Crucial Blast on Mark Solotroff

Re-posted from Crucial Blast, with thanks, as always, for the thoughtful write-up!



B!134 Mark Solotroff "Archive04"

Part of Bloodlust's ongoing reissue series of past solo recordings from label boss Mark Solotroff (also of Bloodyminded and Intransic Action), Archive04 collects some mid-90's output that originally came out on the Italian death industrial label Slaughter Productions on cassette. All of that stuff has been out of print for years, so this series is great for any Solotroff fans that never stood a chance at getting their hands on these early synth-death works when they first came out. This fourth entry in the series is heavy stuff, the first two tracks making up the bulk of the disc with more than an hour of crushing tectonic harsh wall noise that forshadows the sort of black maelstrom that artists like The Rita, Vomir, and Last Rape.

These two thirty-minute tracks are from the 1996 cassette Evidence To Suggest Postmortem Sexual Assault on Slaughter Productions, each a vast side-long rumbling dronescape, like a muted HNW, all washed out and with almost all of the highs eradicated from the mix. A monstrous half hour avalanche of low end rumble that has subtle synth buzz fluttering on the periphery, becoming more apparent as the track progresses. The swarming black low-end drift is oppressive from start to end, a consuming mass of bass-heavy sound, a massive deathdrone wave of black lava washing over the earth beneath swarms of demonic locusts. When the second of the tracks kicks in, it at first seems to be less bass heavy, more of a fluttering, rumbling engine drone, a massive mechanical whirring trailed by swooping sine waves, still deep and murky and HEAVY, and eventually it flattens out into a similar expanse of churning muffled tectonic rumble as the first. This material is a must hear for fans of pure monolithic harsh noise.

"Blood Room", the third and last track, comes off of the Slaughter Productions.compilation tape Extreme Pleasures Vol. I. from 1995. It ends the disc with a jarring swarm of high frequency tones and swarming insectile chaos, the frenzied beating of millions of black wings, a sky full of swarming , chirping, squealing clusters of high-end noise.

B!136 + B!137 Pre-Orders

B!136 + B!137 are now listed in the BloodShop! for pre-orders, with an anticipated release date of Tuesday February 15, 2011

B!136: http://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/b-136-mark-solotroff-archive06-cd
B!137: http://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/b-137-mark-solotroff-archive07-cd

Discogs listings:
B!136: http://www.discogs.com/release/2695663
B!137: http://www.discogs.com/release/2695665

Status - 2/1

- Preparing for blizzard conditions here in Chicago

- Sending B!136+B!137 to the CD plant



- Reviewing last night's The Fortieth Day recording session, which was full-on heavy duty...

- Now in Stock at the BloodShop!: Consumer Electronics "Nobody's Ugly" LP on No Fun Productions

http://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/consumer-electronics-nobody-s-ugly-lp

Final Solo Archives

The last two entries in the seven part Mark Solotroff archive series are now in pre-production with an expected early January 2011 release

B!135 Mark Solotroff "Archive05"

BloodLust! New Release

Artist: Mark Solotroff
Title: "Archive05"
Format: Professionally duplicated CD
Catalog Number: BloodLust! 135
Genre: Noise / Industrial / Experimental / Power-Electronics



BloodLust! is pleased to announce the fifth release in the Mark Solotroff "Archive" series. In the planning stages for over two years, this series of seven CDs will cover all of Solotroff's solo output, released under his own name in 1995 and 1996. All of these recordings were originally released on cassette by a small group of labels, including BloodLust!, G.R.O.S.S. [Japan], Less Than Zero [Italy], Old Europa Cafe [Italy], and Slaughter Productions [Italy]. Each release will include bonus material, consisting of either compilation tracks from the same labels, or newly created remixes. At the time that these recordings were made, Solotroff had switched gears between Intrinsic Action and BLOODYMINDED and he had recently completed the recording of the first 50 analog synthesizer-based Super Eight Loop cassettes. This small body of work gave Solotroff the opportunity to rely less on his synths and to try something different. In 1995, the idea of using guitar effect pedals as ones primary "instrument" in making heavy noise was still fairly novel, and Solotroff made use of an arsenal of distortion, delay, flanger, phaser, and other pedals, running either radio frequencies [scanner or shortwave] or his voice through the complex chain of FX. The results fit squarely into what was, at the time, being discussed as a new American noise style that was developing away from the power-electronics scene, and which eventually evolved into the harsh noise subgenre of today.

For the fifth entry in the series, the first four tracks are taken from Solotroff's 1996 cassette on G.R.O.S.S. (Japan), "In The Mind Of A Monster" [GRE210], the fifth track is a new reworking of the original recordings, and the sixth track is a previously unreleased song that was recorded for a Beast 666 Tapes (Japan) compilation that never saw the light of day. Hand-written notes and diagrams that were saved indicate that Solotroff employed a variety of equipment in the main recording sessions, including a battery of effect pedals, in conjunction with scanner and analog synth [Roland SH-101 and Moog MG-1]. Unlike the hypnotic, bass-heavy drone at the core of "Archive04," this latest entry in the series presents a full frequency spectrum that is in more squarely in attack mode. The packaging for these releases is based upon the format established with the two Mark Solotroff + Sshe Retina Stimulants CDs that were released by BloodLust! in 2008 [B!101 + B!102], and the entire series will follow this unifying template. These are professionally duplicated CDs, with single panel, double-sided inserts, featuring color artwork; in jewel boxes with shrinkwrap; released in 2010.

Discogs: http://tinyurl.com/2cdrrj5

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Mark Solotroff: Anatomy of Habit, Animal Law, A Vague Disquiet, BLOODYMINDED, Intrinsic Action, Nightmares, Super Eight Loop, Surgical Stainless Steel, The Fortieth Day

Recent guest appearances: Brutal Truth (synth on "Evolution Through Revolution" + live in Chicago 2009), Consumer Electronics (live synth 2008-09), Locrian (vocals and synth on "Territories" LP + live in 2010), Plague Bringer (live synth + vocals 2009-10), Rabid Rabbit (vocals on "Suicide Song" AKA "Gloomy Sunday" + live), Mike IX Williams (of Eyehategod; remix of BLOODYMINDED song on new solo 7-inch), Ten Suicides (live 2010 collaboration with members of Eyehategod, BLOODYMINDED, Wolvhammer), Wilt (remix/collaborative track on "Cemetery Road/Dead Electroniks")

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Tracklisting:
1. Ngeun/Michelle/Elizabeth (11:30)
2. Chanel/Karen/Virginia (11:17)
3. Kimberly/Kim/Vicky (10:50)
4. Artiss/Lisa/- (11:47)
5. In The Mind Of A Monster (Edit/Remix) (24:02)
6. Untitled (3:01)

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Price: $12.00 USA/$14.00 Canada+Mexico/$16.00 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

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Archive05

The Discogs page for the fifth installment of the Mark Solotroff Archive series is now online, although the website appears to be under heavy strain. This new CD, along with the Locrian "Territories" CD, will be announced in the October update, which will be sent out and posted tomorrow.

http://www.discogs.com/Mark-Solotroff-Archive05/release/2493876

B!135 In-Production

After a series of delays that were caused by the need for repeated mastering work, the next entry in the Mark Solotroff "Archive" series is finally in production. The primary material comes from the 1996 G.R.O.S.S. cassette, "In The Mind Of A Monster," and the bonus material includes a long re-mix from those sessions, as well as a previously unreleased track that was originally submitted to Beast 666 Tapes for a compilation that never came out in the 1990s. More news soon...

Sneak Peek: B!135 March Solotroff "Archive05" CD

Finally catching up a bit...

In Production: B!134 Mark Solotroff "Archive04" CD

B!132 Mark Solotroff "Archive02" CD - Sneak Peek

(Out March 2010)

Antimusic.com on Solotroff Archive Series

Antimusic.com post of press release for Archive01