“Minority” introduced the Minor label, operating on the fault lines between abstract electronica and experimental ambient textures. Some tracks sound like the artists playing with plug-ins and leaving the tracks unfinished, but there are many interesting and unexpected things from obscure artists, all new to me. Some are perhaps defunct but several are worth investigating.
Napalmed – iii
By the 80-minute mark it’s a powerful experience, but brings with it the usual frustrations of single-track albums: artists who release these obviously want you to experience their work as single block yet make this very hard when they deliberately or accidentally include elements that disrupt or block the flow of the whole and leave you wanting to make your own edit.
Various – Thalamus III
“Thalamus III” documents Russian post-industrial/noise artists alongside less classifiable work, mostly lo-fi, abrasive soundscapes. It is an uneven but important compilation and, provided you can endure the generally desolate tone, there are some really interesting pieces to be discovered.
Kommando – Crimefactory
Kommando is the first project of Daniel Hofmann, a.k.a. Anton Knilpert/Dan Courtman, who has a hand in the work of virtually all the artists on the UMB label, Dogpop, Jägerblut, Kommando, The Musick Wreckers, Thorofon, UMB-Kollektif and more. The material gathered here is from 1993-98, and was ‘re-constructed’ (or re-animated?) in 2008.