Rubber City Noise

RCN006 Jeremy Bible – ‘The Journey of Enoch’ C78
The Journey of Enoch is ambient apocrypha dark, dirty synthesizer soundscapes built from eerie, expansive timbres and drones read from an ancient tome written in fractured oscillations and noise generator syllables. Created between 1998 and 2000 w/ a range of hardware synthesizers and effects, Enoch was first released in 2004 as incredibly limited CDr and netlabel release that went on to over 22,000 downloads and became an internet cult classic. Far from youthful synthesizer experiments, Enoch is a haunting account of the world-generative abilities of synthesis and soundscape storytelling loosely based around hidden books and warring angels. A newly remastered reissue, the RCN version of Enoch features a new track listing and original art designed by Jeremy. An edition of 50, full-length c78 pro-dubbed and imprinted on solid blue cassette w/ handmade vellum j-cards.

RCN007 Zurvan – ‘Cymatic Sacrament’ C51
In the forgotten places and factory shadows of Akron, Ohio, two Zoroastrian heretics are droningly amassing a sonic mystery cult in an effort to unlock ancient secrets hidden in waves of sound. Zurvan, James Bryan Parks and Ram Youssefi’s meditative drone beast, follows up a limited CDr debut with Cymatic Sacrament two side-long meditative explorations of psychedelic ambience through Sunn amplifications and processed vocal mantra ethereal voices intersperse with sustained guitar tone, feedback, and subtle electronics in an ultraworldly summoning.  Deeeeeeep drone w/ artwork designed by Ram. A edition of 50, full-length c51 pro-dubbed and imprinted on clear red cassette w/ printed j-card.

WEBSITE

Veyou – ‘Carcass in the Mist’ [Review]

Without a doubt my favorite thing Nick Hoffman has set his mind – and label – to so far.  Hoffman (Katchmare, labels Scissor Death and Pilgrim Talk) collaborates with Stephen Holliger as Veyou for this painfully-short C10 called ‘Carcass in the Mist’.  Evoking more mist than carcass, the pair of tracks thrive on breathing room and nurturing repetition to develop into two immediately-immersive listening escapes.  Self-titled “basement electronics”, their approach is less exiled than introverted, meaning the music they produce isn’t the anxious sound of rejection and loathing but rather quiescent and purposeful.  They want to be there.  Having now flipped the tape over several times, I no longer know which is the title track and which is “Metal Shaker”, but the gilded silt of one’s looping drone works in rich compliment to the watery airs of the other, where voices distend and strings pang under an ungiving tape buzz.  Half machines and half atmosphere, the pair capture most of what’s right with experimental music in the time it takes most folks to decide they’ll scrap their set.  50 copies and highly recommended. 

Pilgrim Talk cassette
$6
HERE

Neon Marshmallow

Neon Marshmallow NYC 2011‘ cassette Compilation $8(US)/$9(CAN/MEX)/$10.5(World)
Featuring rare & unreleased tracks by: Alan Licht, Blues Control, Grouper, Joe Lentini, La Big Vic, Loren Connors, Mark Fell, The Men, Phill Niblock, Phoenecia, Rene Hell, Rhys Chatham, Ryley Walker, Xeno & Oaklander.

WEBSITE

Bridgetown

Bridgetown #62 Buchikamashi – ‘Seireikai’ C24 $6(US)
Hiroshi Mizuhiro of Hokkaido, Japan has a rare dedication to experimental music in his daily life. On time off from stocking the shelves of a niche record shop devoted to the underground, he has steadily released a series of cassettes seamlessly blending a variety of ambient sub-genres under the name Buchikamashi and runs the impeccable Ginjoha Tapes label. Seireikai finds Mizuhiro’s skills at synthesizer composition fine-tuned to a new zenith. Two extended arrangements enocourage the listener to embark on an ethereal journey enveloped in glistening swells of intense peace, concluded by a disorienting and dizzying dream. Limited to 100 with glossy printing.

Bridgetown #61 Former Selves – ‘Hope’ C46 $6(US)
Oakland video artist Paul Skomsvold continues the saga inaugurated by his debut DVD album Fait Accompli with 5 new pieces intended for continuous, cyclical playback. On Hope, Skomsvold lays a cloudy bed of melodic drone and airy textures while piano keys gracefully whirl overhead. Coming out of the woodwork fully formed, Skomsvold’s sudden emergence in the public eye has exhibited a highly realized vision that beckons a new era of contemplation and understanding. Fall tour dates with yours truly coming soon. Limited to 100 with glossy printing.

Bridgetown #60 Mandarin Dynasty – ‘Perpendicular Crosstalk’ C41 $6(US)
Between extended tours of the USA and numerous relocations, pop song maestro Mike Sherk’s long-awaited bedroom masterpiece is finally ready after over four years of recording spread across California, Texas, Michigan, Rhode Island and Ohio. Perpendicular Crosstalk displays an extremely wide range of genres and styles that the seasoned road warrior naturally captures the essence of, makes his own, and redefines within the context of each other. While unafraid to toy with tongue-in-cheek pop culture references, Sherk’s commanding quality lies in the sincerity of his storytelling. Amplified by his mastery in the nuances of each instrument and marvelous production values, Sherk pulls these eleven songs from a time capsule isolated from passing fads, trends and buzz-genres.  Limited to 100 with glossy printing.

Bridgetown #59 Kevin Greenspon + Jon Barba – ‘Live in Oakland’ C5
Raw, unhinged songs performed each night on tour together in December 2010. Brief ruminations on Rocky Balboa and teenage interests are presented here with a hostile urgency, captured in stereo amidst a secluded woodshop in Oakland, CA. A tattered glimpse of unreleased selections from the duo’s forthcoming Already Dead 7″ EP due out on Italy’s Almost Halloween Time label in 2012. Limited to 25 in clear shells with gold foil lining and glossy printing. Only 15 are available for mailorder.

Bridgetown #58 Kevin Greenspon – ‘Waypoint’ C10 $5(US)
A shimmering orchestra of crystallized guitar collage dedicated to the discovery that even the unknown can be beautiful when memory is slowed down. Intended as a standalone piece, Waypointfreezes the ephemeral moment of realization as it dawns and abruptly divides on itself. This single composition is split in two complementary halves for reflecting on the arrival and departure from personal junctures and finally overcoming the questioning of one’s trajectory to the present. Limited to 130 copies for July tour with Ancient Crux. Cream colored cassettes with glossy printing. Limited quantities leftover from tour.

Bridgetown #57 Ancient Crux – ‘2011 Tour EP’ C19 $6(US)
Travis Von Sydow and crew follow up a lengthy Summer tour and recent split 7″ vinyl releases with Norse Horse and Weed Diamond with a sophisticated collection of new songs that flirt with an aura of elegance and grace rarely seen in the home-taping underground. Von Sydow’s meticulous craftsmanship of densely layered pop-rock/post-punk songs are richly complemented by producer Tyler Haran, lending this EP a sense of patient maturity and development rarely seen in releases hastily prepared before hitting the road. Limited to 100 copies for July tour with Kevin Greenspon. Glossy printing. Limited quantities leftover from tour.

WEBSITE

Aguirre

zorn20 Innercity – ‘Terrestreality’ LP
Hans Dens second vinyl offering on Aguirre with more synthcrapings and zonked adventures in lo-fi music. Following up his 7 inch on NNA tapes and an LP on Release The Bats Hans continues to search and destroy. Loads of damaged audio and otherworldy synth bubblles spread over 12 tracks. No need to look at your watch, time has become infinitive.  Recorded April-June 2011. Vocals on Opiate Vague by Bram Devens (Ignatz). Mastered by Fear Falls Burning.  Edition of 300 copies.

WEBSITE

Nada

Field Recordings from India‘ CDr $7(US)/$9(World)
Drums, mantras, chants, and bells. Journeys east in search of the divine. Recorded spring 2010 during the Purna Kumbh Mela. Includes hand drawn map. limited 30.

WEBSITE

Pan y Rosas

(pyr041): Last King of Poland – ‘Hymn’
last king of poland is a solo experimental/noise project from chicago musician tomasz jurczak. tomasz began making music within the 8-bit/chiptune genre before moving into the world of harsh noise and ambient in 2007. he primarily uses a large pedalboard to manipulate feedback and voice as well as various noisemakers and synths. he tries to create a noise music that produces an emotional response in contrast to what he feels is the modern paradigm of drinking beer and turning a knob. his new album hymn is a quiet piece of time-lag minimalism for voice and two pedals that was recorded in 2011. pulsing tones that drift in and out of phase and noises that float over drones of wordless vocalizations. meditative, introspective, and pretty. challenging without damaging your ears. pan y rosas discos is a small netlabel based in chicago that focuses on experimental: noise, improvisation, and rock. we believe that music should be available to listeners for free and all the music that we release is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-no derivative works 3.0 unported license.

WEBSITE

various – ‘Madrid es Ruido’ [Review]

There are few things worse than trying to review a compilation of noise music on cassette.  The lack of discrete boundaries on the medium make any collection of songs hard to parse out, but the lack of beats or lyrical identifiers make a selection of 30 different tracks a hellish endeavor to describe.  The rub is, there are also few things better than listening to the wall-to-wall  blast that is the compilation of noise on cassette.  The noise artist’s self-doubt is multiplied in the embattled spirit of competition and inevitable comparisons which the format provides.  This makes for generally top choice selections from a healthy array of folks who, let’s be honest, sound best when taken at 5 minutes at a time anyhow.  And so it is that I’m attempting to sell you on the latest from For Noise’s Sake called ‘Madrid es Ruido’, an unrelenting C120 featuring a wide survey of noise musicians and indentured weirdoes like a scene report from the Spanish capitol.  I’m trying my damnedest to hold on to the bouncing ball, so here are just some of the winners and honorable mentions:

Just to set any expectations on their head, The Wooter start the tape off with some deeply misleading Kiwi freak ala Pumice, in effect suppressing their own noise as a means to diffuse whatever horror is about to follow.  And amply so: Ponzoña chase quickly behind (otherwise most artists take advantage of their allotted share on this doubly long tape) with a bright, chewed up smattering of Maxed out noise sounding like channel-surfing nothing but heavy machinery videos and blocked networks.  Similarly, Ormo sets the trend of support for the John Wiese school of total cuts and alloy sounds, overwhelming a meta-curve with so many sharp little divots.  Against such volume, the lo-fi neighbors don’t stand a chance but to attempt the stunning expression of Plonk Moist’s live contribution “Escarpiados” – with a sharp, manhandled python of feedback, self-deposed guitar and drums, and pure-driven scream – the obvious highlight in a collection full of standout tracks.  Daniel Del Rio makes for a smart contrast, offering a deep churn of swelling dirt in the forgotten perfection of Hive Mind, Games Addiction makes for an original clash between glitch programming and ugly noise warps, and Yo-Raid! manage a dynamic little improv workout of rolling percussion and tin guitar in line with Owl Xounds and the twee trash which opened the side.

Flipping this beast, Ahno Zwei start the second side with a high-definition jazz-noise, sounding high-flick feedback glinting off professional presentation.  Gran Logia plays weird, Silver Apple-scented electronic psychedelia made outta lo-fi drumming, weird audio lecture and whispy streaks of feedback.  In close proximity, Jord Levulma makes a funk noise not unlike the new sounds from K-X-P, following the Logia with murmurs and chatter suppressed under a tremendous wall of deep bass scaling.  Past gabber beats and SPK noise-wave, Eloe Emoe-type drum and bass and cut-up methods which other scenes seem to have totally missed the point on, Noish come with a phaser-futurist decomposition of broken screens and whirring cues, Wiese crossed with Pulse Emitter to really fantastic results.  Roughuh comes with some pretty standard, pretty incredible wall noise using the apparently quite trendy Madrilenian combo of feedback/vocals/bass, Ülpeskriva plies the other popular tweak, a psychotic assault of high BPM live percussion added to the delirious nod of constricted throats and feedback, and Ol’ Pain closes the comp out with a looping, New Blockader mind-erasure to reset the clock.

In total, the tape features contributions from:  thewOOter, Ponzoña, Au, Ormo, Desatrancos, Plonk Moist, La Catástrofe Ultravioleta, Daniel del Rio, Tubular Balls, Asperorers, Games Addiction, pier, bledo, Grassa DATO, Yo-Raid!, dohince, ahno drei, fuguh, Gran Logia, Jord Levulma, Scumearth, Xedh, R.R. Soup Fuck Uzz, noish, shalocins, Roughuh, Oscar Barras, Botox Vox, Ülpeskriva, and Ol’ Pain.  On pro-pressed tapes with simple, glossy j-cards.  100 copies.  Very recommended.

For Noise’s Sake cassette
8€
HERE

Moon Glyph

Dead Luke – ‘Meanwhile… In The Midwest’ $12
Amidst pilfering of collective bargaining rights, the storming of public buildings in union protests, and subsequent recalls of elected officials, a bubbling of proletariat discontent in Madison, WI has shed light on a region of the country often overlooked. Emerging from this unrest comes Dead Luke’s second full length and first Moon Glyph release, “Meanwhile… In The Midwest”, which takes the portentously hazy half-songs contained within his debut LP and solidifies them into a raw, lysergic-crystalline acid cocoon. In the album’s final moments we are greeted to the triumphant drifting of “Endless High,” a fuzzed-out call to arms for the No Coast. On “God Of Nothing” Luke conjures a hymnal drone of weaving elements peaking into a self-contained nihilist jam. While harkening back to the nebulous “American Haircut”, Luke now unleashes his vexed voice in parallel with a movement currently percolating to a once apathetic surface. Ed. of 500.

WEBSITE

Robert & Leopold

Kama Rupa – ‘City Of Caesars’ C30   $7(US)/$9(WORLD)
Only known to have played a select few times, the sparse and nomadic group known as Kama Rupa have kept an air of ambient mystery among their ranks.  Members have collectively been a part of more known creations (Hoor-paar-Kraat, EMP, Skin Drink) but together, the ritualistic nature of their music has taken course not unlike Metgumbnerbone, LAShTAL and Zero Kama.  Primitive, ritual based drone with a esoteric compass leading one straight into a hall of reverse enlightenment. Edition of 75.

Sudden Infant – ‘The Wicked Mothers’ C20  $7(US)/$9(WORLD)
The name Joke Lanz is typically used as a metaphor to describe the most pure & harrowing elements of transgressive art, conjuring up solemn images of contortion & absurdity.  Making instant breakthroughs in the late 80′s reactionary Swiss art scene using his alias of Sudden Infant, Joke Lanz also is one of the key members of avant-garde performance art group Schimpfluch-Gruppe which employed various mediums along side performances to erase any perceived notion of social dogma.  Sudden Infant left it’s own unquire signature on the world with such classic recordings as Radiorgasm (1991) and Solothurn (1994), leaving a blueprint behind of his current sound art study. Typically employing the use of distortion and voice, scrambling up both mediums until one is indistinguishable for the other.  This recent composition, wrapped up as The wicked Mothers, is a unique example of such primal techniques. Edition of 125.

WEBSITE