Saturday, 31 May 2025

T • A • G • C – Digitaria (1986)


Country: England
 
Tracklist
1. Blood Burns Into Water 03:03
2. Dog Star 04:23
3. Balag Anti 08:12
4. Chozzar Over Abyss 02:13
5. Pre-Eval 05:03
6. Ghost Cultures Under Collapse 06:59
7. Noosphere 08:12
8. Lux Nox 09:07
9. Tzaddi (1994 CD Bonus Track) 01:27
10. The Abominable Plateau Of Leng (1994 CD Bonus Track) 01:56
11. Sekhet (1994 CD Bonus Track) 04:59
12. ShgL 3.33 (1987 CD Bonus Track) 03:36
13. Sunset Eyes Thru Water (1987 CD Bonus Track) 05:39
14. Po-Ema (1987 CD Bonus Track) 02:41
 
 The Anti-Group Communications (or T.A.G.C.)  is an open-membership collaborative art and information project
formed in 1978 by Adi Newton and Steven James Turner of Clock DVA fame.
The T.A.G.C. acronym refers to the four different types of DNA Nucleotide: thymine, adenine, guanine, and cytosine.
The group's main objective was to combine interactive and mixed media art, installations,
and research on psycho acoustics and philosophical concepts to produce fascinating presentations.
The first non theoretical action devised by T.A.G.C. was the film "The Delivery", a 16mm triptych projection and soundtrack,
and the Anti theater performance "The Discussion" designed for five tape recorders and multi-video projection systems.
These two works were first presented at the "De Doelen" center in Rotterdam on Saturday, September 22nd, 1985.
"The Delivery" has been exhibited at the "2nd Atonal Festival" in "The Ballhaus Tiergarten" Berlin, Feb 18th 1985
where the soundtrack was recorded on a mobile 24 track system.
This document was released as "The Anti Group - The Delivery" on Atonal Records.
After these initial performances T.A.G.C. concentrated on audio development.
It was during this period 1985 to 1987 that the above recordings were realized
along with the highly acclaimed ambisonic album "Digitaria" which is a technological and ethnological work
based on the ideas of the Sabean cults of ancient Khem and the Dogon tribe of Mali.
Having worked through these areas, it became the next logical step to move into the application of Psychophysics 
developing the use of frequencies and Psychoacoustics with computer aided technology.
Performance of these ideas took place at the "3rd Atonal Festival" at "Alte TU-Mensa" Berlin on December 13th, 1986
and "SO 36" Berlin on Feb 14th 1987 and at the "Museum Of Contemporary Art" Prato, Italy on Sept 23rd 1988.
It was at this time also that T.A.G.C. displayed their first Meontological visual experiment "Burning Water".
The recordings utilized in these performances were released as part of a series of recordings
entitled Meontological Research Recordings 1 + 2.
T.A.G.C. performances were held at the Electro-Acoustic Music Academy Stockholm, August, 23rd 1990
and at the ARS Electronica symposium on Virtual Reality held in Linz, Austria on September 8th, 1990.
Meontological Research Recordings 3 + 4 followed where Recording 3 explores the central ideas 
expressed in the Coulier Noire and Recording 4 centers around the current research project
into the development of methods and techniques to aid expanded consciousness
in collaboration with R.E.S.T., SpaceTimeTanks and Relaxation Center Chicago, America.
All these psychoacoustic experiments and carefully constructed aural rituals are usually accompanied 
by lengthy liner notes, explaining the theoretical underpinnings of the recordings.
In this way, T.A.G.C. presents itself explicitly as acoustic research rather than music.
 Although the group disbanded in 1996, Newton continued the project with CD releases and live performances in 2009.
T.A.G.C. audio recordings are released on Newton's Anterior Research Recordings label.

Friday, 30 May 2025

Michael Convertino – The Hidden - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1987)


Composer: Michael Convertino
 
Tracklist
1. Main Title 01:51
2. Political Rally 01:51
3. Back At Home 01:02
4. Transference 02:19
5. Miller In Apartment 01:55
6. Lloyd And The Little Girl 01:13
7. Lloyd Alone 01:14
8. Final Transference 03:16
9. The Dog 01:26
10. Rampage 07:33
11. Shoot-Out 05:57
12. Stripper 01:50
13. Road Block 01:55
14. Mannequin 05:01
 
"The Hidden" is a 1987 American sci fi-horror action film directed by Jack Sholder,
written by Jim Kouf (under the pseudonym Bob Hunt), and released by New Line Cinema.
It stars Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri, along with Clu Gulager,
Chris Mulkey, Ed O'Ross, Clarence Felder, Claudia Christian and Larry Cedar.
Director Jack Sholder was drawn to the film because of the script.
Writer Jim Kouf had originally expressed interest in directing, but when the studios refused, he lost interest in the script. Sholder, who saw the potential to turn it into more than an action film,
did a rewrite to heighten the themes of what it means to be human.
The score was composed by American musician Michael Convertino (born 1952 in New York City) 
best known for his collaborations with director Randa Haines on films like "Children Of A Lesser God", "The Doctor",
"Wrestling Ernest Hemingway", and "Dance With Me", as well as "Bull Durham",
"Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead" and the Tim Allen comedies "The Santa Clause" and "Jungle 2 Jungle".

Sunday, 25 May 2025

Iron Halo Device – The Collapsing Void (1998)


Country: United States
 
Tracklist
 Pulsating Flesh
1. Introduction - Eyespark, The Man 1
2:04
2. Penetration - Intruding The Skin 10:37
3. Reflection - The Collapsing Void 15:41
4. Completion - An Empty Anthem 09:14
Spliced & Segmented
5. Creation - The Abduction Of Winter 05:54
6. Evolution - The Expanding Void 04:19
7. Observation - Red Memory 03:32
8. Contemplation - A Passion Vessel 03:29
 
 Project of Philip T. Easter (aka eyespark), member of Stone Glass Steel and Death In Arcadia.
Additionally, Easter was the creative director at Malignant Records
 and he has done the mastering for a large number of releases in the industrial/noise genre.
"The Collapsing Void" was the debut album of the project offering a mix of heavy pounding drum patterns
with experimental noise and dark ambient atmospheres combined with many samples.
Tracks 1-4 were recorded live at the Hurricane in Kansas City on July 31, 1996
while tracks 5-8 were compiled from home demos recorded in August and September 1995.
Released through Malignant Records in 1998 in plain jewel case CD with transparent tray and 3-fold out booklet.

Wednesday, 30 April 2025

Nightmare Lodge – Negative Planet (1994)


Country: Italy

Tracklist
1. First Contrast 01:15
2. Baby / Death 06:34
3. Become Visible 03:59
4. The Bird Comes Back 03:44
5. Negative Planet 04:32
6. Mirage IV 05:56
7. Toxic Ways 02:54
8. Grey Wind 03:31
9. The Glorious Animal 03:20
10. Presence 04:54
11. Endless Pleasure (On) 03:49

Nightmare Lodge started in June 1987 as a musical project founded by Minus Habens Records / Disturbance founder
Ivan Iusco alongside vocalist B. Mazzilli and bass player Gianni Mantelli,
when the trio decided to embark on a path in search of their own dreamlike musical dimensions.
Soon they entered a small recording studio in Bari to record their first cassette "Big Mother In The Strain",
that was released on December 12, 1987 as the first publication of Minus Habens founded in the same year by Iusco.
After a few months, because of trivial disputes, the lineup was changed.
Ivan found himself completely alone deciding the Nightmare Lodge destiny.
In the meantime, he met female vocalist M. Cioce, that was selected
to be involved in two tracks on the split LP "The Oneiric Transgression / Noise And Dream",
with the Roman band Lyke Wake, the first vinyl release of Minus Habens Records in 1989.
When the album was out, M. Cioce left and B. Mazzilli returned.
Nightmare Lodge succeeded to assemble two new works across 1990 and 1991,
a split LP, " Ice Skin / The Gospel According To The Men In Black" with the band Blackhouse and a tape entitled "Asylum".
These two releases marked a long retirement period for the duo
caused by the compulsory military service that overwhelmed Ivan and B. Mazzilli.
In that time Nightmare Lodge produced only some tracks on various compilations around the world.
With the relocation of Mazzilli in Veneto in 1992 and the collaboration of Ivan Iusco with the Belgian Dirk Ivens for Dive,
the post-industrial period of Nightmare Lodge closed.
When Ivan came back from the military service he was busy in raising again his record label Minus Habens.
Due to this, the Nightmare Lodge inactivity existed until 1994.
In that year a new friendship born with the mysterious Russolo,
a very talented electronic composer passionate with horror and science fiction cinema.
A perfect union was made and since then Nightmare Lodge released a CD trilogy
("Negative Planet", "Luminescence", "The Enemy Within"),
that received considerable attention from critics and audiences in various countries.
In 1998 Nightmare Lodge composed the soundtrack (in collaboration with the Sicilian musician Paolo Bigazzi)
of the independent science fiction film "Syrena" by Mariano Equizzi
followed by two albums ("Blind Miniatures" and "Tentacled") for the U.S. label Red Stream.
In the summer of 2000, Nightmare Lodge, with guitarist Nicola Cipriani,
performed live for the first time in Calabria a soundtrack written specifically for the film "The War Of The Worlds".
Ivan Iusco has also involved with the project It and composed two songs for the sci-fi video game "Cyberpunk 2077".

Tuesday, 29 April 2025

Immortal Agony – A Virgin Among The Living Dead (1996)


Country: Italy

Tracklist
1. In Blood We Trust 11:25
2. La Fontaine De Sang 04:23
3. A Very Strange Agony 06:22
4. The Haunted Boudoir 08:19
5. Gothic 04:52
6. Soporiferous Sex (Liquid Emission) 04:56
7. Pagan Orgasms 03:16

Another project of Emanuele Lago (Black Mountains Chronicles, Tombstone, Crisantemo Nero etc.) 
that focuses on death/ambient and horror/industrial soundscapes.
Originally released in 1996 on his label Psychotic Release on a limited edition cassette with 2 inserts,
a little ceramic bat and a small booklet with images for each track.
Later in 2001 it was reissued on CDr together with his previous album "The Queen Of Heaven & The Queen Of Hell".

Sunday, 27 April 2025

Morte Macabre – Symphonic Holocaust (1998)


Country: Sweden

Tracklist
1. Apoteosi Del Mistero 4:20
2. Threats Of Stark Reality 2:59
3. Sequenza Ritmica E Tema 7:06
4. Lullaby 8:05
5. Quiet Drops 6:46
6. Opening Theme 2:53
7. The Photosession 7:14
8. Symphonic Holocaust 17:51
9. Suoni Dissonanti (Vinyl Bonus Track) 03:17

Morte Macabre was formed by the members of two Swedish progressive bands, Landberk and Anekdoten.
In 1998, Nicklas Barker and Peter Nordins of Anekdoten,
along with Stefan Dimle (Landberk, Paatos) and Reine Fiske (Landberk, Paatos, The Guild)
released the album "Symphonic Holocaust" on the Swedish label Mellotronen.
The album mostly consists of covered themes from horror movies, such as "City Of The Living Dead", 
"The Beyond", "Rosemary's Baby", "Beyond The Darkness", "Cannibal Holocaust" and "Golden Girls", 
with the exception of two original compositions.
The music is instrumental and characterized by improvisation and heavy use of mellotron and synthesizers.
The Memory link also features the bonus track "Suoni Dissonanti" that was included on the vinyl version of the album.

Monday, 31 March 2025

Time Machines – Time Machines (1998)


Country: England

Tracklist
1. 7-Methoxy-β-Carboline: (Telepathine) 23:22
2. 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Ethyl-Amphetamine: (DOET/Hecate) 13:19
3. 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyl: (5-MeO-DMT) 10:01
4. 4-Indolol,3-[2-(Dimethylamino)Ethyl],Phosphate Ester: (Psilocybin) 26:45

"Time Machines" is a 1998 studio album by English experimental group Coil,
originally released under the one-off project alias Time Machines.
The album was created under the premise of psychedelic drone pieces named after corresponding hallucinogenic drugs,
"tested and retested" during the album's studio sessions for apparent narcotic potency.
It is composed of four electronic drone pieces created with modular synthesizers,
which as hinted at in their track names are an attempt to recreate the chemically derived psychedelic and narcotic potency
of Telepathine, DOET, DMT and Psilocybin mushrooms (Telepathine and DMT being primary components of Ayahuasca).
As well as this, John Balance intended the album to cause "temporal slips" in time and space,
allowing both the artist and audience to figuratively "dissolve time".
Drew McDowall created the original demo, at first inspired by what he saw as a hypnotic state created in Tibetan music,
but his final idea with Balance and Peter Christopherson was to use filters and oscillators
on the tones of the demo to induce trancelike effects.
When "Time Machines" was first released, the group was initially very conscious
that it should not be labeled as a Coil album due to how abstract and different it was compared to previous works.
However, the group later tended towards regarding "Time Machines" a part of the Coil catalog
and this led the 2000 follow-up live album "Coil Presents Time Machines" to be released as a Coil album.
A five-disc Time Machines box set was announced in 1998, but never developed.
Also a two-disc version was announced in January 2006 as a future release but this was never expanded on either,
although an album by Peter Christopherson, called "Time Machines II", was released posthumously.
In 2018, surviving member Drew McDowall collaborated with British visual artist Florence To
 to perform an updated audio-visual version of the entire album in selected venues and festivals around the world.