The Sound Projector

Etude Records in Barcelona has blorted out three new releases. They’ve only been issuing product since 2006, shiny new label beast that they are. Specialist area as declared is ‘experimental and obscure sound archives’. These three are dressed in the sombre, low-key packaging that is considered appropriate for such occasions. Épicycle (ETUDE014) is by my favourite minimalist Spaniard, Alfredo Costa Monteiro. It’s a single 37-minute epic for processed voice recordings that is like having the top of your head ground away very slowly by rotating belt sanders. Tub-clobbering Polish muso Tomasz Krakowiak elects to condense his name into a tight packet of consonants on the cover of his La Ciutat ets tu (ETUDE015). Seven tracks of radically reworked recordings of drumming and percussion will be your portion should you purchase this demon, sounding in places so alien as to make you feel quite vomitous. José Luis Redondo turns in La Reponse est aux Pieds (ETUDE016), a philosophical observation on which he delivers himself of 11 snappy pieces played on various steel-stringed instruments. Promising sounds on this crisp recording; mentally, I’m filing it not far away from Tetuzi Akiyama and Woody Sullender.

Gallhammer was sent to the radio station where I picked it up last night. Ill Innocence (CDVILEF169) is the latest release on Peaceville from this Japanese all-female black metal/stoner trio and arrives wrapped in a luxurious triple-gatefold digipack with booklet, touted with no small amount of showbiz hype. Snippets spun in this abode so far aren’t bad, but neither are they massively impressive if (like me) you’re looking for something more twisted, dark and irregular in your Black Metal fixes. The band are touring the UK in March this year.

From Soft Abuse in Minneapolis, we’ve received Ulaan Khol’s solo CD called simply I (SAB 026 CD). Nine tracks of interesting solo instrumental guitar music from Steven R Smith (member of Thuja, Mirza and Hala Strana) working under his mysterious Ulaan Kohl guise. A photo of a pile of skulls will greet the purchaser who unfolds the flap of this murky digipack, although there isn’t much corresponding dark morbidity in these heavily distorted, vaguely psych-rock workouts. I might add that Smith, to his credit, doesn’t seem to rely too much on FX pedal excess and opts simply for solid playing and loud amplification. This release is, apparently, structured as ‘a maximalist three-part suite’.

Lasse Marhaug’s Pica Disk label continues to nail its noise-loving colours to the mast and has spewed out two tasty releases of unlistenable Japanese noise in very attractive little wallet packages. Polar Nights Live comes to us from the inimitable veterans Hijokaidan, and assaults you with three lengthy excerpts from 2006 concerts recorded in Oslo by John Hegre. Actually Hijokaidan proper only appear on the first track, remainder of disc being intriguing team-ups between the guitarist (Jojo Hiroshige) or the vocalist (Junko) with Nordic musicians. Junko’s shrill vocal blasting is kinda hard to sit through, but this release looks like an essential scorcher of anti-social dimensions! Unlike Hijokaidan who almost resemble a band of sorts, Incapacitants are pretty much pure table-noise as evidenced on Burning Orange, a record of live recordings from a 2007 Oslo Festival. You get 28 minutes of the Japanese duo working their knobs like dosed-up monkeys, then a further serving of same supplemented by guest Norwegian Tommi Keränen. An airless bubbling delight of vicious electronics.

Some tasty-looking freakeroonies from Finland’s Lal Lal Lal Records kindly sent our way by Roope Eronen, who tells me they’ve been releasing records since 2001. Maniacs Dream do Turku Hold ‘Em (LAL-37) which has an irresistible colour cartoon drawing on the cover, and two very long tracks of overcrowded and chaotic tape-noise sprawls inside; patient listening will allow me to lose myself in this urbanised alien-world. Semimuumio’s Vamos (LAL-36) is a clutch of quirky avant-pop instrumentals and toons with drum machine that may prove quite catchy and engaging; not quite polished enough to appear on Pickled Egg Recordings, and decorated with witty-bizarro colour photo collages (eg owl wearing a sailor’s cap). Fricara Pacchu have recorded Midnight Pyre (LAL-39) using a four-track TASCAM device; seems to contain some nice combinations of eccentric Farfisa organ and drum machine playing, often disrupted and sent in psychedelic directions by excessive guitar noise. So far we’ve got mucho evidence of the charming and semi-surreal mind-set so often exhibited by the dreamy Finns. Also in the package was a fine newsprint publication called KUTI 5 containing many nutritious instances of Finnish colour comic strips and illustrations that, eyeball-wise, are a very welcome relief from the insipid monotony of UK’s Freeview channels.

Still in the Nordic realms which haunt me so much, we got one dazzling package of goodies from Denmark’s Smittekilde label rooted in the deep-deep underground…first out of the cardboard and onto th’ turntable is a weird seven-incher from Masonic Youth (what a name!…but they pretty much live up to its promise). Going Down (SMK-R002) is a slow grind of remorseless evil and obsessive looping that comes a lot closer to delivering the hoped-for sensations of ‘terminal doom’ than afore-mentioned Gallhammer above. The grungy cover drawing confounds Masonic symbols, Mickey Mouse and other emblematic imagery within a David Lynch-like theatre setting. Mok Nok have made a jaunty vinyl LP called Slugstorm (SMKR 007) wrapped in low-grade cardboard packaging adorned with an orange screenprint; short bursts of very idiosyncratic minimalist avant-rock spring out from this duo, aided sometimes by the ‘greasy organ and mystic violin’ of Iver Ask Overgaard. What may seem like jolly capering conceals many darkly obsessive repeated-guitar patterns that I anticipate using to feed my frequent paranoiac outbursts. Evil Moisture’s Ghost Meat 7-inch is wrapped in a sumptuous silkscreen foldout with vibrant colour images from Andy Bolus, printed by Le Dernier Cri (notorious French post-graphiste publishers). Pressed in red vinyl, this is two sides of utterly toxic and devastating poison-noise, guaranteed to turn your living space into a no-go area within seconds. Great! Gary Goiter’s eponymous CDR (SMKR 005) is the only one in the batch to disappoint, with its meandering and pointless noises arrayed across a 30 minute sprawl. Anla Courtis has Psi Gtr Avalanche (SMKR 004), a gorgeous four-track EP of abstract guitar and tapework mayhem which Anla himself also sent to me last year. Pressed in yellow vinyl and wrapped in a triple gatefold screenprinted cover, Anla’s ‘Psychokinesis Blues’ and ‘Astral Duck Channeling’ really penetrate the areas of the brain that most music has not a hope of reaching, again through the method of obsessive repetition and relentless forward-driving mode. Many thanks to Zven for sending these; do check out his website for releases, books and prints that will melt your eyeballs into hot raspberry jam.

Reggae is Here Once Again, according to Steel An’ Skin on their 1979 12-incher of the same title which has now been reissued with bonus cuts by EM Records in Japan as EM1075DCD as part of their EM Steel Pan Series. This luxury pack includes a DVD Video from 1979 of a film made by Steve Shaw. This large combo clearly made no secret of digging deep into their African roots, but the resulting music seems to have one too many ingredients in the ethnic stew for my ears – disco beats, steel drums and African guitar music all join the reggae and dub stylings to produce a confusing and overpacked melange, which veers dangerously close to easy-listening at times. Still, it’s hard to ignore their good intentions on a track like ‘Acid Rain’ (from 1984), which issued a compassionate but stern warning about the perils of global warming long before it became trendy for media pundits to start wittering on about carbon footprints and the like.

• All the above picked up from th’ mailbox 24 January 2008

• With co-presenter Clive Graham

1. Geile Tiere, ‘Geile Tiere’
   GERMANY GEEBEEDEE GBD 023 7” SINGLE (1980)
2. Sentimentale Jugend, ‘Hiroshima’
   Original issue on Borsig Werke, GERMANY CASSETTEN COMBINAT CC81021 or 81011 (1981)
3. Geile Tiere, ‘Chinatown’
   B side of GBD 023
4. Sentimentale Jugend, ‘Maschinen’
   From Borsig Werke, op cit.
5. Einstürzende Neubaten, ‘Für den Untergang’
   GERMANY MONOGAM RECORDS 005 7” SINGLE (1980)
6. Sprung aus den Wolken, ‘Junge Menschen’
   Original issue on GERMANY CASSETTEN COMBINAT CC81018 (1981)
7. Mania D, ‘Track 4′
   GERMANY MONOGAM RECORDS 002 7” SINGLE (1980)
8. Mania D, ‘Kinderfunk’
   B side of MONOGAM 002
9. Sprung aus den Wolken, ‘Jeder Tag’
   From CC81018, op cit.
10. Die Monotons, ‘Was ist Denn Jetzt Los (Teil 1)’
    GERMANY NEUE S-01 7” SINGLE (1981)
11. Die Monotons, ‘Was ist Denn Jetzt Los (Teil 2)’
    B side of NEUE S-01
12. Frau Siebenrock Combo, ‘A La Discotheque’
    Original issue Zäh Wie Gold, GERMANY CASSETTEN COMBINAT CC81027 (1981)
13. Frieder Butzmann and Sanja, ‘Valeska’
    GERMANY MARAT RECORDS T33 7” SINGLE (1979)
14. Frau Siebenrock Combo, ‘Franz’
    From Zäh Wie Gold, op cit.
15. Frieder Butzmann and Sanja, ‘Waschsalon Berlin’
    B side of MARAT T33
16. Deutsch Nepal, ‘Irrtum Im Weltraum’
17. Deutsch Nepal, ‘Stress’
18. Der Plan, ‘Das Fleisch’
    GERMANY AAP RECORDS AAP 001 7” SINGLE (1980)
19. Der Plan, (untitled)
    From Fix Planet!, GERMANY ATA TAK RECORDS 8.5 (1981)
20. Lennons, ‘Disco’
21. Dilemma, ‘Neureich’
22. Saal 2, ‘Angst vorm Tanzen’
    GERMANY ZICKZACK 5 7” SINGLE (1980)
23. Tiffy L’Amour, ‘Werbung’
24. Borzig, ‘Hiroshima’
    GERMANY SUPERMAX MAX 001 12” SINGLE (1980)

2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14 from Cassettencombinat, GERMANY VINYL ON DEMAND VOD 36 3 x LP BOX (2007)
16, 17, 20, 21, 23 from Die bestialischen seligkeiten der Kassettentaeter, C60 CASSETTE (ND)

The Sound Projector radio show,
originally broadcast on Resonance 104.4 FM 25th January 2008

The Sound Projector 8ighth Issue, originally published in 2000 and out of print for some years, can now be perused in digital form. Sometimes nicknamed ‘THE EL LISSITZKY ISSUE’ or ‘ONE MORE RED NIGHTMARE’. Scanned direct from the original artwork and rendered as PDFs. A new index has been added to this digital edition. Contains interviews with those noted geniuses Pita Rehberg, Rev Dwight Frizzell, Reynols, Peter Blegvad, Donald Miller and John Gill of Big Stick. Excellent written contributions from Rik Rawling, Richard Rees Jones, Chris Atton, Harley Richardson, John Bagnall, Ian Nagoski, Jim Haynes, Shaun Robert, War Arrow, and the very first appearance of Jennifer Hor. Artworks by Scott Stevens, Rik Rawling, Chris Atton, Shaun Robert, Ed Pinsent and Donald Miller. This digital edition is almost an exact facsimile of the original, except that one page of adverts has gone missing, and artist Ian Middleton declined to have his drawings reproduced on the internet at this time.

A small technical note: the PDF files are images, so the text will not be searchable in your PDF reader. A version in plain text will be made available in due course.

• Show compiled by Megalo Roberts

1. Semiramis, ‘Uno Zoo di vetro’
   From Dedicato A Frazz, ITALY TRIDENT TRI 1004 LP (1973)
2. Arti E Mestieri, ‘Positivo / Negativo’
   From Tilt: Immagini per un orecchio, ITALY CRAMPS 7243 8 57434 2 9 (1974)
3. Quella Vecchia Locanda, ‘Dialogo’
   From Quella Vecchia Locanda, ITALY HELP ZSLH 55091 LP (1972)
4. Gli Alluminogeni, ‘Cosmo’
   From Scolopendra, ITALY FONIT LPQ 09065 LP (1972)
5. Le Orme, ‘L’Equilbrio’
   From Felona E Sorona, PHILIPS 6323 023 LP (1973)
6. Biglietto per L’inferno, ‘L’arte sublime di un giusto regnare’ (1975)
   From Il Tempo della Semina, ITALY MELLOW MMLP 103 LP (1992)
7. Il Rovescio della Medaglia, ‘Scotland Machine’
   From Contaminazione, RCA DPSL 10593 LP (1973)
8. Alphataurus, ‘Croma’
   From Alphataurus, ITALY MAGMA MAGL 18001 LP (1973)
9. Sensations’ Fix, ‘Music is Painting in the Air’
   From Fragments of Light, POLYDOR 2448 023 A LP (1974)
10. Museo Rosenbach, ‘Degli Uomini’
    From Zarathustra, ITALY RICORDI SMRL 6113 LP (1973)
11. Le Orme, ‘Sguardo verso il cielo’
    From Collage, ITALY CAR JUKE BOX CRJLP 00023 LP (1971)
12. Locando Della Fate, ‘New York’
    From Forse Le Lucciole Non Si Amano Più, POLYDOR 2448 055 LP (1977)
13. Il Volo, ‘Essere’
    From Essere O Non Essere?, ITALY NUMERO UNO 55679 LP (1975)
14. Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, ‘La Conquista della Posizione Eretta’
    From Darwin!, ITALY DISCHI RL 8094 LP (1972)
15. Area, ‘Implosion’
    From Crac!, ITALY CRAMPS RECORDS CRSLP 5103 LP (1975)
16. Campo Di Marte, ‘Quinto Tempo’
    From Campo Di Marte, UNITED ARTISTS UAS 29497 LP (1973)
17. Metamorfosi, ‘Spacciatore di Droga’
    From Inferno, ITALY VEDETTE VPA 8162 LP (1973)
18. Il Balleto di Bronzo, ‘Epilogio’
    From Ys, POLYDOR 523 693-2 LP (1972)

The Sound Projector radio show,
originally broadcast on Resonance 104.4 FM 18th January 2008

Wit Listen Latest NOISEY

1. Smegma, ‘Limp Dynamics’ (1987)
   From Nattering Naybobs of Negativity, UK HARBINGER SOUND HARBINGER051 CD (2007)
2. Wooden Shijps, ‘We Ask You To Ride’
   From Wooden Shijps, USA HOLY MOUNTAIN 011235813 CD (2007)
3. Hair Police, ‘Breathing in Conflict’
   From The Empty Quarter, UK HARBINGER SOUND HARBINGER056 CD (2007)
4. Akitsa, ‘Goétie’
   From Akitsa / Prurient, USA HOSPITAL PRODUCTIONS HOS-133 CD (2005)
5. Incapacitants, extract from ‘El Shanbara Therminosis 2007′
   From El Shanbara Therminosis, SWEDEN SEGERHUVA SEGER 21 CD (2007)
6. Steven R Smith, ‘The Pity of All Things’
   From Owl, USA DIGITAL INDUSTRIES ace007 CD (2007)
7. The New Blockaders, extract from Das Zerstoren, Zum Gebaren, BLOSSOMING NOISE BN028CD (2007)
8. Marina Hardy, ‘Ceisel’
   From Pink Violin, USA PUBLIC EYESORE EH?032 CD (2007)
9. Burning Star Core, ‘The Emergency Networks are Taking Over’
   From Operator Dead … Post Abandoned, USA NO QUARTER NOQ014 CD (2007)
10. Latitude / Longitude, ‘Mother Evening’
    USA FREE 103 POINT 9 AUDIO DISPATCH 031 7” SINGLE (2007)
11. C.C.C.C., ‘Live at Donzoko House #1′ (1991) (fade)
    From Early Works, USA NO FUN PRODUCTIONS NFP-20 4 x CD (2007)
12. Jesu, ‘Medicine’
    From Conqueror, USA HYDRA HEAD RECORDS HYH-126 CD (2007)
13. Radio Ruido, ‘First Contact / Warszawa / Key Symmetry’
    From False Rosetta, USA FREE 103 POINT 9 AUDIO DISPATCH 032 7” SINGLE (2007)
14. Bruno Chevillon, extracts from Hors-Champ, FRANCE D’AUTRES CORDES D’AC 140 CD (2007)
15. Vapaa, ‘Ajan Odotus’
    From Hum Hum Hum, USA LAST VISIBLE DOG LVD 115 CD (2007)
16. Pain Jerk / John Wiese, ‘Japan’
    From Terrazzo, UK HARBINGER SOUND HARBINGER 055 CD (2007)

13 + 14 simultaneous playback

The Sound Projector radio show,
originally broadcast on Resonance 104.4 FM

I see that Yoshi Wada’s amazing 1982 LP Lament for the Rise and Fall of the Elephantine Crocodile (EM1074CD) has been reissued, by those enterprising good people at EM Records in Japan. In fact it’s a joint release with the Omega Point label. Wada was a Fluxus-inspired musician whose links to La Monte Young are often brought to the fore in many a press release, but he was unique…as a minimalist performer and quirky instrument inventor he takes some beating, and he does it all solo. I’m personally quite excited as this is certainly one of my favourite pieces of extreme sound-art and deeply rich droning music – if you follow the magazine on a regular basis, you may recall I jabbered about this record exhibiting my usual naïve enthusiasm in issue three of TSP. That was soon after Edwin Pouncey managed to find me a vinyl copy of the original release on India Navigation, by lifting it deftly from the racks of the old Soho Records shop in Hanway Street (said emporium now long defunct). Hate to sound like I’m playing the vinyl collector one-upmanship game, but it cost me only six bones! I assume one would pay a little more for it nowadays. My vanity is often stroked when I note that my blithering words have been recycled onto the excellent UbuWeb site, where if so inclined you could click on and download this Elephantine record as a coupla mp3s, but I’d suggest you buy this CD instead - let’s face it, there’s nothing like having a tactile package like this one in your claws! Besides, this version has been 24-bit digitally remastered, and the gatefold wallet includes rare photographs and liner notes…which I’m sure will prove of great interest (I haven’t unsealed my copy as yet). I have a lot of time for the EM Records ‘archival’ approach to reissues; unlike some shoddy reissuers, the label owner Koki Emura doesn’t neglect the contextual detail which enriches the experience.

EM Records have also reissued, for some curious reason, no fewer than five soundtrack CDs related to Australian surfing movies of the 1970s. Titles of these salty gems are Sea of Joy, The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun, Evolution, Drouyn, and Band on the Run. The last cinematic escapade appears to have been withdrawn from circulation at the last minute. While I can’t comment on the narrative qualities of the original movies (the visual attraction of surfing is not a diversion my eyes are naturally drawn towards), the music hereon appears to be quite jolly and melodic, clear and crisp folky-guitar rock with many melodic and poppy twists. Those providing these droplets of sun-drenched golden melody are The Tim Gaze Band, Tamam Shud, Farm, Tully, and Finch; and the compositional talents of Peter Martin and Paul Witzig are likewise represented in this batch. Each CD has at least one track title which alludes to the spiritual and mystical forces of nature that assist the surfer in the practice of his art: ‘Jesus Guide Me’, ‘Innerspace’, ‘Brother Sun’, ‘Lady of Truth’, and ‘Give Me Life’; and boast covers which stir one’s nostalgic vibes with fuzzy photographs of surf, sea, sunshine and birds.

Tim Fletcher of The Sonic Catering Band has sent me a new three-incher, Popcorn (smallPRINT Records), featuring the lineup of Peter Strickland, Tim Kirby, Colin Fletcher and Dan Hayhurst. (Strickland, a highly articulate and informed fellow, spoke to us at some length in issue 15). Doing it live in Linz, the Band ‘perform’ the cooking up a batch of popcorn on a recording so vivid you can almost smell the hotplate warming up. The brilliant package includes a cut-up of perhaps a genuine Col-Pak popcorn box and a circular photo of the finished product lurking behind the plastic prongs of the case. Best of all, a row of genuine unpopped corn has been carefully inserted into the spine of the CD box! (For some reason, this reminds me that Fluxus art exhibit by the guy who ate the same packet food every day for a year and lined up the empties as a form of sculpture.) 50 copies only of this little limited artefact gemloid. Those expecting a reprise of the 1972 electronic novelty pop hit of the same name has better steer clear of this intangible avant-garde statement, though!

Got a couple of newies from D’Autre Cordes, a French label based in Le Monastier. I think these have been in the box since November last year…The Story of Modern Farming is a duo of two gifted women, one Danish and one Dutch. On Someone New (D’AC141) they combine a species of free jazz alto sax puffing with strange electronics and wayward vocalising, and produce quite pleasing effects on the longer meandering tracks like ‘Hold Me Tight’, which drifts nicely along as a hypnotic, formless meditation on empty loneliness. Bruno Chevillon meanwhile, making his first record as a leader, arrives with Hors-Champ (D’AC 140), which delivers 11 tracks of fascinating noises so varied that it’s hard to credit he squeezed them all from a bass guitar and/or double bass. There are some electronic assistances, of course, and the very fine Franck Vigroux did production and editing.

Henning Lundkvist certainly intrigues the mind with his release The End of a System of Things (ESCUDRE010) for Komplott Records in Sweden, the same label that has released Ronnie Sundin. As befits a release with such an apocalyptic title, this conceptual sound-work presents an alarming and baffling collage of voices and music, some of which are culled from old movies and radio broadcasts, to suggest a vision of the end of the world assisted by nuclear missiles or warfare generally. Hysterical men and women deliver themselves of exasperated bellows as they attempt to come to terms with intolerable circumstances. The enclosed booklet presses much the same buttons, using puzzling stills and photographs that are steeped in cold-war paranoia; at least one of them is taken from that ghastly overblown Hollywood disaster movie that purports to have an ecological conscience, The Day After. There’s also a printed narrative text to do with escape and urban terror that is infused with a dark poetic gloom. It’s yet to be revealed whether there is any deeper metaphysical meaning implied by this brief sonic statement, but its opacity and general ambivalence make it a welcome alternative to the plodding rigidities of a movie like I Am Legend.