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They always say you can’t judge a book by its cover, and the same goes for not judging an album by its title. Take last year's double CD album Funkstille- by Cologne-based composer Darius Heid- a title like this suggests deep bass grooves, upbeat pace, maybe a playful edge- but above all, some funk. But instead it severs nine slices of taut ‘n’ tense compositions for piano, cello, double bass, percussion, and low-key electronics. Genre-wise, I’d say somewhere between stark modern classical and tense improv.
30 Jun 2026
Vacant Align Interview
Active since October 2025, Wisconsin’s Vacant Align is one of the more atmospheric and texturally inventive wall noise projects to appear in some time. It’s a project that takes its time in releasing work, and you can certainly hear it, as each of their releases so far is a perfectly crafted blend of expressive and engaging textures. Behind the project is John Engman, who very kindly agreed to give us an email interview
24 Jun 2026
Palais De Maris is one of the later piano works by modern American classical composer Morton Feldman. Like much of his work-it’s based around patterns- sometimes these are harmonic, sometimes they're moody, and other times their discordant/ angular.
Ten Steps to Thin Mountain Steps 4-5 is the first release in a few years from Thin Mountain, one of the many projects of American noisemaker Sean E. Matzus (Black Leather Jesus & Last Rape). The C60/ digital download serves up a single fifty-five-minute track, which moves through some textural & atmospherically rewarding shifts.
62526 is the latest release from this Wisconsin-based wall noise project. It’s a forty-five-minute wall which focuses on creating a wonderfully taut, constricting, yet atmospheric vibe.
Last Foxtrot In Burbank — Last Foxtrot In Burbank( Blu Ray)
30 Jun 2026Madhouse — Madhouse (Blu Ray)
25 Jun 2026The Empire Of The Ants — The Empire Of The Ants(Blu Ray)
25 Jun 2026Sex & Zen II — Sex & Zen II( Blu Ray)
25 Jun 2026The Cars That Ate Paris/ The Plumber — The Cars That Ate Paris/ The Plumber ( Blu Ray)
24 Jun 2026Stalk Market — Sidewinder
24 Jun 2026Hana Haruna — Dominion Of The Predator
24 Jun 2026Earthflesh/Kadaveric Kommando — Split
24 Jun 2026
Jasper Sharp interview
In the year 1971, Nikkatsu, the oldest/ at one point, the biggest film production company in Japan. Did something quite daring/ some would say crazy- they completely switched over their production to softcore adult films, which would become known as Roman Porno. Between 1971 and 1988, the company produced around 850 of these titles. The thing that made these films stand out from general softcore films is the often creative & inventive choices made- yes, the films primal focus is sleaze, but great examples of the genre are so much more than that. In the last year or so, there has been a spate of reissues of films in the genre from labels such as 88 Films, Third Window Films, and Klubb Super 8. One of the key figures/contributors behind these releases is Jasper Sharp- one of the world's experts on the genre, and the wider Pink genre it’s connected to. Jasper kindly agreed to give us an email interview discussing his history with the genre, his contributions to releases, and the new/updated edition of his book Behind The Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema on Fab Press.
King Futile Interview
King Futile is the new project from Scotland-based Lea Cummings( Kylie Minoise, Official Music Team, etc), and it’s a big departure from his normal noise or retro sample & electronica sound. It's lo-fi acoustic music, with an outsider feel, and often quite tongue-in-cheek/ sharply sarcastic tone to the lyrics. So far, the project has put out three albums- Casual Misery, How To Have Fun, and Zen As Fuck. I tracked down Lea for an email interview.
Cliff Twemlow On Severin
One of last year’s real big surprises in the world of Blu-ray box sets was Bloody Legend: The Complete Twemlow Collection, as it was a wholly entertaining, fascinating, and at times heart-warming set. The Severin released boxset brought together the work of one of the UK’s unlikeliest movie moguls- Cliff Twemlow, a Mancunian bouncer/ body builder, who went on to write/star in/produce a series of low-budget/ largely SOV films in the early 80s to early 90s- these moved between action, thriller, sci-fi, and horror. His most notable/notorious film was 1983’s G.B.H., which landed on the video nasty list, though he was connected to other ten feature films, many of which got their first real full/proper release on the boxset. Opening up the set was the excellent 2023 documentary Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow, which really pulls you into the set. I caught up with Severn’s David Gregory and Jake West, director of Mancunian Man, to discuss the boxset and all things cliff.
The Fall
MES( Mark E Smith- The Falls main creator) possessed the ability to cram phrases into impossible spaces - “I’m hunting and I’m trying to find” delivered as “hut’na tryna find”; the eight-syllable “mere pseud mag editor’s father” hastily squeezed into a manipulation of time and space, heralded by the prior line “twice each at least”, the latter naturally repeated thrice.
