Friday, October 28, 2016

CRITCHLEY LETALIS "THE TERRORISM OF MODERNITY" C60 (AOW 426)

Critchley Letalis is a new collaborative project between Eugene Critchley and Dosis Letalis focused on political and social pessimism.  "The Terrorism Of Modernity" is a monumental slab of epic walling, with both projects bringing their distinctive sounds to the work: Eugene Critchley's throbbing, dense, bass-driven pollution meshes beautifully with Dosis Letalis' tense and bitter crackling.  Simply one of the coolest records i've been involved with.
Released in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

EUGENE CRITCHLEY "PERVASIVE WORTHLESSNESS" C60 (AOW 430)

The seventh Eugene Critchley full-length.  Massive, dense, and hopelessly empty bass-ridden drone noise wall full of anger, bitterness, and sorrow.  This is probably the "heaviest" EC album, and also one of the most personal recordings i've made.  Sadness will prevail; sometimes it seems that sadness is all existence is.
Released in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

You can listen to the album here:

https://corystrand.bandcamp.com/album/pervasive-worthlessness

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Sunday, October 16, 2016

EUGENE CRITCHLEY "PESSIMISM TOTALE" 2XC60 SET (AOW 416)

Eugene Critchley's third full length is a massive set of utterly despondent DNW dedicated to illuminating various modes of pessimistic thought and the enervating nature of existence.  Across four lengthy walls of emptiness and bass-drenched sorrow, the suffering inherent in the act of living becomes apparent.  It has been remarked that no true pessimist ever commits suicide; "Pessimism Totale" takes that statement as a challenge and looks to force consideration on that matter, defiantly asking, "Why not commit suicide in the face of endless misery and sorrow?"  Is there a point to life when life is only a collage of hurts and regrets?  Camus' solution, that life should be met with scorn, rings hollow to me, as scorn doesn't much matter to a universe utterly indifferent to human feeling.  This life is nothing but ache, nothing but yearning.  This life is nothing.
Packaged as a double cassette set, with each tape having its own layout.  This is really one of the loveliest sets i've done, and i'm very proud of the music here as well.  Total depression.  Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $20 ppd. in the United States, $36 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Friday, October 7, 2016

EUGENE CRITCHLEY/N0123NOISE "SPLIT" C90 (AOW 424)

A split between Eugene Critchley and N0123NOISE, united in pessimism, despair, and hopelessness.  The sheer bleakness on display throughout this cassette threatens to overwhelm, with two 45 minutes compositions from each artist that betray a shared belief in existence as sorrow.  Massively, crushingly, empty and resigned to life's meaningless, yet somehow still tortured by an undefinable lack, the feeling of something missing.  Maybe something that was never there to begin with.  Maybe only a yearning.  But that yearning is haunting.  And that yearning hurts.  And it doesn't stop hurting.  Drone noise wall and pitch black death ambient.  The true bleak.
Released in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

N0123NOISE "MAYBE ONE DAY I WILL FIND HAPPINESS" C90 (AOW 422)

N0123NOISE returns to AOW with a full-length cassette of utterly despondent, torturously empty drone and ambient compositions, perfect for lonely contemplation of life's unending miseries and sadnesses.  "Maybe One Day I Will Find Happiness," despite its title, offers no real hope at all, instead suggesting that the quest for finding anything that makes life meaningful is doomed to failure simply by virtue of the basic fact that existence is only suffering to varying degrees.  Happiness is fleeting, forever condemned to be only a memory of a specific moment, a moment whose impact recedes over time; memories that fade with each passing day, becoming only wisps of fragile emotion barely recalled.  Total hopelessness; we are all lost and alone, forever.
Released in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Sunday, October 2, 2016

CORY STRAND "THE VIRGIN SUICIDES: COMPLETE" 27CDR + DVD-R BOX SET (AOW 425)

Gargantuan rework of both Air's score and the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's beautiful hallucinogenic ode to sadness, memories, and temporality, The Virgin Suicides.  I saw this in the theater in 1999 when it was released and it began my unerring love affair with the work of Sofia Coppola; i am hard-pressed to think of a filmmaker who so perfectly summons up the agonies of adolescence, agonies that don't really leave us but instead become the agonies of our adulthoods as well.  The film describes a pain that never leaves, a testament to the fact that time heals nothing and that every hurt we experience is carried with us forever.  Describing what this film means to me is difficult; it has simply been with me since I first saw it, has been a part of me and my emotional makeup since then.  It is important to me. 
My rework consists of ambient treatments of both Air's commissioned score and the actual soundtrack of the film.  It is at times hollow, achingly gorgeous, despondent, yearning, empty, suffocating, and beautiful.  Large, oceanic swathes of ambient sound to drown yourself in as you contemplate life's endless sadnesses (and they are endless.)  All in all, it's nearly 25 hours of music spread over 27 discs, with a harsh noise "Totality" recording of the film's entire audio track on DVD-R completing the set.
Each of the 27 discs + the DVD-R are packaged in heavy fold-over covers housed in a clear plastic bags, utilizing my favorites images from, and ephemera associated with, the film.  All of the screengrabs were done by me personally, from a blu-ray transfer of the film.  Also includes an informational insert, again printed on heavy cardstock.  The entire set is housed in a wooden box, which is hand-lettered by me (similar to Naughty's "My King" set from a few months ago).  Released in a limited edition of 3 hand-numbered copies.  $275 ppd. in the United States, $291 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com