Mix: A Cool Dark Place to Die

This emerged from its loamy grave for a few converging reasons: every October I rediscover how cool Theatre of Ice was/is, I recently read the new Die Kreuzen book from Feral House, and then just the other day “World in Action” popped up in my Youtube suggested. So here’s a rougher, angrier Halloween mix than usual, though not without its tender moments. 

As always, don’t forget to check out or revisit spooky selections from previous years.


00:00. The Mad Are Sane – “World in Action” from Reality (Inept Products, 1983)

04:22. The Smartpils – “Wolf” from No Good No Evil (Bluurg, 1987)

06:50. Die Kreuzen – “Man in the Trees” from October File (Touch and Go, 1986)

10:20. 13th Chime – “Coffin Maker” b/w “Cuts of Love” (Ellie Jay, 1981)

14:18. Part 1 – “Salem” from Funeral Parade (Paraworm, 1982)

17:35. Phaidia – “Dark Side” from In the Dark (City Rocker, 1985)

21:56. UK Decay – “Rising from the Dead” from Rising from the Dead (Corpus Christi, 1982)

24:52. Alien Sex Fiend – “Dead and Buried” (Anagram, 1984)

28:45. Theatre of Ice – “In the Attic” from In the Attic (Orphanage, 1987)

33:09. The Dark – “The Masque” (Fresh, 1982)

36:45. Spike in Vain – “Opus” from Disease Is Relative (Trans Dada, 1984)

Mix: Night Tearers

Been wanting to make this one for a while. If you were to get kicked to death in the pit (if those are even still a thing after all this) and sent to hell, this is what your eternity of suffering would sound like. Could be worse.

JLbari, ‘Nighmare 2’

00:00. Hayworth – “15 Seconds Alone in the Hot Tub” from I Now Pronounce You Fucked and Depressed (self-released, 2009)

01:10. IDYLLS – “Lied to” from Prayer for Terrene (self-released, 2014)

07:41. Arkan Azid – “ASTRALSUIZID” from ASTRALSUIZID (self-released, 2020)

10:54. Gaza – “I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die” from I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die (Black Market Activities, 2006)

12:13. Unyielding Love – “The Pregnant Hurt” from The Sweat of Augury (various, 2016)

16:44. Irhagar – “- ̢̛҉͠ ̕͟ ̵͟͠ ̵̶̀͘ ҉ ̵̨́́̀ ͏̵ ̴̡͘” from Sutra (self-released, 2020)

18:36. Mahr – “Noctaeon” from Antelux (Amor Fati, 2018)

21:31. Endon – “Etude for Lynching by Family” from Mama (Daymare, 2015)

26:22. Miscarriage – “II” from Imminent Horror (Sentient Ruin, 2019)

33:41. Shora – “To Further Confines” from split with Merzbow (Bisect Bleep, 2002)

Mix: Next Generation Leeders

My attempt to survey the variegated Leeds noise rock “scene” from the other side of the Atlantic (and as such no one, I repeat, no one, is more qualified to do so). Everything from barely rhythmic shit-fi free skronk to tight, claustrophobic, angular constructions. With the wide range of genres and influences also comes significant variance in production styles; I did my best to get all the tracks to be the same volume, but shit’s difficult.

Cattle

00:00. Belk – “Cows” from Belk (self-released, 2020)

02:42. Thank – “Fragile Ego” from Sexghost Hellscape (Cruel Nature, 2017)

06:09. Klöße – “Sent Home with a Puzzle” from Klöße (self-released, 2020)

11:27. Guttersnipe – “Pipa Pipa Portalspawn” from My Mother the Vent (Upset the Rhythm, 2018)

14:16. Cattle – “Tanking the Piss” from Nature’s Champion (self-released, 2016)

18:47. Irk – “Spectre at the Fiesta” from Recipes from the Bible (self-released, 2018)

21:36. Blacklisters – “Fantastic Man” from Fantastic Man (Buzzhowl, 2020)

25:39. Hookworms – “Away / Towards” from Pearl Mystic (Gringo, 2013)

34:11. Cool Jerks – “Eh” from England (Night Versus Day, 2020)

37:02. Polevaulter – “Ra” single (self-released, 2020)

Mix: Into Winter

Today was our first biting, bitterly cold day of the forthcoming Midwest winter, so I thought it fitting to put together a mix of my favorite raw black metal. Pained shrieks, stifling atmosphere, and percussive rumble are sometimes encased within a lo-fi haze; other times they stab through with piercing, feedback-wracked squall. I’ve assembled a combination of both ends of (and anywhere in between) the spectrum.


00:00. Luminous Shadow – “A Formless Reflection” from Demo II (Midnite’s Darkness, 2017)

03:00. Graveflowers – “Handful of Dust” from The Hyacinth Garden (Path of Silence, 2017)

05:34. Nocturnal Chalice – “Possessed by Burning Hatred” from The Hidden Order (Tour De Garde, 2016)

10:12. Burier – “Disease & Deluge” from Burier (self-released, 2019)

14:02. Ythogtha – “Sunken City” from False Faith (self-released, 2007)

15:33. Yoga – “Open Sesame” from Skinwalker (Holy Mountain, 2012)

20:55. La Torture Des Ténèbres – “Descent Into Wolves’ Wound” from Choirs of Emptiness (self-released, 2016)

23:44. El-Ahrairah – “Flora” from Demo (A Terre, 2009)

27:12. Lonesummer – “I Miss You Still, Ma Bête” from Satisfaction Feels Like a Tomb (self-released, 2010)

30:00. Black Cilice – “Channeling Forgotten Energies” from Banished from Time (Iron Bonehead, 2017)

35:10. Vegas Martyrs – “A Part from the Cross” from Vancouver Missing Women (Hospital, 2010)

Mix: Noise Rock

Artists whose music resides within the well loved tradition of “noise rock,” but in this case with heavy emphasis on the “noise.” Buzzsaw guitars, torturous wails and nonsensical jabbering, lumbering rhythm sections that often aren’t concerned with much rhythm at all. What’s not to love?

The Hospitals

00:00. White Suns – “Priest in the Laboratory” from Totem (Flenser, 2014)

04:52. Dan’l Boone – “Paper Tree Alley” from Dan’l Boone (Drag City, 2014)

09:41. Horse Gives Birth to Fly – “Rubbish Drunk on the Sand” from Horse Gives Birth to Fly (self-released, 2009)

14:00. The Hospitals – “Hairdryer Peace” from Hairdryer Peace (Meds, 2009)

17:28. Staer – “I Roll With Creflo” from Staer (Discorporate, 2012)

23:51. Guttersnipe – “Ophid Spy Cramp” from Demo (self-released, 2015)

29:56. Big Neck Police – “Street” from Don’t Eat My Friends (Ramp Local, 2016)

33:55. Drunkdriver & Mattin – Side B of A List of Profound Insecurities (Badmaster, 2009)

Mix: Peculiar and Prophetic Post-Punk

As soon as you attempt to classify (in this case, a more vivid–and fitting–verb might be ‘coagulate’) an artistic movement as fearless and wide-ranging as the mass of eclectic avant-garde rock music that arose in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it begins to break down. While these bands and artists are commonly grouped under the umbrella term “post-punk,” much of it owes little debt to traditional punk, instead drawing from funk, jazz, industrial, surrealist art, krautrock, and many other areas. In addition to looking backward in time for inspiration, many artists arrived at remarkably prescient stylistic cocktails. The often rough, do-it-yourself music foreshadowed things whose full potential wouldn’t be realized until much later, working with anything from collage and primitive musique concrète to tribal rhythms and free improvisation. Here are my picks for the best examples of this awe-inspiring creativity, somewhat skewed towards obscurities that have been lost to time.

Lemon Kittens, 1981 (photo by Akiko Hada)

00:00. Mars – “Helen Forsdale” from No New York compilation (Antilles, 1978)

02:28. Clock DVA – “White Cell” from Thirst (Fetish, 1981)

07:00. A Certain Ratio – “Choir” from To Each (Factory, 1981)

09:44. L. Voag – “Living Room” from The Way Out (self-released, 1979)

12:11. 23 Skidoo – “IY” from Seven Songs (Fetish, 1982)

17:12. Lemon Kittens – “Nudies” from …The Big Dentist (Illuminated, 1982)

20:30. The Stick Men – “Tail Dragger” from This Is the Master Brew (Red, 1982)

22:32. Stutter – “These Are Small Times (Not Good Enough)” from Broken Snakes (Check, 1989)

25:31. D.A.F. – 8th untitled track from Produkt Der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft (Warning, 1979)

28:40. Savage Republic – “Flesh That Walks” from Tragic Figures (Independent Project, 1982)

32:00. Milk From Cheltenham – “Snappy Fingers” from Triptych of Poisoners (It’s War Boys, 1983)

34:31. Alternative TV – “Graves of Deluxe Green” from Vibing Up the Senile Man (Deptford Fun City, 1979)