MOMENTFORM

I got Four Days in a package from Modern Tapes several months back (these are the folks responsible for STARING PROBLEM, UNUR and loads more brilliance not yet shared here), and I am ashamed that it has taken me this long to post it. Absolutely mesmerizing cold synth from Paris, MOMENTFORM incorporate elements of dark new wave that give otherwise bleak sounds something that can almost be called a hook (take the bass line in "Depletion," for example) even though the only thing you might catch from these sounds is a severe case of the lonelies. This is bitter and bleak and beautiful.

FOUR DAYS

BURIED

This is hardcore that doesn't seem to exist anymore, and that is something that I lament more and more as I get older. BURIED's politics are personal and urgent, unfettered by adulthood or the crushing realizations that sometimes come with it. Musically, this is melancholic basement hardcore, fronted as much by Grant's guitar (that's Grant from ANIMAL FARM, WARCRY, TALK IS POISON, OJOROJO and others, in case you need a nudge) as by the soul baring idealism in the vocals, with an intensity not derived from playing faster or harder, but rather from simply meaning it more. Wisconsin has a rich punk and hardcore legacy dating back well over 30 years, and I am quite pleased that I was fortunate enough to get a glimpse, however brief.

LEADERS, MACHINES AND LIES

BURIED

A 27 minute swarm of sound masquerading as blackened doom, Redding, California's BURIED crank out a depressing slab for their aural debut. Droning guitars swirl around faint black metal riffing and distant howls, a build up to the funeral doom pace that drives the cassette's final movement, an 11 minute exercise in dissonant dissatisfaction. The more you let The Only Promise in, the heavier it is.

THE ONLY PROMISE

PRIMITIVE PACT

This burner is all about the guitar. Rarely have I heard a guitar recorded that so perfectly suits the style. Hollow and piercing, it bites through the rest of the band with pure ferocity and I confess it was near the end of the demo before I stopped focusing on that one instrument and actually realized how searing the band is. UK82 energy harnessed and ramped up several notches - these New Yorkers are clearly on a fukkn mission, and they are succeeding.

END OF THE WORLD

EN CAHOOTS

Filthy desert baked bass/drums grind violence. After six minutes of blown out insanity, Tucson's EN CAHOOTS launch into "Pierda," a dirge of noise and anguish that lasts well over eight minutes. This is the result of a painful existence...or perhaps this just will result in a painful existence.

EN CAHOOTS

HERC

In the past few days I have read three different blurbs on the internet that referred to Terminal Escape as a thrash and/or crust blog. This post is for the people who think that is true, but mostly for people who like to get weird. I don't even know what to say about HERC...two dudes, some drums and an accordion. Really, what more do you need? Let us not forget their alter ego METAL PORPOISE that appears at the end of the tape for a few extra tracks. How could we forget that?

HOW TO BELLY-DANCE FOR YOUR HUSBAND

GOSPEL MUSIC FOR DOUBTERS AND HATERS

It should go without saying that I have no love whatsoever in my heart for religion, organized or otherwise. I suppose I could launch into a sideways missive about self determined distinctions between religion and spirituality and blurt out some backwards ass justification for the latter and its personal implications while still maligning the former, but that's a waste of time and really nothing more than pointless semantics. I'm guessing my pal Dan feels basically the same way, but I am happy that he also does not deny the unbridled power of so much spiritual music (take the terrifying audio near the end of THE PILGRIM TRAVELERS track - will give you chills if you listen in the dark) and has complied ten tunes on one informative introduction to the American gospel. Gospel Music For Doubters And Haters concentrates on African American christian sounds (lots of creepy baptists in the mix here) and features swingers like THE CARAVANS, the superb "Get Back Satan" from the PINEY GROVE SPIRITUAL SINGERS and the slow sultry SENSATIONAL NIGHTINGALES track. Then there are THE SOUL STIRRERS (featuring a pre mainstream Sam Cooke) with a nine minute testimonial, SHIRLEY CAESAR (she one ups with a ten minute burner), passionate American blues from JOE TOWNSEND, and the eerily serene LARSCENE TURK. Some of the recordings suffer from age (and from what would be over-partying were these hardcore slabs), but the intensity is not lost - and if this doesn't convert the doubters and haters, then I guess there's no saving you...so I'll see you in hell.

GOSPEL MUSIC FOR DOUBTERS AND HATERS

The man responsible for this tape is also responsible for THE MANUAL AND THE MACHINE. He can be found here and this is his preface to the cassette: