Various – ‘Analog 2025’ – Unexplained Sounds Group ‘Analog 2025’ arrives with tape flutter, slow pitch wobble, spring reverb that sounds like a corridor, and the soft, humanised clipping that turns a tone into an animated corpse. It’s not nostalgic in the cosy sense; it’s in the same world as hauntology, a catalogue of misremembered […]
Various – So High I’ve Been: A European Rock Anthology 1967–1973 3CD Set – Cherry Red For decades, the story of rock music has been told as if it were a transatlantic conversation between Britain and America. The mythology is familiar: London and Liverpool, San Francisco and Los Angeles, New York and Detroit. Yet while […]
Martina Testen / Simon Šerc – ‘Nokturno’ – Pharmafabrik Recordings Some field‑recording projects try to soothe you- those old hat/New Age faffing about that convinced those who lived on the muesli belt that a groaning whale was good for your aura. Others are more fun, though often feel unconvincing – cannibal tribes supposedly mid-ritual, but […]
Always the same – you wait oodles of years and two Headcoat/Headcoatee albums come along at once. In fairness, it makes a wallet-relieving change from them releasing an album every other week. Thee Headcoatees – ‘Man-Trap’ – Damaged Goods Longest out of action, by a long chalk, are Thee Headcoatees, but the full headcoat count […]
Nerthus – ‘Love Songs via Echlon’ – Eighth Tower Records Echelon was the codename for a global surveillance network developed during the Cold War by the Five Eyes alliance – the likely suspects of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Originally designed to monitor Soviet military and diplomatic communications, it evolved into […]
Various Artists – ‘Codex of Pleasure and Pain – A Sonic Tribute to Clive Barker’s Hellraiser’ – Eighth Tower Records Given the somewhat torturous history of the actual Hellraiser score, offering another perspective seems entirely reasonable. As much as Cenobites remix flesh, these 11 artists from across Europe dig their hooks into their chosen chunk […]
VA – You’re No Big Deal – Grunge, The U.S. Underground and Beyond 1984-1994 – Cherry Red Records. Well, let’s get the griping out of the way – the word ‘grunge’ may be used. It’s in the title; it’s used by people ‘on purpose’; I have very little control over history, despite my best efforts, […]
Capricorni Pneumatici – ‘Ix Tab’, Eighth Tower Records I don’t often start reviews like this, but I think the accompanying text with this release speaks (in tongues) for itself: Ix Tab is an album dedicated to the mysterious Mayan deity, goddess of ropes and snares, and patroness of those who hang themselves. Originally released on […]
Various – Joe Meek – A Curious Mind Outer Space! Horror! Death Discs! The Wild West! Demos!. Cherry Red Joe Meek, astronaut extraordinaire (in his Holloway flat), was the launchpad for some of British pop’s most eccentric experiments. But while the stars get most of the spotlight, A Curious Mind – a new 3CD box […]
8 Discs. 82 Tracks. 1 Inverted Cross. There’s something oddly comforting about the endurance of Deicide. A strange cultural relic from a more chaotic age, where even Twisted Sister could be viewed not just with suspicion, but with a real sense that they might corrupt the future of our world. Glen Benton and his band […]
