Limited Express (has gone?) - Makes You Dance!

2004; 13 tracks

Groovy and schizophrenic music in the likes of Afrirampo and Melt-Banana (maybe even some DODDODO too). It has some lovely poppy moments and plenty of noise rock elements, which is why I can never be bored listening to Makes You Dance!

Limited Express (has gone?) was a Japanese experimental/noise pop duo formed in 1998 who toured worldwide and made three albums and a mini-album. This is their second album.

HOPPING

Psychic Teens - Teen

2011; 7 tracks

I know next to nothing about this band (except that they are from Philadelphia), but I do know that they leave me feeling pleasantly cold inside.

One person says they "ride the 80's goth/darkwave era hard, but with a bit more added noise and distortion that will likely draw mentions of influence from shoegaze, etc. The singer especially seems to really be following the Joy Division line of approach, with cold monotone echoed out vocals."

"The seven-song record channels their communal taste for Sonic Youth's dissonance and Joy Division's brooding new wave/punk."

In an interview, the singer-guitarist Larry Ragone says, "I think if there was a character who was the star of all of the songs, it'd be some angry kid. He's probably wearing a black sweatshirt and kicking rocks while he walks down the street mad at the world, mad at girls. It's sort of dark, but that's OK — it has to match the music."

Hopefully you can gain a sense of what this band is like. I'm reminded of the gothic/psychobilly flair of Calabrese, but that's only because I don't listen to music of this sort as often as I should.

Bandcamp / Purchase

Kylie Minoise - Psychedelic Satanism! EP

2006; 7 tracks

Kylie Minoise is the solo project of Lea Cummings, an English noise artist currently residing in Glasgow. Psychedelic Satanism!, while not his first release, is his first EP. The first 6 tracks are all under 2 minutes in length, while the final track is nearly 7 minutes. Truthfully, the last track, titled simply "!," is one of the most gorgeous noise tracks to ever be composed.

!!!!!!!
!!!!!!
!!!!!
!!!!
!!!
!!
!

Big Black - Songs About Fucking

1987; 14 tracks

I feel a little behind, but even if I found out how incredible Songs About Fucking is today or in 500 years the effect would still be the same: this is incredible.

Big Black was a noise rock/post-punk band from Illinois founded in the early 80s by guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Steve Albini, who you might also know from Shellac (I suggest reading more about their background here). Along with his work with his bands, Albini has also engineered hundreds of albums and recording projects, all of which are top-notch releases - check out the full list here. It is clear why so many people see him as the father of the independent noise and post-punk scenes.

It is a very brutal album, surely, but Songs About Fucking is essential listening.

got a headache like a pillow

HTRK - Work (Work, Work) / Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart

2011; 10 tracks
Listen. *


2011; 2 tracks
Listen. *

The Australia-based group HTRK's two most recent works are incredible perfection. I know I was raving about Marry Me Tonight earlier, and I'm still unsure whether I like these new works better or just the same, but it really shouldn't matter. Starting with the full-length, Work (Work, Work), there is an incredible sense of rhythm associated with it - cold atmospheres and pure, unfaltering pulsations. At odds with each other, groovy, club-like beats accompany the sexy vocals of Jonnine. Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart is three tracks ("Eat Yr Heart" also appears on Work) of a same, piercing quality. "Eva" is eerie, and "Sweetheart" is a masterpiece (it is a cover of the song by Suicide). Ugh I can't explain how much these two releases rule. Favorite tracks: "Bendin'" off of Work (Work, Work), and "Sweetheart" off of Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart.

* Download links taken down upon request.

HTRK - Marry Me Tonight

2009; 9 tracks

This. This is seriously the most amazing thing that has ever reached my ears. It will pound in your head and you'll never want it to stop. I was unsure of it at first, but no more. This is the best no-wave/experimental/noise album I've heard in nearly 18 years.

Where is my sun to keep me warm? *

* Download link taken down upon request.

70 Gwen Party - John Peel Sessions 1, 2, 3 & 4

1995; 19 tracks



Politically charged underground industrial duo from Britian. last.fm



Download.

Rah Bras - Ruy Blas!

2001; 12 tracks



Ruy Blas! is one of the most lovely, strange albums I've ever had the chance to listen to. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I am insanely infatuated with it.



Rah Bras was a trio from Virginia consisting of brothers Boo and Jean Rah and Isabellarah Rubella that disbanded in 2007, but plan to return to the music scene in 2037. B. and Jean Rah were also members of Men's Recovery Project at one point.



They are noisy and nonsensical. While listening I couldn't help myself but think of their overwhelming similarity to The Residents, even though it is clear they are two totally separate entities after all. With mysterious changes in mood and atmosphere, Ruy Blas! rarely meanders in the direction you expect it to. Isabellarah's voice is very beautiful and foreign-sounding, and I especially love her part in "Civic" (and how she says the word "hummingbird"). From a techno-infused, neon-lit night club, one might be swept instantly to, I don't know, a marketplace on some alien planet where noisy bees accompany even the most James Bond-like melodies. That probably made no sense. Truthfully, though, this is an incredible album of experimental electronoise, I guess you could call it. "Hardvard" and "Bitchin Fissure" are probably my favorite songs.



"Consisting of a gigantic keyboard, bass, and drums, Rah Bras layer provocative vocals over tight little riffs and throbbing tempos. Ruy Blas! is an audacious concoction of pop presence and electronic abrasives that gallops the gamut from gamelan to garish."



Download.

Hey Colossus & the Van Halen Time Capsule - Eurogrumble, Vol. 1

2010; 8 tracks

"The latest offering from Riot Season's custom range of limited vinyl releases is further proof of the West Midlands label's status as a prime outlet for some seriously bad underground vibes. Whatever part of Van Halen is enclosed within their time capsule, Hey Colossus have expanded their name and membership and gorged themselves on the festering contents, spewing forth discomfiting screeds of musique concrete rock as if from a poisoned smokestack. The album bounds from reductive, tank-track riff plods to smothering psychedelics in charismatically haggard fashion, its dystopian distortion and mechanical wreckage inviting us deeper into the mindset of a band cracking open their minds and sealing off their hearts as they trawl through the sonic slagheaps they've manfully committed to posterity. Its closing trilogy of pieces is a monstrous achievement, yet even their titanic proportions are mired in a lethal, pig iron sludge that drowns their every lurching step. Eat 'em and smile."

Hey Colossus is a London-based noise rock band, and "the Van Halen Time Capsule" seems to indicate the addition of extra people, but this is not a split. Eurogrumble, Vol. 1 is perhaps one of the most monstrous albums of noise rock, but it varies in style from noise, sludge, and pure experimental doom. I initially came across this album by the track "13 Millers Court," which haunts as much as captivates, but that first fatal note in "The Question" is just mind-blowing.

You will find some pretty great reviews of this release here, as well as a fairly recent interview with the band and other exclusive links.

Download.

C.C.C.C. - Love & Noise

1996; 3 tracks

I wish

Le Scrawl - Q

1994; 23 tracks

Le Scrawl is German group of avant-garde musicians founded in 1989 that plays a variety of musical styles. Q is the band's 2nd CD and is full of extremely short tracks (the longest of which being 1:28). One might argue that it goes by so fast that it's difficult to say something really substantial about it, but it still has a lot to offer. Ska, grindcore, noise - very likeable.

Download.

Brainbombs - Genius and Brutality... Taste and Power

1994; 9 tracks

This is the second album of Swedish noise/punk rock band Brainbombs. It's one of the most disturbing and brutal albums ever, but I am so mesmerized by it. I tend to like extremes. Everything in middle just doesn't cut it. Genius and Brutality..., if you play it loud, is so abrasive it hurts... but I really like that. Even if you're not really into necrophilia I swear this album fucking kills.

You have blood on your body
Blood on your mind
Blood in your dreams
Screams in your dreams
And a leg sticking out under your bed

You can't remember
You can't forget
Sweat from your skin
When you put the needle in
And a leg sticking out under your bed

Five in the morning
You're staring at the wall
Insects coming out
Angels crawling over your floor
And a leg sticking out under your bed

You have blood on your body
Blood on your mind
Blood in your dreams
Screams in your dreams
And a leg sticking out under your bed

You can't remember
You can't forget
Sweat from your skin
When you put the needle in
And a leg sticking out under your bed

Throbbing, minimal, repetitive face punches.

Swirlies - Strictly East Coast Sneaky Flute Music

1998; 16 tracks

What an album... Swirlies is an American indie rock band whose lineup seems to be constantly changing, but founding members Damon Tuntunjian and Andy Bernick are here to create a more experimental/noisy side of their usual more shoegaze sounds. Strictly East Coast Sneaky Flute Music features re-mixes of much of their earlier material by various DJs and other artists along with new material.

They're more traditionally recognised as a shoegaze act, and certainly a volume of their earlier material fits that cast very well, but this album is a peculiar hybrid of disjointed electronics, sound-collage, shoegaze and noise-pop. The other album I've heard, They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days in the Glittering World of the Salons, is a shoegaze gem with My Bloody Valentine-esque riffs and spacy drums. This album here, however, is much more experimental and playful. With electronica, hip-hop, and noise, this music is nothing short of intriguing.

Download.

Teenage Larvae - Songs For Pigs

1993; 6 tracks

According to Last.fm, Teenage Larvae is a "side project of Kevin Rutmanis (Cows, Melvins) with David B. Livingston (God Bullies) and 'anyone else we can exploit or lure into the studio'. That includes Shannon Selberg & Thor Eisentrager (both also from Cows)."

Songs for Pigs, while it is totally unclassifiable, is fantastic. Give it a listen or three, disappointment is not an option.


Download.

Cows - Cunning Stunts

1992; 12 tracks

Absolutely incredible noise rock album by the Minneapolis-based rockers Cows. They seem to be well known for their stage presence, as the lead vocalist, Shannon Selberg, has been known to hurl objects into the crowd and be all-around crazy. This raucous energy is perhaps most apparent in this thrilling, immensely enjoyable album of blues riffs, grunge-inspired noise rock, and fusion of sliding bass, bugle, harmonica, wail of a baby...(which starts the album off on a very interesting note).

The vocals might be my favorite part right now. On tracks such as "Mine," Selberg's voice lends itself to a croaking, raspy, shouting sound - much like that of Swans' frontman Michael Gira in the face-melting track "Beautiful Child." Not a second of this raw, beautiful masterpiece is to be neglected.

Download.

Aidan Baker & Tim Hecker - Fantasma-Parastasie

2008; 7 tracks

Fantasmes Parastasie is an absolutely gorgeous ambient album, one of my top three if not the top one ever. Each song is a fuzzy infusion of brilliant, effusive light. There is a growing anticipation throughout the album that just builds up beautifully as the night grows deeper and darker...

"Auditory Spirits" makes my soul fly away

Download

Hey Colossus - Hates You and You and You

2004; 5 tracks

Killer and heavy band's killer and heavy debut album that was completely enjoyable to listen to.

Download.

Coil - The Restitution of Decayed Intelligence

2003; 2 tracks

These are two tracks full of music (or noise, rather) reworked from The Remote Viewer. This is quite a bit less "melodic," and much more experimental, but still very Coil-y and awesome.

Both sides of the 10" use the same basic sounds and techniques, but the sculpturing takes different forms on either side. "The Restitution of Decayed Intelligence I" introduces the sound palette: a chorus of digital buzzes, stutters and skips that occupy the soundfield at different pitches and volumes. This music is very dimensional, seeming to fly into one's ears at a myriad of different angles. Soon, the high-end stutters are joined by a series of quasi-rhythmic metallic throbs, like the alternating whirr of a flying saucer engine. These elements are then edited, overdubbed and sculpted into dramatic convergences of sound that alternately pierce, arouse and frighten. So many faintly recognizable sounds can be heard in this midst of these abstractions, but the listener cannot discern which are placed there intentionally and which are an accident of subjectivity. A chorus of bone saws, a squeaking hinge, high-pitched shrieking, a mutated voice, swooping metallic shards, granular static: all of these sounds sneak out of the noise over the course of the piece. "The Restitution of Decayed Intelligence II" uses the same set of aural phenomena, but this time snatches of recognizable melody become obvious as the piece unfolds. Jhon Balance's warped vocal hiccups from track two of The Remote Viewer are re-used, albeit in a completely inscrutable form, sounding like a swarm of bees frantically trying to communicate with the human race. Halfway through, there is a shocking increase in volume and intensity as the piece gains momentum. It is here that we see Coil's personality come through; this piece, however chaotic, has the same epic sweep as their Love's Secret Domain-era acid house excercises, and all of the dark, hedonistic atmosphere.

Download.

Heimataerde - Leben Geben Leben Nehmen

2007; 12 tracks

Heimataerde is a German ebm/harsh industrial project started by DJ Ash. I listened to this album soo long ago, but I just now remembered how awesome and holy it was. It has elements of spoken literature and ancient choral music, so every song has a true meaning and isn't just another techno/dance track. I love love love this album.

Download.