Mark Berndt - In Memory of Steve☭Jobs

here is an album i've recently enjoyed by a group (?) known as Mark Berndt. his/their name is a direct reference to one Mark Berndt of LA, who was a school teacher. he taught latino children, as far as i know (meaning children who were still learning english). while he had been described as a very good teacher, in february he began taking pictures of his students. in these pictures, the tied up children could be seen with cockroaches crawling upon their faces, as well as semen being spoon fed to them. mark was clearly living the dream . . . or, at least until he got caught.

anyways, this is a noise project dedicated to him. overall it is a pretty damn good album, and while i can't say it really makes me think of the man it's dedicated to (very rarely can a noise concept album capture a concept while remaining so harsh throughout). the album mostly seems to be made up of very harsh feedback, distortion, and what sounds to me like banging and crashing metal. it begins with two fairly short pieces (the first almost sounding like a mentally challenged Masonna) and then moves on to the real meat of the album: a thirty minute long track entitled "Bitch Can Fucking Die (1: I Don't Want Your Pity, 2: I'll Return The Pain You Caused To Me)".


1. Coprophagia
2. Santorum x Santorum
3. Bitch Can Fucking Die (1: I Don't Want Your Pity, 2: I'll Return The Pain You Caused To Me)


ENJOY

Pedestrian Deposit - Vestige

by request, here's an album by the noise project Pedestrian Deposit. because of their use of ambient calm between harsh waves of noise they really create a rather lovely sound, as opposed to one that is threatening (like a good portion of the noise i enjoy). this album is a particularly good example of their sound.

the first track, "Angora", begins with some sort of looped string sample, reversed. it's not unpleasant. this is quickly cut short by loud blasts of feedback, which then falters for but a moment before starting up again in full force. the track stutters and can't decide if it wants to be an ambient piece or a noise piece, and the effect it has upon my ears as i listen is very jarring. i get drawn in towards the haunting ambient bits only to be slapped across the face when, out of nowhere, the noise portions of the track blast out of nowhere yet again. the track ends with a very soft ambient blipping sound.

track two: "Ideal". we begin with a crumbling sound that quickly degenerates into a buzzing whine, which then fades away into a echoing ambiance, and after about a minute or so into the track we are treated with a melancholic guitar strumming, surrounded by what sounds like rain falling in the distance. the guitar mutates into a synthesizer, and it's an absolutely beautiful sound. it finally mutates again so that it's clear that it's a guitar, but now the sound is reversed (it's still playing the same repeating tune, so it's very strange sounding).

track three, "An Examination", is the real centerpiece for this album. it begins with a very high pitched feedback sound, layered under and over a crackling static sound. it's not terribly loud at first, but soon fixes itself, and the track roars to life. around the two minute mark there is this fascinating whirring sound going on that i have to sit up and listen to any time i hear it.
by the time three minutes have passed, the sounds become more natural sounding. we hear echos of metal crashing and scraping against metal. this is the sound of an construction site cannibalizing itself.

track four, "Asphyxiate", is a rather spooky ambient piece. for the most part it is a rather long build up, until around the four minute mark where we start to hear some gorgeous melodies playing below the rumbling industrial sounds (by industrial i mean like a warehouse). the track comes to and end with the sound of blowing wind and a light tinkling glass sound, as well as church bells.

the final track, "Materialism", is another beautiful ambient track. there is certainly a chord progression here, but it's rather subtle. if you're listening close enough you'll get to hear a very lovely song. probably my favorite track on the album.



1. Angora
2. Ideal
3. An Examination
4. Asphyxiate
5. Materialism


ENJOY

MSBR / 井内賢吾 - 壱

by request, here is 壱. 壱 is a live collaboration between noise legend MSBR and folk oracle 井内賢吾, recorded on two nights in 1998, and in 1997. both artists are at their prime here. MSBR's synths and tape manipulations are hazy and swampy feeling. 井内賢吾's voice is as terrifying as ever. truly, he is a portal to jigoku. his guitars shake and quiver, like a plague victim coughing out its last breaths. when the oracle begins to howl, my heart palpitates, and i am filled with the deepest sense of dread, and of complete doom. MSBR's noisings are the shadows in this bunraku play, and 井内賢吾 is the lone priest, praying to the holy buddha, but receiving no comfort.

MSBR (aka 田野幸治) is dead. he lost his fight with cancer in 2005. i wouldn't be surprised in the slightest of 井内賢吾 is dead as well. as i have mentioned before, he has essentially disappeared from the world, leaving very little trace. it strikes me as oddly appropriate, considering the nature of his music. sheer bleak terror, shrieks of pain from the waiting grave.


1. Psychic Blue
2. live on 23-05-‘98
3. live on 24-01-’98
4. - (a japanese title. unfortunately i don't know what it is.)
5. live on 24-11-’97


ENJOY

ＧＲＩＭ - FOLK MUSIC

here is the album FOLK MUSIC by ex-White Hospital member Jun Konagaya. this music is what White Hospital would have sounded like if they had taken a stronger power electronics approach. although, actually, this is more like what S·CORE might sound like if there were barked vocals performed over it.

there are, however, moments of stark beauty on tracks such as "Heil" and "Grove". they are completely lovely, and the contrast is really interesting.

download this now if you like power electronics and ambient like S·CORE and État Brût (or, if you just liked White Hospital).




1. Grove
2. Frozen Limit
3. Bremen 1
4. Mountain
5. Burgeois
6. Alps Noel
7. Bremen 2
8. Fragment
9. Holiday
10. Heil
11. Nobel Folk


ENJOY

Macronympha - RELENTLESS AGONY

by request, here's Macronympha's Relentless Agony. this tape is really fantastic. this is one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite noise musicians (my second favorite after 非常階段). the sound he presents here is absolutely terrifying. it rends me in two, and completely rapes me. i can't get enough.

my favorite track on this album is probably "Methane Gas Trigger". the light rhythm going on here is delightfully catchy, until it fades back out again and then my head is split down the middle. this is one of my favorite noise tracks, period.


1. Headache Remedy
2. Rock Slide 1
3. Rock Slide 2
4. The Hatred Of Love
5. Methane Gas Trigger
6. Coal-Mine Structure Collapse
7. Hurricane Warning
8. Tainted Woman


ENJOY

Hair Stylistics - EXPANDED PUSSIES

Expanded Pussies is a delightful album by the always insane Hair Stylistics (a.k.a. 中原昌也, a.k.a. 暴力温泉芸者). this album isn't terribly loud. instead it focuses on scratching and scraping and buzzing sounds. oh, and sex sounds. lots of sex sounds, as well as other interesting samples.

the most bizarre track on this album is probably "Boogie Night Of The Living Dead". it's almost entirely silent except for some screaming (yahooooo). i don't really understand it, but with 中原昌也 you're never supposed to understand; you're just supposed to enjoy.


1. Expanded Pussies
2. Violent Memories
3. Don't Look Backdoor Man
4. Boogie Night Of The Living Dead
5. Death at the Bodoukan


ENJOY

Group Ongaku - MUSIC OF GROUP ONGAKU

it would not be inaccurate to call Group Ongaku the first true noise act. this collective began creating experimental music as early as the 1950s. the music that is offered here is like what 非常階段 and torturing nurse would sound like if they were gentler, and less concerned about breaking and destroying. i make such comparisons because Ongaku uses the same squawking and crying vocals as both bands.

i think my favorite track is the final track. the use of violin on this track sends shivers up my spine.


1. Automatism
2. Object
3. Metaplasm 9-15


ENJOY

Guilty Connector - DIFFERENT WATER

Different Water is an album by Guilty Connector. the title of the album is very fitting, considering the contents within; the roar of a waterfall, the bubbling of a brook, and the flowing of a fountain. this album explores the tranquility, as well as the violence, of water. the music crashes like a wave and then returns to the source, only to return to the shore and crash again. nakagawa kohei does his best to force the feeling of being caught in the undertow upon us.

my favorite track is probably the fourth track, titled "The Wheel Is Grind". it begins by roaring and screaming just like any other track on the album, but is soon intercepted by low ambient rolling, like the rolling of relentless waves.

download this album. now.


1. Different Water
2. Kaleidoscope
3. Evil Possessor
4. The Wheel Is Grind
5. Piss Factory
6. Guiltily Solvency
7. Xeno Phonogram


ENJOY

Macronympha - MELTING SOFTLY INTO TIME

Melting Softly Into Time is an album by one of my favorite noise acts, Macronympha (aka Joseph Roemer). superficially this is a very violent, threatening album, but upon further inspection i have found a much more beautiful side of the album. the textures that Roemer creates on these two tracks are absolutely stunning. the banging and crashing all comes together to form this perfect sound that is almost impossible to describe. it's just that good.

honestly, i'm convinced that this is his opus.


1. Household Appliances
2. Deconstructed Fragments Of A Thrown-Away Past


ENJOY

The Grey Wolves - THE AGE OF DISSENT

The Age of Dissent is my favorite album by legendary power electronics act, The Grey Wolves. i don't feel like writing anything up about it right now, except that you'll like it if you like early Whitehouse.


1. Crawl
2. Empty Threat
3. Destructive State
4. Aura of Violence
5. The Age of Dissent
6. Skin Hunger
7. Low Level Transmission
8. New World Dis-Order
9. Bodycount


ENJOY

Dissecting Table - BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH

Dissecting Table is a superb industrial/power electronics act by Ichiro Tsuji. his music is kinda like Contagious Orgasm's evil brother; still the same weird sound sampling, but now with grindcore vocals and a focus on pain and suffering.

my favorite track is the pounding "Dark Side Of Life". the roaring vocals and relentless beat on this track are flooring.


1. From Life To Death
2. Road To Death
3. Desperate Situation
4. Death March
5. Murder Music
6. Dark Side Of Life
7. Ruin
8. Cosmic Death


ENJOY

Hair Stylistics - CUSTOM COCK CONFUSED DEATH

Costom Cock Confused Death is an album by Masaya Nakahara (of Violent Onsen Geisha fame). essentially, it's very much like a VOG album, but more focused, and less comical (though the sense of humor is still there). this album is full of tight, short little tracks, violent blasts of slurred static and hip-hop beats, layered over sample after sample after sample, and with a bit of psychedelic rock guitar warbling here and there.

download this or you'll hate yourself forever.


1. The Exciting Introduction
2. Underhair World
3. 3
4. Doomed Love Parade
5. Organic Orgasm
6. 6
7. Woman
8. 8
9. The Special
10. 11
11. 10
12. 12
13. Spanish 808
14. 14
15. I Like Percussion
16. 16
17. Kill The Animals Project
18. The Perfect Bongo Sessions
19. A Tragedy Of The Espresso Machine
20. 20
21. Tired
22. Regret


ENJOY

The Sodality - BEYOND UNKNOWN PLEASURES

The Sodality was a very mysterious italian power electronics act. this is the only album that he released. supposedly there is some back catalog material, but it seems highly unlikely that shall ever be released. for now, though, most PE and noise fans are fine with only having Beyond Unknown Pleasures.

this album is often considered to be the best power electronics album of all time. one of the single most vicious and uncomfortable PE albums to ever be released. everything about it is simply flawless. the lyrics, the vocals, the electronics, everything. but mostly the vocals. the electronics stays low (mostly rumbling and hissing, sometimes there's a high-pitched whine or two) so that the vocals can really take control.
this album really gives you a good idea why the name of the genre is "power" electronics; the lyrics are the ultimate portrayal of victimization and absolute control.

you have to download this if you like PE or noise.

1. They Never Learn
2. I Can't Stand A Bitchy Chick
3. Catch The Whore
4. I Want Your Blood
5. The Kiddie Eater
6. Fuck Mastery
7. The Younger - The Better
8. Beyond Unknown Pleasure
9. Orgies Of Crime
10. And So You Shall


ENJOY

JOJO広重 - このまま死んでしまいたい

JOJO広重 is most well known for being the leader of legendary noise unit Hijokaidan (who i have argued, in the past, were most likely the founder of modern noise). he also has a fantastic (and still active) solo career. this album is from his solo career.

to me, it sounds like a much more structured Viva Angel, which is already Hijokaidan's most accessible release to date. it's different in that it has cleaner production. it does retain the psychedelic sound, à la Les Rallizes Denudes or Fushitsusha, but the guitars are not layered in mountains of feedback and static.

a really fantastic album that my friend Avarance- was kind enough to share with me. i hadn't been able to find it until he gave it to me, so i am indebted to him. he also shared some Sai Yoshiko, which i shall upload at a later date.



1. なんでもいいからヤッちまえ
2. 神よ
3. 生きていることが罪になる
4. ダメ人間
5. 締観
6. 三月の雪
7. 死にたいだけ


ENJOY

S·CORE - DROSS

Dross is a fantastic album from one of my favorite musicians, S·CORE (Yutaka Tanaka).

S·CORE's work is low frequency ambient music of the strangest variety. it bubbles and hisses, moans and curses, and shuffles down dark hallways in abandoned houses. it is the very embodiment of the word "uneasy".

reminds me of Les Joyaux de la Princesse, at least to some extent.


1. Self-Will
2. Introit
3. Crib
4. Lethargy
5. Low Water Mark
6. Pother
7. Penitential
8. Water Colour
9. Trembling
10. A Blatant Lie
11. Drone
12. Muffle
13. Vanity Case


ENJOY

Mharles Cingus - CINGUS AH UM

Cingus Ah Um is an album by up and coming glitch act Mharles Cingus. Cingus' sound could quite easily be related to Ryoji Ikeda or NON's early minimalist noise work. this album is short and sweet; a little shrill mechanical squeals here, a little white noise there, and a nice sense of minimalism brings it all together into fine computer based noise. the last track in particular sounds like the breakdown of a Windows 98 (or so i'd like to imagine) after it has found a terabyte of child porn on within its own hard drive.

ENJOY

Candy Messiah / Crown of Flowers - YUKKO SYNDROME

Yukko Syndrome is a split between two newly founded noise acts (Candy Messiah and Crown of Flowers). the split is dedicated to the idol-pop musician, Yukiko Okada, who committed suicide when she was eighteen (after gaining quite a bit of popularity). she was found in the closet of her apartment in tokyo, crying, with her wrists slashed. a little later she tossed herself from the roof of the Sun Music Agency building. this death inspired many copycat suicides, which were soon dubbed "Yukko Syndrome" suicides.
this split tries to capture the pain she was going through at the time of her death (according to the two artists involved).

a must for any fan of harsh noise and japanese idol-pop.

1. 1# Fan Forever - Candy Messiah
2. Spring Accident: Fall From Seven Stories - Crown of Flowers

A Beautiful Princess

PURE MAGAZINE

Pure was a two issue magazine released by Peter Sotos, notorious hedonist/libertine and former member of power electronics founding band Whitehouse (whose albums i promised, but will most likely not be able to provide directly from this blog [i do have them, however, so ask, and you will receive]). this magazine that he published himself (because no one else would) is essentially the modern-day version of 120 Days of Sodom; nothing is taboo, nothing is frowned upon (except christian morals). Sotos praises pedophiles, rapists, and serial killers, writing long articles describing their antics, worshiping death.
suffice it to say the weak of heart should avert their gaze. i will be honest; this shocked me and frustrated me upon first read. it is . . . sickening.

enjoy:

1 (pdf)
2 (pdf)
extras (.rar)

[kindly provided by my friend La Grippe over at Terror Noise Audio]

Atrax Morgue - DEATH-ORGASM CONNECTOR

Atrax Morgue was always about death (particularly suicide). but, unlike most bands with suicide/death themes, Marco Corbelli actually did the deed three years ago.
he hung himself.

this is a very dark album. the lyrics aren't all that complicated; for the most part, Marco just repeats the title of the song over and over again, slowly stretching out the syllables until he turns them into long, high pitched whines and moans.
overall it's an absolutely emotional album. a definite favorite.

ENJOY

非常階段 - VIVA ANGEL

Hijokaidan could possibly be credited as being the founders of the noise genre as we know it today (though Whitehouse did it first, as well as NON, they didn't do it as loud as Hijokaidan did it). the band began playing music at "the Drugstore" (a live venue) in 1979. the band was influenced by psychedelic bands as opposed to industrial bands. this difference is very distinct, although the latter made noise the harshest genre around.

Viva Angel was one of Hijokaidan's earliest albums. while the album is still very loud and very spastic, it has a much more accessible sound than, say, Zouroku No Kibyou (which is undeniably their best album). all the same, it is a very loud experience that will still damage your ears.
possibly the best part about this album is Junko's loud, squealing voice. the woman honestly is the most powerful noise vocalist around (putting Yamazaki Maso to shame).

ENJOY