A HALF DOZEN NEW RELEASES ARE UNDERWAY AND AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! TAPES ARE MORE THAN HALFWAY DUBBED AND TEST COPIES ARE ON THEIR WAY!!!
The pre order won't last long, but the "introductory pricing" of the digital downloads will go up after the pre-order is over!!!!!!!!
EaViL was a simultaneously timid and unwieldy odd couple of queer synth-pop outsiders. For ten years, E. Al Dente and N. Vilches released home-made CDRs in EP format, almost always containing one or two cover songs.
The two as a unit were either indifferent or untoward regarding the unspoken obligations of your average musical acts, while still maintaining a sort of resolute hermetic diligence in terms of promotion, regardless of their intentions. There are no overwrought affectations, no "ersatz bad boy" aesthetics, no self-conscious posturing, no Machiavellian bullshitters, and no obnoxiously ambitious go-getters here. Rather, in the place of any particular over-arching gimmick, is a general "take it or leave it" tone to the work, which is brimming with a sense that the listener is being welcomed as a guest into the artists' home; and with it, the kind of spiraling raw inspiration mixed with studio-rat isolation vibes that so many of us crave. Nevertheless, the audio/visual performances of this yin/yang dynamic were nothing less than over-stimulating (there are a number of music videos on youtube that were used during live sets).
What at first rose out of the ashes of membership in a precociously noisey Indian Jewelry related band, The Electric Set, was a series of modest, yet earnest and gentile nods to the history of performance art , as well as Italo disco, among other things. Odd masks, warped videos of Diana Ross, with lyrics about EaViL's cats ("Patsy" and "Edwina"), Alfred Hitchcock movies, their south side Chicago stomping ground (McKinley Park), or "Tarantula Juice" and other surrealismo, permeate the lo-fi synth soundscapes, which at times just happen to tip-toe similar territory as wide-ranging as BeNe GeSSeRiT, Atari Teenage Riot, Giorgio Moroder, or Le Forte Four.
Initially, EaViL were an all-analog group, slowly evolving to embrace laptop technology. During their tenure, they performed on the famed "Chic-A-GoGo" public access TV show, were featured in Mark Solotroff's (Bloodminded, Intrinsic Action, Bloodlust label) "Autosuggestion" live series, and opened for popular "electro-glam" duo Glass Candy, among other ventures, but as far as we at NO PART OF IT are concerned, their collective musical candle went out too early.
"Les Fleurs du Mal" is a kind of bittersweet posthumous anthology of favorite tracks and alternate versions, including some highlights from an unreleased/unfinished album called "DeciMaL" for your personal enjoyment. The digital download contains more than twice as much material, with hidden bonus tracks-- A smattering of more experimental dimensions from the outfit, not to mention some particularly deconstructed covers of Prince, Yaz, and Siouxsie.
(BTW: Here is the vocalist's book with Stella Castelucci, the harp player on an obscure Peggy Lee record called "Sea Shells")
An authorized compilation as a "mix tape" for NO PART OF IT label. Curated by Arvo Zylo, this was an impetus that continued to gain momentum since the release of the somewhat pivotal V/A "Delirious Music for Delirious People" CD in 2011.
This particular comp focuses mostly on artists who are either highly inactive, side projects which have maybe fallen by the wayside, or at least somehow related to elements that NO PART OF IT would release if the proverbial "we" had more time and resources.
In general, the comp was assembled with an intention to have a freeform and unpredictable, yet cohesive flow; The galloping electro-classical Foetus-isms of PIGSWILL, the operatic choir samples mixed with breakcore cinematics of HECATE, followed by the expert rhythmic horrorscapes of the never-released near 20 year old track by virtuoso punk rocker Infectious Rex, the pulsing funerary morgue throb of MOSSY THROATS, the aleatoric synth repetition of VACIO PERFECTO, the brutal, model-themed power electronics of Canadian artist MASS MARRIAGE, the pulsing, Christopher Dorner-inspired industrial anthem of REGOSPHERE, and so forth.
Some notes on a few entries:
The (dearly departed) TAKI PANTOS, whose CD still has no representation on the internet. TAKI performed solo accordion or guitar at Simon's tavern in Chicago for several years. He was said to have been somewhat psychic, and by a few accounts, would play medleys which would, apparently at random, reflect the thoughts or childhood memories of the nearby listeners... or otherwise, exhibit remarkable synchronicity. All that aside, Taki did a CD between his stays at the nursing home, and rumor has it, he fired all of the house musicians in the studio, and played all of the instruments on the CD himself. It was mentioned in the Chicago Reader in the 90s, and again a few years ago by Arvo as a guest of the "In Rotation" series for the weekly paper.
STATE RESEARCH BUREAU is an experimental folk project that has never been physically released and would otherwise have died an unceremonious death within the decrepit annals of myspace. The artist, who I can easily assume would prefer to remain anonymous, is also an extremely minimal noise artist with a pre-occupation with self-immolation and a severe case of schizophrenia (hence the name). The tracks exhibit soft-spoken vocals, acoustic guitar and extreme feedback used to highly evocative and penetrating effect.
ANGELBLOOD are a long-defunct, experimental black metal band with two different female vocalists. Featuring members of No-Neck Blues Band, Gang Gang Dance, and many other one-off vinyl collaborations and generally intriguing projects. Rita Ackermann AKA Ritha Cyklon, had recorded an LP of tape manipulated voice on Thurston Moore's label Ecstatic Peace! prior to joining ANGELBLOOD. The drummer, David Nuss, is now a member of Sabbath Assembly, a band dedicated to the messages set forth by The Process Church of the Final Judgement, and initially started out in 1980s Corpus Christi, TX in a ground-breaking punk/thrash band, Angkor Wat, with Danny Lohner, who went on to work with Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle. The bass player, Brian DeGraw, collaborated with controversial film-maker Harmony Korine in the totally out-there SSAB Songs project, among other things. So anyhow, the correspondence for this compilation may have motivated the band members to make their out-of-print material available digitally, and we are grateful! There is such a unique and insular sound here; with multi-lingual lyrics and a wide array of textures that all seem to come from territory completely outside of typical avenues of contemplation, general languages of black metal, and organized music in general. This is a metal band that would / could / should appeal to listeners of noise music and various avante-garde avenues, but maybe not for people who are sensitive to the psychic space that may come from vocalists under various, obvious trance states!
OMBRELLI SCIOLTI are a guitar noise duo from Chicago, and this track is from their long sold out release on Tymbal Tapes, which was among my top favorites list of whatever year it came out by a long shot. Live, they are just as wicked, and I'm under the impression there are no overdubs, yet the spiraling loops and glimmering twang debris make heads spin like no other guitar/pedalboard maniacs I have ever heard.
CAPTAIN MISSION is a short-lived project by noise-veteran Hal McGee, and to date, as far as I know, his most musical. Hal's equally fugacious label KASSETTE KULT released this CM cassettte, both of which in a high quality, yet fly-by-night manner, as if it were connected, and to be brief, I can say this is one of my favorite synth albums, particularly because it plays like a noise tape, but still has an inspired structure that stands up to many legendary synth soundtracks (I will take it over Vangelis any day, but that's just me!) without sounding like the same ol' arpeggio homages and gloopy histrionics.
And so on....
The digital download includes more authorized tracks that could not be included on the CD.
Every track is authorized by every living artist featured and if there are copies we can send to Taki's estate, we will gladly do that upon contact. Taki's track was taken from a CDR given to Arvo at Simon's tavern, not the actual CD, which is not certainly a pro pressed object until there is objective proof of it!
This collection is dedicated to the memory of My Castle of Quiet / WFMU radio host, PRISON TATT label head, and good friend Wm. Berger.
The only "open call" release that NO PART OF IT label will ever do, and perhaps the only appropriate soundtrack to our current times, this compilation is comprised of material featuring content by the feline variety in some way, whether it be by interacting with instruments or simply existing in some audible way. Some notable entries include the work of "sevenism" who uses software that extracts the basic elements of onomatopeiac sounds and fuses them into unique hybrid instrument voices. There is also The Rock Cats, which are a touring bus of cat-musicians trained to play drums, cowbells, piano, guitar, and so forth. Let's not forget there are more than one track where a cat gets to take the reigns on a synthesizer! And there are cat sounds used masterfully for cinematic effect by Fhtagn. Dig in!
The pro CDR comes in a jewel case with full color art, and contains art (in the public domain) from the 1900s by the famous cat artist, Louis Wain.
In 2005, Arvo Zylo constructed a drone piece out of several layered samples from pop divas holding sustained notes. It was submitted to a compilation with this information ahead of time, and rejected out of fear of copyright retribution. Thinking that since no single sample therein is easily recognizable in the slightest, "Upheaval" was reworked in a total of 100 different versions, the final version being four hours long ("The torture has been transcended" - WIRE Magazine).
This release, which has been slated to be available in cassette format at Czech label Nova Alternativa, is now available on pro CDR in the states. More than just drone material, it traverses several different approaches, from soundtracky ambient "vistas" to abrasive industrial repetition.
AND finally, a SIX TAPE SET OF (C40) CASSETTES ENTITLED A BIRTHPLACE IS NOT A GRAVESITE ... featuring TWELVE side-long entries with solo artists/misfits from various walks of life. Each copy comes in a black vinyl case with a handmade OBI strip made out of black damask wallpaper and a wax seal, a hand-numbered insert/cover, a hand-stamped black and white photo, and three black and white 4x6" art cards by Arvo Zylo. Limited to 32 copies, less than 10 copies are available at this time. 90% of contents are either previously unreleased, OR at least previously unreleased on a physical format. I wasn't even going to write about this on the internet, but I guess that is why I included these artists in the first place! Currently being dubbed and all the materials are otherwise ready!
156
ILTH
DJPTSD
MARK SHIPPY
ANASTASIA VRONSKI
MORGAN GARRETT
BOYLE
NOVASAK
LALEMUS
MOULTTRIGGER
GNARLY SHEEN
ARACHNAD
156 - The project name for sound artist, punk singer, photographer, writer, and trucker Adel Souto, which apparently on occasion has operated as a "collective", but also seems to have resigned from adding to the list of what small amount of live performances there have been. 156 has self-released many intimate limited edition audio artifacts, as well as being featured on labels such as Chondritic Sound, Out-of-Body Records, Goat Eater Arts, and others, but he/they might be best known for the self-released "Memento Mori" (bone white vinyl!) 10 inch, which features arrangements entirely played with human bones in some way. The side-long track in this set is a loop-based bit of dark industrial ambience that will be a nice addition to the 156 discography, to collectors who know that special organic spark in noise music, and to people who want to hear a pretty reasonable audio representation (voluntary or not) for the act of being buried alive.
ILTH - Having worked with Blood Rhythms and done cover art for NO PART OF IT's first release (the locked groove 7 inch compilation in 10 inch jacket), plus one of our logos, among other things, it became necessary to exhibit the work of ILTH as a sound collage artist of the utmost dadaist/industrial variety, since his long history of visual collage work would be a good introduction to this cassette side alone. I have said before that it seems more than anyone I know that ILTH has true dadaism in his bones, and there is no exception with this work, which is very likely all analog tape loops and 4 track manipulation. Ghostly scum and screech. Of course, ILTH has worked with punk bands UFUX, Daily Void, and Functional Blackouts, among many others, and also curated the series of compilation LPs "Tarantismo Summit", but the side featured here has excerpts from an unreleased untitled full length, tentatively "Ilth Zongz 2017"... ILTH could easily be on any number of labels with this material, his solo work is scarce for an apparent reason. We are thankful to have him on our roster in any capacity!
DJPTSD - The solo project of travis from the well-renowned and monolithic "industrial gospel" band ONO, I am not sure if anything in this vein has been released physically, although it has existed on soundcloud for years. Of course, travis has performed solo, singing "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child" over screeching feedback, swaying around with a big hunk of jagged sheet metal, but this here seems to be his experiments with Garage Band, and as such, a kind of soft spoken exhibition of minimalism comes through, but not nearly as much as an unwavering propensity for unkempt and almost writhing bits of rhythms, sprinkled with spoken word and vocalizations in a manner that seems largely forgotten as an option for experimental musicians. travis explained to me his method of dissolving intentions into short, but dynamic (often perceivably nonsensical) phrases, and this material, to me, feels like being in a classroom demonstration where personal wounds are dressed and decorated, so as to conceal their true meaning to those who have not also been wounded similarly.
MARK SHIPPY - Of course, Mark Shippy was in the band that were sort of heroes of mine during the latter part of their tenure. U.S. Maple blew my mind and gave me a new language to nonsense, but also dismantled rock in a way that was dynamic and captivating, while still maintaining its unpredictable and wild nature. Shippy has been in a number of projects, most notably (to me currently) is Invisible Things, which takes the notion of noise rock and really has such production to it that it comes off in more of a tone akin to jazz mixed with musique concret, but is none-the-less, uncompromisingly noise rock. And still, I've seen Shippy play solo at least 4 times, and my favorite is when it gets noisey and psychedelic. I have seen a number of ambient guitar solo artists with standardized twinkly and innocuous pristine mastery, and it's not what I want at all. This is what I want! It's not "shredding" per se, it's just sort of menacing guitar loop stratification to the point of meditative clarity for lack of time to think. I have no idea if Shippy has done physical releases of his solo work, but I think it's time he should.
ANASTASIA VRONSKI - Out of nowhere (Russia), I came to know of this artist around a decade ago. I think she just pumped out digital releases without a care to secure any of them as physical releases, and as such, there are only a few CDrs here and there to report, but while both digital releases (and CDRs) often have the stigma of poor quality content, here what I get is a sort of sadness that this sound is limited to and trapped in the ephemeral and banal world of the internet. Early works "The Blaze", "The Spell", and "The Drowner" come off as deliberately created alternate field recordings, as if the sound of dripping water mixed with fire has a particular emotional cue, and can be rendered into language as musique concret. That said, Vronski has spent time in the realms of dub, black metal, and contemporary classical, among other things, and her vocabulary seems as deep as her heart seems to be pure. The artist let me take samples of tracks from various periods for her side featured here, and it has everything from fluxus ambience to harsh dirgey metal, and broken glass strewn about the stereo spectrum.
MORGAN GARRETT - Well I'll be damned if I have ever heard anything quite like the work of Morgan Garrett. I have seen him live about three times, and I've always been impressed by his capacity to create sheer unpredictable chaos under the guise of something that still resembles a 4/4 beat, underneath all of the effects. Not to be mistaken for any kind of breakcore mannerisms, Garrett clashes pitch bent vocals with piano samples and beats, and sometimes you're not sure if there is a verse or a chorus or a breakdown, but you're also not sure if there is supposed to be anger or sadness or happiness being expressed in the wild eyes of the singer, as he is delivering some sort of Muppet Baby pontification with a stern evangelism; simultaneously unflinching and disheveled. It is most certainly hard to describe, but I will say that after hearing the perfect madness of MG's "Scream Culture" cassette, which came with hand-painted-neon cases and blue fur glued to it, I knew there would be something of his on NO PART OF IT sooner or later.
BOYLE - When I had my old radio show, I, out-of-the-blue, received a set of six CDRs from Boyle, with covers that were obviously printed with a xerox machine from the 80s. All of the tracks were titled simply by the dates they'd been recorded. The search online came up with nothing. I couldn't contact the artist until finally something came to the radio station with an email address. Even now, there is almost nothing about Boyle online, except some confusion with a member of The Nihilist Spasm band, and an entry that he did a collaborative tape with Bob Bucko, Jr (it's frickin' good, by the way). Whatever the case may be, John Boyle of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, has done a number of (probably analog) recordings where I am not sure what the instrument is that is being used, and not because of special fancy gear. But also, the earlier stuff that I have heard really seemed to be a musician making noise with pure material action in a way that suggested he'd never heard noise music before. Like a noisier Jandek without the meandering gibberish. This may or may not be true, but Boyle's body of work ranges from several layers of a person improvising with himself, in a raw elemental fashion, to some truly magical ambient work. The modus operandi is hard to pin down in general, but the side featured here on this set is a nice little flute debacle, and it might hint an inkling, to what I am trying to say here.
NOVASAK - In noise music, the tale of a person might be better told in what their involvement was and what they had to offer, more than what they sounded like, how many "fans" they have, or how "good" they were. In NOVASAK's case, he helped run the Denver Noise Fest for several years, providing a monstrous sound system of his own design, with specially crafted huge bass cabinets and god knows what else. When he moved to Tampa, he also helped run the noise fest there in St. Petersburg. Since at least the mid to late 90s, he's had the Swamp of Pus label and distro. But all that aside, I just generally think his work is great. He's always got some modified device to effect some expertly applied minimal noise composition, and "harsh noise" is not the beginning of it. A completely black mixer with no signifiers at all, or a strange device that looks like the little golden box from the movie "Hellraiser", for instance. "Harsh" might, on occasion, be a good descriptor, but generally, the work of NOVASAK would be better described as a kind of psychedelic heavy electronics, with pulsing and swirling nuances that, without a "noise swash" or a synthesizer, often feel sonically to me like there are little creatures crawling around within his recordings, and they compete with eachother to gesticulate their own particular sense of dread properly, if only they could just have a moment to breathe....
LALEMUS - One half of industrial/power electronics/horror/serial killer/fetish/noise act BLACK SHEET SERVITUDE, Lalemus, apparently something from an H.P. Lovecraft novel, is the solo project of one Skye Phillips, a young Latin/Native American lady from California. When I first heard her split with Phantasm Nocturnes, which seemed to start off with extremely and sparsely cut field recordings of tribal drumming/chanting, layered in a rhythmic industrial fashion, I was thrilled, and that side, which was around 40 minutes in duration, never failed to keep my attention or interest. The expert use of ethnic, antiquated samples and dynamic space, is unique to many of those recordings. Outside of the split, (there is a cassette limited to 19 copies which I have never heard, and) there are a number of tracks on her bandcamp which were never released physically, so I chose to highlight my favorites with this particular magic to them.
MOULTTRIGGER - Another project active since the 90s, this time in Des Moines, Iowa. I have heard keyboards, tapes, loops, shortwave radio, and I am not sure what else, throughout my journey in listening to whatever I could by this artist. The art of cutting loops, whether it be tape loops in real life, or the hardware/digital equivalent, requires a very discerning intuition, and that is the most prevalent characteristic in this artist for me. Take, for example, his "Birds" tape, which is said to consist "entirely of arranged bird samples turned into a various array of emotional messes", or his "Countdown to Halloween" release, which was made for every day of October 2012, speaks for itself. Like Aaron Dilloway, the tape work of Sewer Election, early Severed Heads, or Kurt Volentine, you are looking at one of the last tape loop fanatics. This particular side in the set, though, is focused on raw, lo-fi guitar work in this context, and is still an integral part of the artist's discography.
GNARLY SHEEN - The solo project of Morgan Rankin, co-label head with Josh Lay of Husk Records, and together they do expert sludge-ambient as Swamp Horse. Rankin was also a member of Cadaver In Drag and a number of other more proper bands, but his solo work is only represented by a handful of releases over a ten year period. To me, this seems like a real tragedy. Like more than half of the artists on this set, Morgan doesn't know a damn thing about computers, and yet, his work is some of the most creative instrumental soundtrack music I know of, not to mention the fact that it is still unhinged and strange enough to have a solid home within the experimental and noise milieus. It is too primal to be video game music, and too cerebral to really have a space within horror soundtracks without being awkward, but it exists for whatever purposes anyone may have, and for that I am thankful. The Gnarly Sheen side on this set also focuses on guitar work, but is more spacial and slowed down in nature, probably dark and scary to some people, but just darn good use of raw materials to me.
ARACHNAD - Yes, there is an artist named "ARACHNAD" and this West Virginia artist is, on occasion, reasonably compared to ATRAX MORGUE and SCHLOSS TEGAL. Specifically, his work from the 3 way split between ENOXAEON and GOATUS would be a good start for that type of material, but he is another one from the 90s that has a range of different output. The subject matter might deal with familiar serial killer themes, warped children's music, Jonestown samples, reverse speech, flesh ripping, door creaking, and/or anti-Christian sentiment, but whatever your relationship with that kind of thing is, it not just works for the overall sound, which is definitely lo-fi, but is also adequately haunting and kind of soulful in its light-hearted malevolence. That said, Arachnad's body of work isn't limited to these attributes. There is something special that I can't quite put my finger on, and not just because I like hearing an organ sound on a cheap keyboard run through a bunch of distortion, or samples of horror movie screams recorded to the point of being blown out. At moments, I am reminded of Muslimgauze's early ambient work, Z'ev's more elemental material, or Lustmord's earlier, nastier side .... and at other times, he plays like Conrad Schnitzler and Peter Frohmader had a drug-addled, warbled baby, laid in a 4-track cradle full of screaming hiss. As far as I'm concerned, this is pure industrial, if only by my privilege of happenstance/hindsight (I don't know what he was getting at or when), and I was given the privilege of picking my favorite segments for his side to this set, which is culled from various CDR releases.
NOPARTOFIT@GMAIL.COM
The DVD version of 333REDUX was reviewed at Houdini Mansions. Here is an excerpt:
Creative dynamo and No Part of It label head, Arvo Zylo is constantly immersing himself in art, writing, and music culture. One of his most outstanding personal projects, 333, is a powerhouse of rhythmic industrial noise that pummels with it’s unending grit, while continuing interest with new emergence of detail around every corner.
After releasing 333, Arvo decided to invite a significant group of sound artists to take the original 333 material and reimagine it. With 33 artists signed on to collab, the project seems to have taken on a life of its own, becoming an entirely different beast than the original piece.
What these other artists were able to bring to the project was their own visions, and their own varied experiences - which temper the material in a unique way. The result is a surprisingly cohesive musical work that has a definitive vibe running throughout, while continually shifting the minute to minute details. There is a lot of experimentation here with noise as an instrument or a musical device, rather than using musical instruments or devices to create noise.
***An abridged pro CDR of audio highlights from this monstrous amount of DVD content is now available via the bandcamp link***
Arvo contributed a track for the Static Fanatic Blog, in celebration of its 10th anniversary of existence. Also featured are Sterile Garden, Chefkirk, Damno Te, Rob Michalchuk, and more.
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