Divorce Party - Astrocongertion Oporium

Artist Divorce Party
Label None
Year 2011
Genre(s) Noise Rock

Yet more balls to the wall Noise Rock from the lads in Divorce Party. Showing definite progression from their last EP whilst still maintaining every element that managed to make that so great. Weighing in at a scant 5 tracks and just over five minutes of all out pleasure. It would take away from the release to review each track as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Almost everything is covered in these short tracks though. As with the last review Divorce Party are clearly influenced by many bands but I'm finding it almost impossible to identify any of them as the band moves around so much within each track, where there was once a trace of Melt Banana there will suddenly by a Jesus Lizard-esq riff. When listening to Divorce Party all I want to do is dance (Seriously). Why are these guys still self releasing? Are labels so blind to good music these days?

Long story short: You owe it to yourself to listen to this, and to their earlier EP. So why not bop over to their Bandcamp page (Linked above) and support some good music? If you're too lazy to scroll up I must demand you FUCKING CLICK HERE NOW!

Toxic Toys Zone - Atropine

Artist Toxic Toys Zone
Label 17 Sons
Year 2011
Genre Wall Noise, Harsh Noise

With this release Toxic Toys Zone serve up four slabs of Harsh Noise decay. Slow as molasses and just as thick, each passage washes over the listener in an almost calming fashion. Minor variations flow throughout the release, only noticeable with a good set of speakers or some headphones. This is the stylistic mixture of Velvet Cacoon's ambient work and Vomir's Harsh Noise Wall.

Narcosis offers up a wall built from stuttering synth and decaying static. Swirling and shifting until it is gradually overtaken by a bassier tone that begins, itself, to degrade. Eventually everything dies away bar the beautiful shimmering synth to close out the track. Juxtaposed perfectly with the screaming feedback walls that open Syncope. The end to Narcosis offers slight space to catch a breath before being submerged again in the harsher landscapes crafted by Toxic Toy Zones.

Metallic drones shape the subsequent track. Opening with a high pitched wail and slowly morphing into an almost soothing passage, like lying back and letting steel waves wash over the listener. The sounds of steel drums being broken down and echoing throughout wordless chambers. Dense, and despite the calm ever so slightly unsettling.

The final track, Sedation, offers yet more feedback. Ever so subtly shifting drones of feedback lull the listener into a state of sedation. The equivalent of a chill-out track at the end of a Psy-trance album, only for harsh noise heads. Not building to anything, simply existing in a calm middle ground. Closing the release in the most beautiful fashion.

This was my first experience of Toxic Toy Zones and the label 17sons, I can only say that if all the material is of this quality that I will be keeping an eye on both the project and the label. Also worthy of note is the fact that I will be reviewing another 17sons release over the coming days.

Aikichi Kuboyama - Conflict

Artist Aikichi Kuboyama
Label Self Release
Year 2011
Genre(s) Harsh Noise

A two track, just shy of fifteen minute sonic assault is offered up here by Aikichi Kuboyama. Static rumble and crumbling sonic textures swarm across the tracks. The occasional deliberate bass drop out keeps things interesting and provides a sharp shock. This music is certainly on the harsher end of the spectrum. Never letting up, like having bees make a hive in your mouth whilst you suffer from a coma. Crisp walls of static sound build and build. With the exception of some phaser use towards the end of the first track there's not really much that can be complained about here.

The second track offers deeper textures without sacrificing the dynamic, like the sound of a bombing raid. The second track does suffer from being slightly overlong, but it's balanced out nicely by the first.

There's not much I can say about this release seeing as it is so short. I get the feeling there may have been a slight over reliance on Audacity (Or a similar tool) for the post-production side of things but that's easy to overlook given the relative quality of the release. For a first effort (or early effort, I ain't 100%) it shows a lot of promise and I can only expect good things in the future.

Sir Edgar Carpenter - Broflovski's Killers: A Noise Tribute to South Park

Artist Sir Edgar Carpenter
Year 2010
Label Script Sound Recordings
Genre Harsh Noise

I love novelty releases. I have a crate full of black and white minstrels LPs. I own the metal tribute to Abba. I love having these items in my collection regardless of the music, they're a great talking point but that's about it. You can forgive me for approaching this web only release with equal parts glee and trepidation. Whilst I don't dislike South Park it doesn't really carry the same clout that I look for in my noise. I'm not saying all noise music should be totally serious but I'm certainly apprehensive about how well this can work.

The opening salvo Sweet, Sweet Marsh takes me by surprise. A white noise stab with tortured sounding synth in the background. It certainly promises great things as it leads in to more of exactly the same. For thirty minutes the same basic pattern repeats. Even as a listener that likes repetition I can't help but feel cheated. Slight variations may arise but it is the same basic slog for the best part of half an hour. I can't help but feel let down when change finally does arrive near the twenty-five minute mark, a random drum pattern and reversed samples, presumable to create atmosphere. It might have worked had it come around twenty minutes prior, as it is it's simply even more aggravating.

Up next we have Hello Kyle. A 25 minute track built upon a basic rumbe that loops on and on and occasional stabs of digital squeal. Whilst there is variation on this track it just feels hollow and self-indulgent with it's 25minute run time. Each section seems to stay past its welcome, lasting that long simply because they could rather than there being a specific purpose.

Ass-face features my mortal enemy, the phaser. Throughout the whole ten minute track there is a pasher effect in the background, causing nothing but a headache for me. The track quickly falls into the boring category as, yet again, not much happens.

I think the thing that annoys me the most about this release is the fact that it isn't terrible. There are some good ideas here but the seem to get lost in the self indulgent 10 minute phaser solo. Whilst, on the whole, the noise is a too digital for myself I do recognise that there are fans of this style. I found myself asking "what is this aiming for" when sitting through the nth minute of overblown hiss and I couldn't find an answer. I guess it's noise for noise sake. I also wonder what the real relevance to South Park is, besides the cover art and song titles there's hardly any real link.