- Working on an interview for Zero Tolerance magazine
- Doing basic PR work for the tour
- Oberlin show on the move again... no longer at the 'Sco... maybe back at Fairfield Chapel?
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Status - 8/6
- The new update went out today and I appreciate the early support on the new Nightmares single. Particularly during the day, but also recently, as people have learned about the special tour-only cassette and compact disc, we have received numerous requests to set aside or to sell copies of these releases ahead of the tour. While we would like to be able to satisfy these requests from a number of good customers, we have decided to stay firm on this --- we definitely want to make the limited cassette and compact disc editions exclusive to the tour, for those who come out to show their support for us. Of course, if we have copies left after the tour, we will announce them as being available for sale and we are keeping track of who is requesting copies. We know this may be a bummer for some folks who follow our work closely, but it kind of has to happen to "entice" people to come out to the shows. We hope that everyone understands
- I made two big mail-runs Tuesday and Wednesday, so all mail-order and Discogs packages have been sent, and all but the most recent paid eBay items are also in the mail
- I regret having missed last night's Paranoid Time show and at the moment I am not exactly feeling in the mood to see Warlocks, who are in town tonight and tomorrow. I have seen them numerous times and I always enjoy their shows... and lord knows I listen to them A LOT... but it just does not feel like the thing to do... blah...
- I made two big mail-runs Tuesday and Wednesday, so all mail-order and Discogs packages have been sent, and all but the most recent paid eBay items are also in the mail
- I regret having missed last night's Paranoid Time show and at the moment I am not exactly feeling in the mood to see Warlocks, who are in town tonight and tomorrow. I have seen them numerous times and I always enjoy their shows... and lord knows I listen to them A LOT... but it just does not feel like the thing to do... blah...
BloodLust! August 2009 Update
The BloodLust! August 2009 Update has been posted on the catalog weblog page and it has been set to the mailing list. If you wish to receive a copy via e-mail, please send a request to: bludlust@mindspring.com. The wholesale update was sent out yesterday -- distributors, stores, and mail-order shops may also request a wholesale price-list via: bludlust@mindspring.com.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Compulsion on Locrian
From: Compulsion
Locrian - Drenched Lands
Oh, weren't we fooled? The typeface and imagery on this one had me labelling this one as some sort of metal release. In fairness, there is a definite black metal influence to Locrian but their thick black sound carries elements of drone, noise and pitch-black industrial ambience. Locrian, a Chicago based duo comprising Andre Foisy and Terence Hannum, are definitely onto something with their guitar and keyboard improvisations. The arching drone and buzzing electronic throb of 'Ghost Repeater' is drenched in billowing layers of guitar distortion. Imagine ghostlike hums from obsolete machinery in an industrial wasteland. The fantastically titled 'Barren Temple Obscured By Contaminated Fogs' opens with disembodied guitar strums and just as sixties organ style treatments kick in the entire thing is sucked up into a hissing drone. Then there are the voices: a tortured scream that literally tears its way across waves of drone and blackened generator hum. I barely recognised a voice in the opening track, 'Obsolete Elegy In Effluvia and Dross'. I was too caught up in the skeletal guitars chords and chiming keyboards to realise the harrowing low end was in fact a voice.
I like the guitar work on Drenched Lands. It's all spindly and spidery, echoed, reverbed and effected. It's especially good on 'Epicedium', where it jangles around some loose notes, casting off little shards into the soft ambient hum. Layers of massive distorted guitar riffs roll in, like drifting grey clouds on a summer's day, bolstering the ever increasingly frantic guitar work. Maybe it's my disposition but I'm hearing a lot of post-rock and early nineties noise rock in here. The guitar squall of bands like Splintered, and early Skullflower can be found in 'Obsolete Elegy in Cast Concrete'. Feedback squeals and controlled guitar noise gradually form into some drawn out metal riffing, with hellish vocal rasps and screams. The wavering drone and tolling bells that run below ensures a dense and ominous presence. I love the way this track toys and teases with a metal sound that is never fully realised.
There is a distinct metal edge to Drenched Lands, as much as there is with TenHornedBeast, with black atmospheres pierced by guitars, where voices remain gutteral and words largely indecipherable. The final piece is a 30-minute live improvisation clearly showing that these guys have a great ear for texture and effects. Drenched Lands is heavy on the restraint. In lesser hands they could have opted for bombast. And don't forget that the last track is a 30 minute recording of a live performance, originally issued on vinyl as Greyfield Shrines in a run of 300. A substantial addition to an already impressive release.
This review is of the CD release issued by the At War With False Noise and Small Doses labels, but a very limited vinyl edition on Bloodlust is available with an exclusive 3-inch CD of radio session tracks. Drenched Lands is the second full release, and first-full length studio release from Locrian. Let's hope their other material is as good as this, as this is a great release. I'm just a bit pissed that this has been languishing around amidst a pile of review material for sometime.
Locrian - Drenched Lands
Oh, weren't we fooled? The typeface and imagery on this one had me labelling this one as some sort of metal release. In fairness, there is a definite black metal influence to Locrian but their thick black sound carries elements of drone, noise and pitch-black industrial ambience. Locrian, a Chicago based duo comprising Andre Foisy and Terence Hannum, are definitely onto something with their guitar and keyboard improvisations. The arching drone and buzzing electronic throb of 'Ghost Repeater' is drenched in billowing layers of guitar distortion. Imagine ghostlike hums from obsolete machinery in an industrial wasteland. The fantastically titled 'Barren Temple Obscured By Contaminated Fogs' opens with disembodied guitar strums and just as sixties organ style treatments kick in the entire thing is sucked up into a hissing drone. Then there are the voices: a tortured scream that literally tears its way across waves of drone and blackened generator hum. I barely recognised a voice in the opening track, 'Obsolete Elegy In Effluvia and Dross'. I was too caught up in the skeletal guitars chords and chiming keyboards to realise the harrowing low end was in fact a voice.
I like the guitar work on Drenched Lands. It's all spindly and spidery, echoed, reverbed and effected. It's especially good on 'Epicedium', where it jangles around some loose notes, casting off little shards into the soft ambient hum. Layers of massive distorted guitar riffs roll in, like drifting grey clouds on a summer's day, bolstering the ever increasingly frantic guitar work. Maybe it's my disposition but I'm hearing a lot of post-rock and early nineties noise rock in here. The guitar squall of bands like Splintered, and early Skullflower can be found in 'Obsolete Elegy in Cast Concrete'. Feedback squeals and controlled guitar noise gradually form into some drawn out metal riffing, with hellish vocal rasps and screams. The wavering drone and tolling bells that run below ensures a dense and ominous presence. I love the way this track toys and teases with a metal sound that is never fully realised.
There is a distinct metal edge to Drenched Lands, as much as there is with TenHornedBeast, with black atmospheres pierced by guitars, where voices remain gutteral and words largely indecipherable. The final piece is a 30-minute live improvisation clearly showing that these guys have a great ear for texture and effects. Drenched Lands is heavy on the restraint. In lesser hands they could have opted for bombast. And don't forget that the last track is a 30 minute recording of a live performance, originally issued on vinyl as Greyfield Shrines in a run of 300. A substantial addition to an already impressive release.
This review is of the CD release issued by the At War With False Noise and Small Doses labels, but a very limited vinyl edition on Bloodlust is available with an exclusive 3-inch CD of radio session tracks. Drenched Lands is the second full release, and first-full length studio release from Locrian. Let's hope their other material is as good as this, as this is a great release. I'm just a bit pissed that this has been languishing around amidst a pile of review material for sometime.
Locrian in Womblife
Locrian Drenched Lands/ Rhetoric of Surfaces/ Burying the Carnival/ Exhuming the Carnival (At War With False Noise; Bloodlust!; self-re.) CD/CD-R/c-38 -- This amazing Chicago duo brings a new twist to the genre of so called drone metal. Named either for the mythical Greek tribe or the musical mode of the same name, both allusions are appropriate for the grim, hypnotic desolation that Locrian conjures. Their sound is pretty much unparalleled when we get analytical, not that I want to. Locrian manages to explore the crossover between early Popol Vuh, Frip/Eno circa No Pussyfooting and more recent doom/black metal developments (Earth and Sunn O))) included) with results that are never less than harrowing and deeply enveloping every step of the way. Of the three releases that found their way into my mailbox recently, the Drenched Lands CD is my favorite with its deft mix or languid slow melodies, minor key isolationist loops and endless feed-backing howls. It's an epic that's brilliantly composed and executed from start to finish, and a vinyl version just dropped! The CD includes a massive bonus track every bit the match of its six predecessors. One of the best long players I've heard in '09.
Rhetoric of Surfaces explores similar terrain on a slightly more dissonant mode. Think Skullflower wandering the murky marshes just below the Castle Sunn O))) complete with dark clad minstrels conjuring their mind-bending symphonies of industrial despair. The tracks are longer and grimier in this set -- recorded live for radio -- each offering its own glimpse at echo-drenched tonal voids. Rounding out my dandy box of Locrian madness is the excellent Burying the Carnival/Exhuming the Carnival cassette which results in roughly 38 mins of scorched trance dirge -- tectonic bass hum and squealing angular guitars beneath vocal howls of death on side a, something slightly more exultant on the flip. The guitar work is positively vertiginous and devastating in a way that only amplified feedback can be. The aural equivalent to greyfield-sickness stuck in a lockgroove. Decay should not be this beautiful.
Rhetoric of Surfaces explores similar terrain on a slightly more dissonant mode. Think Skullflower wandering the murky marshes just below the Castle Sunn O))) complete with dark clad minstrels conjuring their mind-bending symphonies of industrial despair. The tracks are longer and grimier in this set -- recorded live for radio -- each offering its own glimpse at echo-drenched tonal voids. Rounding out my dandy box of Locrian madness is the excellent Burying the Carnival/Exhuming the Carnival cassette which results in roughly 38 mins of scorched trance dirge -- tectonic bass hum and squealing angular guitars beneath vocal howls of death on side a, something slightly more exultant on the flip. The guitar work is positively vertiginous and devastating in a way that only amplified feedback can be. The aural equivalent to greyfield-sickness stuck in a lockgroove. Decay should not be this beautiful.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Nightmares 7-inch Pre-Order
- Paid pre-orders are now being accepted via BloodLust!
- Orders will ship on or before August 15, 2009
- This record will be available on tour
- After the tour, all three partner labels will have remaining copies for sale
Artist: Nightmares
Title: "S/T"
Format: 7-inch
Catalog Number: BloodLust! 139 / Fatal Beliefs 01 / Malsonus 005
Genre: Experimental / Analog Synth / Noise / Death-Industrial / Power-Electronics
Edition Size: 300 Copies
(click to enlarge)
Nightmares is a new synth trio formed by Jonathan Canady, David Reed, and Mark Solotroff. Canady is known for his dark analog synth fueled solo project, Angel of Decay, while power-electronics fans know him for his truly brutal band, Deathpile. Although possibly less-known in the noise world, it is likely that his most widely heard project is the industrial-metal band Dead World. He also founded the Malsonus label. Reed has a musical personality that is finely split into two distinct-yet-related solo projects: the analog synth-driven Envenomist and its dark electronic alter-ego, Luasa Raelon. Reed has also recorded under the name Brittle Foundries, and occasionally using his own name. He also runs the prolific Snip-Snip label and the newly launched Fatal Beliefs label. Solotroff has recorded lo-fi analog synth music under the name Super Eight Loop, which dates back to 1993. He released 100 hour-long missives and performed a single live show as S8L, before retiring the name in January 2009. Solotroff is also known for his bands BLOODYMINDED, The Fortieth Day, A Vague Disquiet, Intrinsic Action, Animal Law, and the newly formed Anatomy of Habit. As a synth player, Solotroff has also played live and/or in the studio with diverse artists including Brutal Truth, Consumer Electronics, and Wilt. He also runs the BloodLust! label. The three members have long, entwined histories together, dating back to the early 1990s, when Canady and Solotroff first met up. When Canady’s band Dead World was on Release/Relapse Records, Solotroff brought the group to New York City to play an infamous 1993 show with Intrinsic Action and Whitehouse. Solotroff also organized several shows with Deathpile and Angel of Decay, and his BloodLust! label went on to release numerous compact discs, 7-inch singles, and cassettes by Dead World, Deathpile, and Angel of Decay. Canady returned the favor by including what became a universally despised BLOODYMINDED song, “Moonwalker,” on the groundbreaking Malsonus power-electronics compilation CD, “The Sound of Sadism.” Canady has also overseen the graphic design of six Intrinsic Action compact discs and his design skills frequently keep the BloodLust! gears rolling smoothly. Reed and Solotroff first crossed literal paths in September 2004, at a rare show at Chicago’s Viaduct Theater, when BLOODYMINDED played with the touring projects Hive Mind, Luasa Raelon, and Redrot. The two met up again at the March 2005 edition of No Fun Fest in Brooklyn, NY, when Luasa Raelon and BLOODYMINDED both played on the Chondritic Sound stage. It was not long before Envenomist releases on vinyl, compact disc, and cassette, began appearing on BloodLust! Solotroff has organized several more Luasa Raelon and Envenomist shows in Chicago, and Reed even began sitting in on synth at key BLOODYMINDED shows. Reed and Solotroff previously toured the Midwest together in October 2007. Most recently, the three members of Nightmares all found themselves on the landmark “Wierd Compilation Volume II : Analogue Electronic Music 2008” – a four LP set that was released by BLOODYMINDED member Pieter Schoolwerth, on his New York-based Weird Records imprint. Canady appeared as Angel of Decay, Reed as Envenomist, and Solotroff – with BLOODYMINDED and The Fortieth Day member, Isidro Reyes – as A Vague Disquiet. With their long history of dark analog synth music, the three members of Nightmares have united to develop their own type of aural sleep disruption, characterized by frightening psychological content and aiming to provoke a strong feeling of imminent physical danger and a sensation of being trapped or suffocated. Multi-color marble/splatter vinyl 7-inch single in offset-printed full-color, fold-over sleeves. Includes 4.25" x 4.25" black and white vinyl sticker.
(click to enlarge)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tracklisting:
A: "Floating Above The Tracks" (5:55)
B: "We Were Melded Together" (5:55)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound samples available via:
http://www.myspace.com/synthnightmares
http://www.last.fm/music/Nightmares
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Price: $9.00 USA/$11.00 Canada+Mexico/$13.00 Rest of World @ postpaid
(Wholesale rates available to distributors, mail-order services, and record stores; please inquire)
Please use bludlust@mindspring.com for PayPal payments
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- Orders will ship on or before August 15, 2009
- This record will be available on tour
- After the tour, all three partner labels will have remaining copies for sale
Artist: Nightmares
Title: "S/T"
Format: 7-inch
Catalog Number: BloodLust! 139 / Fatal Beliefs 01 / Malsonus 005
Genre: Experimental / Analog Synth / Noise / Death-Industrial / Power-Electronics
Edition Size: 300 Copies
(click to enlarge)
Nightmares is a new synth trio formed by Jonathan Canady, David Reed, and Mark Solotroff. Canady is known for his dark analog synth fueled solo project, Angel of Decay, while power-electronics fans know him for his truly brutal band, Deathpile. Although possibly less-known in the noise world, it is likely that his most widely heard project is the industrial-metal band Dead World. He also founded the Malsonus label. Reed has a musical personality that is finely split into two distinct-yet-related solo projects: the analog synth-driven Envenomist and its dark electronic alter-ego, Luasa Raelon. Reed has also recorded under the name Brittle Foundries, and occasionally using his own name. He also runs the prolific Snip-Snip label and the newly launched Fatal Beliefs label. Solotroff has recorded lo-fi analog synth music under the name Super Eight Loop, which dates back to 1993. He released 100 hour-long missives and performed a single live show as S8L, before retiring the name in January 2009. Solotroff is also known for his bands BLOODYMINDED, The Fortieth Day, A Vague Disquiet, Intrinsic Action, Animal Law, and the newly formed Anatomy of Habit. As a synth player, Solotroff has also played live and/or in the studio with diverse artists including Brutal Truth, Consumer Electronics, and Wilt. He also runs the BloodLust! label. The three members have long, entwined histories together, dating back to the early 1990s, when Canady and Solotroff first met up. When Canady’s band Dead World was on Release/Relapse Records, Solotroff brought the group to New York City to play an infamous 1993 show with Intrinsic Action and Whitehouse. Solotroff also organized several shows with Deathpile and Angel of Decay, and his BloodLust! label went on to release numerous compact discs, 7-inch singles, and cassettes by Dead World, Deathpile, and Angel of Decay. Canady returned the favor by including what became a universally despised BLOODYMINDED song, “Moonwalker,” on the groundbreaking Malsonus power-electronics compilation CD, “The Sound of Sadism.” Canady has also overseen the graphic design of six Intrinsic Action compact discs and his design skills frequently keep the BloodLust! gears rolling smoothly. Reed and Solotroff first crossed literal paths in September 2004, at a rare show at Chicago’s Viaduct Theater, when BLOODYMINDED played with the touring projects Hive Mind, Luasa Raelon, and Redrot. The two met up again at the March 2005 edition of No Fun Fest in Brooklyn, NY, when Luasa Raelon and BLOODYMINDED both played on the Chondritic Sound stage. It was not long before Envenomist releases on vinyl, compact disc, and cassette, began appearing on BloodLust! Solotroff has organized several more Luasa Raelon and Envenomist shows in Chicago, and Reed even began sitting in on synth at key BLOODYMINDED shows. Reed and Solotroff previously toured the Midwest together in October 2007. Most recently, the three members of Nightmares all found themselves on the landmark “Wierd Compilation Volume II : Analogue Electronic Music 2008” – a four LP set that was released by BLOODYMINDED member Pieter Schoolwerth, on his New York-based Weird Records imprint. Canady appeared as Angel of Decay, Reed as Envenomist, and Solotroff – with BLOODYMINDED and The Fortieth Day member, Isidro Reyes – as A Vague Disquiet. With their long history of dark analog synth music, the three members of Nightmares have united to develop their own type of aural sleep disruption, characterized by frightening psychological content and aiming to provoke a strong feeling of imminent physical danger and a sensation of being trapped or suffocated. Multi-color marble/splatter vinyl 7-inch single in offset-printed full-color, fold-over sleeves. Includes 4.25" x 4.25" black and white vinyl sticker.
(click to enlarge)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tracklisting:
A: "Floating Above The Tracks" (5:55)
B: "We Were Melded Together" (5:55)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound samples available via:
http://www.myspace.com/synthnightmares
http://www.last.fm/music/Nightmares
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Price: $9.00 USA/$11.00 Canada+Mexico/$13.00 Rest of World @ postpaid
(Wholesale rates available to distributors, mail-order services, and record stores; please inquire)
Please use bludlust@mindspring.com for PayPal payments
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Capital Punishment on The Golden Sores
From: Capital Punishment (Edinburgh)
The Golden Sores - A Peaceable Kingdom
by skidblue
Hailing from Chicago, the duo of The Golden Sores (aka. Steve Fors and Chris Miller) effortlessly blend ambient and blissful dronescapes alongside a buried harshness of guitar feedback and keyboard haze - a textured approach which seems to encompass early minimalist workouts by the likes of La Monte Young, bit’s of Growing at their most inter-dimensional, to the confrontational fuzz of later Skullflower.
It’s certainly an interesting angle to come at the genre, and one which seems to be one or the other in most drone releases these days. With that said I found it at times meandering into restless e-bow territories, such as the track “We’ll wield Fire”, but there’s still enough on offer here to harmonise the heavy with the soothing. There are some fantastic tones on display here which is achieved by “utilizing a combination of electric and lap steel guitar, salvaged thrift store keyboards, pedals [both broken and boutique], obscure analogue synthesizers, and other obsolete noise-making esoterica” as explained from Mr Solotroff of the leather clad, Bloodyminded / Bloodlust fame. You can certainly hear it on sections of the final track “A Vision” with it's intense build up, a very fitting conclusion.
It’s a worthy release with a lot to offer the drone heads, but I’d like to hear something a little more ambitious from these guys, a bit more balls out – there’s something inherent in their sound which should be pulverising me to a pulp, but I’ve only been lightly tickled and teased. With that said, The Golden Sores are definitely ones to keep an eye on if you’re into the low and slow side of things.
The Golden Sores - A Peaceable Kingdom
by skidblue
Hailing from Chicago, the duo of The Golden Sores (aka. Steve Fors and Chris Miller) effortlessly blend ambient and blissful dronescapes alongside a buried harshness of guitar feedback and keyboard haze - a textured approach which seems to encompass early minimalist workouts by the likes of La Monte Young, bit’s of Growing at their most inter-dimensional, to the confrontational fuzz of later Skullflower.
It’s certainly an interesting angle to come at the genre, and one which seems to be one or the other in most drone releases these days. With that said I found it at times meandering into restless e-bow territories, such as the track “We’ll wield Fire”, but there’s still enough on offer here to harmonise the heavy with the soothing. There are some fantastic tones on display here which is achieved by “utilizing a combination of electric and lap steel guitar, salvaged thrift store keyboards, pedals [both broken and boutique], obscure analogue synthesizers, and other obsolete noise-making esoterica” as explained from Mr Solotroff of the leather clad, Bloodyminded / Bloodlust fame. You can certainly hear it on sections of the final track “A Vision” with it's intense build up, a very fitting conclusion.
It’s a worthy release with a lot to offer the drone heads, but I’d like to hear something a little more ambitious from these guys, a bit more balls out – there’s something inherent in their sound which should be pulverising me to a pulp, but I’ve only been lightly tickled and teased. With that said, The Golden Sores are definitely ones to keep an eye on if you’re into the low and slow side of things.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Mail-Order Shipping Policy Change
Here is the new BloodLust! shipping policy, to line up with my Discogs and eBay listings,. etc.:
- All prices include postage, shipping materials,
and PayPal fees
----- Simply add prices for your total - combined
shipping rates are not offered
- USA orders will be sent via Media Mail
- All foreign orders will be sent via International
First Class Mail or International Priority Mail
(based upon weight)
- Premium services (i.e. Priority Mail, Express
Mail, insurance, delivery confirmation, etc.), are
available upon request. Please inquire for costs
Status - 8/3
- Sorry for the radio silence. Pieter was in town, so the last four days have been a bit of a whirlwind. Highlights included an Art Institute visit, Tio Luis insanity with Isidro, BLOODYMINDED c.1996 reunion at Continental, Zoroaster at The Empty Bottle (amazing, again!), the Devourment August special at Kuma's Corner... canceled flights and an extra night... guacamole madness at Adobo Grill... sociology lessons at Rainbow...
- The Nightmares 7-inch test pressings arrived and they sound great. If the hazy blue marble vinyl that the tests were pressed in is the same as the edition, that will be excellent
- I am catching up on the weekend's mail-order, eBay, Discogs... All packages should be ready to go by this evening
- The BloodLust! August update will be sent out/posted in a day or two, as last-minute release and show info is sorted out. Thanks for being patient!
- The Nightmares 7-inch test pressings arrived and they sound great. If the hazy blue marble vinyl that the tests were pressed in is the same as the edition, that will be excellent
- I am catching up on the weekend's mail-order, eBay, Discogs... All packages should be ready to go by this evening
- The BloodLust! August update will be sent out/posted in a day or two, as last-minute release and show info is sorted out. Thanks for being patient!
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