Bernhard Günter - Crossing the River (Night Music) (2001)

Minimal, sparse experimental sounds. The half-hour-plus title track is dedicated to then-recently deceased composer Iannis Xenakis, and is composed of dissonant strings, manipulated sources, and field recordings. "Haiku for Mu" is built on recordings of Günter's dog sleeping. A real party-starter, this one.

Track listing:

1. Crossing the River (Night Music)

2. Haiku for Mu

Gradually the blinding sunset drained from the glass, darkened, and it was as if snow were falling there, flakes shaping snow-eyes, hair: a face trembled like a white beautiful moth, smiled. She beckoned to him, shining and silver, and he knew he must go: unafraid, not hesitating, he paused only at the garden's edge where, as though he'd forgotten something, he stopped and looked back at the bloomless, descending blue, at the boy he had left behind.

Also listen to:

S·Core - Pretension (1988)

Müller • Sugimoto - I Am Happy If You Are Happy (2000)

Philip Samartzis - Mort aux Vaches (2003)

Related:

Troum - Mort Aux Vaches: SEN (2000)

I'm back from a long trip that was just a little too emotionally and physically demanding to call a "vacation." Looking for a job and studying for the CPA exam are gonna be occupying much of my free time in the coming weeks and months, so expect even more sporadic posting. But in the here and now, enjoy these engrossing experimental sound pieces by Australian composer Philip Samartzis. Describing them would sorta take away from the fun of hearing their sound pallets expand and explode, so I'm not going to.

Track listing:

1. Variable Resistance

2. Deconstructed Windmills

3. Soft and Loud

In another time zone, tarantulas are climbing red rocks, and on top of those rocks are churches. Days go by, first and last, always the same stone. Go down, dematerialized like the last one, cast into loneliness. The data cloud is crestfallen. All thoughts of men are sinking like a stone. It's not the first slip, but it's the right time to fall. I want to go now, in the same way, go right away.

You should also listen to:

Michael Prime - Fructification (1989)

John Wiese - Collected Tracks (2000)

Loren Mazzacane-Connors & Alan Licht - Hoffman Estates (1998)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Loren Mazzacane & Kath Bloom - Sing the Children Over (1982)

By request, here's this excellent collection of woozy, avant-jazz-psych-etc. In addition to the two musicians listed on the tin, you get contributions from a bunch of great Chicago musicians, not the least of which are from Jim O'Rourke, who played on the initial sessions, then edited them down and added overdubs.

Track listing:

1. Slowly, Slowly, Slowly

2. Block That Nixon

3. Sad at Times

4. Wisdom Day

5. Peace Scare

6. Turner's Murder

7. And Everyone 'Neath Their Vine and Fig Tree Shall Live in Peace

Moonlight walk of the soothsayer

You should also listen to:

Savant - The Neo-Realist (At Risk) (1983)

Anthony Pateras - Chasms (2007)

Daniel Lentz - wolfMASS (2000)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Harold Budd, Ruben Garcia, & Daniel Lentz - Music for 3 Pianos (1992)

A disorienting, whimsical, sacrilegious take on a Latin mass mixing MIDI keyboards and choral vocals. I've only heard two other solo Lentz works, but contemporary classical pieces powered by highly synthesized sounds seem to be his specialty. I'm not sure I really understand wolfMASS -- as far as I can tell, it's more of an "Animal Mass", or perhaps a meditation on violent conflict -- but it's a wonderfully warped pleasure to listen to.

Track listing:

1. Preludium

2. wolfKYRIE

3. bearGLORIA

4. eagleCREDO

5. cougarSANCTUS

6. manAGNUS DEI

Wolf is dead

Also listen to:

Igor Wakhévitch - Logos (1970) + Les Fous d'Or (1975)

Michael Torke - Color Music (1991)

John Zorn - The Goddess: Music for the Ancient of Days (2010)

Related:

Painkiller - Execution Ground (1994)

The final installment of a trilogy of albums that found John Zorn at his most accessible by a very wide margin. (Actually, this man has about 4 thousand albums, of which I've heard maybe 20-25, so for all I know, he might have an album of vocal jazz standards sung by Norah Jones.) Ethereal but propulsive jazz fusion powered by a glimmering cloud of vibraphone, harp, piano, guitar, and more. Borders on easy listening at times. If, when you think John Zorn, you think chaotic jazz-grind or discordant avant-garde, this record might blow your mind a bit.

Track listing:

1. Enchantress

2. Ishtar

3. Heptameron

4. White Magick

5. Drawing Down the Moon

6. Beyond the Infinite

7. Ode to Delphi

The center has moved on and all that's left is free

You should also listen to:

Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

Midori Takada & Masahiko Satoh - Lunar Cruise (1990)

Ron Geesin - Right Through (1977)

Queasily playful experimental pieces by Scottish composer Ron Geesin. A series of interconnected but distinct movements consisting of layered synths, dissonant guitars, noise-addled tape loops, field recordings, musique concrète, spoken word, demonic choirs, and more. I came to Geesin, as I'm sure many have, through his work with Pink Floyd -- in addition to arranging the symphonic elements of "Atom Heart Mother", he collaborated with Roger Waters for Music from The Body -- and was pleasantly surprised to learn that his work outside of those collaborations was just as bewildering, but with a greater sense of absurdist purpose, maybe?

Track listing:

1. Door-O-Plane Get Its Blades

2. Blades Spin Notions

3. Motion Above Rhythidoor

4. Four Guitars Did Laugh, Then Thought Again

5. Throb Thencewards Thrill

6. Hiding Haul of Voices, Hail!

7. Shut Out Hailing Calls Through You

8. Gong of Going Goes Right Through

9. Rhythiano Plonks the Plug Out, and We Follow

I've never come this way before

Revolving intermittent door

You should also hear:

Horrific Child - L'Étrange Mr Whinster (1976)

Asmus Tietchens - Nachtstücke (Expressions Et Perspectives Sonores Intemporelles) (1980)

Present - Le Poison Qui Rend Fou (1985)

Discordant Belgian RIO led by Univers Zero cofounder Roger Trigaux. Anxious, driving, pointedly scattered pieces fueled by queasy, jazz-informed guitar-piano interplay. Wouldn't sound at all out of place soundtracking a semi-coherent giallo flick.

Track listing:

1. Le Poison Qui Rend Fou, Part 1: Ram Ram Ram Va Faire "Pif Paf"

2. Ersatz

3. Le Poison Qui Rend Fou, Part 2: Didi, Dans Ta Chambre!

4. Samana

They must lie awake and watch themselves die

Also listen to:

Maneige - Les Porches (1975)

Art Zoyd - Berlin (1987)

Miriodor - Miriodor (1988)

I'm back! Had this post locked and ready to post while I was away, but vacation life took over and I temporarily forgot about the internet. Excellent sophomore album by these Canadian RIO purveyors. Disjointed, queasy, but propulsive instrumentals played on unsettlingly synthetic keyboards and decidedly un-synthetic saxophones and percussion. I'm including the bonus tracks because the first vinyl press of this record is the only version that doesn't include them so to me they feel like part of the proper album.

Track listing:

1. Regards / Regards

2. Spirale / Spiral

3. March Funèbre / Funeral March

4. Valence / Valence

5. Piège / Trap

6. Suspicion / Suspicion

7. Insomnie Prèmonitoire / Premonitory Insomnia

8. Réseau / Network

9. En Attendant Rémi / Waiting for Remi

10. Pleine Lune / Full Moon

11. Suspicion / Suspicion

12. Oriflamme / Oriflamme

13. Convoi Nocturne / Nocturnal Procession

14. Moyen Âge / Middle Ages

Langage de lézard

If you like this, you're a nerd, and you should also listen to:

Maneige - Les Porches (1975)

Art Zoyd - Berlin (1987)

Fantômas - Fantômas (1999)

Related:

Melvins - Eggnog (1991)

Kaada & Patton - Romances (2004)

MadLove - White with Foam (2009)

Slobber Pup - Black Aces (2013)

I'm in a celebrating mood, so here's a personal favorite: the first Fantômas album. God-tier, horror-themed, experimental grind/thrash/sludge/jazz-noir/spazz-core from the folks who brought you, among many others, Mr. Bungle, Slayer, and Melvins. Obviously, this is, by this blog's standards, fairly well-known, but 1) Tomahawk finally put out a new album and it's got me on a Mike Patton kick, 2) Who says everything I post on here has to be obscure? and 3) I guarantee you there are people reading this who have never heard Fantômas and are about to have their minds blown out their asses. 

30 tracks. You can't make me type them all out. Here's a track listing if you want it.

(I have no idea why I had the release date as 2009 initially. I first heard it in summer of 2001. Must be my dumb brain again.)

The wedding bells are ringing

The shotgun is a-singing

Now your fingers steady

More insanity:

Harvey Milk - Courtesy and Good Will Towards Men (1996)

Today Is the Day - Sadness Will Prevail (2002)

Susan Alcorn - Uma (2000)

I'm back from Baltimore (where Susan Alcorn apparently now lives) so here's an album of contemplative, melancholic, experimental pieces for pedal steel -- along with some minimal accompaniment -- that I've been meaning to post for years. Everything I've ever heard by Alcorn has been phenomenal, including the two collaborative albums she released this year.

Track listing:
1. Uma's River Song of Love
2. Dancing
3. Kalimankou Denkou / Thrace
4. Thelonious Monk Medley
5. The Royal Band -- Shambhala
6. Mercedes Sosa
7. The Bells of Amden (Für Suzanne)
8. Amazing Grace

Time was nothing

Similar listening:

Bill Connors - Swimming with a
Hole in My Body (1979)

Sasha Matson -
Steel Chords, I-5 (1993)

A-Soma & the Unlightened - Nothing Comes to Mind (1999)

Dark, extremely strange music. Synthesized orchestral arrangements, classically-inspired acoustic guitars, surreal poetry, some moments resembling deconstructed new wave, and generally unsettling vibes. I've been wanting to post this for years, but the prospect of actually having to describe it has been daunting. So in the interest of the greater good, I just decided to half-ass it, like always.

EDIT: Apparently A-Soma is not an alias for Nemo Jones, so I have deleted that bit. I got that information from Discogs but enough of you seem certain that it's wrong that I'm gonna believe y'all. Thanks to those of you who were able to convey this information without being fucking dickheads about it.

EDIT #2: Looks like the information on Discogs has been fixed now as well, and since A-Soma had been listed as an alias for Nemo Jones for years now, I'm guessing that it was one of y'all that corrected it. So it looks like there's a happy ending after all.

Track listing:
1. This
2. Train
3. Vortex of Blades
4. Ethyl
5. Dark Sphere
6. Satellite Dance
7. Giant Leaves
8. Draps Bruts
9. Conundrum
10. Sky Face
11. The Canals of Mars
12. The Botanist's Servant
13. Falling Down Holy
14. Frozen Fields
15. Amniotic Shore
16. The Box
17. Scorched
18. Morning Light
19. Mineral Worship

There's no such thing as purity

You'd probably also enjoy:

Eerie Von & Mike Morance -
Uneasy Listening (1996)

The Residents -
Animal Lover (2005)

Scanner - Mass Observation (1994)

Unsettling collages of hissing radio feedback and distorted voices -- often of real, private conversations captured via radio scanner -- set to ambient drones, warbling synths, and minimal beats. Feelings of paranoia, voyeurism, and modern malaise abound.

Four untitled tracks

Can you see me?
We are watching
You are fading in the daylight

You may also enjoy:

blackhumour -
It Was Inappropriate (1989)

Stephan Mathieu -
Wurmloch Variationen (2000)

Lucifer - Black Mass (1971)

Related:
Ataraxia - The Unexplained (1975)

The great Mort Garson treats us to an experimental, instrumental (aside from some moans of carnal delight), synth-fueled black mass in the name of Our Dark Lord Lucifer. Much like the above-linked Ataraxia record, Black Mass is pretty much the epitome of what this blog is all about -- Satan and synths -- so either get it or get yer basic ass gone.

Track listing:
1. Solomon's Ring
2. The Ride of Aida (Voodoo)
3. Incubus
4. Black Mass
5. The Evil Eye
6. Exorcism
7. The Philosopher's Stone
8. Voices of the Dead (The Medium)
9. Witch Trial
10. ESP

Ave Satanas!
I do not belong to these things
These things belong to me

If you like this, listen to:

Heldon -
Heldon IV: Agneta Nilsson (1976)

Asmus Tietchens -
Nachtstücke (Expressions et Perspectives
Sonores Intemporelles) (1980)

Mark Korven - The Witch (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2016)

Otherworldly score for a masterclass of tension and atmosphere. Following a stately, sorrowful opening theme, dissonant, droning strings slowly build to terrifying peaks, with clattering percussion and wordless choral vocals. I fucking loved this movie, and it's on Netflix so if you haven't seen it yet, 'tis the season. Also, notice that his last name is almost "Coven" -- obviously, it was meant to be.

Track listing:
1. What Went We
2. Banished
3. A Witch Stole Sam
4. Hare in the Woods
5. I Am the Witch Mercy
6. Foster the Children
7. Calen Is Lost
8. Caleb's Seduction
9. Caleb's Death
10. William and Tomasin
11. William's Confession
12. The Goat & the Mayhem
13. Follow the Goat
14. Witch's Coven
15. Isle of Wight (Traditional)
16. Standish (Traditional)

I will guide thy hand

Ennio Morricone - La Corta Notte
delle Bambole di Vetro (1971)

Kaija Saariaho - Verblendungen -
Jardin Secret I - Laconisme De L'Aile -
...Sah Den Vögeln (1985)

The Residents - Animal Lover (2005)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
The Residents - Stars & Hank Forever: The American Composter Series, Vol. II (1986)
The Residents - 1997: The Missing Year - Adobe Disfigured Night (2009)
The Residents - Hades (2009)
Charles Bobuck - Chuck's Ghost Music (2011)

The definitive 'modern' Residents record IMO. Superficially, it's about as close to conventionally-structured songwriting as The Residents are interested in getting, but the songs are as dark, strange, and emotionally compelling as anything they've written. "Elmer's Song" in particular is a real marvel of warped, miserably beautiful songwriting. Honestly, probably my most listened-to Residents record.

Track listing:
1. On the Way (To Oklahoma)
2. Olive and Gray
3. What Have My Chickens Done Now?
4. Two Lips
5. Mr. Bee's Bumble
6. Inner Space
7. Dead Men
8. My Window
9. Ingrid's Oily Tongue
10. Mother No More
11. Dreaming of an Anthill (Teeming)
12. Elmer's Song
13. The Monkey Man
14. The Whispering Boys
15. Burn My Bones

But soon a voice inside of a dream
Said "Son you can become My Cream"

You might also like:

The Legendary Pink Dots -
The Maria Dimension (1991)

Human Host -
The Halloween Tree (2007)

Junji Hirose + Otomo Yoshihide - Silanganan Ingay (1989)

Well kids, due to the anxiety med withdrawal that's making my head feel like there's an electricity gremlin rattling around inside of it, I'm completely wired. So, how 'bout a spazz-y, free-form clusterfuck courtesy of two Japanese experimental musicians? I know I'm not sleeping.

Track listing:
1. Noise from Far East
2. The Time to Live and the Time to Die
3. 1.2.3.4.
4. 6 and 14 Wave
5. Black and Blue
6. Green Bicycle
7. Intolerable Fellow
8. Short Tune
9. Mob?
10. For T.T.
11. Crying Sky
12. #7
13. Jalan
14. Don't Be Late!
15. Rip

I wanna get up and do my thing

Let the insanity roll:

Royal Trux -
Twin Infinitives (1990)

The Focus Group -
Sketches and Spells (2004)

Giusto Pio - Motore Immobile (1979)

Two beautiful minimal pieces by Italian composer Giusto Pio. Organ, violin, vocals, and piano generating elegant, subdued drones and melodic fragments.

Track listing:
1. Motore Immobile
2. Ananta

Stretched over hillsides

Similar listening:

David Hykes & The Harmonic Choir -
Hearing Solar Winds (1983)

Gavin Bryars with Tom Waits -
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Met Yet (1993)

Alan Sparhawk - Solo Guitar (2006)

Related:
Low - The Curtain Hits the Cast (1996)
Low - Songs for a Dead Pilot (1997)
Low - Murderer EP (2003)

Abstract, menacing pieces for electric guitar from Alan Sparhawk of slowcore greats Low. Long stretches of amplifier hum, sparse, haunting melodies, ominous drones, and mammoth, cathartic, 6-string explosions. In the excellent documentary You May Need a Murder, Sparhawk reveals that he was around this time experiencing a full mental break, walking around with his eyes closed for days on end convinced that he could see, and, he implies, briefly believing that he was God.

Track listing:
1. How the Weather Comes Over the Central Hillside
2. Sagrado Corazón de Jesú (First Attempt)
3. Sagrado Corazón de Jesú (Second Attempt)
4. How a Freighter Comes into the Harbor
5. How the Weather Hits the Freighter...
6. ... in the Harbor
7. How the Engine Room Sounds
8. Eruption by Eddie Van Halen
9. How It Ends

Don't act so innocent
I've seen you pound your fist into the earth
And I've read your books
Seems that you could use another fool
But I'm cruel
And I look right through

If you like this, check out:

Skullflower -
Obsidian Shaking Codex (1993)

Death Cube K -
Dreamatorium (1994)

Savant - The Neo-Realist (At Risk) (1983)

An album of instrumental art rock constructed one piece at a time, meaning that, while many artists contributed to the record, they generally weren't allowed to hear each other's work while tracking their parts, which was done to a click track and based on verbal instructions. It was then pieced together by Canadian experimental musician and project mastermind K. Leimer. More important, though, is that, outside of this intriguing conceptual framework, it's a surprisingly musical, texturally evocative, melodically warped revelation of a record.

Track listing:
1. Using Words
2. Indifference
3. Realist
4. Shadow in Deceit
5. The Shining Hour
6. Knowledge and Action
7. Heart of Stillness

I wore no mask

You should also check out:

Percy Jones -
Cape Catastrophe (1990)

Rain Tree Crow -
Rain Tree Crow (1991)

Art Zoyd - Berlin (1987)

A dark, dense, dissonant cacophony generated by a big ol' pile o' instruments, including synths, strings, horns, organ, piano, and percussion, with structurally ambitious, experimental compositions to boot. Someone please explain to me how it's possible that this is the first time I've posted Art Zoyd on here?

Track listing:
1. Epithalame
2. Baboon's Blood
3. Petite Messe a l'Usage des Pharmaciens - Offertoire
4. Petite Messe a l'Usage des Pharmaciens - Kyrie
5. A Drum, a Drum
6. Petite Messe a l'Usage des Pharmaciens - Introit
7. Unsex Me Here

Don't lose your head

You'd probably also like:

Univers Zero -
Ceux du Dehors (1983)

Un Festín Sagital ‎-
Sic Deus Dilexit Mundum (2012)