Entre Vifs - Ontologie

Entre Vifs -Ontologie – CD – Aussaat – 2018 – Aussaat06.

Aussaat Records.

Entre Vifs Bandcamp

Entre Vifs Tumblr

Stainless (Session33)

Charivari (Session 35) – Part 1.

An Sich Und Fur Sich (Session 44)

Charivari (Session 35) – Part 2.

None of the Above (Session 46).

Entre Vifs is a French Noise project now consisting of members Shirubee and Zorïn; they have been actively releasing works since 1989. Mirka Lugosi was involved at some point recently. In the eighties it was Zorïn and Ruelgo. They were linked to Le Syndicat amongst other artists. Ontologie is their seventh album and is released on Will-I Stasch’s Aussaat records. The tracks on the album were recorded between 2011 – 17 and performed and recorded live in their own Noisecraft Workshop.

Stainless (Session33) delivers some impressive passages of noise, I am unsure of all the exact sound sources, but the act does have their own handmade steel instruments that are then sent through microphones and effects. It really makes for a strong Cacophony of noise that shifts and varies itself continuously. The shifts are good as the work rapidly moves into a lot of different areas of noise within the track, the only familiars are some of the noises used. I am unsure of the source of the sounds that contrast the more obviously metal clang like noise.

Charivari (Session 35) uses sharper noise than the previous track but is made of a more minimal palette of noise. This makes the noises a lot more severe yet the dialogue between them has a humorous and playful feel in comparison to session 33. It highlights a signature Entre Vifs move which is the continual sound shifts, yet this still differs massively from the first track. An Sich Und Fur Sich (Session 44) uses a lot more cut-up sound that is more fractured as a whole, equally good as the others, but again it is way different. This one is violent and combative in its delivery. As it moves into Charivari (Session 35) the work breaks down into very minimal noise where individual sounds play solo parts before duelling other sounds to then become a duo. Frequently throughout tracks, noises do sound vocal for short spaces of time. The minimal phase of session 44 gradually builds into larger compositions of sound yet holds back enough to still be able to gravitate and shift around. This breaks up into another minimal-noise-minimal again passage, constantly interesting.

None of the Above (Session 46) emphasizes the sound poetry quality of Entre Vifs work, repetition of noise is used for the first time and almost seems to be trying to break into song as the sound dialogue is so complex. This is a lot more pulled down than the other tracks, it literally is an intense final conference of noises. A great end to a great album.

I don’t see this as a compilation of tracks just the results of many sessions tied together to make a complete album, their sound does have noticeable trademark sounds that happen across different tracks. The work also has a maturity and sophistication that runs throughout; the classical, deep red cover emphasises this. The work seems to combine sources of sound and instrument abuse to excellent effect. This is one of my favourite pure noise releases that I have ever heard, can’t say enough good things about this album.

Choppy Noodles 2019.

Outsider Art

Outsider Art BandCamp for downloads.

Outsider Art Bigcartel for physicalcopies

A new batch of tapes by Knifedoutofexistence's own label Outsider Art, is this a fluke or are they a label to watch with their finger on the pulse of the best UK Noise and Power Electronics? This lot certainly hints at that.

Active Denial – What Dreams Are Made Of. – Cassette – 2019.

1.Black Sontag.

2. Smoke.

3. Wish Harm.

4. Myth of Madness.

After their impressive debut, I have high expectations for the second Active Denial release. As Black Sontag starts, vocals are overlaid onto simple, accelerating electronics – forming an impressive rant over minimal noise. Smoke’s rant outdoes the first, the electronics are much choppier and uglier as whistles go off. The vocals on both seem to get angrier as each track progresses. Wish Harm is slower and uses a slowed down vocals and farting, pulsating electronics. The slowed down vocal is complimented by a warped shouting vocal, creating a more abstract track than the others. Myth of Madness is explosive blasts and sharp feedback accompanied by another rant sermon as things really kick off to an end.

I wasn’t expecting Active Denial to get rawer, I was half expecting them to twat up the sound with bigger gear and massive displays of electronics, but no, they’ve stripped it back – a case of less is more. The first tape was ace, this one is even better, four-tracks peeled back to deliver a raw bullet of truth. Excellent work.

Ordeal by Roses – Ordeal by Roses. – Cassette – 2019

Ordeal by Roses Bandcamp

1.      1. I

2.      2. II

Ordeal by Roses is a Welsh PE project that takes a personal approach themed on Death, Loss and Mental Struggles. ‘I’ begins with a pulsating raw choppy, deep, gravelly vortex of sound. It morphs slowly, gets interrupted by sharp digital noise and what sounds like a very effect laden, unintelligible vocal until sharper electronics rage inwards.  The first track varies itself constantly to stay consistently interesting. Church hymns at the end work well sonically and conceptually.

II is murkier.  It grows slowly to allow a distorted, shouted vocal to deliver its sermon,  takes a more minimal approach, but is equally as impressive as I. The vocal forms the main noise as the backing is lower and bass like to allow the sharpness of the shout to take the lead. Both tracks really contrast against each other. This is a very strong debut and I am excited about hearing more from this project.

Fleshlicker – Exquisite Things – Cassette – 2019

Fleshlicker BandCamp

1.       Side A.

2.       Side B.

Fleshlicker is Michael D Brown’s solo project. This is described as Grind core through a Power Electronics lens. I am unsure if this is a collection of tracks made into one, one continuous track with different passages and cuts. This pulsates, rhythmically at high speed to the point where it becomes a very violent and extreme listen. It functions in a more extreme way than and like the band Nerveskade and the early 80s Japanese D-Beat that incorporated feedback as part of their sound and influenced them.  Exquisite Things is overload beyond overload, but a very forward-thinking collection of work.

Kuebiko – 10,000 Torii Gates – Cassette – 2019

1.      1. Un Ah.

2.      2.  Jizos In the Moss.

I saw one of Kuebiko’s rare shows once, he opened for two more established Noise acts. What happened is he played on the floor, knelt over his equipment, electronic noises went off, things started getting battered and hit until a huge sonic tantrum erupted. This was undoubtedly one of the best Power Electronics shows I’ve ever seen, it wasn’t a gear-fest it was superb effective delivery and performance. I am unsure to this day if it was planned or improvised. Let’s see if Kuebiko can deliver.

Death synth drones and walls of distortion combine to make big sound. I think there’s a vocal buried in there, but I can’t tell. The three elements make for massive sound as feedback arches out to expand and retract the sound.  A more recognisable vocal adds to the equation, whilst still buried in the mass of noise. Un Ah is good Harsh Noise.

Jizos In the Moss is a lot more buried and lower in sound at first, this serves to really enhance rises in sound and interruptions to good effect. The splattered distortion and drone contrast and shift against each other forming bold movements in sound. He has delivered, yet another impressive debut, let’s hope there more work in the future to build on such a great start.

Choppy Noodles 2019

L'eclipse Nue - Lifeblood

Aussaat Records Facebook

L'eclipse Nue Bandcamp

L’eclipse Nue- Lifeblood – CD – 2018 – Aussaat – Aussaat 09.

L’eclipse Nue is the project of Daniel Sine and has been recording and releasing since 2009. Lifeblood is around the 30th release by the project. It builds very quickly from slow ambient sound to big demonstrations of noise with vocals right at the heart of an impressive, distorted vortex of harsh noise. Sound switches between distant and forefront as things soon fall into a more Industrial/ambient area with dynamics and atmosphere taking president. The first track is good, after this, most of the album is low level scratching, vocal murmurings, rantings, scrapings, beeps and farts that build sonic landscapes. The fourth track A Single Breath, really lifts things back up, exploding brilliantly – a strong digital blast.  Departure is a good finale, ending things on a high. 

The album has good production and dynamics but the work doesn’t have a strong identity to pull off the quieter, more experimental tracks. The opening, fourth and closing tracks where things are loaded, chaotic and violent are where L’eclipse really thrives and delivers.  But the quieter/slower tracks don’t hold well, the contrast doesn't gel. However, that said, he manages overload excellently, the balance is perfect, it’s not like a shittier Merzbow track where it’s just pointless overload to the point where it becomes ineffective noise; Sine handles overload very well. There are some conceptual ties to the buildings in different countries where the tracks were recorded. I feel the visuals could have emphasised this. The graphics look very professional but need to do more than just make the cd look good. The jewel case is ace. This isn’t a bad album, but it isn’t great either – only in parts.

Choppy Noodles 2019. 

Natural Orthodoxy - Northern Bleakness.

Natural Orthodoxy – Trust Exercises – Total Black - Cassette – 2019 – Total Black 112

https://naturalorthodoxy.bandcamp.com/

https://totalblack.bandcamp.com/

A.

Nauseating Spectacle.

Visited Upon the Son.

Trust Exercises.

B

Amateur Dentistry.

Lost Time.

Cognitive Alteration.

Natural Orthodoxy is a Manchester UK based project that formerly operated as UVB-76. There have been around 5 releases under the Natural Orthodoxy name on The Aleph, Vanity Pill Tapes and Phage Tapes. There have been live shows across the UK with Pharmakon, Svartit and Full of Hell. Their latest tape Trust Exercises tape on Total Black comes with a free A4 poster.

Natural Orthodoxy is part of a faction of UK Power Electronics that doesn’t seem to hark back to the conceptual themes of the 80s glory days, they seem to come from somewhere else; a personalised source of anger? I am aware of different clusters of strong projects and labels in the UK, despite the lack of frequent gigs and things being more difficult for promoters now. However, coming from the North in Manchester, this resonates bleakness before it’s even played, when played it has an air of loss despair and then resonates even more bleakness. There’s lots of low level, bits of noise passages of sound happening as things build up. The vocals that are at first are shoved in the background and very effective, it often sounds like a shit cop-out when some projects do it, but here it ties in with the work perfectly. The visual juxtapositions never ending flats and glimpses of nature say plenty and compliment the work well.

The second side is the build-up that starts off as a continuation of the earlier bleakness, but riots of sound soon seem to emerge from it. The vocal is now well at the forefront and leads into the choppy, harsh walls of Lost Time. Cognitive Repetition is relentless repetition with a vocal sample buried underneath, warbled vocals that take the forefront look back to those 80s glory days of the UK noise scene whilst the keyboards resonate forwards.

I’ve been listening to this a lot, there are a lot of nods to older Natural Orthodoxy material that then push in new directions. At first, I felt this was just a good collection of separate tracks, but on closer inspection it all ties in well to make a very strong overall recording and the experimental qualities shine across the variety of tracks presented. What this has done is made me interested enough to go and look at other recordings by the project and I look forward to whatever the future brings. I’m glad I discovered it.

Choppy Noodles 2019.

Don Mandarin - Ghosts of the past and present.

Don Mandarin Tapes 

YouTube Channel

Don Mandarin – Mother of all the distortions. – Cassette – Don Mandarin Tapes – date unknown.

Don Mandarin – Local Sounds Volume 2. – Cassette – Don Mandarin tapes – date unknown.

Who is Don Mandarin? All I know is there’s a Facebook profile of the same name that appeared a few years ago and started adding people who were into Noise and Experimental music. The profile was vague and didn’t tell you anything about them. All that was there was an abundance of unexplained images and Don Mandarin artworks. Videos of odd esoteric sounds with videos started to appear through his feed and on people’s walls - no comments or anything. The artist also sold tapes of their work on eBay and sometimes in box sets through other labels. I suspect the project has some African source roots, there are rumours of works being recorded under seance conditions, there may be some esoteric link to the artists past and present and the dates of when the works were recorded are sketchy. Some of the sources to the works are rumoured to be decades old - that’s all the biographical details that I know about this large body work.

All images supplied by Don Mandarin .

The ‘Mother of all the distortions’ cassette looks very much like a Don Mandarin work or Dona Mangerine as they are known on this recording – a photocopied cover with an image of a young woman and text, little else. The sounds on the first side come across as a warped ritual, where the speed is constantly tweaked to confuse the listener as to what the real source is. It is slightly rhythmic through its warped qualities and the vocal sounds are indecipherable. The sounds are pulled about, stretched and distorted beyond any recognisable coherence. I wouldn’t want to hazard a guess as to what this is.  It’s alluring in its’ obscurity and mystery. Simple, subtle methods make it something other that can’t be recognised.  

The second side of Mother of all the distortions instead of being more field recordings is ambient sounds that are based on resonating drone patterns.  Side 2 has a semi-religious feel that ties it into the first side. Had the rituals of the first side continued onto the next side, there is a strong chance it could have kicked its own ass. Changing everything shifts things well, keeps it interesting and makes for two very strong, subtle pieces of work.

‘Local Sounds Volume 2’; also listed as Dona Mangerine, is a more ambient sounding release, I am unsure if it is all sourced field recordings of local sounds and made into pieces of work or made using instrumentation, samples or all. Like parts of the other material it uses huge arching drones, rumbling and different drone frequencies. It also has holy chanting tones to it as if ascending to a spiritual realm. Like Mother of all the Distortions, it uses simple juxtapositions to a strong effect, making for an impressive work.

The other side of Local Sounds is a lot darker and murkier. This seems to be the dark in comparison to the first side’s light, occupying a more - Dark Ambient territory. It dies off and returns darker than before with more aggressive sounds as if playfully engaging in a more Death Industrial soundscape; Infected synths anchor the work in the genre as it moves around that.  

These two tapes effectively deliver four separate pieces of work. Each piece is; strong, individual and well delivered. My personal favourite is the first side of Mother… but I am sure individual opinions will vary. But I feel I am no wiser about Don Mandarin than I was before, the chameleon like nature of the tapes throws me out even further. But I’m not complaining, all I know is that I want more.

Choppy Noodles 2019.

Merzbow + Opening Performance Orchestra

Merzbow + Opening Performance Orchestra ‎– Merzopo - Sub Rosa

Sub Rosa – 2 x cd – 2018 – SR472CD.

OpeningPerformance Orchestra Website

Merzbow Website

1-1       –Merzbow       Futaomote Part 1       

1-2       –Merzbow       Futaomote Part 2       

1-3       –Merzbow       Yasugibushi Part 1    

1-4       –Merzbow       Yasugibushi Part 2    

2-1       –Opening Performance Orchestra     Fraction Elements      

2-2       –Opening Performance Orchestra     Fraction Music XII

Having been active since 1979 with a massive history of hundreds of releases makes Merzbow one of the most important historical figures in the history of modern Noise. Opening Performance Orchestra are a Czech noise group dating back to 2006; this is their 16^th album. Merzopo is the recent split album featuring both artists. The artwork is a kind of huge abstract painted penis by Jaroslav Buzek which spreads across two panels of the digipack.

The Merzbow CD begins steadily with low noise and increases to a massive overall sound, this very quickly becomes intense and overpowering. There are extreme contrasts of wall like distortion and sharp high-pitched sound. Sounds do override beyond breaking point; other noises frequently enter the composition. The sound is a big, over powering mass; this frequently breaks down to allow some respite for newer structures of noise to be built. The Futaomote tracks are Harsh, it’s difficult to comment if this is Merzbow’s best work, my criticism of the first two pieces is that they get too busy to a point where the drops in overall noise are essential to make it work again. I think the pieces are huge but could have been way more effective if stripped back continuously, allowing more clarity of individual or combinations of elements as there is often too much in the equation.

In the later ‘Yasugibushi’ tracks the sound does strip back more and this is a lot more interesting as quirkier, playful elements to the sound begin to show themselves. The wider, ambitious sound then glows through a lot more effectively. I feel the Yasugibushi tracks are the stronger Merzbow tracks of the album. The long die-off of Yasugibushi Part 2 is impressive as the work becomes increasingly minimal and dramatic whilst reaching its’ end.

Fraction Elements sees Opening Performance Orchestra Begin with ambient, ominous gloom that rumbles and scrapes itself to life. As things begin to increasingly crash and rumble, feedback and electronic noise begin to really rise. The growth from slight sounds to massive noise is long and impressive. Their work builds to assaultive, distorted walls, spikes of sharp sounds and much sonic overdrive. In photos there appear to be four members but Discogs lists seven; I don’t know if it’s due the number of group members, but the control over such a loud mass of sound is excellent. The number of individual noise components is quite small, but it builds to a massive cacophony of noise that’s controlled in every aspect. Fraction Elements gradually builds to a wall like assault. I later learned both their tracks were played and recorded live, impressive.

In contrast, Fraction Music XII is a lot faster to build, it starts with pulsating drones, it utilises sharper sounds more as well as walls of distortion and metallic scraping. Odd drones to resonate through the noise periodically. Again, this is a massive sound that exercises complete control and precision. There is aggressive use of storms of distorted noise that are well pinned down by sharp noise and drones, so they have a static hurricane like assault due to this. The pointed focus of the sharper sounds that later overlay the distortion is sheer accuracy.

The artists at a brief listen appear similar. The Merzbow work is huge, but does take time to gain real focus, once it does the magic happens. The Opening Performance Orchestra work is simply a group in total control and at the peak of their sonic powers.

Choppy Noodles 2019.