Category Archives: Reviews

Reviews

Cadaver Inc – Discipline CD

Cadaver Inc

Here lies a semi-hidden acme in the “off-the-fuckin’-rails” limit-smashing extremity elite. Under the guise of another Black/Death crossover from Norway comes something much’ much more spectacular & indelible. There’s much to be said that distances this effort from it’s opposition, but let’s just address the most potent feature…the fuckin’ drummer! This guy (going under the pseudonym Czral) is one of the fastest & most ferocious motherfuckers you will ever hear across Continue reading Cadaver Inc – Discipline CD →

Reviews

Blank Verse – Karelia Ingria CDR EP:

Blank Verse

Highly original & character-rich Noise from the Industrial Experimental fringe. The first two tracks of the EP, encompassing about fifteen minutes of material between them, are some of the most stunning tribulation I have heard from the Noise spectrum in some time. Richly dynamic with a poly-phonic approach that has multiple devices deployed & interchanging, this is diverse & non-binary with progressions, moderations to mood & mode along with shifting instrumentations.

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Reviews

The BUMS – lyfe ‘n’ tyme CD

B.U.M.s

Of all the albums presented in this recent post/article, this is the group that I would of thought the most likely to succeed by the traditional definition (dare I say it – “commercially”). The B.U.M.s debut (& only) CD is an outrageously slick, gigantically accessible banger pitching two unknown Oakland MC’s (at least out of their immediate locality) directly at Hip-Hop stardom. Continue reading The BUMS – lyfe ‘n’ tyme CD →

Reviews

Tha Chamba – Makin illa noize CD & Don’t sleep MCD:

Makin Illa Noize

Tha Chamba

Yet another spectacular piece of urban obscurity from Chicago. An incredible feat of integrity obsessed grimness, hostility & gauntness running wild through condemned tenements. Pretty much the entire album is bleak, with a louring & sombre production coating every surface. The focal protagonist is Toxic, a devote zealot of an MC with an overriding enmity for forgery, falsehood, compromise & imposters. Continue reading Tha Chamba – Makin illa noize CD & Don’t sleep MCD: →

Reviews

MF911- Idol the Bloodsport CD

MF911

I think this collective are from Detroit but residing in New York (there is certainly some kind of NY/Detroit merger proceeding). Two MC’s & a duo in the beats department if I am not mistaken. It’s really the sonic finish/final product that scintillates here…some phenomenal production, harvested from predominantly Jazz sample source. Ergo hard-to-trace, busy intersections of double bass, vibes & pitched-down horn grafts. Continue reading MF911- Idol the Bloodsport CD →

Reviews

Lethal Assault Weapons – PT.1 CD

LAW

LAW was a ridiculously potent eleven-deep (or so) master rap collective from LA that you have probably never heard of? They did one truly historic album in 1995 that it seems went nowhere for reasons I am unsure of!? Their style was essentially Battle Rap/Hardcore Hip-Hop, but their mode of linguistic dispatching derived from an obsession with extremely violent, graphic & destructive lyricism & majorly murderous metaphors heavy on pugnacity & lethal depictions galore.

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Reviews

Brokin English Klik – S/T CD

BIK

One shot – one kill! 1993, an MC duo of Phase & Mack 10, 12 tracks strutting the full spectrum of Hardcore, Gangsta, Hip-Hop & ultra-offensive flagrant type shit to perturb, repel or entertain? depending on your angle & strength of gut-lining. Some gorgeous hard beats, with a snare so sharp it could skewer on some tunes. Continue reading Brokin English Klik – S/T CD →

Reviews

Carla Bley – Tropic Appetites 12” LP

Carla Bley-tropic appetites

A wonderful piece of Avant-Garde class from 1974. Carla Bley was the Norse arch-bohemian Blanca lookin’ nut-case & composer bad-ass running with a crew of super cool NY envelope-pushers. This is also the first outing on her long-running record label Watt that she co-produced (& I assume founded?) with trumpeter Michael Mantler. Mantler is on this recording as well along with the great Dave Holland on bass, Howard Johnson on tuba & a whole gaggle of loons (seven in total) all enabling a herculean scope of detail & depth. Continue reading Carla Bley – Tropic Appetites 12” LP →

Reviews

Paul Bley – Paul Bley & Scorpio LP

Paul Bley-Scorpio

And so! Pianist & rollicking bohemian cool-dude Paul Bley drags in the super duo qualities of bassist Dave Holland & drummer/percussionist Barry Altschul to form the Scorpio trio, sliding around the deck in the Avant improvisational district over premeditated skeletons arranged by knock-out Carla Bley & Annette Peacock. Now, to seriously add the rainbow-fluid, magic-dust, cosmic-bollocks to an already exciting proposition – Bley is playing a plump expanse of synthesisers, electric keyboards & what’s either a killer moog or a synthesizer modal that’s damn close to one! Like a bad sweet-tooth, I have a real pash on mad moogs & the idea of them in an unbridled orbit backed up by Holland & Altschul is pretty goose-bump dappling.

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