Happy Birthday William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs (February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997).

Novelist, spoken word performer, painter and avant-garde genius, William S. Burroughs shaped the landscape of modern multimedia art forms, constantly pushing the boundaries, testing the limits and remaining honest and fearless in his work (an example most of us should take in all of our daily activities).

Today Lost Sea Recordings would like to extend a Happy Birthday to the late great William S. Burroughs.

"Love? What is it? Most natural painkiller what there is."

Sick Seed - Guilty Pleasures CS

A1 – Praise the Children (Autopsy)
Written by Autopsy

A2 – Strange Fruit (Billie Holiday)
Written by Billie Holiday

A3 – Mutiny in Heaven (Birthday Party)
Written by Birthday Party

B1 – Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Pink Floyd)
Written by Pink Floyd

One of my favorite new projects in power electronics, Sick Seed, debut release “Guilty Pleasures” insures a throne atop the kingdom of hate. Unrest Productions done a first-rate job with this release, the sounds are dubbed nicely and the artwork looks good while matching the temper of this cassette. Popping this tape into my walkman I was weary at first because I actually listened to all compilation appearances and LP first. All tracks I have listened to from this project are top notched and I was timid this cassette would not match that force, but thankfully I was wrong. This is a cover release, every track on this cassette was remade in the image of Sick Seed and I have to say, I really like these newer versions better. The first track on side A “Praise the Children” is my personal favorite on the cassette because I love the power Pekka PT created with his vocals, he made this track better than the original. You can hear fragments of the Autopsy version processed through distortion and effects as Pekka annihilates the lyrics with swift and violent anger. I can’t get the phrase “PRAISE THE CHILDREN” out of my head now, this track is remarkable!
Track 2, a Billie Holiday cover is also a notable track, having source material from the original playing in the background at a normal listening speed; you feel a eerie sensation and disturbing sickness from the vocals over powering the beautiful classic sounds from years ago. This track is deranged and original in style. The 2 differences in love and hate are definitely met here. The Birthday Party cover is probably the most upbeat track on this recording because there is a rhythm to feel and react with as you’re being punished with raw thumping bass and screamed at by a drill sergeant. This track is intense and put me on edge. A harsh reality of being told what to do can really piss you off.
Side B to this cassette rings in at about 11:55 and is an instrumental version of Pink Floyd’s “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”, this is a dark track, more dark ambient then power electronics or noise, but I do hear wreckage of scrap metal abuse in the mix making a cold desolate landscape. This side is calming to me compared to side A but shows a relationship with light and dark as noted above. I am in no way saying side 2 is light but compared to the other side of this cassette, side B is the sun.

Bergraven - Dodsvisioner CD

01 Döende
02 Av Saknad Släcker Jag Ljuset
03 Ondkall
04 Känsla Av Livets Nästa Skede
05 Den Svarta Angstens Essens
06 Det Man Med Själen...
07 Ekot Av Bikt
08 Döende (En Avslutning)

Like a cracked windshield Begraven’s music starts with just a chip and then spiders itself into a full blown web, very slow to vein from one branch to another is how this band sounds grow into each other. A very slow start, and then the explosion, you can call this black art metal? So many different genres can be considered when trying to find a home for this band. Highly technical in skill, this French output makes it very difficult to understand what you want the music to be. After a few listens you realize that you just got to leave this alone and let it be what it is. I feel this band has similarities with Blut Aus Nord in ways of riff work but then the vocals play their own role of the songs. I can hear Opeth within the realms of this album but there are no sung to growling coarse vocals to match the two together. This is a truly original release, I have heard nothing like this; it is so technical but not boring, you hardly see that today. If you are in the mindset to witness something new and have an open mind then I advise you to give this album a spin.

V/A Nyrkki & Kyrpa Compilation CS

A1 Pain Nail - Loan Säkeet: 1) Merkitseminen 2) Kadotus
A2 Above Suspicion - Ympärileikatut
A3 Sick Seed - Delores Read
A4 Unaction - Within Human Touch
A5 sKKK - Tahtojen Taistelu
A6 Funeral Mongoloids - Vittu Soittakaa Nopeeta
B1 Manic/Depression - The Dead And The Dying
B2 Grunt - Daddy`s Little Sex Toy
B3 Grunt - Head In A Box
B4 Bizarre Uproar - Mustat Saappaat Murskaa
B5 Wertham - Nil By Mouth (Beat You Till You Are Blue Remix)

Translated into English, this compilation is called Fist & Cock

Side A

Starts with 3 tracks from Pain Nail, Loan Sakeet begins with echoed vocal samples and a background of pounding war drum and cymbals. The spoken word is in the Finnish language and I don’t understand what is being said but I can however say it works well together. The 2^nd of the 3 tracks from Pain Nail starts pounding percussion and rhythmic screeches with the same vox of spoken word behind it. I can’t really decipher when the 3^rd track starts and ends but track 2 from Above Suspicion is structured more with just noise frequency and processed vocals with metal trash clanging in back drop. This is fierce, a perfect mid range and low end here. Track 3 Delores Read from Sick Seed is my favorite tracks on side A because of the powerful vocals sprayed across the landscape. Sick Seed takes the European approach with a speech of some sort at the first of their track with a sample and begins the strength of the track, hissing tape frequencies, throbbing bass and shrieks of feedback feel the air. Pekka PT ‘s voice sounds fucking evil! Unaction takes track 4 with “within human touch”, this project is new to me but I feel this project could be as strong as the rest of the Finnish crowd here. Manic screaming vocals, pounding percussion and feedback are the key ingredients to this mixture. This is a strong track, forceful and filthy. Another project I am not familiar with is sKKK, their track Tahtojen Taistelu is different from the rest of the tracks on side A because the main focus here is just a soundscape with no vocals. This unit uses what sounds like a synth and many effects and minimal percussive instruments to fill their time slot. I’m not saying this track is bad but sounds just filler to the other notable tracks on this side of the cassette. The last track on this side of the tape is Funeral Mongoloids with Vittu Soittakaa Nopeeta, the sounds are lo-fi and demonic black metal structures, the recording is not that great, I can barely hear the instruments in the backdrop but do hear the yelling over the band that just seems like back masking and satanic slur. I am not too impressed with this outfit and feel this compilation got weak towards the end of side A.

Side B

Begins Manic / Depression with a track named “The Dead and the Dying”, this track sounds like an old VHS tape ran through distortion, nothing is spectacular about this track because there is nothing to it really but a couple of sounds that are muddy. Windy and rough is the way this track plays. Track 2 belongs to Grunt with a track called “Daddy’s Little Sex Toy –Head in Box”, this is really good, the track starts with a really good sample of a lady talking about being hung upside down and left. The noise starts with bass driven pulses and trademark vocals from Mikko Aspa. This is a notable track for the entire compilation because it is very strong and has that simple procedure that works every time you here a track from this project. Nasty distortion with shredding feedback gives this track a heart. Track 3 is Bizarre Uproar with “Saappaat Murskaa”, this is a very long track of good abrasive noise and walls of distortion. This sounds like old Bizarre Uproar, straight to the point and brutal. Within the past couple of years walls have become more popular with the likes of The Rita and The Cherry Point, but I can honestly say that BU can’t be touched when it comes to this type of fierce aggression. Vocals are present on this track late but they only add to the chaos and hate. This is definitely a notable track here.
Track 4 is Wertham with “Nil by Mouth” (Beat You To Your Blue Remix), I believe Wertham is only act on this entire cassette that is not Finnish but fits perfectly amongst the rest of these great acts. High pitched shrills, devastating distortion and balls feels the air ways here with a nice mix of sounds and effects. I don’t really get the remix part here but the track itself is good. I don’t really know what else to say but go get a copy of this because it is worth it even if it is deleted by now. This release is Pro duplicated tape in polycase with xerox insert.
Limited to 250 copies.

Bizarre Uproar - 13/10/06 CS-45

A Äpärä
B Vyö

I received this tape a few months back but didn’t get the actual photographs that supposedly came with this release so I will specifically talk about the music. This is a live assault of Bizarre Uproar with added vocals from Pasi’s wife. You can tell this is more of a visual performance listening to the music because it is not your normal sounding BU release. I hear sporadic female vocals and what sounds like dominatrix whipping. High heel boots walking across the floor with grunts and moans, as time passes you witness the sound of metal junk colliding and trash heaps piling into an industrial collage of sound. Nothing really changes on side A, I feel this would be better accompanying a visual, perhaps a DVD or something. Side B Endless Spank Mix created at IOPS Research Laboratory. Visual evidence of 3 days process of belt & boot action and its results by Mr. & Mrs. Bizarre. Limited to an edition of 48 copies. Black chrome tape comes in a soft tape shell with J-card, packaged in a box sealable box with insert and 24 photographs.

Greymachine - Disconnected CD

01 Wolf At The Door
02 Vultures Descend
03 When Attention Just Isn't Enough
04 Wasted
05 We Are All Fucking Liars
06 Just Breathing
07 Sweatshop
08 Easy Pickings

Arranged By - Justin K Broadrick
Artwork By [Layout] - Aaron Turner
Artwork By [Video Stills] - Justin K Broadrick
Bass - Dave Cochrane
Electronics, Bass [Bowed] - Diarmuid Dalton
Guitar, Drums, Vocals, Drum Programming, Electronics - Justin K Broadrick
Guitar, Vocals, Electronics - Aaron Turner
Mixed By - Justin K Broadrick
Producer - Justin K Broadrick

When the frontmen of two of the heaviest bands get together, they are guaranteed to make something extremely fucking heavy. Jesu mastermind and former Godflesh front man Justin Broadrick and Isis leader Aaron Turner have teamed up to form Greymachine, along with fellow Jesu/Godflesh member Diarmuid Dalton and Head of David's Dave Cochrane. Broadrick and Turner have both been known to maintain a ton of side projects, so it's really no surprise that they'd eventually find each other. The surprising thing is just how annihilatingly desructive and sludged-out the result is. The sound is just filthy and fucking gross; at times you think you are listening to a power electronics release. This is very noisy and if you ask me the perfect timing if you missed the old sounds from Godflesh. Each track has thought and appeal with new forms of instrumentation involved like the bowed bass, and probably a laptop to get some of these sounds but these sounds are distorted, grimy, and brilliant in these new times of metal. This is a hard listen but after stomaching 4 listens straight I can say it is one of the best releases period for 2009. Even though I say this release is noisy, it still carries a rhythm with timing of live drums, bass, and electronics. The combinations are merely exceptional and people in the noise scene will be appalled when they realize how much better this band is then theirs.