The Rita - Toe Cleavage

"With his flagship project, The Rita, Sam McKinlay has, for nearly two decades, explored and distilled into sound various permutations of fetish and vice. Recognized as the creator of wall noise, McKinlay's conceptual intent and the singular intensity of his focus established something novel and profound. McKinlay's compulsive reverence for noise is a fetish of sound. Frequently, McKinlay utilizes field recordings and other sounds sourced from the objects of interest before encrypting them in an opaque shell of noise. Listening to McKinlay's recordings, it's often difficult to determine whether one actually hears the sounds of the source material or if the power of suggestion is so strong that the listener extracts phantom sounds. In recent years, McKinlay has increasingly focused on the female form, particularly the modes of body augmentation that define classical femininity, such as make up, nylon stockings, etc. The progression of this focus culminated with the most archetypal projection of femininity in Western Culture: the ballerina, her feet, and her pointe shoes. The foot of a woman has long been identified as the most common source of unusual sexual preoccupation. 'Toe Cleavage' is the most comprehensive expression of McKinlay's recent endeavors. For the uninitiated, the term 'toe cleavage' refers to the display of the upper portions of toes in low cut shoes - an essential detail for many shoe designers. Across the seven tapes in this set, McKinlay, through his music, dissects, indulges, illustrates, and worships the feminine foot. To that end, McKinlay worked with Los Angeles based visual artist Olivia Burr and recording artist Kristin Hayter (Lingua Ignota). In addition to photographic contributions, Burr and Hayter provided much of the source material for McKinlay including: dance studio floor recordings; contact mic'd ballet shoes; and the repeated unboxing, unwrapping, trying on, walking in, and re-boxing of various designer shoes (Valentino, Miu Miu, etc.). Adding depth to the overall experience, McKinlay interspersed interludes throughout the recordings featuring audio samples derived from discussions and tutorials about pointe shoes, toe cleavage, and various designer ballet flat and stiletto reviews. This set of recordings is arguably McKinlay's most focused and obsessive effort to date and perfectly embodies the cultivated stylistic traits that have defined his work through the years. Seven-tape set come in a wooden box with a 16-page book, a colored poster, an insert drawn by Sam McKinlay in Ivory paper, and a sheet with notes. Edition of 99 (hand-numbered)." (Review from Forced Exposure. See here.)

A. Toe Technique 1 

B. Toe Technique 2 

C. Toe Cleavage Dialogue 

D. Ballet Flats 

E. Olivia Burr Sources 1 

F. Olivia Burr Sources 2 

G. Properly Walking In Pointe Shoes 

H. Properly Running In Pointe Shoes 

I. Chanel Ballet Flats 

J. Aquazzura Ballet Flats 

K. Ballet Flats Comfort 

L. Pointe Shoes Comfort 

M. Lingua Ignota Sources 1 

N. Lingua Ignota Sources 2 

mp3/v0

Black Leather Jesus / Blue Sabbath Black Cheer

Split on Italian noise label Urashima by Richard Ramirez under his Black Leather Jesus moniker and US-based doom influenced noise outfit Blue Sabbath Black Cheer. Made up of a 'split' side featuring a track from each artist, followed by a collaborative 'alliance' side. Ramirez's track is a more intense harsh noise assault whereas Blue Sabbath's offering displays more of the atmosphere and dark ambient trappings of their style: the resulting collaborative effort is a reflective combination of these stylistic elements. An edition of ninety-nine LPs released in 2014.

 

A1. Black Leather Jesus - Untitled

A2. Blue Sabbath Black Cheer - Untitled

B. Black Leather Jesus & Blue Sabbath Black Cheer - Untitled

flac/16-bit

Valkoinen Kohina

Murky, dark power electronics from Finland released on the Italian Urashima label in 2015, re-issued on Filth and Violence two years after. Features two Pekka Perä-Takala projects (Snuff, Sick Seed) as well as contributions from Unclean, Chloroform Rapist (probably Mikko Aspa), Silence of Vacuum and Edge of Decay.

A1. Chloroform Rapist - Untitled

A2. Edge Of Decay - Kidutettujen Mieli

A3. Silence Of Vacuum - Under Three Layers 1

A4. Silence Of Vacuum - Under Three Layers 2

B1. Sick Seed - Meidän Herramme

B2. Snuff - Anonymous

B3. Unclean - Filth Pig

mp3/320kbps