Here we have a real Tesco release. A 71 minute noise cd in an oversized package of a French band. 11 Tracks with a lot of variety in styles of noise and power electronics including everything from high to low-frequency noise, from relatively tranquil to very extreme, lots of rhythm, lots of samples, sometimes with distorted vocals and most of the time pretty dark. Get it before it is gone!
Waiting for the new album herr Julius decided to rerelease his debut lp of 1997 that was still released on the ‘label’ Arthur’s Round Table back then. I am one of the 250 lucky people who got a copy of this nice-looking picture lp. It had a very minimal lay-out and the cd is kept mostly the same. The front and back of the picture lp are in the inside of the digipack and behind the cd.
To the music then. Don’t forget that this are Albin’s very first experiments with Der Blutharsch and in the beginning it didn’t quite sound like it does now. The debut is more ambient, rather industrial and only at a few moments you can hear the bombast that would characterise Der Blutharsch’ later sound. One track you may know from the live album “The Long Way Home”.
Anyway, the debut isn’t too good except for a few nice tracks and especially in comparison to the The Moon Lay Hidden album of the same year (“The Smell Of Blood But Victory”) it was completely overshadowed.
I suggest that you buy this cd to complete your Der Blutharsch collection or if you are interested in Albin’s early solo actions, but not if you expect another “The Pleasures Received In Pain”. Just think of the “Der Sieg Des Lichtes” ambient tracks and you will have quite a good idea.
After a few re-releases of older cds, here we have a cd with brandnew recordings. “All Pigs Must Die” is a bit of a strange cd and can definately not be compared to the previous cds that were recorded with Albin Julius of Der Blutharsch. There is again a guest musician again though: Andreas Ritter of the German neo-folk band Forseti, but his role is (I think) not comperable to Julius’ on previous albums. Ritter plays accordeon and flute on a few tracks and this actually goes very well with the DIJ neo-folk style.
And there I said it, “All Pigs Must Die” contains neo-folk, somewhat in the ‘familiar’ DIJ style of some years ago, but a bit more experimental in a way. As the cd continues, the songs are getting more and more experimental and eventually go over in a bunch of noise tracks. Not very extreme noise, but still. The last track is what I would describe as ‘ritual’, strange soundscapes with slowed-down vocals and a dark atmosphere.
Nope, DIJ is not easily predictable, so don’t try to imagine how Douglas’ new albums will sound.
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.
Our friends from Tesco again prove to have a good ear for what you could call “livingroom industrial”. Or maybe I should call it “industrial soundscapes” or “industrial hearplay”? I don’t know what to call this kind of music, but I think that those who are familiar with it, will know what I am talking about. This is the kind of industrial to put in your player and grab a book or maybe better listen intensively. Not the dancefloor-oriented stuff for sure, or the popular bombastic sound. “Marches And Meditations” has five tracks but lasts as long as 64 minutes. Musically it contains what I would call soundscapes. Not the monotous ambient kind of sound- scapes but more a collection of sounds backup by slow industrial rhythms or more tribalish drumming. It is hard to explain because I don’t know what to compare it with to give you a better idea. But, if you like the Cruelty Campaign cd from Tesco (see review below), I think that you will also like this one.
Bocksholm we of course all know from “The Manifold Of Peter Andersson”. The booklet of this compilation with the different projects of Peter Andersson (Raison D’Être, etc.) explains how Bocksholm came into existence.
Since the early days of Cold Meat Industry there have been two Peter Anderssons involved with this label. One we all know for Raison D’Être, etc., the other for Deutsch Nepal, etc. Both Peter Anderssons are born in the small city of Boxholm of which the bandname is an old way of writing. After having known eachother and worked together for about 10 years, the two Peters Andersson decided to cooperate on the musical level.
The Bocksholm track on “The Manifold…” isn’t the best track on that cd, so when I received this cd from Tesco to review, I was afraid that I had to write a bad review. Fortunately “Excursions…” is a lot better than I feared. Most of the cd isn’t as noisy as the “The Manifold…” track and the noise that is on this cd is better. The largest part consists of rather simple and soft rhythmical and repetitive industrial which resulted in a nice old-fashioned (nostalgic?) sound. Not all tracks are great, but some are. Overall a pretty nice cd in a very nice digipack.
For a long time I doubted whether or not to buy this cd. I have the “Nordland” debut and like it quite a bit, but I find it a bit too tranquil and monotous. This cd was supposed to have more drumming and be less tranquil and eventually I decided to get it anyway. As you probably heard by now “Blutopfer” is Apoptose’s remembrance of the Spanish “Semana Santa” festival that is held in the village of Calanda. This festival/ritual involves a massive amount of people drumming. Apoptose recorded the drumming and made this cd with these recordings. The result is sampled drumming (sometimes you can hear people talking in the background) combined with monotous soundscapes. The drumming isn’t as lively as it could have been and again the cd turned out to be quite good, but again a bit too tranquil and monotous for my liking. <29/6/02><3>
Another descent Tesco release. Not the usual Tesco sound though, because “Nordland” is very tranquil. The music is very ambient, often atmospheric, sometimes a bit darker now and then with some drumming and mystical samples. 7 Long tracks making a cd of 51 minutes. Not too long though, just like my reviews of today. Anyway, the digipack looks very nice and the music sounds very nice as well. I can recommand this to CMI fans and anyone who enjoys tranquil ambient. <31/10/00><3>
Yesterday Tribe Of Circle gave his very first live performance on an evening together with Death In June (surprise act), Les Joyaux de la Princesse and Der Blutharsch. However not too visually appealing it was a good performance. Also this new 7″ is good. Two wonderfull industrial tracks, one a bit more tranquil, the other somewhat heavier.
Here we have a real Tesco release. A 71 minute noise cd in an oversized package of a French band. 11 Tracks with a lot of variety in styles of noise and power electronics including everything from high to low-frequency noise, from relatively tranquil to very extreme, lots of rhythm, lots of samples, sometimes with distorted vocals and most of the time pretty dark. Get it before it is gone! <29/9/01> <4>