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ambient noise

Horologium * The Fire Sermon (cd 2006 divine comedy records)

However this Polish one-man-act has quite a few releases out, “The Fire Sermon” is the first that I hear of him. Too bad! Horologium makes a weird kind of industrial music, weird in the good sense of the word! In the beginning it seems that “The Fire Sermon” is characterised by a mix of clear and distorted (noisy) sounds, from orchestral to ‘oldschool’ industrial. There is more though! Most tracks are relatively tranquil with a nice haunting atmosphere and a high level of experimentation, maybe reminding a bit of a project such as Ginger Leigh. There are samples of choirs, violins, voices, etc. some tracks have an industrial background while other are more overall industrial in sound. All this results in strange tracks with a very original sound and atmosphere. It is all hard to describe, because Horologium is very original and I like that, especially when it is good! People who like the earlier mentioned Ginger Leigh or projects such Cruelty Campaign, Propergol or Cyclotimia are advised to have a listen to Horologium too!

Gruntsplatter / Slowvent * split release (cd 1998 crionic mind)

I bought this cd because I was curious about Gruntsplatter. I have two contributions to compilation cds (Baited Breath mc and On The Brink Of Infinity cd) which are fairly good. Harsch and very dark industrial/noise made in a descent way. This cd turned out to be an old one, but since it’s still available, I might just as well review it anyway. Both Gruntsplatter and Slowvent make dark noise on this album. Hardly any beat or industrial influence is to be found. You’ll mainly hear deep drowning noises, rumbling and the usual noise screeking. All in a pretty monotous way and not very good.

Ginger Leigh * Sparrow Wings (cd 2006 red river productions)

This is the third Ginger Leigh album that I review but there are more. Ginger Leigh makes a strange kind of noise, “noisescapes” may be a good description. Strange tunes, weird rhythms (Eastern, jazzy, industrial), odd samples and distorted sounds make Ginger Leigh a crazy listening experience. “Sparrow Wings” is a short album, only 30 minutes. The sounds seems to be more minimal and noisy. There aren’t such ‘extreme’ parts as in “A True Life Story”, which makes this new cd more fit for background music. On the other hand, you better listen to it very well if you want to hear all the sounds, samples and ideas. Weird music for lovers of experimental noisy music.

Ginger Leigh * If I Should Die Tomorrow (cd 2004)

A year ago I got a copy of the previous cd “A True Life Story” which was also released by the band itself. This is a very good ‘noise-ambient’ cd with a very experimental and wonderfull sound. I play this cd quite often while reading. Now I got this new cd which is also experimental and strange, but especially the first half is less noisy. It took a few rounds in my player again to get into the original sound of Ginger Leigh, but this American artist did it again. Progressive industrial sounds, a “When” for the 21th century? Some tracks were also on “A True Life Story”.

Ginger Leigh * A True Life Story (cd 2003 masuno)

The promo copy of this cd came to me with a long list of quotes from reviews of colleagues who all recognise the originality of this American project. Ginger Leigh mixes noise and some industrial with ethnic ((near) Eastern) sounds, some tribal drumming and avantgardistic music that reminds me of When sometimes. 16 Tracks and 43.31 minutes of crazyness and originality. Here and there a shred of recognition, but often not at all. If you want some vague comparisons, I can refer to Tesco acts like C.O.T.A. and Cruelty Campaign (both also from the USA) whose music I referred to as “livingroom industrial”, “industrial soundscapes” and “industrial hearplay”. All these descriptions I could also use for Ginger Leigh. That does not mean that Ginger Leigh sounds much like the two mentioned bands, but if you like them, I think you will also like this. As said, I hear When here and there and maybe if you like the State-Art kind of industrial, you should try to get your hands on this one. Quality-wise, I would say that Ginger Leigh comes between Cruelty Campaign and C.O.T.A., not too far after CC.
Good to hear that there is still original music from the industrial scene. “Sophisticated noise”, how is that for a description?

Ex.Order * Corporate Control (cd 2007 power and steel)

Long ago when I was still a newbee in the industrial world, I got most of my stuff from Loki. In that time they also had the ‘sublabels’ (?) Nature and Organisation and Power and Steel. Apparently at least the latter still exists. For a very long time I couldn’t listen to noise, but the darker sounds of Söldnergeist or Ex.Order appealled to me. Yet I haven’t really followed these projects. I do have some releases of both and now with this new Ex.Order album (the first real album since 1999) I decided to get myself a copy. “Corporate Control” opens with impressive and very dark low-frequency noise tracks, the way I like it! This dark tone remains present, but not all the tracks are as noisy as the first. There are also more ambient-like tracks, but also they are nice. Slow, low frequencies, distorted voices and samples and here and there a noisy outburst. I think the lovers of power electronics need nothing more to be said, get this great new album! For those who are not too familiar with this kind of music, Ex.Order is a noise act that you may start with listening to noise. It is extreme in style, but not too extreme in sound, so your ears may get used to this kind of tonal anarchism.

Deadwood * 8 19 (cd 2005 cold spring)

Cold Spring noise. When I put on “8 19” (unfortunately I haven’t been able to find out what the title refers to, 19 august of some year?) and heard the uncompromising and unstructured extreme noise opening track, I feared that this would be a cd with a kind of noise that I can’t stand. But after 11 minutes we go to track two and things get a lot better, very dark ambient, a little monotous, but nice. Almost 15 minutes later we go on to a better kind of noise, low frequencies, an industrial background, but still pretty damn loud. This goes on for 11 minutes after which a track opens with dark ambient, but going over in very dark noise, a really great track. The last two tracks are shorter, 10 minutes and 4 minutes. The fifth track has some kind of rhythm, but very slow and the last track is more like a dark industrial ambient piece. Accept for the first one, I really like “8 19”. All track have the highly distorted vocals, but that is okay when the music is distorted too. It seems that nowadays noise tends to have the nice, dark sound that I enjoy and not as much making ‘noise for the sake of noise’. Deadwood is also a good example of a noise act that doesn’t stick to one kind of noise, bringing variety and innovation to the genre. That is nice, because I find myself enjoying noise more often than a couple of years ago!

Cruelty Campaign * Distressed Signals (cd 2001 tesco)

A new duo from the USA makes it’s debut (I think) on the German Tesco Organisation. This cd opens very noisy, but pretty soon it becomes clear that CC is not just another American noise-act.”Distressed Signals” mixes strange soundscapes/recordings with various kinds of industrial music, samples and a great dark atmosphere. The result is something that I would describe as dark- ambient-industrial-noise. It is not very violent and there are no beats. There are deep drones, great low frequencies, well-placed samples (sometimes a bit too many though) and overall this is surprisingly original and good! A great release from our friends of Tesco! And it comes in a very nice three-fold digipack too.