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Jimmy Behan - In The Sudden Distance - 02-Sep-08 09:11 PM
A short but sweet sample of what Behan has to offer; this is the first I've heard of him. While the material, at times, appears to lack cohesion as a collection of tracks, this doesn't change the fact that each individual track is quite good. The real downside is that there's so little of it. Absolutely love it and hope to hear more from Behan in future. Also, for a release that is essentially free, it's nice to see Zymogen provide some beautiful cover art (as they do for their entire catalog). As well, we're given an option between high quality MP3 (320 I think) or even higher quality FLAC files - attention is well paid to their audience. Maybe not everybody knows what FLAC is (or even MP3) but for those that do, it's a welcome gift.

Various - Xcreteria Volume One - 26-Oct-07 09:16 PM
I love this album mostly for Tropism's "Live At Nekropolis". Lots of people involved with this compilation knew about or visited the Nekropolis nights at the X-Club in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I did. It was a mix of noise industrial in the early parts of the evening and EBM for the remainder of the night, which sometimes rubbed the more experimental members of the crowd the wrong way. To my knowledge, Tropism never actually played at Nekropolis. If I'm guessing correctly, it's a big "fuck you" to the entire Nekropolis crowd. Hillarious stuff, or at least I thought so.

Lots of rare stuff here and the compilation perfectly captures what was happening in the mid 90s during the very productive industrial tape scene of Southern Ontario, Canada.

Infant Cycle, The - 4 AM Wallpaper (A Memorate) - 26-Oct-07 09:41 AM
Really good stuff from DeJong. You can see a clear separation between the older material (ie. Froth) and this. While the older material is still fairly synth influenced, this material really shows DeJong moving into a far more experimental area. He's becoming more daring with his approach to sound and while he's using the synth, it's not in a traditional manner. This time it's a cog in a larger machine, rather that elements being built around the synth. Softer, quiet, and far more refined. You can see a much more intelligent threat being spun here.

Infant Cycle, The - Froth - 26-Oct-07 09:37 AM
This is early stuff from Jim DeJong but a great window into two things. First, it's Jim DeJong leaving Mind Skelpture, which was always for the best (sorry, but it's true). Second, it's part of that initial phase an artist goes though. Make no mistake, I've always thought it was good stuff, but these days you can really see the difference between the current Infant Cycle releases and the early post-industrial material.

Infant Cycle, The - 26-Oct-07 09:33 AM
The Infant Cycle are one of the finest exports Canada has to offer. It is my very strong belief that the work of Jim DeJong is criminally undervalued, both inside and out of Canada. Why this happens is subject to any number of theories but it doesn't change the fact that it's wrong. When you listen to DeJong's work, it is quite clear that he is somebody that loves sound and possibly even the sound of sound, if that makes sense. It does to me at least, because when I listen to his music (and the music of Andrew McKenzie as well), I get a clear connection between what they do and what I do, musically. While the motives or meanings behind the work of DeJong (and McKenzie) are often not clear to the listener, that connection between the listener and the musician is somewhat irrelevant under these circumstances. For me, when I listen to this music, I can only think of two things. First, DeJong has a great respect for sound and playing within sound, much like a toddler playing wildly within a sandbox full of shovels and pails. Second, I enjoy the experience of listening to it. That's what really keeps you coming back to something over and over, isn't it? I may not be able to technically explain exactly why I like it, but it is what it is. I've yet to hear something from DeJong that didn't put a smile on my face or even knock my socks off, whether it be drones, noise, complicated structures or pure dissonance. In my experience, you can't really go wrong with The Infant Cycle. There isn't a bad release in the entire catalog.