This limited edition album explores the fine details of unidentifiable field recordings; each manipulated and tinkered with until all that is left is the ambient character of those sounds. As with all good concrete inspired works, the music here is far removed from reality but it is still almost tangible in a physical, solid sense. I just want to run my fingers along the music, strange as that sounds.

Solo vocal performances are a naked musical form by definition, but this Richard Youngs vinyl re-release (from a limited CD-R run in 2004) appears that little bit more exposed than most even without the need for conventional lyricism. 

Looking at it objectively this collaboration between the veteran American 'industrial-tribal' percussionist Z'EV and the German ritual dark ambient duo of Frank Merten and Henry Emich, aka Herbst9, seems a perfect recipe for a successful collaboration. The idea of H9's deeply harmonic and ritual dronescapes supported by Z'EV's richly rhythmic and complex percussion is something of a mouth-watering prospect for me.

This two disc set explores the music of 1970s Nigeria in the period after the Biafran war. It demonstrates a fresh national confidence and a variety beyond the juju music that most Westerners associate with the country. It also reveals Celestine Ukwu, a dazzling star who would die too soon.

If countries and regions were to be judged solely on the kind of music emanating from within its borders then Scandinavia would be deemed something of a bleak and minimalist place what with all the dark ambient acts it harbors. This disc, from Sweden's Diskrepant, adds further disquietude to the country's musical reputation with a foray into a strange, exotic but sparsely inhabited and twilit world rarely trodden upon by human feet.

As Sub Rosa's venerable series of anthologies continues at a rapid pace they still continue to both cite important classic artists in the field as well as draw attention to those who may have been overlooked by the ravages of time.  It takes a brave curator to put the likes of Claude Ballif and Charlemagne Palestine alongside Sutcliffe Jugend and Masonna, but the tradition of excellence continues.

The clown prince of avant drone pays tribute to his namesake for the 1000 year celebration of the original historical Charlemagne in Germany.  Consisting entirely of his minimalist piano work, and remixing and processing by Christoph Heemann, this hymn to the apocalypse is a compelling one.

These 12 solo piano pieces have been infused from the core out with FX and reverb, expanding the sound of the ivory sounds into swollen tones of filament and filigree. It is unclear whether the title inspired the music or the music inspired the title, but it is the perfect metaphor for this collaborative release. 

Canadian electronic musician Hugo Girard has taken an interest in the subject of hypnosis and created an album based around the idea of simulating or accompanying a session through the employment of analogue electronic drones, sequences, and rhythms.

B.Baphomet's rough hand-cranked dark ambient is nowhere near the detached (I think they call it 'glacial') end of that market, its measured input of black/doom influences giving it a living cruder feel. The solid elements like bass notes on Einslpundahgn's "Dronedisciple" and "Rites Ov Catharsis" aid in preventing it from becoming a straight mood exercise or too dredging or sludgy. As enjoyable as this inward disdain is, it is only when B.Baphomet steps away from the darker moods that the music connects for me.

On Stare of Dawn the Chris Hladowski (Scatter and The One Ensemble) helmed The Family Elan is intuitively shaping new music from traditional ethnic folk forms. With melodic phrases and sounds from (what sounds like it could be) the Baltic States, Turkey or the Middle East, Hladowski even summons up medieval folk to contribute to the mix of flavours. Playing instruments like bouzouki and long-necked lute (I think) he creates a drive and draw as the music falls in and out of stable forms, reluctant to come back to earth to settle as a model melody.

The second full length from these American black metallers lives up to their feral and deadly-sounding name; each of the four songs on this disc stalk like the canine predator of the band's name. The group refine the techniques they developed on their first album; the mixture of classic black metal with other, gentler influences comes together wonderfully this time.

The improvisational, instrumental noise/rock trio known as Grey Daturas, hailing from Melbourne, Australia, have been kicking around making as much noise as is humanly possible since 2001, starting out by improvising live soundtracks to 16mm film projections and then over the years notching up many live shows, supporting such acts as Sunn O))), d. Yellow Swans, Dismember, and Isis. Dead in the Woods is actually a re-release of their second album, originally appearing on the Crashing Jets label in 2004.

The sparse credits that accompany this disc do not make clear if this is an actual collaboration or a split release, though it is obvious that Swedish electronics wizard Nilsen leads the way on the first piece, while everyone's favorite industrial percussionist is the focus of the second.  Regardless, the cryptic liner notes and black-on-black artwork are completely appropriate visual representations of the dark expanse that constitutes this album.

Titled after a Greek ritual that forms a conceptual background for the disc, this duo leads an ethnographic journey that is every bit as disturbing and frightening as expected, given that the title translates to "exchange of eyes."  Marchetti's compulsive attention to detail couples with Murayama's creepy vocalisms to make for a compelling, dramatic work.

This new semi-regular feature of notable new dance singles is inaugurated with reviews of Holy Ghost!, Syclops, Professor Genius, Kavinsky, Surgeon and Blast Head.

Arrayed in dystopian garb and armed with righteous indignation, Black Mountain's newest record explodes and pounds in unison with the bombs and wars that populate Stephen McBean's lyrics.

Kevin Doherty of Sleep Research Facility originally released this album in 2001, based on the first eight minutes of the film Alien and named after the freight ship of which Ripley was a crew member. At the end of 2007, it was reissued with new artwork and a bonus track on the original label.

For their fourth release, these black metallers from Israel have produced an album of no worth whatsoever. The music is unimaginative and some of the lyrics are downright ridiculous; two huge problems that are not redeemed by even a shred of any sort of passion. This sounds like music made by people who understand how the genre should sound but do not actually like it.

As a way of celebrating a decade of his label Intransitive, as well as the anniversary of his first album, Stone Blind, Boston based tape fetishist Howard Stelzer returns to his roots and dissects that early work to construct something entirely new but remaining true to his love of all things cassette.