This release reissues a collector gem which took to Jochen Lange, more than two years of hard researches to be able to track down the mysterious Roy Young. This guy, one day in 1980 entered the Octopus Studios with a Korg MS10 monophonic synth and a drum machine to give form to his visions about those times: Margaret Thatcher and police repression were the main influences and the big brother didn't wait 1984 to be alive and kicking. Guy, helped by studio's engineer Dave Hoser, recorded twelve tracks that he released on an album (and two of them also on a following 7") for his own label Vex Records. Few copies circulated and after that Transparent Illusion and STILL HUMAN became almost a legend. Anna Logue Records proudly reissue those recordings adding two demo versions of "Concepts" and "Vortex" and people can choose from CD format and clear, black or orange vinyl (this edition along with the sticker and the postcard has also a DIN A2 poster). Now, that we can listen to the music we can tell if this was really a gem and I can say that... yes it is. On Roy's songs you can hear the passion and the disillusion of a young guy who, inspired by punk and by the first electronic bands (sometimes I hear echoes of Tubeway Army/Gary Numan), decided to record those songs even if he could use only a synth and a drum machine. I don't know if that was a stylistic choice but I doubt that. Using Dave Hoser studio skills into multi track recording and into synth programming (MS10 as far as I know has no midi), Transparent Illusion delivered to history minimal electronic pop songs which sound nervous and futuristic, where a young guy sung lyrics like: "Someone stood behind me / I could feel their mind inside me / They are always searching / They love to see me burning".

SCONTRUM ACT IX will be the last release of this series and it will be the last War Office Propaganda release also. The ninth chapter, as usual, sees three bands contributing with three exclusive tracks and this time we have Eldar (from Spain they have released different albums which have already been reissued and lately they did an album for Cold Meat Industry), Liyr (from France they have recently released on Rage In Eden their debut album which I have already reviewed) and Der Arbeiter (also from Spain, they just released their second album on Ur Muzik and you can find the review here on CHAIN D.L.K.). Eldar's tracks are in balance from ritual atmospheres and martial industrial sounds and are quite convincing. Liyr, following the style you can find on their album "Fragments of dust", bring in three bombastic neo classical tunes which sound dramatic and passionate. Der Arbeiter is a multifaceted project so, following the same path, present different styles: electronic wave with post punk rhythms, militaristic marches with ambient inserts and a martial/orchestral cover of Amon Duul's "Deutsch nepal". I can't say if this is the best chapter of the lot but for sure is a nice one.

After questioning himself about politics in the previous EP, Ian, with his project Quartersized this time for his fifth release with a bit of irony take a serious problem like fat as theme, packing four tracks which thanks to sonic bass frequencies will destroy fat cells. Mixing the chants of Abelam of Papua Niugini with hip-hop beats on "Getto", covering Throbbing Gristle's "Discipline" making it turns into a dub upbeat tune, using vocals of an unknown preacher on the electronic closing "This earthly frame" and mixing acid bass lines with break beat drums and samples on the opening "Bingowings", Quartersized is playing with sounds and rhythms succeeding into sounding funny but credible at the same time. The release is available as CDr and digital download.

The new album from this duo is loosely inspired by the works of Enki Bilal and, so, it feature an enigmatic black pyramid in the cover. This canadian duo made a guitar driven drone music that stay between Sunn O))) (in their heaviest moments) and Vidna Obmana (in their quietest).
"Phoenix" starts with a guitar drone that slowly prepares the entering of cosmic synths, "Taurus Ten" instead is pure guitar with atmospherics as support. Black pyramid is pure cinema soundscape that took the listener into "Ursa Major" and "2095". "Ursa minor" is a quiet intro to "Shining" and this album ends with beats as a soundtrack for an escape from something, or an end to a dream.
Although they are not particularly inventive in their writing, Martin Dumais and Julie Leblanc comes with a solid work where sounds are well crafted and evocative. So, even if it's not a masterpiece, it's a nice album for all drone lovers.

Can you hear distant horns and drums that make the ground tremble? It's Tenhornedbeast's third album HUNTS & WARS. Recorded over a three year period from 2006 to 2009, the new album sees Christopher Walton redefining Tenhornedbeast sound, introducing, along with the characteristic nightmarish obsessive doom industrial bass guitar riffs, tracks like "Hilnaric", "Ironborn" and "Season Of Wars" which function as interludes between the long percussive suites. Those three are based on treated feedbacks and melodic elements that apparently ease the atmosphere but that really are always hypnotic and only a bit less obsessive. "Ironborn" sounds like a horde of warriors entering into a castle (you can hear the horns announcing them), while "Season Of Wars" has a dreamy hallucinatory atmosphere. The four long suites ("Reaching For The Stars We Blind The Sky", "Father Of The Frosts", "I Am The Spearhead" and "Hunts & Wars") give life to the oneiric visions of Robert E Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian) and Lord Dunsany (moniker used by Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany for publishing his writings) by creating a blasting atmosphere made of percussions, cymbals, distant grinding guitars and growling bass guitar sounds. Listening to HUNTS & WARS is an experience of sorrow and pleasure and the only thing you are sure of is that... there's no escape.