Allemansrätten - Verklighetens Folk [CS / Digital]

Indisputable détournement. In Swedish.   

- Cassette & digital, 2010, Åderlåtning Produktion -

Download @ 320kbps

- Verklighetens Folk -

Ett söndrigt hörselspel om den största fasan

"De ska fredas från insyn och alternativ. I lugn och ro ska de träla, avla och bjudas bildning via Aftonbladet och melodiradion. En fantasiberövad limbotillvaro i förvirring och dryckenskap, befolkad av småaktigt rättrådiga pysslingar vilka när sina nervösa förhoppningar om renovering, högkonjunktur och våld. 

Offentligt spacklas lorten över och skönmålas av de småpåvar som lever av pöbelkonformismens avskräde. Men hur manifesterar sig egentligen Sveriges klasslösa, allomfattande och uppgivna allmogementalitet? Vad ljuder och bänder i det kollektiva psykets statiska ödeland?

Följ med då vi öppnar dörren till post-folkhemmet och lyssnar till en annan klang från Verklighetens folk. 

För ytterligare inblickar, läs 'Lyssna, Lille man' av Wilhelm Reich (ISBN 9173621056) eller slå på Sveriges Radio P1 kl. 09.20 valfri vardag."

Various Artists - Ett Annat Göteborg [CS]

- Cassette, 2009, Utmarken [UTMARKEN#15] -

Download @ VBR 

The short presentation of Utmarken's showcase at the Geiger festival of 2009, stated that "Utmarken is a scene in Gothenburg, a collective of musicians, a gallery and a record- and cassette label. They release records in fast pace, and curate concerts with both local and international artists, several times each month." Quite a holistic approach, that is. And however dim, and essentially dark the more memorable parts of the catalogue might sound, consisting of some 40 cassettes spanning over 3 years, there's always a strong sense of manifold throughout Utmarken releases. 

Genre wise, "Ett Annat Göteborg" is nearly impossible to classify, and much of its strength lies precisely therein. The (at all times lo-fi) mixture of noise, noise rock, ambient noise, sludge, and at times even strangely well fitting, heavily distorted americana, etc., is probably best described as an aural décollage; a blend, ripped and torned, with more or less defined instances, frequently balancing on the verge of formalistic collapse. Hand on heart, however; as a compilation, it's far from a favourite. Listened to separately, a considerable amount of the tracks are quite boring, and the opening track, ironically enough entitled Utmarken, by Poppets, sets a rather naive tone with its pop punk-outlook. It gets better, though, as the record at large is so painstakingly diverse, to the point that each individual track loses intrinsic value. I don't know if this is meticulously planned, probably not, yet most of the tracks converge in an arousingly tension-filled exposé of Utmarken artists. Furthermore, as most of the tracks are quite short, generally 4-5 minutes in length, static moments rarely occur, giving way for rapidly changing dynamics.

Now, this in many ways true for Utmarken generally, as indicated before. Still, the mixed, and in some sense indecisive nature is much more obvious on a, if not coherent, at least somewhat  tangible compilation, rather than through the whole catalogue. So, even though it's far from a favourite among compilations, it might very well be one of my favourite samplers. Or perhaps "annual report" is more appropriate, since it was announced a year or so after the first Utmarken release.  

The 8th of August 2008, one day after Utmarken was officially announced on an internet forum, someone replied that s/he finally had a reason to visit Gothenburg. I couldn't agree more.

A1 Poppets – Utmarken

A2 Street Drinkers – Light Of The Day

A3 Haunted Trails – Heavy Metal

A4 Självhat – Förstörd

A5 Hills  – Place Full Of Stuff

A6 Beyond Woods – Untitled

A7 Den Stora Vilan – Elden

A8 Mag  – Time To Go

A9 White  – Kneel Before Me

B1 Ogdy – Impact

B2 Källarbarnen – Viljan

B3 The Black Bug – Razorface

B4 Tjuvjakt – Ensamheten

B5 Abol Houl – Cell Whispers

B6 Sirin – Nekat Rum

B7 Smycken – Mountain Home

B8 GBG Rovente – En Polismans Liv

B9 Wooden Ashes – Femman

B10 Fantasy Sex – Waves Of Skin

Altar Of Flies / Sewer Election - Split [12'']

- 12'', 2008, Release The Bats Records [RTB#31] - 

Download @ VBR 

Description from Release The Bats:

"Two of the best acts currently dwelling in the depths of the Swedish underground scene. Sewer Election [Dan Johansson from Ättestupa and Källarbarnen etc.] should be well-known by now, previous releases includes a split 12" with Incapacitants, cds on Troniks and Chondritic Sound and the amazing Killing-tapes. Altar of Flies [Mattias Gustafsson from Cryme] has created quite a buzz over the last year with a huge amount of very limited tape/cd-r releases. On this split LP, Sewer Election contributes with the nasty Rotten Corpse. A crude and disgusting piece. Monotonous, freezing coldness. Altar of Flies continues with his dark and eerie forest rumblings. Buried claustrophobic lo-fi insanity straight from hell. Heavy outbursts of feedback. Could've been outtakes from an old Dario Argento soundtrack. Mean-spirited ugliness from both bands."

*   *   *

Dynamical, yet straightforward - largely due to the A-side, and the contributions from Altar of Flies. Sudden bursts of screeching metals entwined with droning, broodingly ritualistic segments, very much reminiscent of Anna Gardeck's musical aesthetics on Bondage Woman makes this one of my favourite releases by Altar of Flies up to this day, and The Sounds of Mental Illness one of his best, most disturbing tracks. Apropos the atmosphere; in an interview in swedish, Gustafsson mentions being especially pleased with another production in the same vein as with the tracks on this particular split, namely Axis II (from Sacred Trails) as it "feels very filmic and threatening in an uncomforting [...] manner" - a description which suits the majority of Altar of Flies' oeuvre, and greatly emphasized in the present form.

 
Sewer Election's contribution Rotten Corpse feels less interesting, lacking the edge and harshness of his previous releases, such as "Sex / Death" or "The Killing Sessions" (together with Treriksröset). It's altogether a decent track, "crude and disgusting" at all times, but (inevitably) compared to the A-side, it appears rather spiritless and at times even anticlimactic. 

A1 Altar Of Flies - Hiding In The Shadows

A2 Altar Of Flies - The Sounds Of Mental Illness

B1 Sewer Election - Rotten Corpse

See Also

Altar of Flies @ Tumblr
Altar of Flies @ Soundcloud

Sewer Election @ Sewerelection.se

Sewer Election @ Myspace 

Trepaneringsritualen - Septentrional [CS]

- Second Merseburg Charm -

Sose benrenki, sose bluotrenki, 

sose lidirenki:

Ben zi bena, bluot si bluoda,

lid zi geliden, sose gelimida sin

[Like bone-sprain, so blood-sprain,

so joint-sprain:

Bone to bone, blood to blood,

joints to joints, so may they be glued]

- Cassette, 2010, Hanson Records [HN217] -

Download @ 320kbps 

Description from Hanson Records:
"Six tracks of of industrial rituals from this mysterious Swedish outfit. Thundering minimal rhythms and dark electronics surround heavily effected voices reciting things we really probably shouldn't be hearing. Seriously disturbing music that should be listened to with caution."

A1 Askr Ok Embla (Frêne Et Orme)

A2 Den Blodtunga Jorden

A3 Etern

B1 Maran

B2 Vite Krist (Trälars Konung)

B3 Adils, Aun Ok Egil

Release the Bats on Trepaneringsritualen:

"Trepaneringsritualen [Thomas Ekelund from Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, Teeth, IRNI etc.] explores themes of religion, magick and the occult realms of consciousness, taking its musical cues from the CMI/Tesco school of ritual ambient & death industrial. Rhythmic and seething at times, and oozing forward with a creeping sense of desolation, Trepaneringsritualen conjures forth bleak but mesmerizing visions of the end-times.

Active since 2008, T × R × P have racked up a fair amount of cassette releases on renowned labels such as Hanson, Small Doses and Harsh Head Rituals, with 2012 seeing the first vinyl appearance in the form of »Deathward, To The Womb« 10" on RTB Records."

See also:

Beläten @ Soundcloud

T x R x P @ Soundcloud 

LIKE AN OCCULT JAN FRIDEGÅRD ON TAPE. 

Hatred of Capitalism: A Semiotext(e) Reader

Hatred of Capitalism
A Semiotext(e) Reader
Edited by Chris Kraus and Sylvère Lotringer

Compiled in 2001 to commemorate the passing of an era, Hatred of Capitalism brings together highlights of Semiotext(e)'s most beloved and prescient works. Semiotext(e)'s three-decade history mirrors the history of American thought. Founded by French theorist and critic Sylvere Lotringer as a scholarly journal in 1974, Semiotext(e) quickly took on the mission of melding French theory with the American art world and punk underground. Its Foreign Agents, Native Agents, Active Agents and Double Agents imprints have brought together thinkers and writers as diverse as Gilles Deleuze, Assata Shakur, Bob Flanagan, Paul Virillio, Kate Millet, Jean Baudrillard, Michelle Tea, William S. Burroughs, Eileen Myles, Ulrike Meinhof, and Fanny Howe. In Hatred of Capitalism, editors Kraus and Lotringer bring these people together in the same volume for the first time.

About the Editors

Chris Kraus is the author of Video Green: Los Angeles Art and the Triumph of Nothingness and the novels Aliens and Anorexia, I Love Dick, and Torpor. The 2007 recipient of the Frank Mather Award in Art Criticism and a 2010 Warhol Foundation Arts Writer’s grant, she has taught art writing in graduate programs at University of California, Irvine, Art Center College, San Francisco Art Institute, and European Graduate School.

Sylvère Lotringer, general editor of Semiotext(e), lives in New York and Baja, California. He is the author of Overexposed: Perverting Perversions (Semiotext(e), 2007).

[DOWNLOAD]

On Semiotext(e)

"Best known for its introduction of French theory to American readers, Semiotext(e) has been one of America’s most influential independent presses since its inception more than three decades ago. Publishing works of theory, fiction, madness, economics, satire, sexuality, science fiction, activism and confession, Semiotext(e’)s highly curated list has famously melded high and low forms of cultural expression into a nuanced and polemical vision of the present.

'Semiotext(e) is an ever-evolving distributor of cutting edge theory and avant-garde literature that holds true to its “punk rock” way of never becoming the status quo… a consistently unpredictable distributor of the most daring thoughts to hit and rise from American shores.'

—Karissa Lang

'Semiotext(e) invented a new plateau of thought which is dizzyingly complex and deeply subjective… at once responsible to the past and bravely forward looking.'

—Avital Ronell

Semiotext(e) authors include Jean Baudrillard, William S. Burroughs, Paul Virilio, Catherine Breillat, The Invisible Committee, Eileen Myles, Mark von Schlegell, David Wojnarowicz, Abdellah Taïa, Guy Hocquenghem, Félix Guattari, Michelle Tea, Penny Arcade, The Bernadette Corporation, Pierre Clastres, Guy Debord, Michelle Bernstein, Dhoruba Bin Wahid, Christian Marazzi, and Peter Sloterdjik. An anthology, Hatred of Capitalism, was published in 2001 to mark Semiotext(e)’s move to The MIT Press as its distributor.

Recent projects include the 'Interventions' series, which began in 2009 with The Coming Insurrection, and 'Animal Shelter' a bi-annual journal.

Semiotext(e) is coedited by Sylvère Lotringer, Chris Kraus, and Hedi El Kholti.

'Semiotext(e) has for a generation been the leading edge of the most incendiary and exciting intellectual revolution in the West.'

—Rick Moody"

From Semiotexte.com