So I started to write a review of this incredible tape, and then I saw Aquarius Records’ review, and felt ashamed. Nothing could describe this in a more perfect way. Why try?
“Earthen Sea, what a killer name, however, the tape’s title, Seeking Enlightenment 12 Oz. At A Time, had us expecting some sort of lo-fi, damaged and drunken sludgerock slugfest, but nothing could be further from the truth. Earthen Sea craft delicately developing drones, that begin life as a droney ultra minimal krautrock / postrock hybrid, with lots of swirling low end, pulsing melodies, propulsive barely there rhythms, a murky kraut jam like listening to Neu! practice six floors below you in an -almost- soundproof rehearsal room. Those various elements eventually begin to come apart, and blur together, becoming a thick tangled swirl of low end grind and throbbing, rumbling thrum, shot through with subtle sonic colors and glistening melodic sparkles. Nice.”Aquarius Records
Tracklisting 1: Belial (5:34) 2: Serpent (6:05) 3: Earthborn (Forging of the Chalice) (6:00) 4: Sine Fine (Altar of Manik) (3:50) 5: Noosphere (8:31) 6: A Mere Offering (Octahedral Visions) (6:18) 7: The Great Attractor (7:02) 8: Gaijin (Falling Through Mercury) (5:32)
My apologies for the lengthy break in posting. I’m back in action now and have some insane stuff to post.
Bones of Seabirds create that dense, heavy, “wall of distortion” type of drone that we all know and love. Reminds me of when I first discovered Sunn O))). Kick back and enjoy the nuclear sunset in an industrial, dystopian future to this one.
Tracklisting:
1: Woe Is The Transgression
2: Behind The Bank
3: Eyeballs
4: Betrayed In The Octagon
5: Woe Is The Transgression II
6: Parallel Mind Over
8: Weird Times Docking This Orb
Analog sunshine breaking through a murky tape-warble cloud cover. This is synthesizer manna for the post-Boards of Canada generation lost in the desert. The poor man’s Vangelis. Highly recommended
1: Zuben Elschemali (5:14)
2: The Three-Eyed Fox (5:50)
3: The Rings Of Saturn (5:36)
4: Many Are The Dead, Few The Living (6:10)
5: A Little Sick Boy Tending The Corpse-Eating Sheep (While His Sister Rides The Horse Of Death) (5:49)
6: Jupiter (And Beyond) (8:02)
7: Wisdom Of The Sea (4:59)
8: The Serpent’s Throat (8:13)
9: Zuben Elgenubi (6:02)
As Plague Haus aptly put it: “This is the soundtrack of Cthulu approaching through the void. Take heed.”
This dark-ambient masterpiece is a nightmarish labyrinth of tension and dread. The vast space that it radiates is cold and dark, and full of innumerable unpleasant skittering things. In the midst of interweaving and growing drones, there emerge slithering, raspy whispers, more than likely incantations of the underworld. This is the sound of the Necronomicon book-on-tape.
Super Minerals = Phil and William from Magic Lanterns, but this project is definitely not overshadowed by their main gig. This release kicks off with that especially murky drone that I’m so fond of, deep and echoey. Throw in a few distorted screams looped to infinity and distorted beyond recognition, and a harmonica somewhere in the mix, and you have a pretty brain-melting slab of drone. Like Sunburned Hand of the Man on a handful of qualudes.
Harsh guitar feedback loops and riffs. Bonecloud is particularly adept at keeping 10-15+ minute drones interesting. Constantly shifting and adding texture, the odd vocal filters through the mix occasionally. Dense soundscapes.
Chaotic percussion seemingly created by whatever happened to be near them at the time. All acoustic, all natural. Gongs, cymbals, sticks, pipes…you name it.
The two tracks on this cassette drift from frantic percussion storms to contemplative crystal drones. Hard to describe, but well worth repeated listening. The Italian scene is going strong!
Dedicated the legendary collector of folk music Alan Lomax comes this latest release from the incredibly prolific Italian brothers Roberto and Maurizio Opalio aka My Cat is an Alien. This time around the bring fellow Italian experimental type Fabio Orsi along for the ride, who kicks the disc off with a 40 minute slice of utterly breathtaking ambience. Using field recordings, guitars, a piano and the wind itself, Orsi structures a piece of crystalline beauty, embedding the themes of collected worldwide folk music beneath a mire of harmony and emotion. I rarely expect to be greeted by this kind of unashamed reverence within a MCIAA project, but I must say it’s a pleasant surprise and I’m now intrigued to hear more by Fabio Orsi. As for the MCIAA piece which follows, this is a recording of one of their legendary live shows in which they distort the sounds of their guitars and ‘space toys’ to create a sound truly cosmic. Space travelling folk music if you like, and the ghost of their biggest influence Alan Lomax is omnipresent throughout. Unmistakably adventurous and another hypnotic drone-journey – recommended!Boomkat
Another haunting track by Grouper. I loved last year’s album “Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill,” and I just pre-ordered the 7” this song is featured on. Grab it here for $6 before it sells out:
Evil duel-drum set death jazz with sax skronk stalking at a brutal pace. Out of Print and highly recommended.
