Throbbing Gristle "The Third Mind Movements"
Formed in 1975, Throbbing Gristle, aka Chris Carter, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson (1955-2010), Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950-2020), fully delivered on punk’s failed promise to explore extreme culture as a way of sabotaging systems of control. Their impact on music, culture, and the arts has been immeasurable and still felt today.
Having reformed in 2004, Throbbing Gristle’s The Third Mind Movements initially emerged as an exclusive release only available on the band’s last ever American tour in 2009, before they split again in 2010. The tour, which saw them perform in the US for the first time in 28 years, included their first shows in NY and an appearance at Coachella festival. The Third Mind Movements album, recorded during the Desertshore sessions at the ICA, London several years earlier – a series of six live recordings from the ICA attended by an attentive audience – journeys through manipulated, time-stretched and distorted samples, with rhythmical breakbeats and hypnotic oscillations of electronics.
The Third Mind Movements is released alongside TGCD1 – both vital additions for dedicated Throbbing Gristle and industrial music fans.
Umberto "Black Bile"
Black Bile compiles some of Umberto’s most resplendent, sanguine music to date. The solo work of LA composer Matt Hill draws heavily from the world of cinema, spinning immersive narratives and rich atmospheres using sound alone. Hill, an active composer for film and television, recently scored the 2022 Jerry Pyle film Loveseat (soundtrack was released in 2023). Other recent scores include the 2020 thriller Archenemy, from the producers of cult classic Mandy.
Inspired by the ancient Greek theory of the “four humors,” an early medical theory linking the inner workings of the human body to the elements. “Black bile” specifically links the feelings of melancholy with autumn. Hill’s celestial compositions are an autumnal soundtrack conveying beauty, yearning, reflection and comfort.
Many of the album’s phrases are constructed from just two notes or sounds, arranged by Hill into complex patterns that undulate with an organic pulse. The spare melodic structure holds a myriad of small and beautiful details. The songs began with Hill improvising on the piano, to find the notes and patterns that created the musical and emotional structure from which he could expand with textural detail. Hill then would often remove the initial structure leaving a sparer and more skeletal one which he could again expand upon to create a full piece. The careful attention to each detail gives his minimal compositions emotional heft. The album masterfully stakes Umberto’s claim among other avant-ambient boundary pushers such as Lawrence English or Laurel Halo.
Endon "Fall of Spring"
Fall of Spring continues the band’s charter for each member to find the boundaries of their potential and push past them. Weaponized synthesizers thrum with fizzling distortion as electronic pulses crash through the mire. Nagura’s voice interlaces with and at times surpasses the oppressive thrall. With the droning bass of “Prelude for the Hollow” and the swooping tones of “Hit Me”, subtle melodicism reveals itself beneath an abrasive surface. That melodicism nearly froths to the surface on album centerpiece “Time Does Not Heal” until it is again buried by noise along with Nagura’s cries, which only increase in desperation as their volume fades. The aptly titled album climax “Escalation” is a masterclass of dynamic noise. Starting at what, for most, would be a distorted zenith only to be pushed far beyond into new sonic architectures by a deluge of gabber-like beats and an all-encompassing spectrum of distortion.
Fall of Spring captures the electricity and unpredictability of ENDON’s live performances in vivid detail. The album harnesses the power of their storied performances through unpredictable movements, deft arrangements and an exhilarating textural palette. By imbuing their sound with raw emotion teetering on the edge of obliteration, the trio are able to create what they call “organic music with inorganic material.” For ENDON, those moments of suspense and surprise are the core of their music. Fall of Spring is a vessel for band and listener to share moments, to suspend time and move through grief and pain, and to bask in catharsis and resilience
Little Hag "Now That’s What I Call Little Hag"
Little Hag is working through her issues and has a brand new album to prove it. Now That’s What I Call Little Hag aptly showcases the wide ranging songwriting of Avery Mandeville. Using 8 different producers and studios she delivers punk rock bangers, deep disco dives, torch songs, folk ballads and much more.
She rages against capitalism when things go awry while working at a Jersey bar in “1000 Birds.” She skewers an ex in “Would It Kill You?” and “You Blew It!” but she can also turn the lens around and scrutinize herself (“God I’m So Annoying,” “HHSTTHN”). The songs “All 3” and “Oops!” ponder the private vs. the public persona, while “Suck Out The Pain” imagines a way to surgically remove heartache. Finally, she finds new love on the sappy sapphic track “King Cake.” Oh yeah, there’s also an ode to her vibrator (“The Machine”) that might just be a metaphor for the coming AI revolution.