Noiserock and heavy psychedelic music
Forbidden Place Records has a lot of gems on their label, it is filled with filthy stoner, noiserock and other lovely genres. Now they bring us a halloween compilation called ‘Spooky Sounds From the Underground Volume 1’ and it is perfect to play in the dark while completely wasted (on candy of course). Tune in to hear excellent bands play creepy music.
This is the second part of the releases on June 5, the day bandcamp is waiving their share of sales to support artists impacted by Covid-19. They will also donate 100% of their share of sales on Friday, June 19th to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to support their work. More info here. Here are some of the artist that released awesome stuff today.
Check out Part I here if you have not already.
Sly & The Family Drone
Today we get the new track by noisemasters Sly & the Family Drone. I was really amazed by their previous 2019 album ‘Gentle Persuaders’, it was a really strong album that enden high on my end of the year list too. Now the new track is called ‘Shrieking Grief’ and is taken from their upcoming album ‘Walk It Dry’. The excellent album cover is made by Kazland. The new track is really heavy, the drums are intense, the saxophones and noise. Sly & the Family Drone is a band that keeps evolving and again we can hear how strong they are on this new track.
https://www.facebook.com/slythefamilydrone
Hot Snakes
Last year in November and in February this year Hot Snakes have released two new singles. now we get the track from their 2018 split single w Mudhoney, released as a limited-edition 7″ for Sub Pop’s 30th anniversary, is being released digitally for the first time ever for one day only on Bandcamp on June 5.
https://www.facebook.com/HotSnakes/
La Jungle / Hyperculte Split
The is a new label that is called Hyperjungle and for their first release we get a split records between Belgian band LA Jungle and Hyperculte. Two hypnotic tracks for your listening pleasure.
https://www.facebook.com/lajungleband/
https://www.facebook.com/hyperculte/
The Band Whose Name is A Symbol
The hypnotic space rockers are back with an album called ‘Unsemble’ today. Recorded in 6 different locations on various devices by each member of TBWNIS during the months of March and April 2020. Track V recorded by Christopher Laramee (Wasted Cathedral) in Saskatoon, SK April, 2020 and herbed and whiskeyed by Jay Loos and Laramee. Again extremely hypnotic and experimental psych an spacerock.
https://www.facebook.com/TBWNIS/
KLÄMP
KLÄMP is Jason Stöll (Sex Swing, Twin Sister, Mugstar, God Unknown Records, Bonnacons of Doom), Greg Wynne (Manatees) and Lee Vincent (Pulled Apart By Horses, Concentration Champ). KLÄMP makes fuzzd out noise rock, bass heavy post whatever. It is awesome and you need to check out the first track ‘Arise’ from their upcoming album ‘Hate You’ wich will be released on Godunknown in Spetember. The track was made in the shitty month of March 2020.
https://www.facebook.com/KLAMPHQ/
Carrom
I have shared Naujawanan Baidar from the label Radio Khiyaban in the past, and I was so happy to discover this Netherlands based label because Naujawanan really brought me a lot of listening pleasure. It ended real high on my end of the year list between all the noise and heavy psych.
Now I immidiatly started following the label ofcourse and now there is a new release by a band called Carrom. This is an Indo-Canadian psychedelic rock band and they released their full album ‘Alter-Destinies’ today and it is a gorgeous piece of exotic psych. Buy your casette now, you need it.
https://www.facebook.com/radiokhiyaban
Lilim
Toronto based feminist metalband Lilim released their new album ‘𝔚𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔊𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔱𝔰’ today and it is same intense stuff. ALL PROCEEDS GOING TOWARDS THE BLACK LEGAL ACTION CENTRE. Tune in now for some hardcore/thrash/just very heavy metal.
https://www.facebook.com/lilimto/
Vangas
Two tracks that are noisy AF. Vangas released two tracks on Chunklet Industries on this glorious day. Tune in for some heaviness.
https://www.facebook.com/thevangas/
Goooodmorning, Today bandcamp is waiving their share of sales to support artists impacted by Covid-19. They will also donate 100% of their share of sales on Friday, June 19th to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to support their work. More info here. Here are some of the artist that released awesome stuff today.
Mr Bungle
This is Mr. Bungle’s first first rcorded music since 1999i And they start with a A cover of The Exploited’s “USA” with 100% of the proceeds going to MusiCares Covid-19 Relief Fund. Stream, download and pick up the limited-edition shirt here: https://lnk.to/MBUSA
https://www.facebook.com/ou818/
The Great Sabatini
The album called ‘DIAL TONE [REDUX]’ is filled with demo versions, some already releasd stuff and some things nobody heard yet. Fourteen tracks of very heavy noiserock, sludge and hardcore. Enjoy.
https://www.facebook.com/thegreatsabatini
Psychic Lemon
The UK space rockers Psychic Lemon released the second part of their Studio Jams. They want nothing in return, just that you enjoy these fine trippy sounds.
https://www.facebook.com/psychiclemon
GNOD VS BNSU
The ever experimental band Gnod has made an collaborative album with BNSU and it is released on Tesla Tapes and Brain Pussyfication. 50% of the revenue by Tesla Tapes label will be donated to MASI, an organisation working for the asylum seekers and immigrants in Ireland. Consider supporting their activities as well as their cause.www.masi.ie
The two tracks are experimentel, hellish and brutal, just the way I like it.
https://www.facebook.com/bloodynastysissyurgency/
https://www.facebook.com/brainpuss/
Lightning Bolt
One of the most furious bands on earth sells their last copies of Oblivion Hunter on CD. They will donate to the ACLU. All Hail Lightning Bolt.
https://www.facebook.com/lightningboltband/
Tropical Thrash
After ‘Southern Indiana Drone Footage’ Tropcial Trash has become one of my favourite bands. Now they released ‘Shrinking Maze: 2011-2020’, a collection of songs. Fifty Nine songs!!!
https://www.facebook.com/TROPICAL-TRASH-140334799370234/
Ex-Breather
Some demos and rarities by hardcore punk band Ex-Breathers. All money raised from this release will be donated to Tallahassee Dream Defenders.
https://www.facebook.com/exbreathers/
Skin Graft Records
Skin Graft Records is an amazing label and released four very cool things today.
First is Ufo or Die wich is on my Japanese list too. The two remasterd tracks on the 7 inch ‘Shock Shoppers’ comes with a comic book too.
Brise-Glace release ‘In Sisters All And Felony (Single and Comic Book Set)’. Two remastered tracks.
US MAPLE release ‘Stuck (Single & Book Set)’. The 7″ vinyl release includes a clear vinyl single, a digital download of the songs and an instantly downloadable PDF booklet commemorating U.S. Maple’s first year as a band.
Shellac / Big’n / Brise-Glace / U.S. Maple ‘SIDES 1-4 (Double Single & Comic Book Set)’. The 2×7″ vinyl release includes a printed comic book sleeve, a digital download of the single and an instantly downloadable PDF of the comic book that has been expanded and remastered for this release.
Austria, home of a Milka Chocolate factory, home of more then 90 lakes, home of the sachertorte, birthplace of Arnold Schwarzenegger, designers of the most incredibel camper Marchi Mobile but also the home of Andreas, the founder of Epileptic Media, a label for all kinds of weirdo music (some reasonably normal ones too). The label was born somewhere in 2009 and I want to share some of the music that is on the label. Very important to mention is that Andreas makes most of the artwork wich is absolutely stunning and I will drop a pic of those here and there.
Andreas is also a part of Omega World Order wich has stunning merch.
I am going to start with the most recent release and work my way down. Prepare yourself for some pretty cool music.
https://www.facebook.com/epilepticmedia/
https://andreaschristianhaslauer.tumblr.com/
https://www.instagram.com/omegaworldorder/
http://epilepticmedia.blogspot.com/
States of Clay
Seven experimental tracks on this album that is called “Jona Dares”. From dreampop to no wave to noiserock all in one album! I have to say though that the track “Ashes to the Ground” is an absolutely amazing track and you need to hear it.
Mozo Mozo, Walser, Nadeshda, Didi Kern & Philipp Quehenberger
A 4-Way split is always awesome. Mozo Mozo gives us experimental jazznoise, Walser takes it a bit more easier with 13 minutes of ambient drone and then Nadesha unleashes 15 minutes of eerie ambient. Then 16 tracks by Didi Kern & Philipp Quehenberger of a something I have no idea how to describe.
Marloe
On “Found + Lost” Marloe delivers some really nice soundscapes and experimental techno tracks. “B02 Artificial” my favourite track of the thing.
Oort Cloud
we got an experimental one again. This time Oort Cloud gives us soundscapes and experimental bleeps.
Puke Puddle
Intens eerie industrial sounds by Puke Puddle on the latest “Detox”
SE Mustard Terrorist
Very creepy futuristic electronic punk loop noise. This is probably already a genre but I baptize this music Floop music.
The Mild
Aha! here we have something else, something thats sounds a bit as if a posthardcore dude got kicked in the face by a death meatel drum machine that only listen to grindcore.
Tsujigiri
Still in the noiserock/grindcore/weird spectrum is Tsujigiri who released “Demoh!” in 2015.
Dirt Deflector
We have reached a very strange moment in the timeline of Epileptic Media. its seems the label released a very normal and cool sounding band wich can be described simply as stoner.
Henry Fonda
Another spastic grindcore powerviolence band. Please turn very loud to enjoy this.
Every year I come across some labels I did not know before and who open up a new world for me. This year it was Cruel Nature Records, a casette label from Newcastle Upon Tyne that is run by Steve Strode who specializes in experimental stuff, harshnoise, punk as well as heavy noise rock and other goodies.
Before Cruel Nature Records Steve Strode ran a vinyl label but due to the expenses he could not release whatever he wanted. So came Cruel Nature in 2013 wich is only cassettes and gives Steve more creative freedom. And that is what you get, there is some really crazy and cool stuff on there that needs to be heard. Some releases are brutal some are more easy to listen to.
There are a lot of bands on it so I will choose only a couple. All the rest you can check out yourself you bunch of lazy bums.
But be aware, the label starts out with brutal harsh noise and as it gets older there are more and more genres introduced. So have a little patience for once and don’t go directly to the end.
Roadside Picnic
I am going to pick this one because i really loved the book Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The music is something else though. This sounds like my broken washing machine. This seems to be one of the first releases on the label in 2013. is it experimental, well I guess so.
Nik Hb
now I am going to jump to 2014, just skipping a crapload of noise cassettes and just pick this one, first of all because of the cover art that looks like a cute bear that is mad and maybe one of the first releases that isnt extreme noise. The Ep is called “#edgeofthebed” and is a drone/ambient record that was released June 30, 2014.
頭足類 (Tōsokurui no)
頭足類 (Tōsokurui no), is the debut album from人柱二 (Hitobashira ni). I chose this because I have a list called “The Cosmic Side of Japan” filled with stuff like this, and I never heard of this band. It seems to be a Japanoise, drone/kraut band formed English horror film critic & writer James Patrick Blackden Marriott. This is very awesome and has as a bonus very great artwork.
Waheele
Waheele is a acid postmetal thing band and released an album in 2014 but also in 2019 on Cruel Nature Records and it is pretty good stuff.
Fret!
Another band with a new release in 2019. A very cool band that fuses spaghetti punk with surf noise.
Riel
This is an Argentinian noiserock band heavily influenced by Sonic Youth with a punk vibe. It seems to be the second album from the duo and is an entertaining piece of work.
Sly and the Family Drone
this is one of those magnificent bands, their 2019 release “Gentle Persuaders” ended really high up on my best of 2019 list. So it is great to sea a release of them here too.
Dirty
“Throwing Chunks” by Dirt is one dough of mixed genres put in the oven on 180 degrees and you get one hell of a fuzzy cake.
Lovely Wife
There it is, Lovely Wife, one of my favourite bands on Cruel Nature records. There are two releases on the label by this incredibly good band. Head on psychedelic doomnoise rock of the highist order.
Thank
Thank is extremely good. This album is pure fun, a really good mix of punk and heaviness. Thank enden with their new album really high on my end of the year list too. gooddomn glorious stuff.
Snakes Don’t Belong in Alaska
This band has been posted on Fuzzy Sun a lot. their hypnotic psych never dissapoints.
Bodies on Everest
The noise on Bodies of Everest is always welkcome in my life. It doesn’t make me happy though.
Workin’ Man Noise Unit
This was one of the better rock releases of 2018. Was welcomed really good by all kinds of press too.
Modern Technology
The perfect marriage between postpunk and noiserock is made by Modern Technology and you can get the cassette here.
Tankengine
another great release this year was the new one from Tankengine. Raw punk and noise.
Kombynat Robotron / Snakes Don’t Belong In Alaska
pure and epic psychedelic drone. this is a match made in Heaven.
This is a short overview of my favourite released on Cruel nature Records. I can only recommend you to listen to more of their stuff, dig deeper and buy some of the stuff on there.
https://www.facebook.com/cruelnaturerecords
https://cruel-nature-records.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/CruelNature
Muertos are a prime example of the reason why everyone should get to gigs early and catch the support bands. I caught these guys on the support slot at a New Candys gig and they were brilliant! A great 4 track EP is available from WrongWay Records , with a few vinyl copies still available. A great introduction to Muertos is the track Black Box, this is the one that really got my attention way back in Shrewsbury.
With a debut album due for release next month, I caught up with the band to find out a little more about them. They are DeAnna Avis, Marc Crane & Tom Lewis and hail from Essex.
Who are you and why did you start the band?
Marc: De and Tom used to play in another band together a good while back. I used to play in another band around the same kind of scene, so we all knew each other back then. All of our bands split and for a few years or so nothing was going down, so myself and De got in touch and decided to create something new from the ashes and get things going again.
De: Yep, I met Marc when he was playing in a vampire garage rock band, Von Jergo. They were making quite a sensation around Essex, and Tom and I were in a political, brash, riot grrrl band at the same time, Death of the Elephant. So our paths crossed a lot at gigs and festivals. We kept in touch and then Marc and I decided to join forces and start writing songs in his dad’s front room. It was very low fi and the musical chemistry was awesome from the start. You never know with these kind of things but we just clicked!
What do you guys want to achieve as a band? What story do you have to tell the world?
De: For me, music is an exploration of all the difficult experiences I’ve been through, a way of processing the highs and lows of life. We write about quite heavy topics, our songs have always been quite personal. So the story I’d like to tell to the world is that it doesn’t matter what you’ve been through, you can get through it. I urge you, anyone who’s struggling – nothing is forever, and that’s the beauty of it all. We’ve been on a hell of a ride, if I even tried to go into it I could write a novel – but we write songs instead. It’s such a buzz to connect with other people who get it.
When you get out of bed, what makes you want to create music? What gives you the drive to make records and play live?
De: For me, it’s two main things. One is needing to express myself and being frustrated at always seeing the boys being the ones who got to shout and strut their stuff while the girls were relegated to being fangirls in the audience. When I started, I wasn’t confident writing music at all – it terrified me. But I thought fuck it if I’m going to be quiet – it’s not in my nature. So yeah, basically I play music to be a pain in the ass, because I think it’s my duty to shake things up, and I’d like to encourage other girls to get out there and start getting their share of the limelight the guys have always had. The other side of it is that I just plain love music, and have always played it as I was raised in a musical family. But I want to emphasise – even coming from that kind of supportive background, there is a hell of a lot of societal conditioning to undo to make you feel that it’s OK to make music as a girl, or get over the thought that you’re not playing the ‘right’ type of music. So I busted out of the box of just playing classical and violin music and ripped open the pandora’s box of punk. That’s why I play, to rip open all the boxes.
I’m a massive fan of bands like Spacemen 3, The Black Angels and BJM, I think I hear hints of them in your music. Who are your biggest influences?
Marc: I’m a big fan of them too. I think listening to those kinds of bands helped me get experimental with guitar playing and this eased me into learning to play. Before I knew any chords I was just into making interesting sounds with feedback and creating atmosphere. Black Sunday by Cypress Hill was one of the first albums I owned when I was young, that album had a big impact on me. It sounded so dark and dangerous.
De: Thank you so much, that’s so cool! My biggest influences are: Mazzy Star, Kathleen Hanna, PJ Harvey, Peaches, 90s west coast hip hop, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Von Bondies, The Raveonettes and last but not least, because it’s been my longest enduring love, Mexican music. I’m inspired by any woman who plays an instrument and sings – they rule my heart.
The album is out in August, describe it in your own words!
Marc: Its a deranged, melancholy trip that will make you want to dance. I also think we managed to successfully compress our three personalities and view points into a black round disc that sounds good.
De: It’s the sound of my therapy sessions put to music. It’s the sound of our inner psyche put to feedback and swirling hypnotic guitars. It’s the sound of our brain waves, our emotions, our love and our pain. I think that it sounds damn good too.
I love the new single ‘Suck It Up’, Where did the inspiration for it come from?
Marc: The strange world that surrounds us! This song is about wanting to get away from it all. Away from the orange goblin in the White House, Brexit, horrible commutes and shattered economy. It’s that feeling, when you are wound up and the least helpful thing someone can do is tell you to calm down and it makes you want to bang their head into a table. This song exists on that space of tension, where you want to BURN EVERYTHING. There is no tidy resolution to this story – we don’t do happy endings. You just have to get on with it and suck it up!
A band with a bright future in front of them I think! Thanks to De & Marc for sparing some time to answer a few questions. You can see Muertos for yourselves on the following dates. Try to catch them if you can, they’re pretty captivating!
Two London gigs coming up in August with Roadkill Records (who are awesome):
The Lock Tavern, Camden: Sat 4th August (Roadkill Records Weekender)
Shacklewell Arms, London: Fri 24th August (Our debut album launch party!)
The Bassment, Chelmsford: Saturday 27th October
Muertos are also playing The Psych Weekender in Manchester for Astral Elevator in September:
Night People: Sun 16th September
Following on from last weeks featured interview with the band Firefriend ,I have turned my attention to the other side of the table and interviewed Marco, the man behind Electric Valley Records. The label started as a means of releasing music by his own band Raikinas in 2014. Hailing from the island of Sardinia, Italy, Marco is a true supporter of music not only from the idyllic island, but throughout the world. With help from the also excellent Heavy Psych Sounds , the label has become home to some great bands, latest release is Continuum by Sons Of Alpha Centauri.
So, what makes a band stand out enough for Electric Valley Records to take notice of them, and sign them to the label? I asked Marco and his answer is pretty cool!
Generally I have to be hit by the sound immediately, it must be impactful, I want to hear riffs that make me say: Fuck, I have to contact them immediately!
I’m not obsessed with a genre, Electric Valley is for bands that play Stoner, Psychedelic, Heavy Blues, Doom, Heavy Psych, Acid Rock, Garage Fuzz etc…
An important thing is that the band is united, as a family, I would be very sorry if one of the bands of my label were to split.
So how much work is involved in running a label? I imagine keeping up with 12 bands, whilst playing in your own band is pretty demanding. Marco assures me it is!
They just became 13!
The active bands are only eight at the moment, and it’s not easy at all! Most of the bands keep me updated more or less, concerts, new songs, new projects and new ideas, that sort of thing. The most difficult thing is the promotion, I have to be behind a lot of things, but I do not get discouraged by this, after all it is my job and I love my job. It’s a job that takes a lot of time, and I do not have precise schedules, for example with some bands we have 6/7 hours of difference, so sometimes we talk at indecent hours hahahahah. The relationship I have with the bands is fantastic, we cooperate really well together and in this way we create a very pleasant situation, there is nothing better than working in friendship.
So any of you guys reading this dreaming of the easy life putting out records, be warned!
But obviously Marco is a glutton for punishment. He also puts on the Electric Valley Festival in Ossi, Sardinia as well as gigs for the bands on his label. There is some fantastic music coming out of Italy lately by the likes of New Candys , Julies Haircut & Giobia to name just a few of my personal favourites. Marco describes the music scene in his own words.
There is a beautiful scene here in Sardinia, the most famous are clearly the Black Capricorn with their Doom old school, then bands that were born after as the Elepharmers, King Howl, Raikinas, Desert Hype and 24Moons.
I can say that in Italy is full of very interesting bands from North to South and we do not forget the labels, starting from Heavy Psych Sounds, it is also thanks to Gabriele that I am here now, our friendship was born since I asked him if I could have his releases in my distro, he helped me a lot and he’s doing it also now, then there are many other super cool labels like Go Down Records, Vincebus Eruptum, Argonauta Records, Talk About Records, Taxi Driver and many others. I would say that we can not complain! There are so many bands, Stoner Rock, Doom, Heavy Psych, Sludge etc. Bands like Ufomammut, Black Rainbows, OJM, Atomic Mold, Deadsmoke and many others, it’s impossible to name them all!
So I’ll end this with a playlist of all the bands on Marco’s label, hopefully you can check them out, and who knows maybe support Marco with his excellent label and buy a couple of records!
Find out more at
Fuzzy Sun 