Another major milestone in Vinyl On Demand's on-going deluxe documentation of the furthest fringes of the European underground, Viva Negativa is the culmination of several years worth of commissioned remixes, extrapolations on and collaborations with the work of The New Blockaders, the UK's most consistently feral noise group. The quality of the track listing is pretty staggering – a testament to the liberating effect those early TNB sides had on a whole generation of otherwise culturally disenfranchised post-punks – and plays even better as a state-of-disunion round-up than recent attempts at void-articulation like Gold Leaf Branches, Invisible Pyramid et al. Almost every major contemporary noise artist is featured and Volume One has tracks from Oren Ambarchi, Anomali, Ashtray Navigations (a beautiful slice of slow blown-to-smoke tone), Emil Beaulieau, Benzo, Cisfinitum, Controlled Bleeding, Dieter Muh, Evil Moisture, Freiband, Grunt, The Haters, Jason Kahn, Zbigniew Karkowski, Komafuzz, Kraang, Lockweld, Massimo, Daniel Menche, Thurston Moore, MSBR, Nocturnal Emissions, KK Null, Pita, Plethora, Prurient, Richard Ramirez, Scanner, Silvum, srmeixner, Asmus Tietchens, Treriksroset, uh…V/VM (woops!), Vortex Campaign, Keith Fullerton Whitman, John Wiese, Nobuo Yamada and Z'ev. The whole deal comes packaged in a beautiful full-colour/laminated hard card box with the LPs pressed on 180g vinyl in hand-numbered sleeves and bundled with a poster/manifesto. This one knocked us clear on our asses, a staggering document. Highest recommendation.

Another major milestone in Vinyl On Demand's on-going deluxe documentation of the furthest fringes of the European underground, Viva Negativa is the culmination of several years worth of commissioned remixes, extrapolations on and collaborations with the work of The New Blockaders, the UK's most consistently feral noise group. The quality of the track listing is pretty staggering – a testament to the liberating effect those early TNB sides had on a whole generation of otherwise culturally disenfranchised post-punks – and plays even better as a state-of-disunion round-up than recent attempts at void-articulation like Gold Leaf Branches, Invisible Pyramid et al. Almost every major contemporary noise artist is featured and Volume Two has tracks from AMK, Art Break, Aube, Bloxus, Alexei Borisov, Broken Penis Orchestra, Cheapmachines, Courtis, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Aaron Dilloway, Embudagonn 108, Government Alpha, Idea Fire Company (great quartet line-up track with slow choral vocals and droning machine dreams), Incapacitants, Lasse Marhaug, Merzbow, mnortham, Jim O'Rourke, Dave Phillips, Plexia, Putrefier, Christian Renou, RLW, Damion Romero, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Spiracle, Sudden Infant, Giancarlo Toniutti, Violent Onsen Geisha, Brendan Walls, Withdrawal Method, Wolf Eyes & Achim Wollscheid. The whole deal comes packaged in a beautiful full-colour/laminated hard card box with the LPs pressed on 180g vinyl in hand-numbered sleeves and bundled with a poster/manifesto. This one knocked us clear on our asses, a staggering document. Highest recommendation.

Totally sick: celebrating Alchemy Records' 20th anniversary - and Japanese noise/rock legends Hijokaidan's 25th - major label bozos Imperial have stepped into the gulf with a series of definitive birthday sets. Alchemism is a massive two-disc overview of the activities of this consistently dazzling underground label complete with a fold-out sleeve that has colour cover shots of all the action, especially noteable for the lovingly executed Modern Lovers and Ash Ra take-offs from Ultra Bide and Christine 23 Onna. All tracks previously released except for exclusives from Tongue favourites Oshiri-PenPenz and Doodles. Also includes: Jojo Hiroshige, Ultra Bide, SS, Inu, Hoburakin, Idiot O'Clock, Sekiri, The Genbaku Onanies, The Continental Kids, Danse Macabre, Sob Kaidan, Genbaku Kaidan, Subvert Blaze, Sperma, Hanadensha, Garadama, Angel'In Heavy Syrup, Auschwitz, Tatsuya Kitajima, Tsumetai Iki No Mama, Miki Sawaguchi, Masonna, Merzbow, Incapacitants, Solmania, Hijokaidan, Seiichi Yamamoto, Omoide Hatoba, Totsuzen Dan-Ball, Christine 23 Onna and Chouzu. Highly recommended, naturally.

Follow-up to the first volume of this on-going series that joins the dots between an earlier generation of American Primitive guitarists and contemporary intuitive sound-as-thought players. Once again Jack Rose is featured (with an absolutely gorgeous 6 string re-think of "Cross The North Fork 2") but every other player puts in a first-time appearance on this volume. The inclusion of Christina Carter is a particularly inspired move and one that speaks of the liberated range of the series in general and her track is a beauty, a stubby acoustic guitar miniature. Nice cover snap too. Other tracks include a particularly mesmeric recording from UK guitarist James Blackshaw and contributions from Peter Lang, Jesse Sparhawk, Michael Chapman, Sean Smith, Fred Gerlach, Billy Faier, Sharron Kraus, Robbie Basho and...uh...Jose Gonzalez. Another rich, far-sighted assortment from this great label.

Excellent compilation of contemporary dissident European electronic/synth/Industrial/new wave sounds from this synth-focussed label. The follow-up to their epochal Electronic Renaissance LP, this one bundles a bunch of current Euro-heads with a serious jones for the early Industrial sounds of DAF/Absolute Body Control/S.P.K./Throbbing Gristle/Kraftwerk along with touches of Suicide, Public Image Limited, Minimal Man et al. There isn’t a duff track on the album but some of the highlights include Agent Side Grinder’s evocative/magickal “There Is A Sound That Always Goes Out” that mirrors Coil’s work circa “The New Backwards”/later-TG, the amazing Vincent K’s “White Sheet Glory” that crosses Billy Synth-style keyboards with an amphetamine motorik appeal and throat-shredding vocals that make it sound like the most manic La Dusseldorf track of your life and the midnight stylings of Adolf Filter’s beautiful Harmonia/DAF/Kraftwerk-esque “Inner Walls” cut up with the kinda fractured loner vocal that could almost be Peter Jeffries. Other artists featured include Dolina, Nosztalgia Direktiva, Codes, Le Triangle De L’Androgyne, the fantastically named Pierre Normal and Yseult Descieux. A great way in to the current underground Euro synth scene – which seems to have the same relation to its source material as the 80s garage explosion had to Nuggets et al – and an excellent companion piece to Poutre Apparent’s historical survey of the French new wave scene. The set comes in a handsome gatefold sleeve with a bonus 7” and is highly recommended.

Brand new tribute set of cover versions and punk extrapolations based around the phenomenal body of work birthed by Mr Jojo Hiroshige aka Alchemy label boss and Hijokaidan mainman. Features a totally disobedient Beefheart-style rave-up from the Oshiri PenPenz, microphone-gobbling action from Masonna (first new recording in years), great psych/pop stylings from Doodles, monstrously deformed guitar/noise from Solmania, GaramonKakinoki +AOL and a whole bunch of other punk Kansai Industrialists. Think of it as a particularly focussed Night Gallery instalment. Highly recommended.

Follow-up to the great Time And Relative Dimensions In Space compilation with a two CD set once again dedicated to long-form drone works. Exclusive tracks from Birds Of Delay, Bruce Russell, Son Of Earth, The Opera Glove Sinks In The Sea, White/Light, Keenan Lawler, Bird Show/Lichens, Of…Ohv, The Zoo Wheel and The Gray Field Recordings.

Three-way split of extended live sets for this volume of Heath Moerland’s (Sick Llama) compilation series, with jams from New Pledegemaster, Steve Kenney (Demons) and Slither all drawn from their recent tour. Hand-numbered edition of 50 copies.

Brand new instalment in this legendary compilation series from PSF, now in its seventh volume. For this latest survey of the state of the contemporary Japanese psychedelic underground the label ran a special live night at Koenji Show Boat in May of 2009 and recorded all of the players’ sets. The disc opens with the outer space choral folk of Le Son De L’os, a trio that features Yuko Hasegawa of Onna-Kodomo on guitar and vocal, Masahiro Deguchi of Gendai Sokkyo on flute and guitar and Shizuo Uchida on bass. Bo No Kubo are a drums/acoustic bass/guitar improvisatory unit that translate the Incus aesthetic to Tokyo. Derakushi are a phenomenal free jazz/psych ensemble who use electric rock firepower to propel the furious saxophone of Shun Suzuki; expect a full-length album from these guys on PSF very soon. There’s a great, minimal tracks from shakuhachi player Sabu Orimo, here with his new unit that features drummer/harmonica player Tomohiko Namiki. Touyounomajyo are a classic guitar/bass/drums power trio that would have fit in just as well on some of the earlier volumes and Hasegawa-Shizuo, who have had a bunch of previous releases on labels like PSF and Tiliqua, close the set with an epic drone imagining. Nothing cuts to the heart of the Tokyo underground like PSF’s Flashback series. Recommended.

Great limited triple LP set that bundles two nights of wild free jazz that Qbico presented in Detroit and Buffalo back in 2006. High energy sets from Arthur Doyle & Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, Andrew Barker & Daniel Carter, Steve Baczkowski & Ravi Padmanabha, Muruga Free Funk (with Perry Robinson), Faruq Z Bey & Northwoods Improvisers and Odu Afrobeat Orchestra.

Compilation of the best of the privately pressed triple LP that Charlie Brooks put together in 1999 that featured his field recordings gathered on trips to Madagasikara in the late 1990s. The three LPs were originally themed around Vocal, Valiha Marovany and Miscellaneous Instruments but this LP compiles highlights from all three, taking in traditional and modern instruments including the jejy voatavo, jejy lava, accordion, sodinas, harmonica, the kabosy and the guitar. Comes with a twelve page booklet of photography and notes.

Fantastic compilation of all unreleased tracks from this great NJ label. Exclusive jams from Julian Lynch, Pill Wonder, Ducktails, Fluffy Lumbers, Big Troubles, Andrew Cedermark, Frat Dad , Dana Jewell, Air Waves, Family Portrait, Alex Bleeker, Mountain Man, Real Estate, Rainbow Bridge and Liam the Younger.

Compilation featuring unreleased tracks from Connelly & The Machines, Body Morph, Hive Mind, Dog Lady and Drainolith: “So the other day, me and my lab buddy supreme Scott were knee f'in deep in trying to find out if a huge craggly motor was delta or wye three phase connected, and needless to say, was NOT having luck. It was a one of them RAW bologna built motors that has wire numbers, but its pointless cause its all on its own weirdo system. Whatever. So as usual, we shot the shit.
"What’s up this weekend man?"
"Not much, got a killer afternoon gig at the spot on Sunday...."
"What’s a gig?"
"Ah.... I’m having some of my weirdo friends over to make ah.... music...."
"You make music?"
"Sure"
"Would you ever play a 'gig' for the troops?"
"We should get black to that motor...I think I know the lead wires now..."
"Well, I can’t come over, I gotta fix my tires on my hunting jeep, but you know what would rule Olson?"
"What’s that?"
"If you would press that jammer on wax, mix all the tracks together into one inzane mess and sent it to Smith out west to press...."
"Man, you might be on to something"
"Make it one long one-sider with a lock groove, I mean shit...that’s how I remember gigs anyway.... and just use a flyer for the cover!!!"
"My man!!!"
So I took Scott's advice. Took the killer matinee jam, got out the scalpel, mixed everything together seamless inzane style, book ended it with an EVIL Hive Mind loop and boosh!!!! Pressed gig memory!!!! So it's just like a gig, except you don’t have KNOX MITCHELL's dad dropping you off or Collino spilling brews everywhere or your secret recipe INZANE CHILLI remains burning up in the bottoms of an empty crock pot. Oddly, not a peep of crew-audience noise to be found. Dog Lady played acoustic string scrape, Dan Body jammed reed universe from the uneven side (and then BLASTED Disclose and Firmeza 10 in the jamm room), Drainolith is my main man Alex K from Montreal and kept it uber real with amazing synth scramble, live from yep, THE BASEMENT. Greh said he did a cover of THE SHINING but I’ve never seen that mini-series. Dead Machines and Connelly jammed magical pixie flutes, infected metal scrape and vocals from an eerie afternoon lagoon. Like an endless gig, ...you gotta SIT THRU THE WHOLE THING...in one inzane memory blurr surpreme.... Record ends with an EVIL Hive Mind lock groover, endless...party. ... forever.... Was a blast, more of this style to come. And BYOB!!! There are three party stores right in the hood, duh!!! 2pm SHARP!!!> Edition of 100 in handmade recycled sleeves, numbered.” – John Olson.

Compilation featuring unreleased tracks from Full Scales, Spykes and Pool Water: “Is the Voltages Leads in Inductance or Induction leads Current in Capacitance? ?? Huh? Always forget this easy breeze system code to know which is leading in the Induct/Capt current game...Yeah: three tracks of attack:
Full Scales: Live at Aries assault party from last Pan gig in April last year. Mega Hammond organ live in the basement. Spykes: Terrible tones tacked onto a tapestry of mangled inzanity thru a crazed mental plane. Horrible.
Pool Water: Dog Lady, Connelly, Zone Force- live in the Comfort zone and on a trial leading to hiding places. Violin, flute, guitar = mixed together for an uncomfortable loose skin dangling in the dry wind.
Three long tracks of ZEAL-ish style. Triple ack attack. Cover covers, numbered.” – John Olson.

Compilation featuring unreleased tracks from Dwelling Unit, Madness, Influx, Immune Future Problems, First Responder and Cripple Crime’s Triangle: “Massive new comp of all short tracks of all sorts of styles. Weirdo flow, new blood, all heated and raw. Mysterious Island swamped and flanked in all sides by a tidal wave of consuming statics. More to come from each of these creatures, stirring and pacing in a sound cell waiting and plotting to bust out. Color covers, slip case.” – John Olson.

Irresistible new compilation CD from the reactivated Alchemy Records, an all-female psych set curated by Jojo Hiroshige of Hijokaidan. Features fragile, breathless song stylings from a bunch of upcoming femmes including Akiko Hodaka (formerly of Maher Shalal Hash Baz), Mai Mishio of Uzumibi, Hirachin of Oninko! and Totsuzen Danboru, Shiho of Ten-No.5 and Yuka Fujita of the excellent Chozu. “Produced by Jojo Hiroshige of Hijokaidan (The King Of Noise), the godfather of Japanese noise music and the owner of Alchemy Records. He realized the strength, fragileness, delicateness and other elements that only women could have are the keyword for this decade. This album contains 11 tunes from emerging female musicians that Hiroshige picked out from the Japanese underground music scene.” – Alchemy. 

Edition of 500 copies compilation LP with exclusive tracks from Akron/Family, Joanne Robertson & Matthew Ashworth, Wand, Natural Snow Buildings, Married In Berdichev, Moon Duo, The See See and Seadog. Comes with a full colour zine featuring artwork by Jake Blanchard, Pete Fowler, Andrew Rae, Will Sweeney, Sarah King, Olange Gularte, James Trimmer/Mirt and Mat Pringle.

New issue of this excellent underground/H-Pop journal, perfectly bound 110 pages w/colour and b/w printing and bundled with a CD-R and a DVD-R. Articles by Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never), Cameron Stallones (Sun Araw), Michael McGregor interviews Velvet Davenport, Jesse Jarnow on Recording The Cosmos with Greg Davis, an interview with new age keyboard legend Iasos and more by Daniel Bachman, Nate Grace, Emilie Friedlander and Curtis Knapp. Artwork from Camilla Padgitt-Coles, Brenna Murphy, Christelle Gualdi, Christian “Megazord” Oldham, Daniel White, E*Rock, Hydrothermal Emerald, Jon Rafman, Julien Laugier, Massimiliano Bomba/Rawraw, Michelle Ceja, Productlaneevol, Push the Button, Stephanie Davidson, Yannick Val Gesto. The CD-R comes with tracks from La Big Vic, Airbird, Laurel Halo, Dent May, Ducktails, Buffalo Moon, Velvet Davenport, The Twerps, Young Prisms, Big Troubles, Alex Bleeker, Chuck Person, Zonotope ™, Sacred Harp and Dolphins into the Future while the DVD-R features video art from Amy Ruhl (excerpts from How Mata Hari Lost Her Head & Found Her Body, scored by Julian Lynch, Samantha Cromwell (live video of Speculator), Laurel Halo (video feedback piece), Ray Concepcion (live video of Julian Lynch), Christian “Megazord” Oldham (video for Dolphins into the Future), Maia Stern (live video of La Big Vic) and Ryan Hover (video remix of Candy Claws song). 

Still one of the wildest of the legendary Bloodstains comps, with a round-up of classic disobedient wastoid DIY from Sweden, inclduing classic sides like Kriminella Gitarrer's "Sylvias Unge", Rude Kids' amazing "Raggare Is A Bunch Of Motherfuckers", Watabout, Bugs, Glo, Usch, Brulbajz, Mizz Nobody, Butter Utter, Vicious Visions, Liket Lever, Blodarna...

Vinyl edition of this excellent tribute to the American Primitive genius of the late Robbie Basho from a bunch of players with a deep connection to the source including Glenn Jones, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Helena Espvall (Ghost/Espers), Meg Baird (Espers), Arborea, Fern Knight, Cian Nugent and Rahim AlHaj. Buncha female vocal tracks are particularly choice here, highlighting Basho’s gift as a highly idiosyncratic singer as well as a visionary instrumentalist. Dedicated to the memory of Jack Rose. 180g vinyl, edition of 300 copies. 

Fabulous follow-up to the same label’s Ongaku 70, this set takes in a buncha obscurities from the Japanese underground of the 1980s, all of which would contribute to the momentum that gave birth to the scene’s explosion in the 1990s. Alongside stuff that some heads might know - Phew of Aunt Sally’s “Urahara” from 1980, schizophrenic Pinakotheca recordings artists Tako, the mutant techno of Riuichi Sakamoto’s “Riot In Lagos” – there’s a ton of alien tongue, ranging from EP-4’s thudding tape-damaged Industrial punk through Lizard’s acid-damaged prog-pop, Portray Heads’ transplanted Trans-Europe Express, Gunjogacrayon’s usurping of James Chance & The Contortions and prefiguring of The Boredoms, the amazingly titled Daisuck & Prostitute’s blunt punk/funk, Shinobu’s psychedelic cold wave and Pta’s epic unclassifiable Josef K-play-Can-play-“Rapture” 1982 8 minute masterpiece “Woo-Guy After Dark”. Another phenomenal set that is sure to blindside anyone who considers themselves an expert on this endlessly inventive scene. On pink/white splattered vinyl. Recommended!

Still one of the greatest volumes of this killer series of geographically themed private press psych comps complete w/cool Bunny Yeager snaps on the sleeve. The focus here is on Mexican psych and we get glorious sunbleached psych/folk/punk comedowns from legendary no-counts like Dug Dug’s The Kaleidoscope, La Fachada De Piedra, El Tarro De Mostaza, La Vida, La Libre Expresion, The Flying Karpets, La Revolucion De Emiliano Zapata, The Spiders, Three Souls In My Mind, Toncho Pilatos, Renaissance, Ernan Roch, Grupo Ciruela, Los Ovnis, The Survival and Nahuat. Recommended.

Ass-blasting double LP compilation of wild Dutch punk, still some of the crudest ever spat to wax. Amazing tracks from Ivy Green (“I’m Sure We’re Gonna Make It”), Helmettes, Panic (“Requiem For Martin Heidegger”), Flyin’ Spiderz, Speedtwins, Paul Tornado, Suzannes, Tits, Mollesters, Filth, God’s Heart Attack, Mecano Ltd, Subway, Mort Subite, The Brommers, Shith, Coitus Int. Vopo’s, The Ex, Nixe, Rondos, Nitwitz, Trockener Kecks and Frites Modern. Excellent sleeve notes too.

Hard to believe that this is the 200^th release for the consistently greatest contemporary underground label in the world but what better way to celebrate than a new instalment of their legendary Tokyo Flashback series that documents the state of Tokyo’s psychedelic underground circa now. A few artists will be familiar to the VT hardcore - ex-Overhang Party mainman Rinji Fukuoka’s Majutsu No Niwa’s classic take on garage psych, Reizen’s amazing flat-lined guitar tectonics – but the bulk of the material makes an even deeper past through subterranean Tokyo. The ass-flatteningly great Soldier Garage explode into life with the kind of cacophonic guitar noise of early-Fushitsusha before floating all the way out on Suishou No Fune-styled acid balladry while Mamushi stagger all over blues and Neil Young-styled collapsing universe dynamics with alla the staggering high-wire drama of prime Kousokuya. Oser walk the line between Borbetomagus/Demo Moe-styled freakout and lurid Incapacitants-inspired noise mash-ups and Metaphoric use two treated electric guitars to generate the kind of eternal music of the Fripp/Eno collaborations. Demons describe Kaoru Abe, Rotten Telepathies and High Rise as being “like a Led Zeppelin to us” and come over like Oshiri Penpenz play Mark Fry. Netanoyoi play blown-out punk with an aggressive angularity and an almost Org-like naivety while the righteously-named Heavy Metal Glue feature members of White Heaven, Marble Sheep and Church Of Misery and play supremely crude psychedelic rock with thudding riffing and Kraut hypnotics applied to doomy 70s metal bombast and gasoline-huffing blues. The whole set comes with a booklet featuring pics and liners and it makes for one of the best instalments of this vital compilation series in an age. Highly recommended!

Alongside Come Org, Produktion and United Dairies, Broken Flag was one of the most important UK avant/noise/power imprints of the early Eighties Industrial revolution. It provided cover for a host of seminal rock/noise/performance groups who had been inspired by early Whitehouse performances and associated art/music refusals to extend punk’s liberating anti-rock ‘n’ roll stance into more formally challenging areas. As the label’s reputation has grown the artefacts associated with its brief reign have become extremely collectable, making it even more difficult for the average dolt to get his ears around the many manifestations of this subterranean UK scene. Until now. With this retrospective Vinyl-On-Demand perform a vital cultural service by gathering all of the early label releases in one place across five beautifully presented CDs with individual sleeves bundled with a highly informative booklet with tracks details, history, complete discography and introduction by label owner Gary Mundy of Ramleh. The set features a raft of tracks from artists like Sutcliffe Jugend, Consumer Electronics, Un-Kommuniti, Maurizio Bianchi, Controlled Bleeding, Ramleh, Male Rape Group (Gary Mundy and Philip Best), Kleistwahr, TOLL, New Blockaders, Mauthausen Orchestra, Falx Cerebri, Giancarlo Toniutti, Vortex Campaign and many more. From this perspective, Broken Flag looks to have permanently deformed the arc of underground music, infecting everything from the Matthew Bower Skullflower/Total/Hototogisu arc through the contemporary Michigan noise scene. A jaw dropping over-the-top-deluxe set and one that feels every bit as culturally resonant as the Patton box – highest possible recommendation!