No more front covers with the reviews. Let’s keep to the text. All reviews (so far) by Richard Johnson and Steve Pescott (SP). If you want Adverse Effect to review anything of yours please note we only accept physical formats sent to the address noted elsewhere. No time for unsolicited links and downloads, plus they get lost in the daily deluge of emails. Vinyl, CDs and cassettes at least get placed in the review stack and (eventually) get listened to. Tastes/interests are broad here as well.

Send to: Adverse Effect, Winnicka 57B, 32-020 Wieliczka, Poland

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Thomas Bey William Bailey Liminalia CD + Dream Logbook (Fifteen Minutes of Anonymity, USA, 2024)

When my wife heard this blaring out of my hi-fi she asked what this “dental music” is. She went on to explain it reminded her of dental implements working away in one’s mouth. While that perhaps implies something of a sonic assault, Liminalia is actually far removed from that. Composed of grizzled digital fragments weaving around each other like a nest of snakes, stern nods of the chin to the world of electroacoustic music, sinewy ebbs and flows, subtle murmur and what sound like a combination of carefully threaded field recordings and physical object (or instrument) sources, it is an album based on the concept of dreams. Basically, the album was inspired by them, or a series of recurring dreams Thomas Bey William Bailey had, and this then led to his creating music designed to be listened to as we fall asleep. The CD is then housed in a hardcover book that, aside from a couple of pages detailing the project, mostly consists of lined paper intended to log the listener’s dreams (or nightmares). I probably won’t be doing this myself but am curious as to whether anybody else owning a copy would. Regardless, the music is quite remarkable and stands out as the best work I’ve yet heard from this US sound artist. I have listened to Liminalia a lot now and find everything to be rewarding as new details appear to surface each and every time. For me personally, it’s music I prefer to be fully engaged with. Falling asleep to it might neither be so easy nor actually serve it any justice. (RJ)

Caspar Brotzmann Massaker It’s a Love Song CD (Exile On Mainstream Records, Germany, 2025)

The only time I have ever seen Caspar Brotzmann live was in London at the Disobey club held upstairs at The Garage in 1995. He accompainied Einsturzende Neubauten’s FM Einheit, who was using various metal objects to add to the dystopian din, and just seemed like he’d beamed in from a far corner of the known universe. I always imagined that Hendrix must’ve had a similar effect when first witnessed live in the very same city as a solo artist in 1966. Coupled to the albums released in the ‘90s I’ve returned to many times since, it’s still hard to fathom where Caspar Brotzmann arrived from exactly, beyond knowing his father, the late Peter Brotzmann, must’ve left an indelible mark on his approach to playing the guitar as his own with a saxophone. I have seen some compare Caspar’s playing to the No Wave stylings emanating from New York in the late ‘70s, but while I get the reference I feel it undermines the far more important inspiration derived from free jazz, more European avant-garde and perhaps even early industrial music’s exploratory approach to noise-making. What comes across on the live recordings that constitute It’s a Love Song is not only the sheer unbridled power of the trio locked in together, but also the remarkable restraint they exercise in allowing sounds to seep into the space they occupy before Brotzmann channels some kinda primal force when he begins to add his vocals to the fray. The recordings here are from Vienna and Dresden in January of this year. I didn’t even know Caspar Brotzmann Massaker were still going, but if this document is anything to go by I’ll be paying far more attention from this point on. The relentless brutality of the music here remains utterly uncompromising and operates outside of everything. The only thing it can be accused of is reflecting modern malaise with a simple setting of bass, drums and guitar, proving without even trying that there’s both life in it yet and a beauty to behold in the energy duly unleased in spite of its ugliness or apparent impenetrability. Joyous. (RJ)

Chris Connelly White Phospherous (Chris Connelly Plays Throbbing Gristle) LP (Dirter Promotions, 2025)

Exactly as it says on the tin, this album catches Chris Connelly (formerly of Finitribe, Ministry, Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Murder Inc. and numerous other projects) performing a live set of nine T.G. covers during late 2024. All of our favourites are here, such as ‘Tesco Disco’, ‘Zyklon B Zombie’, ‘Heathen Earth’ and ‘Persuasion’, but what’s particularly striking is not only the recording quality but also Chris’ ability to render faithful renditions stamped with his own take on them at the same time. This is no slight on the late Genesis P-Orridge’s vocals, which I always felt suited the mood and ideas inherent in T.G. perfectly, but Chris is simply better in this area and this alone lifts the songs into a space that justifies this. While I generally have misgivings about performing covers of other artists’ work (and, of course, there are are exceptions…), the rudimentary notion of Chris doffing his cap to T.G. just makes sense. I even have a friend who used to be in the very same class as Chris at school in the very early ‘80s who has noted several times that Chris used to wear a T.G. t-shirt. Given the sonic trajectory Chris subsequently went on soon after, it’s more than apparent T.G. represented something of a huge touchstone for him. His reminding everybody of this at this now documented show seems like a wholly valid statement to me. Only 250 of these LPs were pressed, though. Probably too late already, but don’t hang around. (RJ)

Doc Wör Mirran La Pastorella CD (Marginal Talent Records, Germany, 2023)

The dawn of DWM or, for all intents and purposes, Joseph B. Raimond, stretches way, way back on the events horizon; to 1984, to be precise. A time when the more underground sections of the second gen. of k-rock were working their obscure charms, through the auspices of avant garage combos such as The 39 Clocks and The Black Vial (and possibly S.Y.P.H. and even Surplus Stock at a push…). The sheer industriousness of this, erm, particular project-come-obsession can’t fail to raise an eyebrow or two as La Pastorella falls one short of the two hundred mark in terms of releases coming under the Doc war banner. I guess you could still call this a cottage industry but one that certainly houses a spacious west wing. Needless to say, I haven’t immersed myself in the entire catalogue as I still need at least 7 hours sleep a night… But, over the years, I have had my delicate sensibilities occasionally derailed by the gloriously unhinged Retch (2007) and the more industrially-inclined Limerence (2010), co-starring Controlled Bleeding’s Paul Lemos.

So, it does look like you can buy into this outfit’s methodology at any stage. Here, tracks like  the wanton dismantling of  Sinatra’s ‘Strangers in the Night’ and ‘Ein Leben Lang’ (which resembles Der Plan rehashing ‘Mark of the Mole’) continue to cut the mustard and plough a consistent furrow quality-wise. It appears that most DWM releases are dedicated to certain musicians/artists etc. No. 199 tips its cap to actress Sally Kellerman (1937-2022), who was the original ‘Hot Lips’ in M.A.S.H. and the superhuman/mutant figure, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, who appeared in one of the best Kirk-era episides of Star Trek; namely ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’. Nice touch. (SP)

Ekotonika To Get Lost CD (Antena Non Grata, Poland, 2024)

This looks like it’s the second release from this Polish duo who combine guitar, synths, double bass, sampler and stomp boxes to create compositions of a restrained, almost ambient, nature but are rich in detail with gentle melodic inflections, scraping sounds, subtle heaves and interplanetary hum helping to keep the proceedings from getting too cosy. There’s a nice elecroacoustic feel entwined with all of this that also suggests interesting things in a live setting, but even beyond that these recordings evoke the idea of Mat Barski and Marcin Karczewski improvising together to produce material of a wholly alchemical nature. Let’s hope they do some more. (RJ) 

Fiesta Alba Pyrotechnic Babel CD (Neontoaster Multimedia Dept./Bloody Sound Fucktory, Italy, 2024)

Debut album from an Italian trio who on these ten cuts draw from a vast array of influences including African music, jazz, rap, art rock and electronica. Often, this disparate array of cues is blended together in just one song to create quite a busy and intense explosion of jagged sound bursting with kaleidoscopic voices as infused with energy as the syncopated beats everything is anchored to. Whilst ambitious in intent Fiesta Alba’s work sometimes becomes so full of itricacies and detail this can actually get lost. All the same, I can imagine this group absolutely blazes in a live setting. (RJ)

Germ Lattice Gripping Through the Ages LP (Horn of Plenty, 2024)

This trio use synth, bass and drums to rinse just about all semblance of song form into a morass of stewed sounds, disembowelled fragments and protean shuffles clearly designed to unspool that part of the mind where the state of confusion likes to spread its wings. Chewy basslines sometimes point to a grey shape while mangled vocals occasionally puncture proceedings before everything then collapses into a spatter of electronic shards, dissonant clangs and pulses like The Blue Humans trying to be AMM. This won’t mean much to most, unfortunately, but this reminds me of some of the groups or improv configurations the late Tomek Choloniewski would appear in here in Krakow that were without exception great to experience live. Gripping Through the Ages captures precisely the same raw and bleeding spirit, where unbridled energy and synergy is allowed to transform into something fantastic that goes far beyond the usual parameters with nothing but an almost punk disregard for expectation. Just add milk and you’ll have a great start to the day. (RJ)

Hiroshimabend A Knife and Five Cranberries CD (Opiumdenpluto, Austria, 2025)

On this new album by Puppy38’s ongoing Hiroshimabend project, a 70-minute piece of abrasive textures are given an atmospheric touch as they conjure the feelings of fear, paranoia and discomfort experienced by a woman who is stalked. As you can imagine, it’s a deliberately unsettled, or even unsettling, soundworld of molten churn imbued with garbled elements, abstract noise and waves of hiss all buried in the mix to keep things moving. Nice cover image, too. (RJ)

Hiroshimabend Downland LP (Opiumdenpluto, Austria, 2025)

Arriving more or less simulteneously as the A Knife… album also comes the Downland LP by Austria’s Hiroshimabend, a project long established by US artist Puppy38. Formed around four reasonably lengthed tracks, Downland is a comparatively moodier affair that adopts sombre tones, freezing textures and rolling mists of sulphuric dust perfect for falling backwards into a dark canyon to. While starker moments inject the proceedings with a dynamism always crucial to such music, added drama is also accorded by what sounds like metal clanging on second track, ‘The Shepherd of the Downland’, and side 2’s opener ‘Charm of the Downland’ is possessed of a vacillating machine-like rumble giving way to an ominous sweeping sound, subtle whirs and minimalist chords. Of the two new albums, Downland proves itself to be especially promising with its soundtrack-ish aspirations and shifts from noir-ish ambient ‘scapes to something approaching highly measured sound design. Limited and numbered. Try to bag one before it’s too late. (RJ)

Rafal Iwanski Transformations II CD (Antenna Non Grata, Poland, 2025)

Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of Transformations I, from 2023, so have no idea how this new album compares, but I must admit this exceeded all expectations. I write this even as somebody who has long admired Rafal’s work as, especially, X-Navi:et, too. I have seen him perform live with Hati and Inner City Ensemble, enjoy the few albums I have by both of those groups, and generally perceive him to be an interesting artist long active in the fields of abstract electronic music, dronework and related areas of sonic exploration. While the eleven cuts that form Transformations II appear to be guided by a simplicity accorded by melodic loops, rudimentary pulses and beats keeping everything moored, and plenty of crystalline shimmer floating amongst the spaces between, there’s something extremely effective and alluring to the proceedings that elevates this beyond similarly attired fare. Using a wide assortment of instruments, from kalimbas and flutes to metal objects, alongside field recordings, contact mics were deployed to enhance the essence of most of the sound sources and mould these compositions into glistening hypnotic forms of mercurial beauty. Absolutely incredible. (RJ)

Rafal Kolacki Mowa Tworzenia LP (Zoharum, Poland, 2024)

Polish sound artist Kołacki has been composing work based mostly on field recordings for many years now and this recent album on Zoharum, a label already responsible for backing many of his releases, collects another ten. Between them, we are treated to an assortment of electroacoustic works ranging from post-industrial hum ’n’ heave to pieces which are formed of oscillations or what sounds like the purrs of a cat tweaked into new shapes. Translated to English, the title means ‘creation of speech’, which I think refers to the idea of listening attentively to such soundwork and interpreting as one wants. While I contend that’s what we all do with all forms of music or sound when fully engaged with it, I guess the rationale here is to at least draw attention to that fact. It’s a nice enough gathering of pieces on the whole, but some gel far better than others. The more loop-driven cuts just seem a little half-baked to me, but maybe I’m missing something. Always completely enjoyed Rafal’s additions to groups such as Hati and Innercity Ensemble, especially live, but I’m not convinced he’s adding much to the world of such music here. (RJ)

Magical Power Mako Next Millenium Vibrations CD (All Horned Animals, Japan, 2025)

Reissue of the 1993 album by this Japanese group founded by the late Mako in the early ‘70s during the post-psychedelia haze that swirled into new forms of rock music soon to be known as ‘prog’. Next Millenium Vibrations certainly nods to this with its sometimes wild changes, detours into the unexpected and a playfulness that for all the crude techniques deployed never betrays the visionary skills behind everything. While I’m not overly familiar with Magical Power Mako’s work, it’s evident it’s underpinned by genuine artistry and something entirely singular. Rudimentary electronics accord the proceedings with a lo-fi edge while melodies fly in several directions, loops bind everything together, beats scatter and a foggy psychedelic hue hangs over the whole album like an undying testament, or even tribute, to the roots of Mako’s journey. What’s especially a triumph is how Next Millenium Vibrations seems like it operates in its own universe. The only records I own that fall anywhere close are by The Residents, Henry Cow and, perhaps more appropriately, Japan’s very own Picky Picnic, but this really is stretching it. Wonderful stuff. I definitely need more. (RJ) 

Magical Power Mako Next Millenium Vibrations CD (All Horned Animals, Japan, 2025)

Of all the Japanese musicians unearthed by the music press and obscurantist blogs during the last twenty or so years; be it Government Apha, Masonna or, going back a bit, The Taj Mahal Travellers, it must be said that Magical Power Mako (a.k.a. Makota Kurita), retains some kinda special space. He always seemed to occupy a mysterious dimension that only very occasionally encroached on our own. His story of the convoluted and the wilfully vague began on these shores in 2007, when he came under Julian Cope’s microscope in the beyond essential JapRockSampler sourcebook. While on the recording front, 2011 saw Mako’s UK debut courtesy of the slightly dubious Bamboo Records by the re-release of Hapmoniym; a 5CD boxed set of outtakes/archive material that had its first airing on Mom’n’ Dad Productions eight years earlier. And, like that release, Next Millenium… (with its mysterious ‘eye in the triangle’ sleeve art), comes as a second bite of the cherry, having been initially issued on MPM Universe Art Association back in 1993!

That’s the convoluted side of things covered and the wilfully vague aspect isn’t exactly entry level either as relevant info is really down to bare bones, meaning that a track listing and sleeve design credits are pretty much all you get. I’d guess that, like previous releases, this contemporary of Keiji Haino was running the whole shebang; from multi-instrumental chops to engineering, arrangements and production duties. Everything on this diminutive silver disc meanwhile, be it the amphetaminised Headhunters splurge of ‘Maihime’ or the kosmische ‘Resonance’, seem to revolve around the fit-to-burst, thirty-nine minutes of ‘Happy Earth’. A suite that encapsulates all, or most of his rather expansive m.o., from electro-gamelan to Damo-esque vocalese then to piercing analogue punctuation that comes topped with heavy tribal percussion workouts. Ignore the new-agey title by all means – in the main, it’s a trip that’s well worth pursuing – which for me, references the best parts of Jon Hassell, Steve Reich and Ash Ra…

The re-appearance of Next Millenium... (fully authorised by the artist btw), ably gives due accord to a maverick, shadow-hugging talent who sadly died during the early part of this year. (SP)

Mapura Music eponymous LP (Horn of Plenty, 2024)

Following a typically low-key cassette release in 2017, this is the debut album ‘proper’ from New Zealander Stefan Neville, who I understand helms weekly creative music/improv sessions with fellow sonic travellers to, as the back cover blurb proclaims, “ignite rock ’n’ roll fire!” Culled from live sessions recorded between 2020 and 2023 the thirteen cuts here are sporadic, rough-hewn and often about as far removed from rock ’n’ roll as one can get. Featuring thirteen artists, presumably appearing in different trio or quartet configurations throughout, the assortment of tracks here are lo-fi, ramshackle and bursting with some kinda energy channelled from that ur-space of unbridled free expression where everything happens entirely in the moment. Perhaps some half-formed ideas are there at the start, but these quickly become usurped by a collab setting where other ideas conjoin in a massive explosion of sludgy sonic soup. At times, it feels like somebody is trying to jam some maudlin folk song while another person throws pots and pans around and another still is playing with a vintage tape machine, but there’s a defiant intuition underpinning proceedings that makes everything stick. At others, it’s akin to a room fulla special needs people given access to a music room, but it’s all highly effective and extremely seductive, with plenty of contours revealing fresh sounds with every listen. Hopefully, there will be another installment to look forward to. (RJ)

Are Mundal Songs for the Anechoic Chamber LP (Telesterion Records, Norway, 2025)

This is the fifth album by Norway’s Are Mundal, an artist who I believe has come from a metal background and long ago arrived at that gloomy place where glacial and foggy textures cast their clammy tendrils over other layers of sound consisting of garbled voices, crude yet hypnotic rhythms, indiscernible murmur and ravaged noise. Add to this the occasional sample and you’ll have reasonable insight into what’s brought together on the two side-long pieces that represent Songs… However, while it’s clear there are technical limitations at work here I’d equally argue they add a lot to this rough-hewn approach which, over the course of Are’s releases thus far, are now morphing into something both sustainable and worthy of a release on Cold Spring or some such. The only thing holding everything back for me is the somewhat predictable ongoing fixation with the anti-Christian angle. I’m far from religious or a believer in a god (of any kind) myself, but this obsession just casts a rather juvenile light over the proceeedings that only makes me think of those Nordic black metal idiots who’d go round burning down churches. Unless there’s some deep-seated (no pun!) personal grudge behind (again, no pun!) this, it just reduces everything to a pointlessly cliched and immature level already witnessed countless times before. The music is heading in a good enough direction, but a touch of subtlety and refinement to the targets that ire Are so much would serve it far better. (RJ)

Pale Blue Dot (H)eart(h) CD (self-released, Italy, 2025)

Taking their name from a photo of our planet taken by the Voyager 1 mission in 1990, and pushing the idea further with references to both ‘Earth’ and ‘heart’ in the album’s title, arrives the debut by this Italian group who’ve already clocked up ten years in their existence, apparently. Over the course of the seven songs on offer, there’s more than a stern nod to that point in the ‘80s when the post-punk sounds of Echo & the Bunnymen, The Chameleons, Modern English and The Sound dissolved into the big atmospheric guitar-dominated approach of Ride, Swervedriver and so on. It’s an immersive sound that’s subsequently been utilised by art-rockers Ulan Bator and newer post-punk outfits such as Interpol, but it looks like it will always have a place in music as long as mostly moody and introspective young(ish) men (and it is generally men producing such music) have a desire to express their angst behind guitars and a healthy array of effects. While I always wish more such groups would embrace the abject experimentation evident on, say, the Bunnymen’s Porcupine or Ulan Bator’s Ego:Echo albums, I cannot deny the appeal presented by vast swathes of guitar held in place by a strong and dynamic rhythm section. Synths also form a significant basis to Pale Blue Dot’s rather earnest sound, and while half the group look surly and sport menacing beards I feel they at least belie the image of most given to traversing this particular field of rock music. Good name, too. (RJ)

Rain Parade Crashing Dream 2CD (Label 51 Recordings, USA, 2025)

There was a time, briefly, in the 1980s that ended up with a few albums by some of these mostly US neo-psychedelia groups that included Rain Parade but also stretched to Long Ryders, The Dream Syndicate, Sylvia Juncosa, the Lime Spiders (yeah, I know they were Australian…), Green on Red and others. Each of them had their own take on an evident fondness for the ’60s sounds of The Byrds, Big Star, Love, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, etc. and some drew as much from the post-punk world that had doubtlessly inspired them to get going in the first place, but I must concede I always felt somewhat disappointed when I listened to these as they very often seemed like lightweight cousins to the original fare. Whereas a number of the ’60s groups were possessed of both a sound awakening to a creeping darkness and sense of unease as the hippie dream started to fade and a maturity that led to a modicum of experimentation in the studio (The Byrds’ ‘Moog Raga’ pays testament to this from their 1967 sessions for The Notorious Byrd Brothers), the ‘80s wave tended towards a dreamy jangle pop approach not so far removed from the likes of Ultra Vivid Scene or where a lot of indie music traversed on both sides of the Atlantic as the decade unfolded. Rain Parade are no huge exception, really, although it’d be unfair to dismiss them because of this. While it’s clear there’s a yearning in their music for a time long gone, what comes through is strong enough songwriting to carry everything and, even more to their credit, a bypassing of just about everything else the decade proffered in either terms of style over substance or the complementing of every song with unnecessary synths. One attains a sense of craftsmanship that lives in its own space, outside of the bigger concerns of the music industry. Yes, the UK music press typically lumped many of these (then) new psychedelia groups in together (The Paisley Underground being one such banner) but, unless my memory’s more ravaged than I believe, it was all rather fleeting and to my knowledge the groups continued regardless. Rain Parade released a new album in 2023, even.

Crashing Dream is Rain Parade’s third album, anyway, and was originally released in 1985. This remastered reissue features a bonus disc of demos and live material perfect for the completist. The music’s got more going on than any first impression might suggest. An attentive listen reveals tiny inflections and details which might otherwise get lost as the ghost of The Byrds hovers close yet ultimately seems akin to a passing of the torch rather than an outright homage. The songwriting is taut but has an airy quality still suggestive of wide open fields of corn in a late summer breeze. Everything is heavily drizzled in several helpings of nostalgia and, at the same time, one can feel how the group are putting all their energy into moving forward and keeping that torch somehow relevant. The title track even alludes to those comparatively darker spaces I personally prefer, reminding me somewhat of The Teardrop Explodes.

I understand many ardent fans felt let down by this album at the time. I don’t know how this reissue compares to the original release, but I’d urge them to give this version a chance. I’d even bet it’ll surprise them. (RJ)

Jeffrey Runnings Piqued CD (Independent Project Records, USA, 2025)

Piqued collects fifteen homespun songs by this late US artist otherwise known for being a member of Glue and being a part of Matthew Sweet’s touring group besides founding post-punk outfit For Against in the mid-‘80s in Nebraska. The songs here admittedly have that ’80s feel but naturally lack the ornamentation one would expect if they were placed in a more collaborative setting. Perhaps due to this raw and stripped-down approach, the art-pop strategies at work here are vaguely reminiscent of Gary Ramon’s Modern Art and Mystery Plane projects. Simple drum machine rhythms work away behind sinewy guitar melodies and minimalist synth lines in a manner suggestive of hundreds of bedroom-based cassette artists from that hallowed period between the late ’70s and early ’80s. Some of the songs are stronger than others and simply sound like they’d breathe more if enhanced by the dream pop atmospherics I’m certain Runnings felt at home in but, as it stands, this collection ultimately feels poised towards those who paid close attention to his work and will enjoy it even in its most rudimentary, slightly rugged, stage. Typically stunning IPR screen-printed packaging that’s like little else, too. (RJ)

Springhouse  From Now to OK 2CD (Independent Project Records, USA, 2024)

This expanded reissue of New York group Springhouse’s fourth album, originally released in 2007, takes beige-coloured indie-pop through so so many plumes of utter dreariness it’s only incredulous to think somebody somewhere might want this again never mind release it. As always, the absolutely fantastic packaging to be found on all IPR releases is the very best thing about this release but, beyond that, it ultimately reminds me of a time thankfully gone I’d get sent heaps of similarly-inclined material by groups aspiring to be REM or The Rain Parade and about as exciting a muddy puddle. Even with the addition of a bonus disc of live material and demos, From Now to OK is a perfect example of an album you don’t need to even listen to completely once before realising you won’t ever want to hear (any of) it again. (RJ)

Staraya Derevnya Garden Window Escape LP (Auris Media/Ramble Records, Israel/Australia, 2025)

Until one of the founders of this group contacted me to propose a review copy of this album I have to concede I’d never heard of them before. It transpires, however, this group (consisting of Brits and Israelis) have been operating since the late ’90s and have a considerable amount of albums behind them. Obviously, I have no idea how this one compares to those that precede it but I can report it’s taking at least two or three listens before it unveils anything penetrable. Despite nods towards the more convoluted ends of prime period kosmische music and there being enough rhythmic undertow to pull one along the seven cuts here, opening cut ‘Tight-lipped Thief’ is quick to throw an obtrusive serrated edge our way courtesy of, I presume, the bass clatinet that’s credited on the back cover. Between that and the next track’s melding of rattles, vocals from a vortex and array of subtle sounds, it’s clear that Staraya Derevnya tend to prefer a more uncomfortable and unsettled approach usually found at home in noise and the avant-garde. Without doubt, this group (apparently here with eight or nine people involved) are less concerned with listenability than weaving blankets of sound that sway towards the uneasy or queasy side of things. As alluded to earlier, this begins to pay off with repeated listens as tiny hooks emerge from the distended murk and vague rhythms can be found pulsing along in serpentine manner for a short while. It’s only a shame all the vocals are, I guess, in Hebrew, though. As much as this makes sense in relation to the music they could also add to some kinda blockade (and only because most music has to unfortunately comply with the unwritten rules of the anglosphere in order to gain any traction there rather than any stupid political reasons). If one can get past them, or even understand them in the first place, then this is certainly an interesting album that’s recommended to anybody who enjoys music of a more challenging nature.

Tacet Tacet Tacet Fickle CD (Attenuation Circuit, Germany, 2025)

Tacet Tacet Tacet is the name given to sound artist Francesco Zedde’s latest project following some trips to Iceland which resulted in his recording of field recordings subtly worked into Fickle’s heady mix of rhythms that wouldn’t have been out of place on an early Mille Plateaux release, dawn mist textures and heavily pronounced grasp of composition at once organic and carefully stitched together. I’m not familiar with any of Zedde’s other work but the material here sounds like it would work especially well live. One to watch out for, perhaps. (RJ)

That’s How I Fight Movement Three LP (Zoharum, Poland, 2024)

As you can guess, this is the third album from a Polish group who’ve been going for several years now and are given to creating a hazy and subdued form of ambient rock music that certainly cuts its own corner in the space already occupied by Stars of the Lid and The Necks. Movement Three collects (again, you guessed it) three pieces that are quite beautiful in their atmospheric scope and actually make me think of Lawrence English or Fovea Hex if either of them was an actual band. Would love to see these live, even, and I don’t often say that these days.

Voices of the Cosmos VI CD (Gusstaff Records, 2024)

Nine cuts from the ongoing electronic project of Rafal Iwanski, Wojciech Zieba and Piotr Zuralski’s, who are now up to their sixth album. As the name suggests, the electronics at work are of the intergalactic variety and utilise signals, pulsars and other sounds astronomer Sebastian Soberski has supplied. Given the latter’s involvement from the outset, the underlying concept here is an interesting one I can’t think of any other artist having deployed, but I have to admit that the fact many of these abstract textures, swirls of cosmic churn and analogue synth patterns are too heavily bound to rhythms this time round for my tastes. While I understand the compulsion to produce music that might help get a dancefloor heaving, and indeed even enjoy some music of this nature myself, I prefer the mostly beat-less music Voices of the Cosmos have delivered in the past. Voices of the Cosmos’ III album, from 2019, just makes for a comparatively far more captivating listen precisely because of this. I hope they return to this approach. (RJ)

Zenial Foil Punk CD (Zoharum, Poland, 2025)

Straddling the many lines between post-industrial atmospherics, dark electronica and a disposition that borrows heavily from the outer regions of modern composition arrives Polish artist Zenial’s latest album, Foil Punk, which looks like his first for a few years. I have no idea what’s behind the title but ‘foil’ in Polish, or ‘folia’, is mostly used in reference to clingfilm and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Beyond that, however, what begins like yet another foray into moody and crepuscular ambient music soon opens out a wider palette of sound where casual nods to computers and sci-fi can be found in both the music and the titles of the eight pieces on offer. While the pointers have long been in place with Zenial’s work, it’s clear that he has come a long way with his music since he started out over two decades ago. The tracks here work as a whole and appear conceptual in nature, meaning that Foil Punk truly commands being listened to in one sitting in its entirety and that each and every return to it in this manner ultimately feels more satisfying. The little checks to where this music has come from might well be easily determined but the approach is one he’s made his own as anything sounding perhaps too familiar is carefully hammered into new shapes. The sixth piece, ‘Upgrade’, is the highlight for me and something I believe makes splendid use of the Chat GPT 4 noted in the credits. It’s in this firm embrace of the new with the old that Zenial excels, once again underlining the fact this album is his best work as an electronic soundsmith yet.