last updated: 2008-12-01

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reviews.pdf:

Ginger Leigh - Merchant of Death CD

Seemingly a 'best of' selection, this 71-minute set from the prolific composer once again infuses some offbeat sounds into a generally harsh and unforgiving musical climate. Beginning with the dour industrialisms and martial drums of the title track (fans of 'In Slaughter Natives' or 'Cold Meat Industry' take note), the set heads into the wild, feral screams and even elegant classical / Middle Eastern vibes of 'The Charcoal Man'. Confused yet? Good. Predictability is overrated! Ginger Leigh has been producing his own off-kilter melding of disparate elements for some years, and his unusual pairings of frivolous surf / go-go music ('This is Ginger Leigh', 'Get It Right!'), harsh, noise-laced industrial, and exotic ethnic theatricalities ('Love Letters', the Joujouka-ish 'Black Rain') - and often in the same song - is uniquely his own. And check out the virulent Sabbath-trib, 'al-Ironman', that closes this disc out. It's huge and mean and threatening in such a marvelous way. 'Merchant Of Death' is a compelling selection of avant-experimental-electronic-noise-pop that deserves far more attention. Get this weird and eccentric mix for only 6 bux through his website...and pick up some free mp3s while you're there. -Todd Zachritz

Ginger Leigh - Merchant of Death (Masuno, www.gingerleigh.com)

A breathtaking listening experience sure to delight the more intrepid (and/or stoned) amongst you. Nineteen tracks of highly imaginative textural contrasting between harvested recordings and instrumentation aimed at sculpted noise and psychic displacement. Very hooky and pop friendly after a fashion with random shrieks, Middle Eastern sampling and aural hoodoo latching into grooves of loopery slippery navigation. In the time space continuum of psychedelic music this nestles somewhere between Sun City Girls’ Torch of the Mystics and George Harrison’s Wonderwall soundtrack. Not a false or nonhallucinatory moment amongst the seventy one minutes of pure chewing satisfaction. –George Parsons

Ginger Leigh - MERCHANT OF DEATH (CDR, private)

The belief in a just world is something I gave up on a long time ago. Music industry, to limit my rant a bit, is based upon lies and corruption (just finished Simon Napier-Bell autobiography of a few years back), and always seem to promote the wrong people. Why the hell am I reviewing yet another privately released CDR by Ginger Leigh and why the hell is this not on Cold Meat Industry, Staalplaat, Cold Spring or Old Europa Cafe, to mention four labels that would suit him well? If you can release In Slaughter Natives why not the sampled mayheswainsm of Leigh? His industrial beating, orchestral interludes, ethnic percussion, hip hop rhythms, his excellent use of vocal snippets, his dark sense of humor. Perhaps it’s that latter thing that bothers the music industry. If 'humor' is not direct in your face, but hidden in the music, through weird samples, odd quotes and not a joke act, then they are not there. To even bother to think what it is, is too much to ask. Oh well, like I said, there is no just world. Ginger Leigh, however great I think his music, will no doubt be bound to unleash his crazy, eclectic music on privately released CDRs, reaching only for those in the know. What a pity and what a shame. Another pearl for swains. (FdW) Address: http://www.gingerleigh.com

Ginger Leigh * Merchant of Death (cd 2008 masuno)
Category: experimental, noise

Totally unexpected a new album of Ginger Leigh fell in my mailbox yesterday. “Merchant of Death” is another typical Ginger Leigh album. Sound collages with strange samples, weird rhythms and this time more vocals than we are used to. Swinging ‘noise ‘n’ roll’ (even though this new album is again not as noisy as the earlier albums) with jungle sounds, Middle Eastern flutes, etc. making a sound that I still have not heard anywhere else. In spite of the strangeness, I find Ginger Leigh listenable and very enjoyable. Nowadays you can also have a try before you buy, since the website has free downloads and Ginger Leigh got a MySpace, see below.

Links: Ginger Leigh website Ginger Leigh on MySpace
-4-

содержание:
1 — Al-Ironman [ 6:01 ]
2 — Heaven's Eye [ 3:33 ]
3 — Get It Right! [ 5:44 ]
4 — I'd Rather Want To See [ 4:43 ]
5 — Bright Lights [ 2:33 ]
6 — The Cripple And The Mime [ 4:01 ]
7 — The Fisherman's Hook [ 4:32 ]
8 — Walk With Me [ 4:37 ]
9 — The Day The Birds Stopped Singing [ 1:26 ]
10 — Uzbek77 [ 3:09 ]
11 — без названия [ 5:17 ]
12 — без названия [ 2:17 ]
13 — без названия [ 2:19 ]
14 — без названия [ 1:05 ]
15 — без названия [ 3:37 ]
16 — без названия [ 5:47 ]
17 — без названия [ 4:05 ]

конец.

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations (self-released)

Ginger Leigh catalogue enriches itself of yet another chapter of unique mysterious industrialism crossing over Orientalism and pure self-declared madness. There's nothing linear in GL's sonic world and this latest release simply confirms this. And The Hallucinations is an aptly descriptive title for this new collection of visionary tracks, each bringing an element of that kind of weirdness that must have tapped the back of the minds of us all a few times during our lives, and that GL seem to persevere in committing to disc at regular intervals since no-one else of us finds the courage to. There's a way to further avant-gardism in this record and the overall atmosphere is of sojourn at a mental institution after all, save for the obligatory oriental references that work wonders to relieve the otherwise dooming serenades of mental apocalypse that find their way in to this work. Ginger gives up naming tracks at the ten mark, past which, he brands the rest "and more voices in my head...". Some of the seven spillover tracks were actually part of Sparrow Wings, so there's a channel of conduit there... Perhaps one day we'll unveil the mystery behind Ginger Leigh, but for the time being I'm quite happy with being presented with works of industrial avant-garde that transcend the establishment schemes and take up on a completely unconventional approach with the result of delighting my ears and soul. www.gingerleigh.com –Gianfri

LEONARDO / THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE ARTS, SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY Sept. 2008 (www) United Kingdom

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations "s/t" CDR

Ginger Leigh would be a great porn name, a reference to both the good and evil sides of the industry. It recalls Ginger Lynn, Queen of Eighties kink and a woman who was a legend in my pre-teen scrambled porn watching years. In those youthful days seeing a Ginger Lynn flick was like spotting a Yeti, an awe-inspiring happening that you stayed up late for and logged many hours waiting to happen. She retired and dated Charlie Sheen (and Martin Sheen as well, rumor has it) and actually had a semi-legitimate acting career throughout the Nineties. And in a character defining moment, she pulled a stand-up move by refusing to testify against the industry in the Traci Lords case. She was no fucking rat, even if it meant incurring the wrath of the IRS as a repercussion. She returned to porn in the late Nineties, doing some great MILF work and currently hosts a Sirius Radio program alongside the lovely Christy Canyon. Ginger Lynn = a woman who made porn work for her. It also brings to mind the tragic Megan Leigh, she of latter day Deep Throat and Behind the Green Door installment fame, who tragically took her own life in another of porn's often horrible moments. A history of drug abuse, family rejection and dysfunctional relationships supposedly led to the single bullet that she fired into her mouth, a twenty-six year old casualty of the sex industry. The porn game is tricky, some starlets can manage their lives well enough to make it through and some are all too human and succumb to its dark side. I have nothing but respect for these ladies and wish them all well and thank them for all they've done for us fans.(RK) (this disc really sucked it)

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations CDr

I had no idea what to expect from this - maybe an 80's porn star turned singer? Despite the sound of the name, Ginger appears to be a burly, bearded guy from California. The confusion only increased on hearing the opening number 'al-Ironman', a giant, cavernous, sludgy mess, sounding like a Skullflower pisstake on the opening of the Sabbath classic, with Arabic flourishes (hence the title). The rest of the disc is all over the place, taking in minimal electronic droning, 60's garage psychedelia, Indian ragas, Bollywood pop music, Appalachian folk, bluegrass, noise, lounge sounds, Arabic folk, Persian classical music and Muslimgauze-esque percussion with and without heavy distortion, with much occuring simultaneously. This may sound like a recipe for disaster, but everything flows together fluidly and the pieces are very concise and quite infectiously catchy at times. There's an evident fixation on the mid-East and South Asia that ties all of these disparate elements together. What it all means is unclear - the titles don't give anything away (in fact, only 10 of the 17 tracks on the disc have titles at all). There's a rough-around-the-edges quality that gives this music a home-made feel, which ends up working very much in its favour. A baffling but highly entertaining listen. -J. Hamilton

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations cdr (MASUNO)

Wrzucam płytkę do odtwarzacza, pierwszy utwór. Skąd ja to znam? Rzut oka na okładkę i wszystko jasne, toż to przeróbka genialnego Black Sabbath! Wstęp zaczyna się przeciągać, dochodzą jakieś głosy, gitara buczy nieubłaganie, a perkusja wystukuje hipnotyczny rytm przez następne sześć minut. Stop. Kolejny utwór brzmi jak arabska modlitwa w towarzystwie brzęczącego komara. Wbrew pozorom bardzo poruszający utwór który powili się wycisza i... I koniec tej nostalgii, panie i panowie, prosimy na parkiet! Znajomy rockowy motyw na gitarze sprawia że nogi same rwą się do tańca. Nagle uderza w nas ściana szumu z której wyłania się indyjska melodia przepuszczona przez noisowo-powerelectronics'owy filtr. Dalej mamy gitarę akustyczną, melodyjki z cyrku, sporo hałasu, rockowy odjazd a'la Beatelsi na halunach i wszystko inne co przyjdzie wam do głowy, a nawet parę rzeczy na które nigdy byście nie wpadli, a to wszystko w bliskowschodnich klimatach. Tu ciągle coś się dzieje w totalnie nieprzewidywalny sposób. Sam Nostradamus słuchając tej płyty nie odgadłby co za chwilę wypluje głośnik.
Znacie takie rzeczy jak Novy Svet, AIT, Mushroom’s Patience? Ginger Leigh to to samo tylko bardziej. Duuużo bardziej.

note : 8.5 / 10
author : hm

NEO-ZINE 2008-02-15 (www) Ebensburg, PA, USA

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations

One of the odd things among many odd things about this CD is the fact that there are seventeen tracks listed when I put it in the player but only 10 actually named on the cover and no other information regarding those extra tracks. The cover itself is an odd affair too; no inlay cards of any description, just a transparent jewel-case with the album name, track titles and other information printed in silver on the back (making it extremely hard to read). It’s also fair to say that it’s an odd mix of music and a strange collision of cultures, comprising as it does looped samples of western music and noise with samples of Arabic and other Eastern melodies and instrumentation, occasionally being interrupted by injections of pure abrasion – for all I know it could be that it’s intended as a statement on the current geo-political climate pertaining to the 21st century. Having said that though there’s no clue as to the artist’s intentions or stance that can be readily gleaned from the track titles so one can effectively read from it whatever one wishes – it could be saying that the two hemispheres of East and West will never meet in harmony, but it could also be saying that despite regional and national differences we are now truly a global culture or it could just be saying absolutely nothing at all. This is as inscrutable as it comes.

In my research on Ginger Leigh I found precious little to go on, however I did come across a comparison between his music and that of the late Bryn Jones of Muslimgauze – I would agree up to a point, but this is a lot rawer and a great deal less accomplished and the name check can only made because of the similar preoccupations with, and use of, oriental music and rhythms. Muslimgauze had an overt political stance which was more about making us aware of the plight of the Palestinians and the music was an integrative part of that mission – Ginger Leigh’s has no such purpose behind it and is considerably less holistic, less integrated and more piecemeal. That could be at the root of why I didn’t quite click with this music – there doesn’t seem to be a purpose binding this into a whole. Certainly there’s no denying he has a certain amount of technical skill when it comes to splicing everything together and has a feel for what works where, but even so I felt that it didn’t quite truly hang together.

There are some odd combinations here – to give you an example take track one, ’al-Ironman’, as a typical instance; it scrunches together a sample of a riff from the well-known track of the same name by Black Sabbath with some eastern wailing and noise careening into it – but altogether it sounds like a wave crashing impotently against a solid defensive wall to no particular purpose. That I think is the essential difference between Muslimgauze, Ginger Leigh and why one works and the other doesn’t quite do so – the former immersed himself in the culture and music of the Palestinians, so much so that it became a part of his very being; Leigh feels like an interloper and an outsider trying to look in on a culture he doesn’t understand (and to be quite frank many of us join him in not understanding it). If the point he’s trying to make is that the two cultures cannot exist side-by-side then he has succeeded to a certain extent; if that’s not what he’s attempting to communicate to us then he most definitely hasn’t.

It’s not all bad though; track two, ‘Heaven’s Eye’, with its drone, voice and oriental string sample, had shivers racing up and down my spine – a truly beautiful and atmospheric piece. ‘I’d Rather Want to See’ is a mesmerizing noise, sitar and tabla ensemble that works on so many different levels – musically, technically and just in terms of sheer stompability, although it could have done without the noise attack towards the end; otherwise it’s a nearly perfect track.

This was definitely a hit and miss affair – for me mostly miss. With the exception of the two tracks highlighted I shan’t be revisiting this anytime soon.

Reviewed by Simon Marshall-Jones 

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations CD - Autoproduzione, 2007
Il nome di Ginger Leigh è del tutto nuovo alle mie orecchie, malgrado questo sia il suo ottavo lavoro che, come i precedenti, credo sia autoprodotto: il promo in mio possesso è arrivato corredato di una copertina trasparente con stampati i titoli dei brani (nemmeno di tutti, a dire il vero: ne vengono indicati solo dieci sui diciassette presenti) e privo di notizie aggiuntive. Descrivere la musica contenuta nel dischetto non è assolutamente opera semplice, data la sua notevolissima varietà; l'incipit, intitolato "al-Ironman" è affidato al riff di "Ironman" dei Black Sabbath su cui Ginger Leigh aggiunge distorsioni di vario genere; segue "Heaven's Eye", una sorta di breve raga psichedelico il cui sfondo può, molto vagamente, ricordare l'idea alla base di "Where the long shadows fall" dei Current 93. Segue "Get it right!", basato su un una chitarra dal suono funky su cui si stratificano apparenti field recordings e voci campionate. "I'd rather want to see" si spinge decisamente più verso oriente, con le tablas e il sitar accompagnati da una chitarra elettrica distorta e suoni sintetizzati. In "bright lights" fa la sua comparsa il country che scompare dietro un muro di suono distorto, seguito dal carosello (a sua volta destinato a sparire in un'esplosione seguita da suoni non ben definiti) che introduce "The cripple and the mime". L'inizio di "the fisherman's hook" potrebbe essere un outtake della colonna sonora di Twin Peaks che, ancora una volta, scompare sotto un'eruzione vulcanica per poi ricomparire nel finale. In "walk with me" ci si avvicina ai territori musicali messicani, "The day the birds stopped singing" rappresenta un intermezzo più ritmato e "Uzbek77" chiude i dieci brani dotati di titolo con un riferimento alla musica dell'area a cavallo tra Europa e Asia. Direi che posso fermarmi qui: si sarà capito che il dischetto in oggetto ha dalla sua un'indubbia originalità, legata, però, più alla completa mancanza di una "linea" che alla capacità compositive dell'autore. Mi riesce veramente difficile dare una valutazione d'insieme, sia perché il suono nel complesso è piuttosto lontano dai miei ascolti usuali sia, soprattutto, perché è apparentemente privo di qualsiasi filo logico: probabilmente molti potrebbero trovare qualche brano interessante tra quelli qui proposti, difficilmente si troverà qualcuno a cui piacciono tutti. Un disco, per me, piuttosto indigesto. Web: http://www.gingerleigh.com/. (Ankh)

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations Masuno 2007
Este es el último disco del enigmático músico norteamericano Ginger Leigh quien posee una discografía de ocho discos. Su estilo es tan variado: ruidismo, psicodelia, música lounge y exótica, con ribetes orientales y sampleo a una amalgama de ruidos de animales, de extractos de música de películas y en definitiva Leigh nos deja envueltos en su mundo extraño, tan propio de un músico del underground.
Se habría que mencionar alguna influencia, podrían ser innumerables y que seguramente sea así, sin embargo quiero situarlo en el ecléctico y oscuro mundo de Nurse With Wound y el esquizofrénico Merzbow.
Gran habilidad con el sampler tiene Leigh, pues mezcla diversos sonidos que reúne con magistral sentido, también las percusiones con influencias de la cultura oriental.
Apabullante y repetitivas son las guitarras de black metal/doom en “al-Ironman” que da comienzo a este CD de 17 temas. “Heaven’s Eye” es un ambient/ritual que se contrasta con el funky “Get it Right”. Las sitaras y las tablas de corte hindú son las notas melódicas que se mezclan con una ruidosa y filosa guitarra en el excelente tema “I’d Rather Want to See”. El sampler de un organillero que insinúa un ambiente lúdico es interrumpido abruptamente por una nota repetitiva y un espeluznante y estruendoso ruido. Música lounge nos trae “The Fisherman’s Hook” junto a unos cantos de pájaros selváticos. “Walk with Me” es una hermosa canción del oriente. Luego seguimos inmersos en el mundo ecléctico de Leigh en el que recoge influencias tan ricas y diversas.
Escuchar la música de Leigh es una experiencia auditiva que ayuda a entender la actual diversidad cultural
www.gingerleigh.com

This is the latest CD of enigmatic American musician Ginger Leigh who has a discography of eight albums. His style ranks a wide range: noise, psychedelia, exotic and lounge music, Eastern musical influences and sampling to an amalgam of animal noises, excerpts of music for films and definitely Leigh leaves us surrounded in his weird world, so proper of an underground musician.
It would be necessary to mention some influences, could be innumerable and that surely is thus, nevertheless I want to placed him in the eclectic and dark world of Nurse With Wound and Merzbow’s snatches of schizophrenia .
A great skill with sampler has Leigh since his blend of diverse sounds that reunite with skillful sense, also percussions have influences on the Eastern culture.
Crushed and repetitive black metal/doom guitars lines on ‘al-Ironman’ that starts this CD of 17 tracks. ‘Heaven's Eye’ is an ambient/ritual that’s in opposition to the funky ‘Get it Right’ song. Sitars and Indian tablas are the melodic notes and rhythm mixed with a noisy and edgy guitar of the remarkable track ‘I’d Rather Want to See’.
The sample of an organ grinder suggests a playful atmosphere and is interrupted steeply by a repetitive note and a horrifying and uproarious noise. Lounge music brings ‘The Fisherman's Hook’ alongside wild birds songs. ‘Walk with Me’ is a beautiful Eastern song. Soon we continue immersed in Leigh’s eclectic world that gathers so rich and diverse influences.
Listening Leigh’s music is an audition experience that helps to understand nowadays cultural diversity.
www.gingerleigh.com

Guillermo Escudero

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations (self released)

If you are looking for experimental then you got it with this very lengthy release by Ginger Leigh. Endless looped guitars and thin sounds that seem to be derived from some kind of minimal aesthetic and in good old industrial experimental tradition, samples of what one could only describe as random middle to far eastern people and instruments at times folk song cuts and sirens as well as tracks with leanings to neo-folk.

The strange meditative to funky turn the collection of songs takes reminds one of the hippie movement in the 70's with their drugs excesses and "way out" music fuelled by free love and LSD... groovy and psychedelic man...

I personally do not enjoy the release that much, though I would class it as an "interesting" way to make east meet west and as "mad" or "odd", which in itself is not a bad thing.

A bad thing though is that the name for the band was badly researched and therefore interferes with an Austin/Texas based rock singer of the same name.

-Snowwy

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:37 pm
Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations CDR
Self Released: http://www.gingerleigh.com/

Overall Rating: B+
Composition: B+
Sounds: B
Production Quality: B+
Concept: B+
Packaging: D

Here is a strange one, a simple spray painted CDR in a jewel case with a transparent tray card and no other information. I had no idea what to expect least of all a doom/sludge band which, based on the first track “al-Ironman” I thought these guys were. There was something wrong here though, the sound just seemed a little off, with more of an experimental edge, and I found out quickly when “Heaven's Eye” the following track kicked in that this material is actually quite different.

I've read that Ginger Leigh has previously been compared to Muslimgauze and if I had to compare this to anything I'd say it's pretty close. But there are differences, Ginger Leigh doesn't really have a “techno” feel at all. It's much more of a sample collage going on, albeit rhythmic and accessible, but it doesn't at all feel contrived or bland. In fact, the tracks have interesting things going, strange juxtapositions like in “The Cripple and the Mime” which features sitar drones in the first half, combined with subdued harsh noise blasts in the second.

There are a lot of different atmosphere's featured here, most of which are derived from samples of world music, Middle Eastern world music at that, but there are also moments, like the generator buzz overlaid with chill lounge music and monkey calls in “The Fisherman's Hook” that is suddenly broken by heavy power electronic styled drones. Very odd genre hopping here but it does form a unique sound and in the end doesn't come across as just a pinch of this and a dab of that, but what seems to be a window into the mysterious world of Ginger Leigh. Most definitely a perfect case of genius through insanity.

I really actually enjoy all these tracks in their own way, and there are a lot of them. At 60 minutes the album does feel a little long but 17 different tracks you get an astonishing variety of different atmospheres while not having one of them feel out of place. From the sounds of a 50's classic film, to psychedelic surf rock with accompanied with squealing electronics, I know it all sounds like a cluster fuck on paper but Ginger Leigh pulls it off flawlessly here.

Something new, different, and although probably the most sample-derivative music I've reviewed to date, it also manages to be some of the most original. A must-have for fans of sample collage and post-modernist freaks. -Egan Budd

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations
A heavy and well known guitar riff welcomes you in the first track of this Ginger Leigh recording and yes it is a sample of Black Sabbath’s ‘Ironman’. Pretty soon it gets distorted into an Arabic atmosphere. The track is therefore fittingly named ‘Al-Ironman’. And the Hallucinations breathes an ethnic atmosphere in the hypnotic noise soundscape mantras. Sometimes it reminds of Muslimgauze. Exotic and adventurous drones. Big Black style noise and all sorts of extraordinary sounds, such as theme songs from the 60’s invoke an almost filmic sphere. And the Hallucinations could as well be labeled a surrealistic soundtrack to a non-existing movie, with each track reflecting a different scene from that movie. This is material that should appeal to those who love the avant-garde industrial and soundtrack works on Stateart or Fin de Siecle Media. The ethnic sounds and rhythms naturally flow into each other and as a whole the noise music of Ginger Leigh works really wonderful. Ginger Leigh has produced a wonderful work that is very much recommendable. Labels watch this!

Band: Ginger Leigh (int)
Label: Own Management
Genre: ambient (ambient / soundscapes / ritual / drones)
Type: cd
Grade: 8
Review by: TekNoir
Website: http://www.gingerleigh.com

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations - (CDR, private)
With large intervals we are exposed to the music of Ginger Leigh from the USA (Vital Weekly 443 and 513), and here is a new one. Absolutely not my type of music, and yet there is something about it, which I really like. The sampler is the core of the music of Ginger Leigh. In here all disappears and when it comes out, it's a dark and haunting tune, but always with a light touch and bit of humor. There is cheesy lounge music in there, or carnival like hummings, but Leigh always knows how to bend his stuff into more creepy alleys. Classical music, ethnic, bombast. All the previous elements are still there, but it seems also to me there is a sense of progression. It's not all dark and doom ringing the bell here, but it seems to be more worked out, more varied in approaches, and in general another damn fine CDR. Kitsch perhaps, and did I already say, absolutely not my thing, but that's the very thing I like about this. But I am not widely known for my correct taste. Yet, it's entirely unclear why Leigh hasn't found himself a proper CD label to bring out this into the open more. Record company bosses should take notice. (FdW)
Address: http://www.gingerleigh.com

Ginger Leigh and the Hallucinations - (CDR, private)
Ginger Leigh is from Artesia California and has been releasing strange CDs to much acclaim for quite awhile. ‘Walk Tall’ is badass, thumpy, modern, heavy bass, drum machine... ‘Artificial Limbs’ is department store music in Hell, bizarre noises, effects, buzzing droning... ‘In The Month Of March’ tinkling piano, chains a clanging, cheesey keyboard melody, what does it all mean? ‘My Only Son (Morning Song)’ unclassifiable music, drum marching swoops, banjo strumming, water running, heavy, ominous... caterwauling female vocals, is that Ginger Leigh? Sounds pretty great... ‘Love Letters’ like an Arizona bus stop on acid in the 1950's. ‘More Unquestionable Truths’ some crazy ass music, pretty cool.... ‘Sand’ more, intense craziness, how to describe this? drones, sampled vocals, but it all sounds fairly original, modern, sounds good/great! ‘Hole In My Heart’ effected out acoustic strumming along with twittering deep space drones, samples, they might be on to something here? ‘Red Balloon’ pre-recorded? male vocal, percussion, buzzed out guitar riff, more innovative than the usual fare, not trying to be weird just is! ‘Taxicab Ride Through The City’ a lot of these songs have an Indian, Middle Eastern vibe to them, this one definitely does, sounds like a porn theatre in New Dehli (do they exist?) ‘Waiting For The Apocalypse’ yes, it sounds like it... intense, air siren, and percussion with drone. ‘Push/Pull’ more of the same, intense weirdness that all sounds pretty great. It all sounds like great soundtrack music for movies that would be too good to actually be made! Monster music, more industrial than industrial music. ‘Photographs Of Agony’ more of the same, this CD gets louder, more intense, industrial as it nears the end. ‘The End’ a lot of this music seems to be sampled from old recordings etc.? But the way it's all put together is very impressive.

GINGER LEIGH - SPARROW WINGS
‘Sparrow Wings’ is next. ‘This Is Ginger Leigh’ starts with flute then cheeseoid 1966 pseudo psych rock. Is this really played by Ginger Leigh or just sampled? Sounds pretty cool either way. 1:50 intense overdubbed vocal, noises? Now crazy theremin overdub, 3:40 now the volume goes half down? A desired effect to make everything sound kinda crappy? ‘Here Come The Trumpets’ back to the Ginger Leigh intense industrial noise jangling percussion! Is this great or terrible, I'm not sure yet. Weird muted vocals, tea whistle, fog horns, trumpet samples, too much of this could send you on around the bend. ‘Immigrant Song’ nice Middle Eastern strumming on some kind of stringed instrument? Then a nice soaring drone, 50's Science Fiction sounds then an oscillator now some gun shots!? A little bit of everything, actually a very nice track! ‘Living In A Grey World’ back to the low end rumble of a noise generator? Then industrial percussion march with a repeated bass riff on top! Crazy effected out vocals, rain, somehow all makes sense and sounds pretty cool. Infinite stars for even trying to do something original! A ‘Song For Two Marionettes’ more of the Tiki Torch party in 1959 Hell, crazy vocal/moan on top. Big percussive back drop! Cheesey pre-recorded horns, what does it all mean?! Sounds like a lion growling into an effects box. ‘300 White Rabbits’ steam whistle, flute playing, drones, something very meditative about all this crazy chaotic noise. Ends with train going down the tracks, pretty cool, not that I'd listen to this more than once in a Blue Moon.....

-Simon Lewis