Thanks to the magnificent blog a closer listen, I was introduced to the work of a fellow Los Angelino Sarah Belle Reid.  I was intrigued by postrockcafe’s description of the album, and after hearing it this morning in between teaching duties, I have to say that the description is apt.  Shades of early Industrial music with a more academic bent (don’t let that scare you!), a modern, sharper and cleaner take on experimental music, and bits and bobs of something that could pass for soundtrack music underpinned by a subtle, harrowing trumpet underneath, make this an absolutely worthy li ..read more

It’s amazing to think that this EP is the latest (and hopefully not last) artifact released by former Strawberry Switchblade front-woman Rose McDowell.  She had been active singing with groups like Current 93 and her own project, Sorrow, for many years, and this EP continues on that dark and eerie road.  I get the feeling of hearing a very dark series of folk songs sung in the creepiest of Presbyterian churches.  Brilliant ..read more

I have never heard of Oleg Karpachev, a Israeli soundtrack composer, but thanks to the fine folks at the legendary Cold Spring Records, I can spend this day blown away by this soundtrack which melds together Hans Zimmer and In Slaughter Natives in some fashion.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Released for the first time on any format, we proudly present the soundtrack to the 2020 sci-fi horror film ‘Sputnik’ (directed by Egor Abramenko). The bleak and hauntingly atmospheric film is accompanied by an impressively heavy soundtrack from Oleg Karpachev, who uses bombastic percussion, stir ..read more

Abu Ama and BedouinDrone’s most recent collaboration, Dawlat L​ī​biyyā, is being presented to the world by Mahorka Records, who have released this album as a well-deserved vinyl edition as well as a adding an extra track added to the digital version.  The duo released several albums both together and individually for the record label before, but this will be their first vinyl release for Mahorka, and we are hoping that many more releases appear. As an aside, the artwork was done by longtime Mahorka resident designer Angel Draganov, based on calligraphy paintings by Brett Tassenon, which ..read more

Post Doom Romance is a project between Mykel Boyd and Seah, and their collaboration produces a collection of sweeping drones dedicated to their supporters, immortalizing them on disc.  A noble project, but more importantly, the sound is engaging and hooks the listener into a pleasant ambient lull ..read more

Sanr is a project out of Turkey who has released an album so drone-laden and so darkly ambient that it would have fit perfectly between a collection of Cold Meat Industry records and the Terminator 2 soundtrack.  It’s heavy, foreboding and magnificent listening if you like a horror vibe ..read more

VIRUS2020 are a wonderfully freakish project out of Tunisia which manages to bring together soundtrack music, post-Industrial references and post-rock into a thoroughly weird and engaging stew.  This is a fun headphone listen ..read more

trajedesaliva, our friends from Galicia, Spain, have released a new album in partnership with Maud the Moth, a new artist I presume is also from the area.  This has to be their tightest work, combining the most stellar elements of early, more harshly ‘industrial’ Current 93 with a more ethereal streak where fans of Dead Can Dance can feel comfortable.  Spoken word, wordless vocals and bewitching soundscapes make for a stunning album ..read more

Illinois-based label Somnimage has been on quite a roll producing some of the best post-Industrial and experimental music coming out of the United States.  Today’s offering pairs Dan Burke (who won fame as the chief focal point of Illusion of Safety) and label owner Mykel Boyd (who has also performed with such luminaries as The Anti-Group and post doom romance).  There are two tracks on this album – the first being a solid sample lasting 7 minutes giving a fine taste of what is coming, and a full track clocking in at nearly an hour of shifting drones, pulses and eerily dark soundsca ..read more

O Yuki Conjugate are among the top-tier post-Industrial/experimental projects of the past 40 years, and it’s been an amazing experience going over their catalog over the past few weeks in my personal collection.  This is archival material and a complement to A Tension of Opposites Vols 1 & 2.  From the band’s Bandcamp site: “Two years after the first two volumes of A Tension of Opposites (ATOO) were issued OYC return to the form they created to house their looser more exploratory works. ATOO allows them to expand their musical horizons and release their music more expediently ..read more