Nakasone - Orophocrinus

Label : EE Tapes - ET49

Country : Belgium

Year : 1997

Format : C60

Minimal ambient workouts. Hard to really split the tracks here as they all kinda meld together.

Here

Iva Bittová & Pavel Fajt - Bittová & Fajt

Label : Bonton - 71 0535-2

Country : Czech Republic

Year : 1997 (1988 orig)

Format : CD

Is there a more dynamic duo in the field of avantgarde reimaginings of cultural folklore? I think not. Truly some beautiful and soulful music, much less of an academic look into this particular world than some takes from their contemporaries; A homely offering.

That isn't to say that the vaguely generalized label I attributed to their so-called "contemporaries" (whom I probably couldn't name in the moment despite being sure of myself) is meant to diminish them in comparison. Tons of great music came from this arena of the avant music scene circa 80s.

You might recall the mesmerizing "Morning Song" from Fred Frith's encapsulating "Step Across The Border" verite film... It's in here!

I apologize a bit for the lack of activity for the past month or so, I got more stuff to post in time.

Here

King Frog - Silver Gelatin

Label : Oblique - Oblique-001

Country : US

Year : 1997

Format : LP

"Suburban Gamelan", a phrase stuck to this particular project that then stuck into my head for awhile. An interesting concept, and I think it befits this just a little bit. The visuals and some of the sounds come to mind as a bleak cityscape.

I went out of my own usual way for this one--I heard a rip of this LP a year or so ago after being interested in the King after first reading about it in Blastitude. The 128kbps rip found on slsk was serviceable and I ended up really liking the sound, so I went and bought a copy to get a more "definitive" sound. I guess.

The whole album has a sound that I can cling to. A sort of unholy cacophony of almost early 20th century clamor. I liken some aspects to some choice 80s tracks from Band of Holy Joy and ZGA's excellent "Gloom". The art book that comes with is also a great companion piece in its sort of amateur expressionism. Also some of the tracks sound like Casio demos, which is quite charming.

Here

 

 

(Man, formatting on this site is annoying)

Human Bone Bicycle - Human Bone Bicycle

Label : n/a (Death Factory Institution?) - 0003

Year : 1997

Country : US

Format : C90

Let me start this by saying that I've been taken a bit by the audio format opus, so I am experimenting a bit here. A 128kbps rip is usually lamented, but in this format it still achieves clarity in the abyss. I dunno. It's a cassette rip, there's not much expected other than to provide it.

On to the music of which the container holds: it's half-and-half. Noiseheads will appreciate the A-side more than I do (I think), a live performance producing sounds that remind me of a trainyard (not dissimilar to the Kakophonia tape, though I feel that one has more punch to it). The B-side I really like, a whole 40 minutes of xylophones and vibraphones being improvised upon. The tinkly quality levels out the more aggressive aspect of its doppelganger power electronik on the other side of the strip.

Here

Carlos Alonso - Fragil Ironia

Label : La Sonrisa de Luz / Ediciones Efímeras - Cass. 0010

Year : 1997

Country : Argentina

Format : C30

 Spasmodic & sporadic. Carlos Alonso is a true Patagonian muzikal treasure, having helmed the obscuro experimental group Uno X Uno which may as well have been credited here. Some of the more adventurous reading may be familiar with his escapades via the classic 433rpm blog, where I'm almost halfheartedly certain a tape of their's was presented back in the day.

The music, as I had mentioned, is similar to what I've heard from double Uno. Minimal industrial beatz flirting with free improv and avantrock insanity/inanity. The rip seems a bit fuzzy, I'm not sure if that's the tape itself or the deck, but I'm leaning more towards the source because I'm lazy.

Here

El-Ron - Are Dangdut Kings

Label : Records - R 3

Country : US

Year : 1997

Country : US

I don't know what Dangdut is or what royalty that pertains to, or whether or not the band's name is a pastiche of some SF author, but this is good stuff. On my RYM review I compared to the sound presented here to Liquorball, Monoshock, Crawlspace, Fuzzhead, so on and so forth. So, if you like psych noise jam with a dash of krautsploitation, have at this. 

What do I mean by "Krautsploitation"? Well, it's a takeoff from the first track off a LP by a sideproject of some of the above bands called Sternklang. I like the feel of it, and describes this pretty well: taking after der Fatherland's ancestral motorik klangs. Though this a bit more noisier than usual.

Here

Tsukimoto Tadashi [月本正] - だってもう雨だよ, サンシャインガール (It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl)

Label : きなこたけ - きなこ－101

Year : 1997

Country : Japan

Format : CD

Disquiet night, this. Here's another offering from the strange and apparently illustrated avant-whatever musician Tadashi Tsukimoto. In this episode, he covers those fateful years of 1993-96, this time with a little help from his friends. Compared to the wildly popular post from a little while back, this is a behemoth. And rougher, too.

A comparison I've been forcing upon this album is one of age periods. The relatively piecemeal aki shimmydisc which was replete with small ditties and childish folksong is given way to manic free improv and harsh acoustic works. Now, about the comparison. I have said in the past that this album is one of adolescence to its predecessor's infancy and burgeoning youth. Projection? Yeah. 

It should be noted that I have decided to actually get off my ass and post this album in the split middle of the night, as often I do find my best work to be seen due to the spastic neurons firing and nocturnal motivation. I also just got off watching the first four episodes of the new Debiruman animu, so I have a bit of hypersexual and hyperviolent energy in my veins 'swell.

Here

Loon - Lamb

Label : Loon Records - LP033

Country : Switzerland

Year : 1997

Format : LP

Loon--or Christian Pfluger, or Die Welttraumforscher-- is a project involving synthesizers as it were. A nondescript packaging containing mellow scapes of newage and a sprinkle of minimal EM. I've fallen a bit in love with this guys musics over the past span of time since time memorial 2017, but the sum of those lovely parts aren't exactly present here. Gone are the infectious, jilted melodies and avant-popisms and in comes a more laid back feel.

Still enjoyable, though. The more stuff by this I have the merrier, so to speak. Been awhile since I have encountered an artist whose work I search out for with glee and inconspicuous fervence.

Here

The Judas Iscariot - Skeptics, Mystics and Blind Idolaters...

Label : Denied A Custom - CUSTOM #2

Country : Japan

Year : 1997

Format : 7 inch

I've kept this one hidden away from the blog for quite a while, thinking it wouldn't really fit the mold. It's a bit too hard/grindcore for my tastes, unlike their previous (and better, in my view) EP "Harrison Bergeron Bound?". Flashes of what I like from that release can be heard in the penultimate track "wheres the cheese and mission?". From the packaging and band name, this takes on a theological theme of sorts. Speaking of the packaging, it is pretty elaborate, if not varied. Letters, a little picturebook, and some catalogs in this little 7 inch EP. It even includes a little biography for the band, in Japanese:

OCR'd:

音楽、ミュージカル、オペラなどなどの宝庫で知られるニューヨーク。 まん いずざばすたーどに対抗するバンドはやはり存在した...ギターレス ストレートフォワードスラッシュジャズと言えば、JUDAS ISCARIOT。 15人分のギターをー人のベースプレーヤーであるJeff がまかなうバンド、 JUDAS ISCARIOT。7inch に12曲も詰め込んでしまったつわもの3人組。 偶像崇拝物 (宗教・UFOなど) すべてを否定するために付けられたタイト ルが, この Skeptics, Mystics and Blind Idolaters...。スローな曲に飽きさしまった、バンド編成にギターはいらないと思う人、ぜひ御ー聴を!最初から 飛ばして行きます、JUDAS ISCARIOT。イエスは、。最後のユダを待ってい た。ニューヨークのJUDAS ISCARIOT (ユダイスカリオテ) をよろしく。

Using machine translation, it says somethin' about New York (TJI's home state) being thee home of operas and some such stuff. It's probably not very accurate, daga. Also included in the packaging was this typed letter signed by the label honcho themself, Yoshiyuki Takahashi (no relation to the mangaka of the same name, I assume). It seems like a heartfelt response to a letter from the previous owner, but for all I know it could have been included in every mail-ordered record sent to the states.

In addition to these snippets are some other scraps of printed matter:

Perhaps the coolest thing is little novelette, rife with topographic illustration and esoteric texts:

 That about does it for the packaging, for me the most interesting part of this little release. I never particularly liked straight hardcore punx or grindcore so this is a bit of a wash for me, the more artsy punky aspects of their work is found elsewhere.

Here

(Note the idiosyncratic capitalization, is that a cipher?)