Gloria Coates is a modern American composer, although she has been living in Euro-Land since the '70s. She is known particularly for her unique textures and liberal use of long string glissandos. Symphony no. 15, subtitled "Homage to Mozart", is shrouded in a mysterious sonic aura. Strings squeal and slide while brass and percussion add canonic figures and hint at a distant majesty. If you're into to ambient and drone music, you would be well served to check this out although it bears little direct resemblance to either. This is definitely one that might blow a few minds if given a chance, as it did to me.
400 Km north of Oslo, something has been brewing. Over the last several years an impressive body of Black Metal has emanated from Trondheim. Most of it is cold, distant, primitive, sad. Of these, Knokkelklang is by far my favorite. Others, like the excellent Celestial Bloodshed, are better produced and more traditional. Unfortunately one of the central figures of the community, Steingrim Torson, was gunned down last year. Apparently the circumstances surrounding the incident are pretty sketchy but I couldn't really tell you any more than that. One ought not listen to Black Metal for the drama that often surrounds it. Several releases are linked below in alphabetical order for your perusal.
A 2CD set that collects two releases by this DOOOOOOOOOM band from France. I think that I overrate this ever so slightly because they're fronted by a cute gal who makes adorable and incongruous artwork for the band (and for her other project Rainbow of Death). I'm into that. But me overrating them does not mean that they are overrated or by any means bad. If you're into 20-minute ultra-slow doom songs, this is for you.
Fucking BLISTERING political grind from Norway. I think that 625 or somebody was supposed to put this out on CD but it looks like that never happened, so I ripped the LP. The crowning achievement here is the 10+ minute "Klæbukrønikene" which spirals upwards to a jaw-dropping climax. Dude seriously wrote a 10 minute grind song that's great from start to finish. Who does that? If there is better grind currently being played by anybody anywhere, I am not aware of it.
Four original noise/drone/glitch pieces constructed out of samples culled from a sparse piano/electronics piece, followed by the source material. Heartily recommended.
Laddio Bolocko existed for a brief time in the late '90s and nobody really cared. Then No Quarter was good enough to reissue their collected works in 2003 and nobody really cared again. But it's good! Laddio Bolocko were a many-headed beast. They rocked, skronked, droned, noised and psyched out with the best of 'em and fit it all within a framework that successfully reconciled the diverse elements while remaining moderately accessible. They had members of the Dazzling Killmen and The Psychic Paramount, who were/are both great.
Brand new post-hardcore from D.C. that acknowledges their Dischord forerunners while borrowing from some of the more recent Richmond bands. It has a cool blown out production that I wasn't sure really fit the style at first but which won me over by the end. Members of Aghast, 1905 and Lotus Fucker for whatever that's worth to you. If you enjoy it, head on over to http://www.amorylucha.org/ and procure yourself a copy.
Well, that Harry Pussy record garnered a lot of downloads so here's Adris Hoyos' post - Harry Pussy project. Similar to HP, but noisier, more relentless, less structured and...with a fiddle? Yeah. Not for the weak.
A nice '90s Death Metal nugget from Finland. Other than a bunch of demos, this 1993 EP is Depravity's only legacy, and it is worth it. The production is a step up on many of their contemporaries, the songs are engaging, and the atmosphere is really gloomy without doing anything convoluted to achieve it.. The guitar solos are a big highlight for me on this one; they get downright soulful at times.
Here's the bonus 7" that came with the first run of that new Fucked Up singles collection. Band is still good, I don't care what you say.
Warzone Womyn are ex - Crucial Unit (sweet!) and pre - Slices. The keep their hardcore short, sharp and vicious. The Endless Blockade eschew their usual violent mayhem and present us with a 17 minute doom epic. Both sides are better than you might expect.