God, I thought this was another electro duo but no, luckily Novalis play dark folk. Songs tend to be good, with effective arrangements and sober playing - acoustic guitar, keyboards, some percussions and trumpet, and two voices alternating from track to track; at best, the production's similar to Death In June's "Rose clouds of holocaust", like in the opening track "Human". Influences logically embrace the good ole days World Serpent rooster (a lot of DIJ, some Sol Invictus and Fire + Ice in the more epic moments -like "Of the golden future time"-, a bit of Current 93), Swans ("What if", my favourite one), and unfortunately some gothic/wave slips in a couple of tracks ("Hey God", "Bloody") which are, in my opinion, the weakest of the whole work. I'd say the first half of the cd is really quite good, while the second one presents not that memorable songs. It must be a matter of tastes, but I wish Novalis stuck to folk ballads increasing traditional arrangements ("Von Traum", for example, has a great atmosphere for that) and dropping the goth influences that stiffen their sound.

I review AAL's first and third work (see the review of "13" in the experimental section) together as they share similar sounds and atmospheres. Packed in nice DIY cardboard digipacks, "Disc 1" (2001, 5 tracks, 74') and "Inherited and partially transmitted" (2002, 3 tracks, 58') could well be played one after the other to prolong the magic of the listening experience. Deep, abstract synth waves lulling the listener to a dimension out of time and space as the patterns uncoil and some distant, melancholic melody is heard. I think Davide has quoted "Solaris" as an influence for one of the tracks, and the parallel with Tarkovskij's movie could be extended to both works, especially for their mesmerizing qualities. Definitely worth checking out if you love cosmic ambient. AAL's now working at a collaborative release with his label-mates Logoplasm, which should be more in the electroacoustic vein of "13"; I look forward to hearing that one...

Crazy shit I wasn't expecting to hear on Public Eyesore, except for the fact that this trio is Japanese. Ultra Fuckers start off as a garage-punk-hc band on speed recording in a basement with cheap equipment; cross Le Shock + any "Flex Your Head" band + The Boredoms + Teengenerate and you'll get close to the picture. Punk fuckin' rawk. From track 5, things get a bit weirder. Lots of raw (raw is the key-word here) psychedelia (ok, maybe that's why the cover says "we are psychedelic warrior... " - sic!), acid jams, some kraut rock too. Think of Can without any academic background recording in the same conditions mentioned above (minus the speed). Explicit titles like "German Rock Radio II" and "Let's go space beach". The last track, "D.A.F. (Kubitsukasan Mix)", reminded me of DEVO with its spastic electronic rhythm and grotesque vocals. This sounds like a joke, and I enjoyed listening. Super-cool layout.

Crazy shit I wasn't expecting to hear on Public Eyesore, except for the fact that this trio is Japanese. Ultra Fuckers start off as a garage-punk-hc band on speed recording in a basement with cheap equipment; cross Le Shock + any "Flex Your Head" band + The Boredoms + Teengenerate and you'll get close to the picture. Punk fuckin' rawk. From track 5, things get a bit weirder. Lots of raw (raw is the key-word here) psychedelia (ok, maybe that's why the cover says "we are psychedelic warrior... " - sic!), acid jams, some kraut rock too. Think of Can without any academic background recording in the same conditions mentioned above (minus the speed). Explicit titles like "German Rock Radio II" and "Let's go space beach". The last track, "D.A.F. (Kubitsukasan Mix)", reminded me of DEVO with its spastic electronic rhythm and grotesque vocals. This sounds like a joke, and I enjoyed listening. Super-cool layout.

Eric Alexandrakis is like a modern Sid Barret, l.s.d. included... I.V. CATATONIA is divided in two parts: "Treatments 1-6" and "Treatments 7-12" while the tracks are twentytwo. Each track is on its own because here you can find deranging piano or guitar based songs as well as tracks like "The Big Church Theory" which is completely a no sense collage of tv, answering machine and God knows what else, samples. Eric will to experimenting with melodies and particular solutions made him releasing an eclectic album full of irony and weird songs. I have also to admint that someway the album is catchy and songs like "Hooligan Hotline (You Walk Away)" are immediate and remember also some old Sonic Youth tunes mixed with alternative pop melodies. If you need something that is able to surprise you and you ain't afraid of odd solutions try this album.