Thursday, June 30, 2011

Absum - Purgatoire 2007-2009



Crepúsculo Negro, 2010

Black Twilight affiliated monolithic blackened drone, though nowhere near as weak as the usual Nortt-type funeral doom. Short but dense work, not the kind of sound the guy could work in forever, but a great one-off tape nevertheless.

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Monday, June 27, 2011

Utarm - Minus The Divine



Turgid Animal, 2009

Gorgeous agony from the one-man project. Vocals as plague-ridden and tortured as Khanate, The Human Quena Orchestra, or Gnaw Their Tongues, across a funereal landscape of ascending spires of blackened drone. Actually very comparable to The Human Quena Orchestra, only less monotonous, and taking much more from blackened/ funeral doom. But the same kind of almost Skullflower-ish beautiful painful layered drone.

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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Voltigeurs - Voltigeurs



Turgid Animal, 2009

I dunno shit about Matthew Bower's personal life, but something must have gone seriously awry (I don't mean this is a bad thing) after he stopped recording as Sunroof! Because since then he's gone OUT, and has been carving and diving and climbing into the farthest reaches of mind/ space/ darkness. Voltigeurs is him and Skullflower live violinist/ additional drone scryer Samantha Davies. I thought this was released this year, but lo and behold it's been sleeping for two years. It seems on some level to proceed from or (more likely) be concurrent to his piece on the White Medal Split (that I posted here), in that kind of layered, tonal drone that's a wee bit less ear-piercing and feedback-warped than works like Circulus Vitiosus Deus, and certainly wayyyy less of that than Strange Keys to Untune Gods Firmament. Definitely as great as Circulus (still for me the pinnacle of Bower's work with the psychedelic modal blackened drone thing) and in spots almost better. The improvised ritual with Davies seems also to have a little of the wandering amorphousness of Hototogisu or Skullflower's recent live releases, but doesn't fall into the realm of total formlessness, his Mirag-derived metal raga ascensions and descensions are still majestically carving out the abyss here. Brilliant as always and looking forward to more from this collaboration.

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Sunday, June 19, 2011

Glossolalia - Gold In The Throat



Crépusculo Negro, 2010

Layered one-man BM project affiliated with the solid Black Twilight Circle. Workings of raw but supremely exquisite quality, don't miss this one! Short, but as good as Arizmenda. Vacuous atmospheres sublimating burning mountaintops, sluices of lighting cursing the earth below.

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Paysage d'Hiver - Kristall und Isa



Kunsthall Produktionen, 2001

If you're into this kind of stuff, chances are you've heard this. So I won't say too much. For the casual BMer who got pulled into this stuff from Xasthur/Leviathan, you should like this more. Paysage d'Hiver as whole is the pinnacle of ambient-atmospheric whatever black metal. Fucking brutal beautiful eternal coldness. No seriously, permafrosted.

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Andrew Chalk - Violin By Night



Faraway Press, 2011

Getting this out of the way before I go to some more blackish posts. This is Andrew Chalk at his most beautiful, different, but beautiful. And if you're an avid listener of his you know that means a hell of a lot. What surprised me was the rawness of some of the effects. Some of it is closer to his recent keyboard work where the canvas is of vaguely discerned clods of earth & water. Yet nothing prepares you for the violin epic on Side B. Tearjerker, yeah I'm a mush. Well I always have been, why should I apologize for that. Oh yeah.

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Ekin Fil - Language



Root Strata, 2011

Wonderful Grouperesque sleeper tape from Istanbul-based Ekin Fil (and she receives the Liz Harris stamp of approval too). Not too samey, though as a certain urban majesty and some diverse electronic touches come around. But overall just a sheer beauty of hushed deep echoing vocals and droning strums.

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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Henry Flynt - You Are My Everlovin/ Celestial Power



Edition Hundertmark, 1986

Thick slab of Appalachian infinity from the cognitive nihilist anti-music musician. His musical output is by no means refusist gobbledegook, but rather free interpretations of formal, earthy musical forms and is truly a joy to behold. Still surprises these ears this was from so long ago, you got a good chunk of the sound of solo Kawabata Makoto, Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra, and pretty much everything GHQ does is straight out of his songbook.

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Kreng - Grimoire



Miasmah, 2011

Grimoire finds Caudron deeper further into shattered jazz and hallucinogenically distorted ur-Lynchian sonics. Has more of a focus on concatenating individually standing compositions into a pseudo-narrative album structure, somewhat removed from the slow nocturnal drift down desolated motel halls of the L'Autopsie Phénoménale De Dieu. Another direct strike for Miasmah and another good omen for 2011.

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Barn Owl - Live On WFMU November 2010



This second piece from a live set of the dual-headed drone god finds them in a particularly instrumental mood, with more on the deep Crazy Horsing riff/melody and less on the terminal OM (but there's still a healthy dose of that, of course!). Almost certainly the best I've ever heard them, except when I actually heard them live. Thanks to WEHAVENOZEN for the original post.

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The Haxan Cloak - The Haxan Cloak



Aurora Borealis, 2011

Well I'm off of the hate noise/power electronics binge here for a bit for this well-cross-pollinated orchestral doom project of a one Bobby Krlic. Fertile explorations of haunted winter chamber musics, digitally crumbled strings, acousmatic percussive collapses, and nigh-apocalyptic vocal lamentations. One of the best so far of the year.

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Blue Sabbath Black Cheer - Boutanger Moor/ No Escape 7"

Boutanger Moor (Basement Tapes, 2007)

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No Escape (Static Caravan, 2008)

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Two more bulky slices of jagged amoebic disfigured sonic evil (or something) from my permanent noise gurus. what these guys do with vocals (and just about everything) is mindshattering.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Mania - Armed To The Teeth



PACrec/Troniks, 2008






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Koufar - Enemy/Legacy / Haiawan/ The Purity Of The Cedars

Enemy/Legacy (Universal Tongue, 2009)

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Haiawan (Small Doses, 2009)

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The Purity Of The Cedars (Topheth Prophet, 2010)

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