Main - Hydra-Calm (1992)

Once upon a time, there was this band called Loop. Founded in 1986 by a bloke called Robert Hampson and his wife Bex, the band played a fuzzy mixture of psychedelic rock, and managed to release a handful of albums before the group started to wind down in 1991.

It was during this period when things started happening rather quickly. As Godflesh and Loop were touring the UK, Paul Neville was considering leaving The flesh to concentrate on Cable Regime, while Robert Hampson laid the foundation for Main with fellow Loopster Scott Dawson and released the first 12" titled Hydra. After the tour was over, Loop was laid to rest and disbanded, Neville left to concentrate on his new project and Hampson joined the ranks of Godflesh for the Pure-album.

As we know now, his visit with the band was a rather brief one and after appearing on a handful of tracks on Pure and the '92 European tour, Main's Calm 12"EP came out and Hampson left Godflesh behind to focus on Main full time.

So .. after another rather long-winded rant let's get over to the sounds. Judging by the album title, it should come as no surprise that Hydra-Calm collects both EP's on CD, with an additional track, "Thirst", exclusive to the disc. Although later-era Main-material leans more into the isolationist ambient side of things, this album is still heavily rooted in the psychedelic roots of later-period Loop. And unsurprisingly, the disc closes the gap between both bands with a high note.

The key elements are both repetition and rhythm. Throw in a healthy dose of ambient soundscapes, guitar drones, feedback and some minimal mechanic beats, and you've got Hydra-Calm: A great abstract and experimental ambient record, which is almost mandatory for those "zone out"-sessions on headphones. Join the trance, feed the collapse!

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(95+38MB/320CBR)

Cable Regime - Life in the house of the enemy (1992)

Welcome back after a short summer break. Everything should be returning back to normal during the next few weeks, and updates should start dropping more frequently.

With the welcome out of the way, there's been a few requests for more Cable Regime waiting in my inbox. As I aim to please, we'll be going through the rest of the Regime discography that I have at hand in irregular intervals. We'll begin the series with the first full length, Life in the house of the enemy.

As the story goes, Permis De Construire Deutschland wanted to release an album by Cable Regime, and after the boys gave their OK, they got and spent most of their prepayment, presumably on something that had nothing to do with the recording process whatsoever, unless we're talking about an inspirational process here, and were left with a few rehearsal tracks and no full length album.

Luckily fellow Birminghamian Justin Broadrick was in possession of an 8-track and soon the Regime was booked in Rich Bitch Studios for a recording session. Steve Hough recalls the album "(...) was recorded pretty much live as I remember, at a rehearsal room using boundary mics". After a final mixing and production job at Broadrick's own Avalanche Studio, the album was ready to be released.

After this rather drawn-out history lesson, I'd better let you dig into the music without any further diversions or lengthy "reviews". Enjoy this fatal concoction of Big Black's drum machine fury combined with the Godfleshesque howling guitar and feedback attacks, this is psychedelic and noisy industrial rock in it's purest form. Highly recommended!

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(95+08MB/320CBR)

DJ Frane - Frane's fantastic boatride (1999)

This is your chance to join the easygoing lifestyle of the Dude from Big Lebowski. Without the nihilists and somebody pissing on your rug, of course. Just swing on that ol' bathrobe and put on some comfortable slippers instead. We're going on a boatride.

Frane's fantastic boatride is truely an overseen classic in instrumental hip-hop. Combining the tagline "beats to blaze to" with psychedelic and progressive elements into downright funky jams. This is audial bliss featuring fearless sampling, some live instruments and Frane's wicked scratching.

Throw those elements together as an "aquatic" concept album, and you've got quite a trip on your hands. To be enjoyed in a tropical environment while immersed in warm water, preferably with some of your favourite herb. Alternatively a city flat with a bathtub will just have to do.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going for another dip in the warm water.

Enjoy!

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(95+14MB/320CBR)

Zoät-Aon - Star autopsy (2005)

I took many unnecessary steps to bring much needed coolness into my life this summer. I tried everything from cold drinks to conjuring the mighty Blasyrkh by listening to some Immortal. Horgh and Abbath failed me miserably and only managed to raise the overall humidity by casting down a palmful of pisswarm rain. Thanks a bunch guys! It was time to dig out the big guns.

This time I decided to root for the native alternative, Zoät-Aon, which is cold and otherworldy dark ambient created by my compatriot Jaakko Vanhala. A member of the Helixes collective and released on the Aural Hypnox-label, the music is a chilling blend of electronic and acoustic source sounds, utilizing everything from field recordings and analogue synthesizers to more ritualistic instruments like the human thighbone trumpet and Tibetan singing bowls.

Except for a few similarities in aspect and sound to the great Inade and I.Corax, which just happens to be Jaakko's other project, this is top notch dark ambient that's simply full of life and moving textures. Get entangled in the cold and unexplainable cosmos, today! Highly recommended!

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(95+49MB/320CBR)

Meat Beat Manifesto - Storm the studio (1989)

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. It's been hot and humid in Finland and I haven't been spending too much of my time inside. I'm unable to function and think in this melting heat, except for some relaxing in the shade, so I'm only going to put this one request up for grabs. Don't worry, the heat can't last forever and there should be more stuff coming sooner or later.

This my friends, is a truely groundbreaking album. And I hope I'm not the only one thinking so. Most of you know the story of Storm the studio, but for the uninitiated here's a quick rundown: Meat Beat Manifesto were recording their first album but the studio surprisingly burned down. What was salvaged from the fire came out as singles first, only to appear as reworked pieces on Storm the studio.

I'd call this album "four songs remixed into fifteen parts" if life was easy, but it's way more than that. While "remixes" are supposed to keep the sound and feel of the original tunes, these mutated and mangled entities haven't got much in common with their original counterparts.

But what was pushing new ground, was the music itself. Combining various aspects of electronic music, rock, funk and hip-hop into something I just called "weird" back when I first heard it. It's got so much things going on throughout the disc that I won't even bother to begin with describing it all. It simply needs to be heard, preferably in repeated doses, to be understood. Just so we're clear on this, this album holds a very dear place in my heart, as it opened up a whole new world of music and influenced the fuck out me.

It's the soundtrack of going to a party, only to realize that you're the only one who is totally blazing on acid. It's a bright, colourful and freaky electronic symphony! Lap it up and enjoy!

"Rock and roll music is an art form. Rock and roll is here to stay."

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(95+62MB/320CBR)

Flux - Protoplasmic (1997)

My first encounter with Flux was through a good friend of mine. The man had introduced me to bands like Dead World, Incantation and Exit-13 a few years before, and still had quite an appetite for anything related to Relapse Records.

As I had a knack for "weird shit", as he called it, he kindly went for a few extra records from the Release sub-label whenever he was putting in an order. When he acquired Protoplasmic, and I heard of the involvement of James Plotkin and Mick Harris doing the production job, I once again, like many times before, volunteered to trade the extra baggage off of him. And it paid off.

Protoplasmic utilizes many of the same elements already present on The joy of disease. Catchy guitar loops and overdubs, experimental rhythm patterns, various electronic sounds and Ruth Collins's almost narrative spoken word. Additional sung parts by both Collins and Plotkin are treated with effects and layered into various tracks on the album.

If The joy of disease had a more darker and gloomier feel, the overall vibe on Protoplasmic is much groovier and almost upbeat at times. Although much of the hypnotic ambience is achieved through repetition, the album does not feel stagnant and dull at all. Once you get your head nodding to the groove, the 55 minutes are gone long before you know it.

As much as I hate categorization and labeling, I'm still going to throw the word "progressive ambient pop" out there. Besides using the "experimental"-tag to excess, it's pretty much the only thing I can come up with to describe Flux. Fluffy and warm experimental music for the long summer evenings.

Hope you enjoy!

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(95+27MB/320CBR)

Spasm - Smear (1997)

The end of the month is coming up once again, so let's close it with a bang!

Bringing the bang for your buck is Spasm, a group consisting of Mark Spybey (Dead Voices On Air, ex-Zoviet France), Eric Pounder (Pounder, ex-Lab Report), Curse Mackey (Pigface, ex-Evil Mothers) and Invisible Records-owner Martin Atkins (Pigface, ex-The Killing Joke).

This collective goes for an hourlong attack with improvised noise rock. The tracks are constructed around Martin Atkins's somewhat unorthodox drumming, with a barrage of odd vocalisations provided by Mark Spybey. The main building blocks are the fragments of sound taken from the recording session; everything from guitar drones, blurred howls and feedback to the oddly timed speech sample.

I bet the drugs which were consumed before the recording session kicked in somewhere around the fifth track, as Ignorance is bliss marks the beginning of a psychedelic fuzzfest for the rest of the disc.

Although the improvisation is a key element of the band, it never spirals totally out of control and I think everything holds together really well. Although this big psychedelic mess can be a bit overwhelming at times, I still have to admit enjoying every second of the organised chaos. Distorted space rock ritual for the industrial age? Fuck if I know. It's atmospheric, "out there" and loud. What else do you possibly need in life?

Hope you enjoy!

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(95+45MB/320CBR)