This is the debut of the Polish label Perun, issuing a 51' collection of tracks from '96-'99 by US songwriter Brian Hodges, here at vocals, guitards, flutes, loops, keyboards and programming, helped by a couple guest musicians. The Blue Hour alternates acoustic folk ballads with more atmospheric instrumental tracks. The former are brilliant examples of (apocalyptic) folk in the vein of In Gowan Ring or the more intimistic Current 93 (let's say "Earth Covers Earth"/"Thunder Perfect Mind"/"Of ruine..."), i.e. melancholic, oneiric songs often leaning on psychedelia. "A tree stands alone", "I am the wind", "My lady upon silvery pool" and "Temple of ice" stand out as the best ones, while there's a welcome detour with a well-done cover of Sol Invictus' classic "Lex Talionis" (I guess this was included in "Sol Lucet Omnibus" as well). The latter vary from quasi-neoclassical symphonies ("The navigator", "Procession of the sun") to more abstract ambient pieces. When vocals are added, the result can be quite ominous and menacing, like in the closing track "Red Sands". This is a well-assembled, peculiar work showing lots of talent; it should be listened to in the right mood, as in some autumnal late afternoon - it takes time to be absorbed in its sad, dreamlike atmosphere, perfectly portrayed in the landscape photos featured in the artwork, but the result is rewarding.

Packed in a very nice cover, "A clamor half heard" collects five live tracks (recorded in September and October 2001) for 54' total. Naturaliste is a radical impro ensemble featuring Charles Lareau, Lonnie Methe, Christopher Fischer, Josephine and Simon Joyner, and Chris Deden. David Downing joins on track 3, and Mario Aldefer on track 4. The cd is, like, 90% feedback and 10% instruments, loops and sparse noises. Really lo-fi and muddy recording, so it really sounds like a huge wall of distortion with a few different elements struggling to be heard. A free-flowing sax can be traced in track 1, 3 and 5. Track 2 is just manipulated radio waves & signals at times combining in some kind of rhythmic pattern. Track 3 is more feedback, radio, winds and possibly some tape loops (but it could be the radio). Track 5 is the most interesting one, less aggressive and more dilated, with some delays and tranquil moments creating a slightly psychedelic mood. But the cd as a whole is a nasty piece of hisses and nerve breaking impro solipsisms. Kind of Destroy All Monsters or Dead C recording in a basement with a cheap walkman and distortion pedals borrowed from Cock ESP.

Haswell & Akita's partnership started taking shape back in 1995 when the former called up Merzbow for a performance in the UK, at the Disobey Club. They started to record some material together only later, in 1999. I think you already know who Merzbow is: one of the first experimenter who mastered improvised live noise created with different devices (if you ever saw one of his early live pictures you should have noticed the amount of little effect stomp boxes and the long tangled wires). Russel Haswell has been active for about five years and collaborated live with Carl Michael Von Hausswolff, Peter Rehberg and Mika Vainio, just to name a few. "Satanstornade" contains material recorded live at London's "The Abbey" in June 1999, and the sound has been transferred directly into a Sony MD four tracks device. The four tracks of the album are noisy, chaotic and confusing. "Fend Off Your Miserable Grief" opens the album with four minutes of grinding noises interrupted by digital pain. Because of its cyclic background sounds, the seventeen minutes of "Unlock The Mysteries Of The Sun" remind me of the early Boyd Rice's experiments done using his roto-guitar, but the duo added tons of hiss and stuff. "Track 5" (which is really the third) has got a slight rhythmical structure made of bouncing noises, but along with that there's a tornado happening between your ears. The last one is the most powerful of the batch and it's called "Testicular Fortitude". With this one you've got "listening suffering" at its top: in the background there seems to be a guitar sample which is raped by an incredible amount of digital hiss, bleeps and buzz. For this release, which will hit the streets on November 25th, Warp decided to skip a bunch of catalog numbers and jump all the way to number 666. You've been warned! If you are into brutal industrial/power/noise then you got yourself a winner right here: two of the greatest geniuses of the genre for a CD that is a good as it is extreme! Don't miss out!

Great single and third release by this Belgian band called Murnau. It's difficult to judge their project only by listening the two tracks of this 7" (which is a limited edition of four houndred) but the title says it all. "Null" and "Void" are MISANTHROPY's two tracks and in eight minutes they can annihilate your thoughts for an hour. It's hard to describe what treated noise can create but these two along with the drawings of this picture disc are capable of creating a picture into your head. Eight minutes of sound sculptures which make me ask for more. This is the first Murnau's release I'm listening but I'd like to know how they deal with the lenght of a whole album. Meanwhile, I recommend to you this one...

Remember the "Projekt:100" compo? Well this is very much in the same vein for those looking into Projekt’s sound or getting introduced into ethereal-darkwave. This also includes Unto Ashe's unreleased "Don't Fear The Reaper". I still say go for Projekt 100, but hell, they’re both inexpensive so try both.Rating: 8. Also recommended is Projekt’s "Across This Grey Land" and their new one "The Arbitrary Width of Shadows".
Sadly it's only available at Hot Topics, that god awful excuse for a store. Get the CD then torch the place!