' music all around is tops and needs to be heard by you right away. So go order this. I will wait… So, my issues with this are first of all it is mastered quiet. You end up having to turn it up a ways and get that extra tape hum that is not bad but unnecessary. I actually bet that this is not mastered at all. I know that can be expensive sometimes to get someone to master your release. If you are only making 50-100 copies I completely understand not paying the extra $1-2 per copy to get it sounding tip top. I would then recommend grabbing your copy of Garageband, or Ableton or whatever you pirated and watching a couple tutorials on youtube about simple mastering. It really does make a difference and it's not that expensive. The only the issue is the same one I had with the other Teen Action releases and that the packaging. It needs a bad or something. The packaging design is pretty nice, this tape had microfilm inside it, but it is just too naked and flimsy without a cover of some sort. You will see what I mean when the copy you just ordered arrives.

Marax/Coma Centauri "Coerced to Pull the Trigger" cs

2012-01-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

Marax/Coma Centauri

Coerced to Pull the Trigger

Worthless Recordings

(2)

So here it is. A test of my capacity to handle samples. The first side of this tape starts off with Marax doing some of the most interesting HNW I have heard in awhile. It's tough, twisted, scary and totally brutal. It's also peppered with a ton of samples. To say peppered might be an understatement. It's "peppered" the way an unfortunate convenience store clerk may be "peppered" with buckshot during a botched robbery. It's almost a radio play. Maybe it is actually. That would be kinda cool… but I just can't get into what I am hearing. If it was just the samples on one track and just the noise on the next I could totally get behind this but I just don't like it. I know some people will fucking love this though. I am like that dude who fucking loves peanut butter and kills for chocolate but throws up at the thought of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (my old roommate and Rorschach guitarist, Keith Huckins is that guy). I love Marax's work and this seems pretty personal. It's all about suicide so I guess if you are going to make noise "about" something you can either just say it's about suicide, you can write lyrics and sing over the noise or you can have samples accompany it. I guess this is pretty effective and it's super well done but I just don't dig it. At the end of Marax's side you get a track that is almost free of any samples and it pretty much rules. I guess Marax is peanut butter to me. Coma Centauri's side also starts with some fucking killer HNW mixed with just enough stutter to keep in interesting. There is also some odd use of sampled loops that are not quite the same and the samples of people talking but are more along the lines of odd music and tape manipulations. It's pretty interesting and kinda gets into that electronic vibe. Like I almost imagine that this person could also be into dub step or something but it's damn crazy. There is no real narrative through this as there was on the Marax side so I am not sure how this is exactly about suicide either. The track titles mention Jack Kevorkian, having a right to die and being generally depressing so I guess that is it. There are some subtle samples here and there. They fit in pretty nicely with the noise in general but when I hear FDR's familiar voice it kinda looses me. Maybe I need a more open mind because I bet the average noise fan would fucking love this. Packaging looks nice. A little 90's in the type treatment but it's definitely solid.

Flesh Coffin "The Beast Won't Go to Sleep" cs

2012-01-18T19:51:00.000-08:00

Flesh Coffin

The Beast Won't Go to Sleep

Lighten Up Sounds

(4)

I have reviewed Flesh Coffin before and I gotta say that this stuff is always super brutal. Absolutely no exception on this one. Excellent HNW interspersed with some excellent broken loops and the occasional sample. Most who read this blog at this point know I am not a fan of samples from movies or tv. This again is not my thing but it's so quick and surrounded by impenetrable walls or pure awesomeness that I really don't mind. You also get some creepy as fuck synths and room sounds that really work well. Pretty nice layout on it's black and white 1.5 panel J card. I would probably grab one of these if HNW and evil is your steeze.

Harassor "Hater of Man" cs

2012-01-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

Harassor

Hater of Man

Husk Records

(5)

I was super excited when this showed up in the mail that it had to jump the line a little. I am already a huge fan of Harassor's LP on Universal Consciousness that I picked up from them last year. I am not at all disappointed by this cassette. It has a recording quality that brings to mind Bathory meets Bone Awl and the music isn't that far off either. This is tough primitive death/black metal with vocals that are completely fucked. I guess this was recorded in 2006 which makes me think I might be missing something. This is so fucking good I can't imagine that they waited almost six years to put this out. Thank the elder gods that Josh Lay unleashed this on the planet for us. I fully recommend this in every way. Awesome simple layout and nicely put together.

Carl Kruger/Deign "Knees" cs

2012-01-17T20:58:00.000-08:00

Carl Kruger/Deign split cs

Knees

Fusty Cunt Tapes

(3)

Right off the bat the Carl Kruger side of this tape is awesome. Harsh, broken noise that somehow sounds like a jet engine warming up and failing over and over in the middle of a hurricane. With headphones on this thing swirls and spins around your head, causing some excellent disorientation. Trying to pull apart the sounds that are chopped and smashed into each other is pretty fun as well. I think a hear a carnival, a train, a dump truck and possibly a murder. Like I said, fun! The Deign side is a bit closer to HNW. The first track is pummeling and rarely changes course but for a second here and there. It's very intense. The second track gets a little more subtle and quiet but it becomes very manic and slightly crazy. Both acts on this cassette are excellent and I recommend picking this up or at least hunting down more of their catalogs. I guess this is an older release as Fusty Cunt has about another 20 releases that came after this one. The layout to this cassette is very DIY in a way that kinda makes me sad. Poorly photocopied printer paper wrapped around a tape in a bag that was the wrong size so it was poorly adjusted does not make for an impressive or interesting design. Although to some people this is exactly what they want out of a noise tape. I just love seeing people take their limitations in materials, money, time and making something really inspired.

UPDATE: I talked with the curator of this label and it turns out that the flimsy and sorta cruddy look to this tape was totally intentional. It was to create a sort of irony about consumerism. If you look at the other Fusty Cunt releases you will see that this definitely stands out in it's craziness. I guess that was lost on me for any number of reasons but I can see it now.

2011-12-22T15:33:00.001-08:00

Deprivation

s/t

Diazepam

(3)

Deprivation create a haunting and brutal soundtrack across the five tracks on this cassette. Lots of rhythmic noise in the style of early Wolf Eyes or maybe Brighter Death Now but mixed with some more lo fi drone moments. The second side adds a little more fear with their filth in the form of what sounds like manipulated screams punctuated with loops of harsh noise that hits you in waves. Good work.

Sky Thing "Cooler Heads Prevail" cs+ a zine by John Collins McCormick

2011-12-15T00:26:00.001-08:00

2011-11-16T22:51:00.001-08:00

River's Edge cs

Worthless Recordings

(4)

This is awesome. I know I mentioned it before but Worthless recordings has decided to put movies on cassette. I used to do this before my family had a VCR in the 80's so I completely fell in love with this idea. I know I wasn't the only one. I remember visiting my friend at Kinko's late at night to make zines and whatever around 1994 and he would be listening to Reservoir Dogs on cassette. It's a experience that is all but extinct in the world of iPhones and streaming Netflix. I probably hadn't seen River's Edge in over a dozen years as well but listening to this brought it all back. I remembered every scene but doing it this way brought back memories of where I was when I saw it and with who. It came back in a way that was much different than if I had watched it. It was almost like my visual cortex was working to fill in the memory gaps of the movie so it started replaying all the things I had seen that night. I remembered the kind of TV I watched it on and where I was laying down… Very strange. Well, to end this I offer a short list of movies I would like Worthless Recordings to release on tape before they receive a cease and desist order.

Red Dawn

Enemy Mine

Flash Gordon (those awesome Queen tracks need the sound effects)

Forbidden Zone

Reflecting Skin

Fire Walk with Me

Heilig Tod cs

2011-11-16T22:23:00.001-08:00

Heilig Tod

s/t

Wands

(4)

Totally overblown, filthy, destructive, blackened, punk, crust insanity. I almost want to call this black metal but maybe if you throw in some Accused and Infest with that sort of insanity you get after getting hit in the face. Adrenaline and hatred mixed with the metallic taste of your own blood. That's what this sounds like. This tape is a dogsend. I am very thankful. Awesome design by Stephen Wilson on some of the most backwards "j cards" I have ever seen. Very bare bones. I am also pretty sure that out of the four songs on this cassette three are on side a (totally blank cassettes by the way) and the forth is on side b. It's so counterintuitive that it makes sense. Limited to 32 copies and I believe they are all gone but if you go to WANDS page you can download it. I can't recommend this more.