Merzbow Monday: Merzbow – Paradoxa Paradoxa album review
On Live at Kid Araik Hall I, Merzbow reveals noise – alongside hip-hop and electronic music – reveals itself to be the spiritual successor to jazz. There’s not enough appreciation … Continue reading
Merzbow Monday: Merzbow – Material Action For 2 Microphones (1981) album review
Collected as part of the Merzbox, Material Action For 2 Microphones stands out in a nearly bottomless discography. Considering the project name’s debt to Kurt Schwitters, it’s easy to forget … Continue reading
Merzbow Monday: Merzbow – Green Wheels (Self Abuse, 1995) Album Review
Green Wheels is ’90s Merzbow at its purest – 70 minutes of dense, sprawling, relentless noise on unwieldy, cumbersome packaging. Knowing where to start with Masami Akita’s bottomless discography is … Continue reading
Shortwave Symphonies: Rupert Lally – Hidden Transmissions Vol. 1 (Woodford Halse) cassette review
On his first release for Woodford Halse, Swiss composer/electronic musician/multi-instrumentalist Rupert Hally recreates a lost radio transmission. It’s a reminder of the thrill of curiosity and musical discovery. The internet … Continue reading
Merzbow Monday: Merzbow – Hybrid Noisebloom (1997) album review
1997’s Hybrid Noisebloom is a Long Dark Spin Cycle of the Soul, leaving you ecstatically exhausted, wrung out, and cleansed. Reviewing noise records is funny business. In a certain respect, … Continue reading
Tape Tuesday: Field Lines Cartographer – Formic Kingdom (Woodford Halse) album review
Lancaster’s Field Line Cartographer revives 70s progressive electronics for a concept album about giant ants on his first outing for the essential Woodford Halse cassette label. Ah, the 70s – … Continue reading
Techno Tuesday: Illuvia – Iridescence Of Clouds (A Strangely Isolated Place) album review
Illuvia’s Iridescence Of Clouds for the increasingly essential A Strangely Isolated Place is a gorgeous slice of ambient drum ‘n bass worldbuilding. Yr hovership descends, swooping in on a rose … Continue reading
Merzbow Monday: Merzbow vs Nordvargr – Partikel III (Cold Spring) album review
Two masters of noise, experimental electronics, and dark ambiance come together for a third collaboration, a highlight of both of their monolithic discographies. Merzbow is often at his best when … Continue reading
Ambient Classics: Tangerine Dream – Aachen January 21, 1981 album review
On this classic ambient album, Tangerine Dream motor confidently into a new year with a new lineup, eschewing space ambient for a tighter, more song-focused prog ambient. Ah, the early … Continue reading
Arca – Madre album review
Arca ditches the dread, leans into the digital sublime on Madre. Arca’s earliest music is the soundtrack of digital anxiety – sounds converted to shrapnel, endlessly whizzing past yr ears … Continue reading
