Deborah Martin and Erik Wøllo are back with another collaboration of hybrid Native American/ambient music after their acclaimed 2009 'Between Worlds' album. I hadn't heard that album previously, so I found it online and listened to it for comparison's sake. What I heard on 'Between Worlds' seemed a lot more episodic, with compositions falling either into the New Age or Native American categories, while 'Kinishba' seemed more integrated between the two. I think if you are looking for Native American "flavor" in ambient music, 'Between Worlds' will likely satisfy you, but if you're looking for a deeper experience, 'Kinishba' provides it, although both albums were created to honor the Apache people and the sacred nature of Native American culture. Like its predecessor, 'Kinishba' was birthed from many years of study, on-site research, recordings, and collaborations with a variety of Apache tribal members, most notably Edgar Perry — who was a significant contributor to the preservation of Apache traditions.

One key difference on 'Kinishba' is more prominent vocalization from Deborah with more lyrical content. There is also a natural drama to this work, enhanced by traditional tribal instrumentation throughout. Martin's voice acts as a spirit guide in “the house of the ancestors,” and the healing power of ceremony. Kinishba, named for an abandoned pueblo on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, is a reflection on this theme, a vivid collection of 10 pieces that open a respectful, authentic window into remembrance ceremonies of the Apache people. It may enhance your listening experience to have some affinity for Native American music, but regardless, this is excellent work melding tribal and ambient in a most authentic way.

The bio starts that nula.cc “is the brainchild of intermedia artist Lloyd Dunn, a founding member of the Tape-beatles, and editor and publisher of the zines “PhotoStatic” and “Retrofuturism.” It comprises hours of sound works, hundreds of photographs, travelogue essays, and similar digital artifacts, which often reflect the artist’s frequent travels and esthetic thinking.

Side A is “Cicadas of Lake Lisi, on a rise overlooking the Saburtalo district of Tbilisi, Georgia.” This is exactly what one would expect, and for those unfamiliar with the sound of cicadas, it sounds like a million maracas shaking in unison. It is repetitive, but still fascinating and hypnotic.

Flipping it over to side B, we have “Bells of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Spaso-Efimeyev Monastery in Suzdal, Russian Federation.” This is an interesting composition of bells pounding away, but the actual effect is rather soothing. Overall, this is quite nice and concludes with some people clapping, voices talking and animal noises.

One can think of nula.cc as a kind of curator of sound, and with these field recordings, he has pointed us to the everyday in an extraordinary way. If you enjoy field recordings, this will certainly be up your alley. This release weighs int at around 16 minutes and is limited to 250 copies. For those who prefer it digital, it also comes with a Bandcamp code.

The Brain is the Alias of Karl Gottlaus, a German-born guitarist and electronics engineer now living in Portland, Oregon. This is released on “Workshop of Filthy Creation, which is an allusion to Frankenstein. I was unfamiliar with either the artist or label. The label describes the album thus: “Featuring a battery of analog synthesizers, audio generators, and tape machines, as well as slashing, angular guitar and thunderous drums, All Human Is Error takes the molten past of 70s-era “kosmische musik” as an aural starting point before erupting into a volcanic hailstorm seething with calculated menace and unpredictable mayhem that at times recalls the instrumental fury of King Crimson and the industrial fumes of Heldon and Lard Free.” Sounds promising, so let’s drop this on the turntable and see what we have on the slab.

“Latent Violence Part 1” is a slow grooving guitar-based droning number. I was just starting to wonder where the experimental side would come in when “Latent Violence Part 2” kicked in with sweeping analog sounds and more Moog than you can shake a stick at. You could look at Part 1 as the solid and Part 2 as the gas version, in that one is much more solid and put together and the other is much more airy. “Red Noise in a Distortion Field” features “guitar, Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, ARP Omni, Audio Generator, Moog Filter Bank, Mu-Tron Phasor, Tapes” This is an analogfest with hiss and crackle and a repetitive beep throughout with a whole lot of phaser effects. Think 1950s sci-fi background sound effects and you’ll be on the right track.

Flipping the album over, we have “Scission,” which is almost funky with some serious drum lines by Body Hammer, who I could find nothing about, other than the bio that describes him as a Japanese drummer. “No Peace In Our Time” opens with a political speech snippet and then kicks into a repetitive synth line and sweeping synth washes. Finally, “Iron Lungs for Cities That Rust” closes it off with an atmospheric piece that evokes the title. Body Hammer plays both drums and sheet metal over The Brains sweeping synth, guitar wails, and static to evoke a post apocalyptic wasteland. Then, it just suddenly ends.

This is interesting stuff, and the variety is nice. If you like experimental with structure, this is well worth checking out. This album weighs in at around 41 minutes and is limited to 200 copies.

Inner Demons has been branching out, and this is on a 5” CDR, rather than on their signature 3” discs. INFELIX hails from Seattle, Washington, and describes their music as “Death Ambient, Blackened Death Industrial, Doom Drone.” Their previous work on Inner Demons, “Eternal Hymns of Entropic Darkness,” was well done, so I was interested to see what INFELIX would do with a full-length disc.

This is pretty dark stuff, but not in a cheap “add a bunch of horror samples” sort of way. The label describes the album thus: “Constructed using analog limitations, capturing improvised rawness. Thematically influenced by mental depression, existential anxiety, Cioran, and Schopenhauer. Broken mechanical beats, death ambience, distorted vocal howls, and signature INFELIX bleakness. A soundtrack to the Holocene extinction.” And dystopian is an excellent word to describe this. This is the sound of mechanical decay, of machinery that has lived on past its usefulness but continues on nonetheless despite missing a cog here and a belt there. This is not the sound of anger or sadness, but rather resignation.

Some of the standout tracks for me are "The Stagnant Nausea ov Existence,” which brings together heavy beats and unintelligible screaming vocals. Crushing would be the easiest description. "E_R_D" has some spoken word mixed in about "civilization as we know it is about to disappear from off the face of the earth" with a plodding beat and gritty synth work. And finally, "Sepulchral Occupation" features a thudding beat with lots of electronic noises. This is the scene when the robots make their move and try to take over.

Overall, this is an interesting album and would appeal to those who like it heavy, but do not want it to descend into harsh noise wall. If you like it gritty, INFELIX has you covered. This is limited to 42 copies and weighs in at around 54 minutes.

The word infelix means unhappy, unfortunate, or unlucky. This was my first time hearing the word and my introduction to this Seattle-based artist. INFELIX is the work of one J.M. Stevens, who also records under the name Lapsed. He describes the music as “Death Ambient, Blackened Death Industrial, Doom Drone.” Sounds like the band name is fitting, so let’s take a step into the darkness.

We kick it off with “Hymn I: GBK,” which is a slow moving synth composition with an arpeggiated beat and distorted vocals. “Hymn II: The Divine Abyss of Sleep” brings in a heartbeat-like beat over noisy synth washes. Everything eventually dissolves into noise and the overall feeling here is pressure and a sense of relentlessness. “Hymn III: Doomed to Devour” is a grinding, repetitive composition with distorted screaming buried in the mix.

On the next disc we start off with “Hymn IV: Hoarding Decay.” Now we're getting noisy. This is a kind of static composition reminiscent of waves crashing on a beach with heavily distorted vocals. ”Hymn V: The Anguished Light” keeps the noisiness going with screaming vocals and screeching feedback squalls. Everything moves slowly, as if covered under a thick layer of mud. “Hymn VI: Eternal Suffering” closes it off with more crunchy beats and heavy noise with some synth lines emerging from the sludge as it progresses. The slowly progressing synth line is almost hypnotic, as it repeats the theme over and over within the maelstrom.

There is a lot going on in these compositions, and there is a nice mix of noise and synth which keeps it interesting. If you like it heavy and dark, this will be right up your alley. This album is limited to 42 copies and weighs in at around 39 minutes.