Null – Sonic Erosion [Cass] (1989, Nux Organization)

KK.Null (born Kazuyuki Kishino) is one of the top names in Japanese noise music and in a larger context, one of the great cult artists in experimental rock. Starting his career in the early 80's by performing guitar improvisations in the clubs and streets of Tokyo, he continued by collaborating with Merzbow for two years, and joining the bands YBO² and Absolut Null Punkt. In 1987, he gained wider notoriety as the leader, guitarist and singer of the trio Zeni Geva, which he described as "progressive hardcore". Zeni Geva reached world-wide fame with their heavy and hypnotic sound, eventually releasing three Steve Albini-produced albums on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label. After playing the guitar as his main instrument for some twenty years, Null has gradually moved towards a more electronic approach. These days he mostly states the "nullsonic" as his primary instrument. Nullsonic is something of a variation of Robert Fripp's 1970's instrument "frippertronics" -a combination of electric guitar and effects units, which elevated the effects to equal importance alongside the guitar. Null has gone even further by discarding the guitar altogether and making all the sounds with effects only. In recent years, he has concentrated his efforts increasingly on his solo material.

 

 

Label: Nux Organization – NUX-19 

Format: Cassette, Limited Edition 

Country: Japan 

Released: 1989 

Style: Drone, Noise, Experimental 

 

Tracklist:

A Sonic Erosion 37:09 

B1 The Dawn Of Harsh 14:01 

B2 Heavenly Assault 10:21 

 

Notes:

Side A recorded live at 20000v, Tokyo Sept. 29 1989 

Side B recorded at Prima Natura, 1988 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Monty Cantsin – Ahora Neoismus [LP] (1988, Maldoror Records)

Monty Cantsin is a multiple-use name that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. Monty Cantsin was originally conceived as an "open pop star." In a philosophy anticipating that of free software and open source, anyone should perform in his name and thus contribute to and participate in his fame and achievements. In reality the name is most commonly linked nowadays to the activities of artist and musician Istvan Kantor. 

“I Am Monty Cantsin” is the unwritten anthem of the Neoists, it's a song even made to go to the barricades with it on your lips. Also in musical terms, much more accessible than what Monte Cazazza presented. After all, Monty Cantsin is intended to be an “open POP star” -so despite being colored by industrial terroir, the melody is catchy. But for a pop song, there are far too many threads here, lacking an expressive chorus, which is hardly a complaint, after all “I Am Monty Cantsin” captivates with its tangled structure, wealth of ideas and arrangements. The song even lived to see a duly artistic music video.

It's a pity that the whole album doesn't hold up to this level, because we would have a true, forgotten gem of the eighties avant-garde, capable of attracting new generations to neoism today. And so we only have an uncut diamond -which is not to say that there is nothing interesting on 'Ahora Neoismus' anymore. Immediately catching the ear are the pop culture-targeted “Every 6 Minutes” or the sample-enhanced “Love and Joy,” and even the dramatic “Headquarters,” which is perhaps the most critical of the set about the life of postmodern man. The lyrics can even be associated with the anti-consumerist ideas of “Fight Club” like “fuck off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect.” [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Maldoror Records – MC-2 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US & Canada 

Released: 1988 

Style: EBM, Synth-pop, Minimal Synth

 

Tracklist:

A1 I Am Monty Cantsin 

A2 I Believe In Neoism 

A3 Every 6 Minutes 

A4 My Blood Keeps Flowing 

A5 In The Swamp Of Neoism 

B1 Mass Media 

B2 Love And Joy 

B3 Headquarters 

B4 Long Live Neoism 

B5 Gloria Victoribus 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Last Man In Europe – ... A Certain Bridge [7''] (1981, Cocteau Records)

Last Man In Europe were a UK Post-Punk band from the early 1980's. They released one 7" single, 'A Certain Bridge' (1981) and then changed their name to The Last Man in Europe Corporation and released an album in 1982 ('Songs From The Ark').

 

 The raw rhythm box chug and the swooping synth fading up recalled nothing so much as the sound of 1981 on an indie budget. The rhythm loop was a close cousin to the one in The Nails “88 Lines About 44 Women.” Eventually guitar, synths, and drums came to an agreement and the groove percolated along for a few minutes without much change. The vocals on the “A Certain Bridge” had a whiff of Positive Noise in his declamatory insolence. Only two bars of a portentous descending guitar figure that marked the [brief] bridge provided any variance here. The inconclusive song lasted almost six minutes to little change in tension, though to its credit, it seemed only 4:30 long. 

 

“T.V Addict” had a similar reliance on a programmed rhythm but the guitar and bass were much more prominent here; resulting in a sound that felt a little closer to early Bauhaus without putting their boot in. The song was presumably the sequel to The Normal’s “T.V. OD.” The final track, “Complications” featured a lurching beat that was front and center; dominating the guitar and synths. But it was the perkiest song here. The berserk and tasteless synth solo at the song’s surprising coda felt like a conscious attempt at some Enoesque thrills ca. Roxy Music. But that outburst showed, finally, some signs of life with Last Man In Europe. Their reliance on canned rhythms lent their songs a sort of plodding dullness that this one finally rose above to put the boot in. 

 

On the whole, the band’s debut single was typical of its time, but with not much in the way of dynamics in their arrangement; synth freakout solo at the end of the record aside. [SOURCE: POST-PUNK MONK]

 

 

Label: Cocteau Records – COQ 2 

Format: Vinyl, 7"

Country: UK 

Released: 1981 

Style: Alternative Rock, Synth-pop, New Wave, Post-Punk, Minimal Wave

 

Tracklist:

A A Certain Bridge 

B1 T.V. Addict 

B2 Complications 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Karma – The Joke's On You [Cass] (1983, Not On Label)

Obscure Neo Prog band, formed in 1982 and playing around the Hertfordshire area, Karma would propably remained in obscurity if it wasn't the presence of later Porcupine Tree mastermind Steven Wilson on the line-up (guitars/voice),which also included keyboardist Tom Dussek, drummer Mark Gordon and bassist Pete Rowe. These 16-year old teenagers released a cassette entitled 'The Joke's On You' in 1983.

 
Surprisingly for a bunch of kids, the album contains interesting compositions, typical example of the early-80's underground Neo Progressive movement. It is even a greater surprise that Steven Wilson's guitar remains on the background with keyboardist Tom Dussek being the driving force on each track. The overall style is close to early Galahad and Quasar, synth-dominated powerful progressive rock with symphonic traces, flashy synth soloing and some good guitar solos.Wilson's voice is rather amateur, what more reasonable for a kid about 16 years old trying to sing like a grown man. The production is very raw with a mediocre mix, but the keyboard work really shines through. 

A couple of tracks (''Nine Cats'' and ''Small Fish'') appeared later on the first Porcupine Tree works in totally different sounding and shorter versions. 'The Joke's On You' on the other hand contains all the good elements of the British New Progressive Rock wave, especially if you like the raw underground recordings of the age. Recommended but very hard to find. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Not On Label (Karma Self-released) – KM01 

Format: Cassette, Stereo 

Country: UK 

Released: Oct 1983 

Style: Prog Rock, Neo-Prog

 

Tracklist:

A1 Intruder D'Or 3:50 

A2 Tigers In The Rain 7:50 

A3 Small Fish 4:55 

B Nine Cats 15:20 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Junji Hirose + Yoshihide Otomo – Silanganan Ingay [LP] (1989, Tanga-Tanga)

 

It is a strange sensation reviewing the debut album of an already familiar artist. You recognize methods and sounds that are commonplace in the discography but not in the context of album. How do you react to that? The debut record of Otomo Yoshihide sets a clear standard for his off-kilter vinyl sample-based noise productions. Many of the bits and bobs used throughout this collaboration have been expanded on, cut up or reconfigured later in his career.

 
With 広瀬淳二 [Junji Hirose] manning the more analog noise producers,' Silanganan Ingay', meaning 'far east noise' in Tagalog, becomes a childlike exploration of sound experimentation. Nothing has a clear concept, everything is very immediate, evidenced by the fact that there were no edits, no overdubs and that everything was recorded live. This also gives the record a very peaks-and-valleys quality; the high points are very distinguishable from the low points. 

 
With toy music boxes over screeching guitars, turntables over saxophone, a James Brown record having a crazy BDSM-based love affair with pins, needles, a saw and an autoharp, there is no shortage of entertainment, though. Again, if anything, this debut says something about the raw talent of both men in their chose auditory field. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Tanga-Tanga – R-001 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: Japan 

Released: 1989 

Style: Noise, Experimental, Free Improvisation, Turntable Music

 

Tracklist:

A1 Noise From Far East 3:11 

A2 The Time To Live And The Time To Die 2:40 

A3 1.2.3.4. 1:22 

A4 6 And 14 Wave 5:25 

A5 Black And Blue 4:01 

A6 Green Bicycle 2:33 

A7 Intolerable Fellow 1:30 

B1 Short Tune 0:24 

B2 Mob? 3:55 

B3 For T.T. 1:53 

B4 Crying Sky 1:51 

B5 #7 1:15 

B6 Jalan 5:54 

B7 Don't Be Late! 1:41 

B8 Rip 3:25 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Inzekt – Elektrische Heilwärme [LP] (1991, Schimpfluch)

Inzekt is the noise project of Peter Schmucki, member also of the techno project Tek Jam & Inzekt with Teddy Huber. As Inzekt he released the cassette 'Inkretion' in 1990, and the LP 'Elektrische Heilwärme' (1991), both on the Schimpfluch imprint, a label from Switzerland run by Rudolf Eber (Rudolf Eb.er). 

Label: Schimpfluch – SH 22 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: Switzerland 

Released: 1991 

Style: Musique Concrète, Noise, Experimental 

 

Tracklist:

A Inzektrecording 91 01 04 

B Inzektrecording 91 01 04 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Holger Hiller – Holger Hiller [7''] (1980, Warning Records)

 

Electronic experimentalist Holger Hiller departed from the band Palais Schaumburg in the early '80s and embarked on a solo career. 1983's 'Ein Bündel Fäulnis In Der Grube' established his basic approach of combining keyboard lines with assorted odd sounds, and tense, clattering percussion. 1986's 'Oben im Eck' featured Hiller exploiting new sampling technology to its fullest behind a band including vocalists Billy McKenzie and Kaori Kano, and keyboardist Izumi Kobayashi. After laying low for quite some time, save occasional mixing and editing work for artists like Depeche Mode, Hiller returned with a vengeance in the mid-'90s, issuing 'Little Present' in 1993 and following it with the 'Demixed' collection. A self-titled release followed in fall 2000. This single from 1980 is also sometimes referred to as 'Herzmuskel; an excellent electronic experimental pop recommended for fans of Tuxedomoon and Renaldo & the Loaf type stuff; favorite, "R In S/W", almost a perfect closing track [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

 

Label: Warning Records – wr 004, Warning Records – WR-004 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM 

Country: Germany 

Released: Jun 1980 

Style: Synth-pop, Experimental, Neue Deutsche Welle, Minimal Wave, Minimal Synth

 

Tracklist:

A1 Ich Kann Nicht Mehr Warten 

A2 Ein Ganz Normaler Kuss 

A3 Dingdonggefühl 

B1 Herzmuskel 

B2 R In S/W 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Geile Tiere – Geile Tiere [LP] (1981, GeeBeeDee)

Geile Tiere was a band formed by artists Luciano Castelli and Wolfgang Ludwig Cihlarz aka Salomé. Both were protagonists of the neo-expressionist, young, anti-capitalist, anti-institutional and punk-influenced art scene of the late 1970s and 1980s in divided Berlin. They were painters, musicians and performers, came together through the Berlin designer Claudia Skoda and initially appeared together as performers. They eventually founded the band Geile Tiere and often performed at Dschungel, one of the legendary Berlin punk clubs of the time alongside SO36 and others. As part of the gay scene (Cihlarz was part of the Homosexual Action West Berlin (HAW)), they repeatedly used bodily motifs for their images and performances and created provocative, transgressive, drastic and shocking works. 

 

This is indeed a very experimental electro album from those good old days. Lots of analog synth sounds, sound collages, electric chirping and only partially comprehensible lyrics. German avant-garde from the time of the Cold War. Absolutely on the edge of good taste and yet still interesting. “Place des Alpes” is still danceable even today and is definitely an insider tip for any avant-garde art party. Recommended also “Liebst Du Mich?”. A very record record for impressing your oh-so-“arty” friends. [SOURCE: Forschungsplattform – Künstlerpublikationen]

 

 

Label: GeeBeeDee – GBD 0022 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: Germany 

Released: 1981 

Style: Minimal, Experimental, Minimal Wave, Neue Deutsche Walle, Experimental Rock

 

Tracklist:

A1 Rosa / Hellblau 5:50 

A2 Ich Bin Ein Huhn 1:58 

A3 Place Des Alpes 5:15 

A4 Liebst Du Mich? 5:10 

A5 Supergeil 5:06 

B1 Plastic 3:53 

B2 Ausbildung 3:04 

B3 Interview 3:47 

B4 Kein Gefühl 5:34 

B5 Just In Case 3:33 

B6 Love You (Live) 2:47 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

The Fast – The Fast For Sale [LP] (1980, Recca Records)

The Fast was an American glam / punk band formed in New York City in the mid 1970s by brothers Paul Zone, Miki Zone, and Mandy Zone. In 1975, The Fast was an integral / influential part of the Max's Kansas City / CBGB scene alongside Blondie and the Ramones, with their blend of power pop and garage punk. As the New York punk rock scene was in its infancy, The Fast were a headline act at Max's Kansas City and CBGB in New York City. 

 

The Fast's first single, "Boys Will Be Boys" (CBS Records) was released in 1976 and was produced by Peter Crowley. The Fast's sound and style was developed with 1960s mod pop elements and the use of synthesizers just before the instrument became a staple of the new wave genre. Their second single "It's Like Love" (Ram Records) was released in 1977 and produced by Richard Gottehrer (Blondie / Go-Go's / Strangeloves / Raveonettes). "It's Like Love" was a blending of electronic synth sounds and bubblegum pop. The B-side was "Kids Just Wanna Dance". 

 
In 1978 / 1979, The Fast toured the United States. Ric Ocasek brought them on a stadium tour with The Cars. Ocasek produced half of their first LP 'The Fast For Sale' (Recca Records), which was released in 1980. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

 

Label: Recca Records – RR2000 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1980 

Style: Punk, Indie Rock, Glam 

 

Tracklist:

A1 Kids Just Wanna Dance 

A2 Sizzler 

A3 Coney Island Chaos 

A4 Love Me Like A Locomotive 

A5 It's Like Love 

A6 Boys Will Be Boys 

B1 These Boots Are Made For Walkin' 

B2 T-Shirt & Tight Jeans 

B3 B-Movies 

B4 Wet & Wild 

B5 Cars Crash 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Evil Edna's Horror Toilet! – Too Much Gristle In The Blancmange [Cass] (1986, Not On Label)

This tape is the personal concept project of Jane Reaction (ex-Magic Mushroom Band) and her -then- boyfriend Joie Hinton (from Ozric Tentacles). On the recording, as musicians guested members of The Oroonies and The Ullulators, plus Gary "Moonboot" Masters and Kim Oz. Jane Reaction later on reinvented herself as Nana Obscuri. Somewhere between psychedelic dub minimal wave, Ozric Tentacles jam, Gong and some odd groove-funk outsider twee pop, etc., the vocals are sometiems too weak and instrumentation stereotypical. A bit uneven maybe, but lovely, and a rather consistent whole. Mostly it's also original anyway, and doesn't default too much on existing genres. Recommended: "Omné" and "Turkeys Dinner", maybe the longer piece "Floating In The Overflow" if you want a long jam à la aforementioned bands. Horribly under produced, but interesting mix of primitive 80s synthesizer, festival era spacerock, reggae, and even some good old fashioned new wave pop. Lot of cheap digital drums to endure that are awful, though not nearly as awful as that cassette cover. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Not On Label (Evil Edna's Horror Toilet! Self-Released) – EE1 †† 

Format: Cassette, Album

Country: UK 

Released: 1986 

Style: Reggae, Dub, Psychedelic Rock, Experimental, Space Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Minimal Wave

 

Tracklist:

SOD 1 

A1 Cistern Men 

A2 Warrior Dub 

A3 Mo-Ad 

A4 We Have A Mushroom Cloud 

A5 Ferbetha 

A6 Omné 

A7 Turkey Dinner 

Slide 2 

B1 Lend Me A Fiver 

B2 Floating In The Overflow 

B3 Mama Redstripe 

 

DOWNLOAD HERE