February 2020 Update

BANDCAMP SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS COMING:

There are a number of things we could do with a subscription format here. For one, there are a number of releases that have not been represented digitally at all, or hardly at all. One of the reasons for this is the desire not to have everything naked and raw for random strangers to click through. In a subscription format, the supporter would already be initiated enough to warrant allowing digital releases or previews of material that would otherwise be only suitable for physical format, at least to me. There are things that have been physical format only, and there are things that have not been released for years because they are going to be part of a box set eventually, etc. This won't be throw-away material, although some live documents and "demos" may be involved, and as a creative individual who also runs a modest label, I can guarantee there won't be anything here that I don't standy by, even if my reasoning might not be immediately obvious to everyone, and although there might be a temporary document here and there, this would give me an opportunity to let people view some things that haven't come out for several years, mainly because I'm not done yet. This will also be an outlet for me to be more experimental with new developments in culture/the way we digest it. We will try this out, for the time being.   More info.

There is a modest addition the the Blood Rhythms discography available.  It is an edition of 44 hand-numbered recycled cassettes with hand-made duct tape covers and hand-stamped skull symbols for the art.  There are 90 minutes of material for this release, depending on what length of cassette was used.  The content is harsh noise of a lo-fi but nuanced textural variety, with rhythmic/loop -based periods throughout.



Blood Rhythms' Civil War LP was reviewed at German site Baby Blue Prog Reviews.  Many thanks!  Here is what the English translation engine gave us:

Arvo Zylo is an avant-garde musician living in Chicago. His project Blood Rhythms is dedicated to the extremely courageous sound experiments that probably would not all be located under "music". Like this from the LP “Assembly” (2014), on which the electoral chants combined with wind instruments were recorded in a meat cold room and then electronically processed. If that's not really progressive, then I don't know what to do. Zylo likes to pack his sound creations as noisy loops from electronic and acoustic sound sources that are difficult to bear for many beautiful spirits.

Extremes can also be expected on the present LP "Civil War" from 2019. Acoustic sound producers included a saxophone, a clarinet and a trumpet, which were electronically alienated and processed into an intensely bubbling sound collage. There are also numerous other sound sources to be identified, which are not all clearly assigned. Sometimes the industrial rhythms, the aggressive chanting and various other voices.

Electronic loops, which presumably mainly consist of bass clarinets. Ghostly whispers. Short waves from the radio, or maybe feedback sounds. Industrial noise. Overdriven and alienated chanting to feedback orgies. Sounds of the Apocalypse. This is how they describe the opening of the LP "(En) closure (Hearts on Fire)" and "Onist". The meditative ambient loops at the beginning of “Locked away” have a soothing effect if you have somehow survived the extreme “onist” without leaving the room. Once you have digested or even understood the concept, the shamanic-orgiastic loops that meet in “Paris Window” seem almost familiar. Just like the noisy industrial waves of "The Face" A sick and now familiar world after the first LP page. In his interviews, Arvo Zylo has interesting inspirations, concepts and theories to tell about almost every track.

Is such an extreme experience worthwhile for the pinna, an ear gas for those who like to suffer? The answer could be positive if you want to hear something that you probably haven't heard before. In case it can be something that isn't necessarily nice, but rather upsetting. "Civil War" is probably primarily for masochists, tormented souls and the extreme experimental musicalists. The work is only available as a vinyl long board. In case you want to test whether the turntable's needle starts to melt with extreme sounds.

Civil War was also aired on KFJC, Bryan Chandler's show, alongside Harold Budd, Swans, Boy Harsher, Gilbert & Lewis, Loretta Lynn, William Burroughs, and more.  The LP was also aired on Insomniac's Delight with Mark Medley, as well as Crass, German Shepherds, Chrome, Bathory, Neubauten, Taeter, Ceramic Hobs, In The Nursery, and Fred Lane.

Arvo Zylo and Blake DeGraw's "Ligeti Split" was aired on WFMU's Polyglot Radio Show with Jesse Doris (Arvo's track titled "Double Etude", alongside the likes of Steve Reich (following his "Double Sextet"), Pulse Emitter, Keiji Haino, Algebra Suicide, Joachim Nordwall, and more. 

'The Radio-Friendly Kind of Pussy'

Anla Courtis' track from the Experimental Cat Music Compilation called "Pussification" was aired on WFMU by Daniel Blumin within the ranks of Mike Weis, Jason Lescaleet, Acid Mothers Reynols, Masaoka/Chen/Grüsel/Nagai, and more. The Anla Courtis track was also aired on Serious Moonlight with Carol, alongside OOIOO, COIL, Delia Derbyshire, Danny Elfman, Tom Waits, et al (one of the more accessible playlists this label has been squeezed into).  Again on Serious Moonlight, RUBBISH's contribution was aired among artists such as Pauline Oliveros, Luc Ferrari, Robert Rich, Moor Mother, Oval, and At Jennie Richie. The tracks  by The Rock Cats as well as Le Scrambled Debutante were aired on Radio Ravioli with Olivia, in the company of Elvis Presley, Honey Ltd., Strawberry Switchblade, Minnie Riperton, Marvin Gaye, Lee Renaldo, and more.  Forrest Friends' track from Pussification was featured on The Rest Is Noise with Delphine Blue, as well as tracks by The Fall, Konono No. 1, Robert Wyatt, Antibalas, Yello, Nina Simone, Gil Scott Heron, and the list goes on.  On 100% Whatever with Mary Wing, the track by Mean Flow was featured in the company of Gary Numan, DJ Shadow, Air, and Girls Under Glass.  On This Is The Modern World with Trouble, Carol Sandin Cooley's track was aired within the ranks of Lee Scratch Perry, Nina Simone, Grouper, Margaret Lewis, and more.  I enjoy the conversations about the release that have been happening in the comments, too.   Thanks for the support!

Finally, the compilation (track by sevenism) was also aired on KFJC by Les Payne, as well as Juno Reactor, Alice Kemp, She Past Away, Igor Wakhetivich, and more.  Cinderaura played  tracks by Mini Mutations, Anla Courtis, Le Scrambled Debutante, and Mean Flow, as well as NAMANAX, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Blectum from Blechdom, Black Dice, Bran (...) Pos, Konstruktivists,  and Negativland.   Teachers AIDS played Fhtagn's track from the comp, as well as G*Park, 1349, Satyricon, and Crank Sturgeon. In a different set Teachers AIDS again played the track by Anla Courtis from the comp, as well as Sewer Goddess, Scorn, and Midnight. The track by Forrest Friends was aired again by SAL 9000  along with NAMANAX, Bran (...) Pos, Monolith, Charles Wuornen, and more.  The track by Makeulv was aired by Naysayer along with KK NULL, Roy Montgomery, Himukalt, and Laddio Bollocko.    Cynthia Lombard played the track by Carol Sandin Cooley, as well as Cosey Fanni Tutti, Erma Franklin, Daphne Oram, and Grim.

Le Scrambled Debutante's track was aired on KDVS as well, with Puce Mary, Zorn, Space Streakings, Francoise Hardy, and The Caretaker.  Fhtagn, Forrest Friends, Mini Mutations, and Dr. Rhomboid Goatcabin were aired by Robin Redbeast, in the company of esplendor geometrico, Harry Pussy, Cocteau Twins, and Yoko Ono.  Again on the 6th Dimension, Mini Mutations was aired along with People Like Us, Wobby, and Lana Del Rabies. On Lo-Lite Chem-Lab, Dooley & All Extinct Animals were aired along with Daughters, Pink Floyd, and Unknown Moral Orchestra.  On Cinnamon Post Grunge, The Rock Cats were aired alongside BRUME, Kevin Shields, and Sonny & Cher.   Thanks!

Copies of Blood Rhythms' Civil War LP and many of no part of it label's pro CDR titles are available at Skeleton Dust Records in Dayton, Ohio.