Samplescience the electronica/near-IDM project of Pierre Parenteau, who hails from Canada. Plastikdisc is the first release from this artist since 2002, and is released by artist-owned Brown Coffee Records. This CD-r contains 15 tracks, which range between one and five minutes of length. The songs compiled on Plastikdisc are a collection of works composed between the years 2006 and 2008.

Samplescience’s Plastikdisc is a very unassuming release. The liner notes work as a disclaimer, explaining that this album is built for the purpose of simple, easy listening music. The liner notes did my job for me. All of the tracks compiled here are comfortable and unchallenging, and invoke a certain sense of dreaminess.

Plastikdisc reminds me of the early ?90’s Artificial Intelligence movement by Warp Records. This is very much in the same vein as early Autechre and B12. The tracks are all enjoyable, and the only major complaint I have is that I wish Samplescience would have fostered more commitment. Parenteau has created a legitimately interesting release; he builds worlds that cause me to slip into a comfortable daze, but then ends most of the worlds within three minutes. I’d like to hear more.

B-Machina and Kenji Siratori’s DNA is the first collaboration by these two well-known underground ambient noise musicians. B-Machina also operates as Bone Machine and hails from Austria. Kenji Siratori is also a popular cyber punk fiction writer and hails from Japan. This 74 minute cassette release is not only a collaboration of artists, but a collaboration of labels: Smell the Stench Records of Australia and Skull Fucking Metal of Canada. This release is composed of six tracks, three on each side of the cassette. Each track is approximately 15 minutes in length.

The image DNA places in my mind’s eye is of warped transmissions from a dying planet. Indiscernible voices apathetically preach of the end of times as the world around them slowly fails and fades into another chapter of infinite history. The first track, Anti Vital, while in the same theme as the rest of the album, stands very much alone. It’s theme is very militant and oppressive, but is comprised of off-kilter rhythmic samples. This track is a strange offset to the rest of this release, but is very likable and I will return to it often.

As a whole, this release rides the line between a passive sense of loss and hopelessness, a collection of uncaring eulogies for the dead and dying. Every track is filled with ongoing drones and voice samples. I am somewhat familiar with the works of both B-Machina and Kenji Siratori. I could not honestly say I can tell which artist performed which role on this release. This is a very strong example of the abilities of each artist, and speaks well for the collaborative effort between the artists and labels.

Buddhist on Fire is the unceremonious noise project of Robert LaBarge, hailing from Mesa, Arizona. This release, titled, "When You Smell the Stench of Dead Disciples You too will Realize that All Things are Impermanent"?which will be shortened to Dead Disciples for the purposes of this review?is a collection of three tracks, approximately 20 minutes in length each. Because of the uniqueness of each track I will describe them separately.

"Zombies of Dharmsala" conjures images of an aged black and white video documentary of machinery grinding relentlessly away; All of the gears and hinges are rusted and poorly maintained. "Open Sores" is reminiscent of a storm cloud forming slowly in a dark sky, lightening rolling through the clouds and thunder resonating through the dried and barren lands below. "Heaps of Bodies" is what I would imagine having one’s head stuck in a blender full of rocks?in a wind tunnel?would sound like.

Buddhist on Fire’s Dead Disciples is very much an atmospheric noise release, with the final track touching on the harsher side of noise. The basic atmosphere of each track carries from start to finish; extra layers are introduced to build, and then carelessly fall away. This release is very raw in form, but the sound is solid and interesting, and well worth the listen.

This is a review of Herz Tod’s Demo III, which was Fractured and Remixed by Zarach Baal Tharagh (ZBT). ZBT is also known for his project, Stigma Diabolicum. This is Herz Tod’s third release under Smell the Stench Records, and ZBT’s eleventh--this is also ZBT’s second Fractured and Remixed release. Both of these artists hail from Lorraine, France. There are seventeen tracks on this release, most of which are a minute long.

The sounds of Fractured and Remixed are both warped and crisp?a difficult polarity to establish. There is just enough ambience, and just enough activity, to cause the listener queasiness--much like floating down a calm river and having a nightmare of drowning at the same time. I originally chose this release for review because it was listed as "ambient." This is ambient, but it is ambient that demands attention.

ZBT’s Fractured and Remixed version of Herz Tod’s Demo III is ambient music for people with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). As often seen in people with ADHD, the content is always interesting and keeps the listeners on their toes, but the tracks also end abruptly?with the listener still on their toes. These tracks are definitely fractured, but not enough to detract from the quality or dynamic of the sound.

Obsession is a CD-r release from Smell the Stench Records, packaged in a DVD case with a black and white insert. The insert discloses nothing about the band or this album, except for a web address and a picture of Death. The album, Obsession, includes six tracks ranging from four to fifteen minutes.

.Prodvkt.’s Obsession is an incredibly visual album. It is built of extreme minimalism; deep, droning sounds float through a comforting chasm searching for some outlet or home. Electricity flows and whirrs throughout the thick astral layers of this release, echoing into the void that consumes every moment. Obsession is a very good release for meditation; even the most abrupt sounds are quickly and fluidly assimilated into the droning depths of emptiness.

I honestly know nothing at all about this band, .Prodvkt., and I did not realize how much that lack of knowledge upset me until I listened to Obsession. Obsession is the epitome of good dark ambient: Powerful, yet subdued. This release is just as unsettling as it is soothing; if Obsession could manifest itself as a physical location, I would like to go there to die. Alone.