From Berlin, Germany comes Cuntroaches, with their self-titled debut album of 8 tracks in 31 minutes. The band consists of Martina Schoene-Radunski - guitar, vocals; Claire Panthère - drums; and David Hantelius - bass, but since the sonics are so overwhelming it sounds like a lot more than just the three of them. The album is a nearly relentless audio assault of 8 tracks in 31 minutes, broken up by occasional bouts of silence, studio and other effects, sonic weirdness. There is a tension to this album you don't often find in this kind of music now. To me, that's a hallmark of creativity of craft, and Cuntroaches have that in spades. One listen to the five-and-one half minutes of "Gravity System" will dispel any illusions you may have had about this being just another noise punk band. "I Can (Still) Tell You're (Scum)" seems like it's going to be a straight-ahead hardcore diatribe, then it goes off to places you can't even imagine, like a bad DMT trip, finally tossing you back into the mosh pit. Heading into "Red Velvet Rose" it seems like it was recorded in another dimension, one that has no basis in this reality whatsoever. Of course the vocals are screamingly unintelligable and off the charts but what else might you expect? This is beyond no wave, way, way beyond it. This is noise rock for noise purists, and something to be damned proud of, despite the name. If you're going to buy the album, I recommend the green color vinyl.

Okay, there's a limit to my tolerance on noise and nonsense and I think I've reached it with Squid Pisser, a band from L.A. consisting of Tommy Meehan (vocals, guitars, bass, noise, samples) and Seth Carolina (drums, vocals). This is just hardcore/speedcore/grindcore with alien Halloween masks. It's chaotic screaming, shouting, mad drumming and fucked up guitar playing and songs that make absolutely no sense at all, no matter how you slice them. After you find out Meehan is the guitarist of GWAR and Cancer Christ it begins to make some sense, but Seth Carolina is the drummer for pop punk band Starcrawler and that makes much less sense. 'Vaporize A Tadpole' rips through 15 tracks ( I really can't call them all songs) in 31 minutes. With track names such as "Liquified Remains," "Marching For Trash," "Fuck Your Preacher," and "Smog of Self Abuse" I guess you know what you're in for. But all this is undoubtedly tongue way inside the cheek. (They even put out a comic book you can get when you buy their 'Vaporize A Neighbor' 7" 4-track EP, all of which are on the 'Vaporize A Tadpole' album.) Let me make it perfectly clear- I really think this is thoroughly awful, which means, if you like nasty, fast and noisy glitched out hardcore and all things slimy, you will LOVE IT.

Got a bunch of CDs from Skin Graft Records and you know what that means...IT'S TIME FOR NOIZE!!! First up is Hyper Gal, a duo of two young ladies from Osaka, Japan- visual artist Koharu Ishida (vocals) and noise artist Kurumi Kadoya (drums) but there's a lot more going on than just vocals and drums, there is also sampled (and maybe even played?) music and plenty of distorted noise. The distortion is everywhere...pervasive. Songs are minimal and quite repetitive. Once it gets going, in the opener, "charm," Koharu repeats "you're gonna bend it, shape it all night long" many, many, many times over the course of five minutes. "Tropical" is sampled orchestral hits played on a simple riff with lyrics that just can't be deciphered without a degree in noisology. Before you figure out what she's saying, the song is over. The first half of "Papapa" is all noise and drum clatter, but in the second half we have Koharu's Japanese speed rap. There really is no break between that and the next song, "Domestic Utopia" which feature locomotive-like distorted high-hat for a while then Koharu's repetitious vocal phrasing with on-the-beat percussion for emphasis, then back to the locomotive high hat. (Might also sound like a lawn sprinkler run through a distortion pedal.) This duality continues to the end where it picks up more distortion but not speed. "Wedding ring" runs arpeggiated synth sequences through the distortion device and takes a somewhat old fashioned melody through the noise machine. The effect is...well, disarming to say the least. While "Tenshi" does not really seem distorted at first with lots of toy-like synth sequencing, it's not long before the overdrive kicks in, and by the time the vocals come around it sounds like a full scale riot in progress at the mall in front of the music store. Yowza! It seems like it will never end! I guess "bleach" is Kurumi's drum solo since it's mostly drums and only 33 seconds but Koharu has her say as well. Based musically on a thoroughly obnoxious repetitious synth arpeggio, "Transparent new Living" gives Koharu more room for vocal expression but just wears you down, down, down. 'Pure' is Hyper Gal's second album (haven't heard the first) and they've been compared to artists such as Enjoy, Cowgirl Clue, Kumo 99 and The Hellp (if that's any help) and while I find this kind of noise pop essential to the scene in general, it's really not my thing, but I can respect it. I think the album cover captures the spirit of what these two Hyper Gals are all about. If I was producing Hyper Gal there are surely things I would have done differently, but no one asked me so take it for what it's worth. But they are cute. :-)

Norwood, Massachusetts ambient musician/composer Devin Powers is back again with another new SineRider album on the Sound In Silence label (his third for SIS). Since I've covered his multifaceted musical career in a previous review ('A Familiar Light,' 2021) so I won't repeat it here but suffice to say he's had numerous releases in a number of genres over the years. 'Perennial' is a dozen tracks in 48 minutes; multilayered blissful, dreamy ambient pieces you can read by, work to, or just fall asleep on. Opening with the title track, it's a hazy cluster of notes that swarm like fireflies on a summer's night underpinned by yawning bass. Next, the "Roadmap" may not tell you where to go but it's a soothing, sleepy trip getting there so let SineRider handle the driving. Based around echoed piano chords "Wildflowers" sway in the breeze as you pass by. It's an ambient wintery mix in "Whiteout," where you might get lost if you didn't have that roadmap you found previously. "Capstan" is the kind of ambient I really love; it's like Eno treating Laraaji under heavy sedation. "Glowing" is a brief melambient piece with a definite repeating melody. On "Waving Goodbye" Powers employs multilayered textured pads as the main sound component with flutey, noodling synth lines woven through them. "Form" sounds rather formless at first but develops its identity halfway though. Too hard to describe "Overgrown" but maybe the title is indicative of all the elements in it. "Fragile" just sounds heavenly, "Soft Pastel" is misty guitar ambience and "Extol" wraps up the album with a melambient piano piece. I think I liked 'A Familiar Light' a bit more than 'Perennial' but I'm giving it the same rating because there are just so many good tracks on this one. The CD comes in two versions - limited edition of 50 with extra tracks and more elaborate packaging or the standard edition of 200 in the usual Sound In Silence packaging. Either way it's good stuff for ambient enthusiasts.

Fake Youth Cult is the project of Richard van Kruysdijk, an artist who has been integral to the Dutch music scene. Following releases on Delsin, as well as founding his own Music for Speakers label, this latest undertaking explores the darker hues of Van Kruysdijk’s audio creations. Across six tracks, a realm of shadows and steel is constructed. The album is only six tracks over the span of about 25 minutes making it more of an EP than a full-length album.

"Visitor" begins with bass sequencing with percussion coming in slowly and not fully realized until the track is almost over, and even then, more kick than anything else. "Scorched" concentrates on a distorted repeated low-end pattern which morphs into some higher frequencies as it progresses (then repeats the progression), and basic but solid rhythm track. There is a harpsichord-like break just before the end. No vocals so far so I guess this is an instrumental album. "Messing" is more low-end sequencing with an EBM drum machine beat with added bass lines coming in later, and still more sequencing. There are a few other elements in the mix as well, but relatively minor. "Smear" moves a little faster than the others with straight ahead beat (multiples on the kick), sawtooth sus-bass (at first...then later) with bouncy sequenced electronic elements. What would you expect from a track titled "Management" ? How about opening with a spoken female sample, then getting into heavy groove EBM. So far, this is the best track on the album, and club-worthy as well. "Pulsar" is is the final and longest track (8:38) and was featured music in a modern ballet performance. Beginning with distant choo-choo train sequenced noise, the minimal beat creeps in slowly rising in volume. Another sequenced rhythmic sound enters and lasts a while as the beat take center stage. Various electronic elements appear and disappear as this unstoppable juggernaut presses onward. It grows and swells until it sort of stops, but not completely with an under-beat still present until it finally fades away. Really? That's all?

This album, er, EP is very minimal and basic. It sounds like a demo template for something later to be expanded. I think even I could have knocked this off (or something similar) in a few hours as there is nothing really tricky here. I guess it could be called minimal techno, but most techno I've heard has a lot more to offer than 'White Light / Black Noise'. I listened to Fake Youth Cult's previous release, 'Discipline' (EP) from 2003 and the methodology is pretty much the same. In the '80s or even early '90s this may have been sort of avant garde minimal electro, but we've really come so much further musically since then. Best thing about this release is the colored vinyl the record is pressed on.