Skullflower - Kino III: Xaman (remastered) cd

The third album of Skullflower is not only famous for its amazing content but also for the rotting surface of the original cd version that was the result of unsuitable material used by the pressing plant. Looking a little bit on Discogs this happened to many other cds and buyers chased the plant to replace them, something that happened minimally, according to my understanding. However, I'd be curious to look at the original cds, if someone would be willing to post photos. Anyway, Xaman is restored here in cd form and remastered, with enlightening liner notes by Stefan Jaworzyn (too bored to upload them, check them out on Discogs). It's a masterpiece of psychedelic noise rock, starting from the classic "Slaves," with its hideously devastating bass riff, to the lysergic rock jams of "Sunset" and "Xaman" to the spaced-out psycho jams of "Barbed Wire Animal" and "What Did You Expect?"- easily one of the best tracks ever made in the noise genres. Originally released in 1990 on Shock, this is the 2012 remastered cd version on Shock and Dirter Promotions.

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Skullflower ‎– Kino II: Form Destroyer (remastered) cd

First Skullflower full-length, one of the most classic albums of the British noise underground, where they took the rhythms of Godflesh and post-punk and the noise of Whitehouse and Throbbing Gristle to another level, where rock 'n' roll and crawling psychedelia has a central position in. A real blueprint for psychedelic doom metal, noise rock and so many other subgenres. This is the 2013 remastered cd version on Shock and Dirter Promorions of the original 1989 lp that was released on Broken Flag, with liner notes by Stefan Jaworzyn about the players and the dates of each track. Also included are the two tracks of Ruins (1990) - "Eat The Stars" is such a stellar track - as well as two previously unreleased tracks, which could have easily made it somewhere in their extant discography.

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Matthew Bower / Mattin ‎– A New Form Of Beauty (1975)

I don't quite see the Virgin Prunes reference here; is this supposed to be a remix of VP's recording? What you should expect here is searing guitar harsh noise without any let-up. 2007 cd on Bottrop-Boy.

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Skullflower - (almost) complete discography Part 1

So, at the request of a dear commenter, I hereby present the discography of Skullflower. Apologies for the delay in doing so but things have pretty hectic. Due to the lack of time, comments on the albums, as well album covers, will be limited. After all, Skullflower and their importance in the formation of the noise/drone scene by including live traditional rock instruments rather than electronics has been extensively documented in many blogs. If I find the time, I might come back to the post and include covers and whatnot. This first part will cover SF's initial run from the late-80s to 1996. Part 2 will come soon-ish.

1987 - Bull & Gate Oct 7, 1987 download

This is an early SF live recording released in 2012 by Shock and Dirter Promotions, featuring Matthew Bower, Stuart Dennison, Stefan Jaworzyn and Gary Mundy of Ramleh. I had found this on a blog, but unfortunately I can't seem to find the link to lead to that blog, so I have uploaded it. If the original uploader sees this and wants me to link to his post, please send a comment.

1988 - Birthdeath

 

More specifically, I'm including both the original version and the Kino I: Birthdeath reissue. As is shown in Stephen Jaworzyn's liner notes in the reissue, tracks 1 and 2 are from 1987 and unreleased, track 3 is also unreleased and probably their earliest recording (1986), track 4 is from 1988 and probably from the Form Destroyer sessions, track 5 from 1988, tracks 6 and 7 ("Birthdeath" and "Grub Song") are not the versions found on the original lp, but are the remixes from the Ruins LP, tracks 8 and 9 ("Timebomb" and "Blood Harvest") are the original Birthdeath versions and tracks 10 is unreleased. The original was released in 1988 on Broken Flag and the reissue in 2013 on Shock/Dirter Promotions.

Original Birthdeath download
Kino I: Birthdeath reissue download

1989 - Form Destroyer download

1989 - I Live In The Bottomless Pit - Bo Diddley's Shitpump 7'' download


1990 - Rift - Avalanche 7'' download

1990 - Rotten Sun 7'' download

1990 - Ruins download


1990 - Slaves 7" download

1990 - Xaman download

1991 - Mauro Teho Teardo split download (SF track only)

1991 - IIIrd Gatekeeper download

1992 - Evel Knievel 7" download


1992 - Bad Alchemy 7'' download

1993 - Last Shot At Heaven download: removed by SF's request

1993 - Obsidian Shaking Codex download: removed by SF's request

1994 - Carved Into Roses download

1994 - Choady Foster - Spent Force 7'' download

1994 - Ponyland 7'' download

1994 - Skullflower & Total split 7'' download (both SF and T)

1994 - White Fang #2 - Glassy Essence 7'' download

1995 - Adieu, All You Judges (Live Split with Ramleh) download (both SF and T)

1995 - Argon download

1995 - Infinityland download

1995 - Transformer download

1995 - Village Sorting 7''

1996 - this is Skullflower download

2013 - Kino IV: Black Sun Rising download



This is a compilation featuring some unreleased tracks as well as some 7" tracks I have already uploaded in their own right. Tracks 1 and 2 are unreleased, tracks 3 and 4 are the Rift/Avalanche 7", tracks 5 and 6 are the Slaves 7" but "Satan My Black Ass, Steve Albini = Jim Steinman" is assigned its original title "Hoof," track 7 is unreleased, tracks 8 and 9 are the ILITBP/BDSP 7", track 10 is the original title of "A Guide to Canine Foreskin Retraction" from the Portable Altamont comp (more below), and tracks 11-13 are unreleased and derived from the Xaman recording. 2013 cd on Shock/Dirter Promotions.

Various tracks download - removed by SF's request

In this rar I have included some SF comp tracks: "A Guide To Canine Foreskin Retraction (from The Portable Altamont)" (renamed "Against Everything" on Kino IV was released on the Portable Altamont 1991 compilation with Coil, Nurse With Wound, Current 93 and Drunks With Guns. "IIIrd Gatekeeper" is from the 1993 Sound From Hands compilation (and also included on the bandcamp reissue of Last Shot At Heaven). "Aquatic Horrorshape" is from the 1993 Shrine compilation and also from the LSAH internet reissue. "Dawning Mew" is from the LSAH reissue as well. "Hamburger Lady" is from the 1999 tribute to Throbbing Gristle Entertainment Through Pain.

more Total

ok let's try to approximate the completion of Total's discography. There will still be some releases which I don't have, but with the ones I have posted before (check the tag), we're close to it. NOTE: IF ANY READERS HAVE THE TOTAL/CULVER SPLIT TAPE ON MATCHING HEAD, PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE!

Total - Beyond The Rim

 

 After the initial run of Total in the mid-to-late-80s, Bower went on to form Skullflower, and only got back to releasing more experimentally-oriented material under the Total moniker in 1993 with this amazing 1993 lp on Majora.

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Total - Here, Time Is Space

 

This came out in the same year as Sky Blue Void  (posted already on this blog) and sounds like a mix between more subdued drone and all-out wild noise. 1994 2 X lp on Majora.

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Total - Glassy Warhead



This one seems a little bit more on a traditional noise track, with screeching mic noise and guitar delay attack. 1995 cd on Pure.

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Total - Tanzmusik Der Renaissance

 

Total psychedelic awesomeness. 1995 cd on Freek Records.

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Total - Silver Pillows



This starts deceptively blissfully but descends into guitar amp abuse, only to end up in a mess of guitar wails and some metal percussion jumping. 1995 10" on Majora.


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Total - Clear Factory



Real nice droning noise with guitar, piano and some beautiful background synths. 1996 lp on Majora.

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Total - Buffin' The Celestial Muffin

 

This one showcases the awesome reeds of John Godbert (Vibracathedral Orchestra), as well guest appearances by Neil Campbell (again of Vibracathedral), Stuart Dennison (Skullflower) and Philip Best (Consumer Electronics). 1997 cd on Rural Electrification Program and Format Supremacy.

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Total - Kaspar Hauser



High-pitched feedback invocations and cowbell clang. 1997 cd on Metonymic.

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Total - To Fall Like Cherry Blossoms



Jaw-dropping amp noise/winds/piano drone/free jazz. Bower is once again accompanied by John Godbert, as well as Neil Ireland. 1997 lp on American Tapes.

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Total - Mountain Tasting



Stunning elegiac experimentations with piano, violin, reeds and cymbals. Essential listening. 1997 lathe 7"

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Total - Eternity's Beautiful Frontispiece



Droning psychedelic contemplative awesomeness with John Godbert and Neil Campbell. 1998 cd on VHF Records.

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Total - Solid Objects Cast At Goblins

 

Sadly this was to be the last Total release, though the material was recorded in 1996. Once more this one features Bower and John Godbert on percussion and wind instruments and includes amazing shimmering drones. 2000 cd on VHF Records.

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more Hototogisu

Hopefully this will be the last Hototogisu post for some time, as with this, almost all of their discography is complete, with a few exceptions. You can find more Hototogisu uploads elsewhere on this blog with the respective tag.

Hototogisu - The White Wind of Autumn

 

Along with other early Hototogisu releases such as Floating Oof! blah blah (already uploaded here) this shows a calmer, psychedelic and more blissful side of Matthew Bower. It's like he took the horns and other instruments of Total and muted the deafening guitar noise. 2000 cdr on Rural Electrification Program.

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Hototogisu - Cuckoo Cloudland



Introspective guitar drone accompanied by vibraphones, accordions and some nice casio doodling sounds. Highly recommended! 2001 lp on De Stijl.

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Hototogisu - Swoon Scream

 

This is the second release with Marcia Bassett on board, so it's pretty obvious that she's the one that took all the Ladose pills away from Bower's shelf and brought in all the noise and destruction! 2004  2 X cdr on Heavy Blossom.

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Hototogisu - Green

 

This is the notorious Hototogisu black metal album, with some really cool tremolo riffing emerging here and there and the necessary drum machine double-bass kicking. Strangely though, this one sounds kinda more blissful and less noisy than most of their relases after Marcia Bassett joined, and thus peculiarly reminiscent of Hototogisu's Hawaii days. 2005 cd on Heavy Blossom.

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 Hototogisu - Some Blood Will Stick



 This one is a compilation of three tracks from Awful Symmetry (uploaded a few days ago), namely tracks 1, 2, and 5 from there, and tracks 4 and 6 from Swoon Scream, plus another one (the fifth one on here). Yes, it would have made more sense to just include the extra track but hey! 2006 cd on Heavy Blossom.

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Hototogisu + Burning Star Core



Room filling, kraut-inspired psychedelic noise jams. 2006 on DroneDisco.

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Hototogisu + Burning Star Core - II



Somewhat more subtle and quiet, but more sinister. 2006 cdr on Heavy Blossom.

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Hototogisu & Prurient - Snail on a Razor

 

Live collaboration with Dominic Fernow on his own label. Great stuff. 2006 cd on Hospital Productions.

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Hototogisu - Spooked Summer

 

After the collaborations this is kind of a return to the blistering guitar screaming, and also more akin to other Bower projects like Mirag and Voltigeurs.2007 cdr on Heavy Blossom.

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Hototogisu - Under the Rose

 

One of the final Hototogisu releases. Ascending evil guitar incantations and an awesome descent in the end of the second track. 2008 lp on Heavy Blossom.

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