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Name: Kjetil Hanssen
Home Page: www.ambolthue.com
Member Since: Apr 05, 2006
Rank: 7,223
Average Vote Received: Correct (4.07, 817 votes)
  last 10 days: Correct (4.00, 14 votes)
Rated 2852 releases, average: 4.48
Location: Oslo, Norway
Profile: Moderator in v.3
Seller Rating: 100.0% positive (34 ratings)

Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (54 ratings)

Wjiik's groups (2)

Reviews & Discussion:

It was way more than I could afford. Luckily the $ was cheap then, but I bet I would've saved around $150 or more if I'd bought it now.
Ok, what is this? First of all we have the format, which is excellent in its way of being very little accessible. First of all we have the "problem" that most people can't even get the file out no more as floppy-drives are no longer the most common thing on the modern computer. Another problem is that you can't get very much of either playtime or quality into one as it can only store 1/1000 to 1/120000 of what most MP3-players can hold today (and guess what takes up more space of the floppy disc and a common MP3-player?). It's a pain for most people, but for format fanatics, like myself, this is pure gold. And when it comes to the music… The last time I heard this duo on a floppy-disc it was something strange which almost sounded like a speed-up version of a concert or something. This time it's a static noise-drone with some people talking over. Sounds like a recording of someone talking during a very static sound check where the mic is being moved around. It's annoyingly hard to get into, but when you've heard it once you have to take a few more listens to see if you can get more out of it. It's another great floppy from the duo! Keep 'em coming.
I found it hard to try writing a single review of the whole box without trying to get into the depth of each disc, so I decided to write a little on each disc in this box before I came to a conclusion. I'm sorry to say that discogs does not allow you to use more than 1,000 words in a review, so I decided to jump straight to the conclusion here, but for those interested in reading about every individual disc, do a simple google search for "ambolthue reviews" to get the whole thing.

Conclusion:
This box-set has shitloads of variation. Mainly noise, but touching into other genres as well. Distortion and purity goes hand in hand on these 30 discs. It's strange to say it, but it's not too much music put into one box. It's just the right amount actually.
If you want to get into noise and don't know where to start, and you're ready to put some money into a good investment, buy this box. It's a good introduction to the harsh noise scene and you'll get to know why Japanese noise has become the king amongst noise-nations, and of course, why Hijokaidan has become the "king of noise"! High-pitch and low-pitch, complicated and simple, trashy and beautiful, you'll get it all! It's inspiring, and sometimes just makes you want to get up and noise along with the band. I even managed to enjoy some discs at a low volume (wouldn't like to wake up the neighbours at 4AM) which always is a quality-proof in noise records. A very physical release, both in sounds and presentation. Comes in a very good looking box with a booklet stuffed with pictures and a very interesting story of the band written by the man himself, Jojo Hiroshige. I can't say enough good things about it, so I just stop here. My hat goes off for the one and only… Hijokaidan.
This is the forth release in Maja S. K. Ratkje and Lasse Marhaug's "Music For"-collaborative series. According to Pica Disc's website, this disc is "meant to inspire the listeners to spend more time in their garden taking care of their plants". Well I'm not sure that is what I felt when I listened to this disc? I felt more tired and confused (that might have something to do with my 24 hours of no sleep), but other than that, I felt that this caught my attention more than any of the other noise records I've put on lately. Not sure what it was, but I enjoyed it a whole lot! It's got loops, cut-up noises, both familiar and unfamiliar sound sources, humour (in some wierd sence) and a great variety in frequencies. It's easy to recognize both Maja and Lasse's trade-mark sounds, but this comes out as a quite different than anything else I've heard from both of these artists before.
So you can eigher sit down in your small city apartment and let the music blend in amongst the street noises, or you can go to the countryside, plant some flowers and play this record to them. Plants need music, don't they?
Classic format, strange music. This is some of the strangest work I've heard from the fantastic duo, Bjerga/Iversen. It's only a little over 1 minute which made me think I was gonna get a short drone/ambient-piece, but this seems to be a speed-up of a longer track or something which makes it hard to get a hold of. It's also short on the low frequency front which I think would be better for a longer track. But it's definitively interesting, as this is one of the most on the side releases from this hyper-productive duo.
What's more annoying is that this doesn't work. First of all, I guess as a neighbour I wouldn't "calm down" exactly by having someone playing this next door. Neighter would I be annoyed if not the neighbour played this one all the way through for more than 6 times. It's only 17 minutes, and all the samples are way too short. And it's mastered quite low which means you have to turn your stereo to the max to even get it to a level where the neighbours would hear you. I like some of the samples as stand alone pieces of enjoyable listening, but all together a way too short record which seems to come with ear plugs for now reason. This is more like a field recording compilation, and if you listen to it in that sence this is a good and variated one. But as mentioned way too many times, it's way too short:)
I have no idea when this artist started making music, but I guess it's been for a while. This debut-album is at least a very good one, and I hope to hear more from Geir Sande in the future. This is a quite droney record and it's one of the best in this genre that I've heard this year. It's a good variation of bass and high-pitch sounds here, and it's also interesting all the way trough. 4 long tracks, each developing slowly so you'll get to enjoy each parts but not so long that you'll get bored. Highly recommanded to anyone interested in droney noise-ambient.
Jazkamer - Art Breaker Jun 02, 2008
This album has really got the sound of those old school noise core records. It's dirty, intense and not too long. I've heard a lot of music of those old 80's and 90's noise core records which is pretty much sounding like this, but Jazkamer has chosen a good tracklist for this album. 17 minutes of pure noise core, and what do you know. Once again Jazkamer seems to be creating another fantastic record doing something new. I love it, but it's enough for today.
This compilation contains over 50 tracks from the TV series "The Simpsons". As I love the series and also a lot of the music from the show, and I've got the two previous official compilations with music from the series, I looked forward to this. But it was a lot I missed when listening trough this. Many of the short corky tracks from the later seasons of the series was not to be found on this record. It's good, but not that interesting really. Some tracks are better than others, but all together a quite boring record to play. Reccomanded, but only for the hard core simpsons fans.
I have no idea if this is supposed to be played at 33rpm or 45, so I tried listening to it on both speeds. It's simply fantastic, and what struck me was the B-side from Dschim K. Sandbleistift. Simply amazing how the high freq. feedback sounds on this track makes it feel like you're going to get a painful headache as soon as the track's done, but it's in a good way! I recommend playing this at 33 to get more out of it. It's equally good on both 45 and 33, but you get longer playing time, playing it at 33rpm. Aube also amazes me on this record. I've heard a lot from him, but so far only ambient sounds. Yeah, this is also ambient, but with a lot more elements that makes it even better! It's got seriously a whole bunch of interesting sounds, and also on this side I'd say it's better to play it at 33. It brings out more lower frequencies, but why not play it at both speeds and find out what you like the best yourself!? This is the one of the best records I've heard so far this year!!!

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