Drowing - Age Old Nemesis

First full-length of Drowing, and here they've gone completely death metal, while still retaining a lot of their earlier hardcore characteristics. Imagine a mix between good ol' Monstrosity and Arkangel and you're about there, and you'll also enjoy a superb nine-minute doomy Candlemass-meets-Morbid Angel hymn in "Winter Descends." 2002 cd on Bones Brigade.

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Drowing - Drowning EP

Heavy, downtuned metallic hardcore from France the way it should be, i.e. no jumpy beatdowns, no clean vocals or poser death growls, no tight jeans, in the vein of All Out War and Beneath The Remains, with HUGE Bolt Thrower double-bass epic moments. This is the way this shit was played in the late '90s. Absolutely recommended. 1999 cd on Released Power Productions.

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United Power Soul - Moving Fast 4 U

Another one of my totally blind purchases is this one I made in Manchester a month ago while I was there on work and I visited Affleck's to check out Mars Tapes. I got this there along with a Gregorian chants tape that sounds chewed up. Dude, shouldn't you be checking the tapes you sell?

Anyway, this is a Canadian band playing modern soul/fun/r'n'b with big doses of new jack swing and a few reggae influences. If you dig the synthetic funk sound of the 1980s and beyond - and jump at the new jack swing reference if it had been your favorite radio station on GTA: San Andreas - then you're gonna like this. 2018 tape on Zaftig Records.

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Mecano ‎– The Half Inch Universe (Complete Works '78 - 82)

Dutch band who initially run from 1978 till 1982 and were known for their artwork which featured mechanized toys. They played a mix of post punk and new wave and some atonal/improvised moments (check "Dissident Lament"). When they reformed in the late 2000s they shifted to a more synthy new wave-y style, which was ok too. 1996 double cd released on Lazy Dog Records.

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The Nat Birchall Quartet ‎– The Storyteller - A Musical Tribute To Yusef Lateef

One year and a half after the Sufi-inspired Cosmic Language, Nat Birchall comes back with a tribute to Yusef Lateef, in which apart from interpreting several songs of the legend ("Ching Miau," "Love Theme From Spartacus," Morning," "Ringo Owiake," he writes a few originals dedicated to his musical approach. As with with Birchall, you can expect the best spiritual/deep/modal jazz, but here he has yet again reached new dimension, with more blues and ballad in his repertoire, plus incorporating a few African instruments such as balafon and mbira. 2019 cd on Jazzman.

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Reign Of Bombs / Bombstrike Split LP

 

Reign Of Bombs: classic gnarly Swedish d-beat ala Totalitar and Skitkids. Bombstrike: Swedish rabid d-beat but heavier and more technical, with members of honorable bands of the Scandinavian filth underground such as Massgrav, Scurvy, Repugnant, General Surgery and a guy who also played in the (godawful in my opinion) Ghost. 2005 LP on Cage Match Federation, Wasted Sounds, and Yellow Dog Records.

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Katastrofialue ‎– Taivaasta Roskiin '94 7"

Ultra-noisy classic Finnish d-beat/hardcore punk by Katastrofialue in the vein of the legends Bastards, Riistetyt and Terveet Kadet. 2004 7" on Power It Up. Get more greatness on their Tuskatakuu 94-98 cd comp that you can find on the long-running this is kawaii not hawaii blog.

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Calineczka - What Is Music And What Should It Be tape

Many times I have said how much sleepy I get when I listen to drone or to factory engines. Listening to this Calineczka tape I remembered that when I was a university student, there was this machine that I never had the chance to see but that I could hear every time I entered the Polytechnic department making an amazing monotonous sleep-inducing sound. Which means that this recording is highly recommended. 2018 tape on Important Drone Records.

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Calineczka ‎– Pora Deszczów

Almost two hours of comatose drone synth targeted at your pineal gland somewhere between Eliane Radique and the quieter moments of Atrax Morgue! It's Calineczka, you know what to expect. 2019 mp3 release on 1834.

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or from https://archive.org/details/ET-056Archive

Stuart Chalmers - Fata Morgana

Stuart Chalmers's recordings that feature the swarmandal instrument are his best, even with the songs that don't have it! This one is not an exception and it's one of his darkest releases yet. 2017 self-released CD.

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PS. Stuart has made a new recording called The Heart Of Instinct (his two previous The Heart... installations were peak releases) and he's looking for a label to put it out. If you have any info or offers, contact him through his bandcamp or whatever. It sounds like a great recording and yes it has swarmandal! You can hear it here.

I Shot Cyrus / Discarga Split LP

Split between two legendary punk bands from Brazil that I was crazy about during my early twenties and are now sadly defunct. I Shot Cyrus plays thrashcore with a slightly metallic edge, and Discarga is maddening fastcore/powerviolence with less metal and more punk that makes you want to destroy everything, plus their side ends with the intro of "For Whom The Bell Tolls!" Essential listening. 2005 LP on Peculios Discos.

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Sachiko - Cassini tape

The always sublime Sachiko on a solo work creating two entrancing tracks of devotional, hymnal drone with her voice and viola and a more electronic piece of amplified drone. Highly recommended. 2018 tape on Sloow Tapes.

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