Mental Anguish & NoMuzic - Boid Iz da Woid - HRARTCD005

Befuddled Wakefullness features Richard McCracken on abused guitar, Decadence & Labyrinth features Mike Jackson - righteous electronic testimony. Recorded July 2002 in Memphis, TN.

Track Listing/order :
1 - A - Tom - Ick
2 - Befuddled Wakefullness
3 - Decadence
4 - Momentarily Disoriented
5 - Labyrinth
6 - Crawling Sunlight

Befuddled Wakefullness - 7:03

Decadence - 16:54

Review:

Mental Anguish + Nomuzic - "Boid Iz Da Woid" (Harsh Reality/Audiofile Round Tapes, HraRTCD05)

Uploaded to Aural Innovations: July 2004

Chris "Mental Anguish" Phinney and Carl "Nomuzic" Howard are true veterans of the electronic music underground, having released seemingly countless recordings from numerous projects since the 1980's, and both have been key sources for distributing homemade music for a variety of artists. The two have collaborated on and off since the late 80's and here we have two of their most recent duo releases (see the Planet 0 reviews this issue for another project).

Recorded in 2002, Boid Iz Da Woid serves up 6 more tracks of similar music, making this an excellent companion disc to Tangled Up In Bush. "A-Tom-Ick" opens the set and reminds me a bit of Roood Tooolz Fer Croood Fooolz from the previous album, having a dancey space groove around which our heroes trip around the electronic cosmos, finding all sorts of weird and wonderful adventures along the way. "Befuddled Wakefulness" is part dark and menacing Goth rocker and part atmospheric space journey. But as it progresses the music starts to recall Bill Nelson's electro-pop days or songs from Peter Gabriel's third album, but with a marked space element. Lots of possibilities for vocals on this one. At nearly 17 minutes each, "Decadence" and "Labyrinth are pure, unfiltered space voyages, with no chemical additives, using only the finest all natural products direct from the infinite void. It's like Berlin circa 1970, but with Chris and Carl's unique perspective. Just strap yourself in, let your mind go, and these guys will do the rest. Mucho tasty! "Momentarily Disoriented" is a relatively short piece, consisting of spacey avant-garde collage sounds and textures. And "Crawling Sunlight" closes the set on a warped note, with off-kilter semi-tribal percussion, alien space electronics, distorted acid trip efx, and completely nutzoid voices that dominate the music, going on about... who knows what. Lovers of all things creatively weird will get a kick out of this one.

Wow... now that was an enjoyable couple hours of listening and traveling outside my body. If you're unfamiliar with Chris and Carl's music then note that their combined catalogs could probably fill an entire record store. But these two little round things would make excellent starting points.

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Mental Anguish & NoMuzic - Tangled Up In Bush - HRARTCD003
Recorded July 2001 in Memphis, TN. Tower Of Powwer features Mike Hunnicutt on gee - tawr

Track Listing/order :
1 - Nuclear Powered Submareeen
2 - Tower Of Power
3 - Eeevil Rooolz
4 - Kracca Muddafukkah
5 - Sweatin' Saturn Bullets
6 - Roood Tooolz Fer Croood Fooolz

Nuclear Powered Submareeen - 11:45

Tower Of Power - 6:56

Review:

Mental Anguish + Nomuzic - "Tangled Up In Bush" (Harsh Reality/Audiofile Round Tapes, HraRTCD03)

Recorded in 2001, Tangled Up In Bush features 6 tracks of space and sound journeys. On "Nuclear Powered Submareeen" the boys lay down a dark and intense rhythmic march that serves as the basis for their space and sound explorations. But this isn't floating space electronics that seek to lull the listener. The music is deep in space but follows a determined theme oriented path. Sure, they stretch out and explore. But the incessant march keeps us on a linear course as the space and percussive bits evolve and mutate around it. "Tower Of Power" is a space and drone piece with a wee bit of a jazzy vibe, once again propelled by a basic guiding percussion pattern. "Eeevil Rooolz" is one of the highlight tracks, particularly due to the more interesting and varied percussion, of course accompanied by fun and freaky electronics. And "Roood Tooolz Fer Croood Fooolz" might be my favorite of the set, having a rockin' dancey beat around which the alien electro orchestra do some of the most cosmic electro diddling this side of the Gamma Quadrant.

"Kracca Mudda Fukkan" is a bit different, being more on the avant-garde side, though it's still loaded with oodles of strange and varied aural delights, including some nicely weird voice samples. And "Sweatin' Saturn Bullets" is another standout track, consisting of layers of atmospherics, swirly whirly UFO electronics, and voices from the spirit world. Unlike the more theme oriented tracks on the album, this is a parade of spaced out sound-art fun that morphs continually and seamlessly throughout its 12 minute length. Listen with headphones or you'll miss all the subtle bits rushing by.

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Mental Anguish & NoMuzic - Flamingo Road - HRARTCD001
Recorded July 3 - 7, 2000 in Memphis, TN. Features Richard McCracken true percussion on "Drono Fury"

Track Listing/order :
1 - Blast Pattern
2 - Blissful In Enchantro
3 - The Gladiator
4 - Drono Fury (The Terrordrone)
5 - Crying & Praying

The Gladiator - 9:41

Drono Fury ( The Terrordrone ) - 8:36

Blissful in Enchantro - 5:09

Crying and Praying - 5:58

Reviews:

MENTAL ANGUISH & NOMUZIC: Flamingo Road (CDR on Harsh Reality Music/Audiofile Round Tapes) from Matt Howarths Sonic Curiousity.

This 39 minute CDR is a tasty collaboration between Phinney and Nomuzic (aka Carl Howard), with Richard McCracken providing "true percussion" on a single track.

The music is wholly instrumental, employing an assortment of electronic apparatus to produce quite a haunting and thoroughly melodic journey through strange territory. Drums and E-perc set engagingly quirky rhythms that are pursued by dark drones and eerie pulsations that strive to pierce the sky with their unearthly wailings. A touch of tortured guitar strains cry out as they escape from damnation to assail the listener with impressions of the hidden underworld.

The darkness of this music is far from gloomy or depressing, however. The tuneage is alive with a wariness that empowers the listener with the determination to survive another day in the oppressive real world, affording more than simple escapism with nimble melodies and attractive riffs. The audience's mind is jump-started, stimulated by the aggressive-but-dreamy passages.

While hardly frenzied, the rhythms are not sedate. The gradual pace features just the right dose of agitated elements to propel the compositions, blending conventional percussives with an assortment of odd objects struck in tempo.

Mental Anguish & Nomuzic - "Flamingo Road"
(Harsh Reality/Audiofile RoundTapes 2000, HRaRTCD01)

From Aural Innovations #15 (April 2001)

For the uninitiated, Mental Anguish is Chris Phinney, the main man behind the Harsh Reality releases, and Nomuzic is Carl Howard, most recently of Born to Go and Land Of Guilt + Blarney fame. Flamingo Road is an album of electronic space music. But what makes these Po Boyz music special is the prominence of rhythm throughout each track. Yes, this is mucho cosmic electronica but you can just see the boy's toes tapping along continually. I'm a big fan of space electronics but I've got to say the ubiquitous percussives keep things much more lively and interesting and Chris and Carl manage to incorporate a heavy sense of beat and bounce while still making it clear that their intention is to explore the cosmos.

Space electronics don't get any more cosmic than "Blast Pattern". A steady percussion beat and simple synth burps provide the backdrop for a free-wheeling electro trip through the galaxy. The duo does a good job of keeping things evolving and interesting as opposed to being a mere trippy floating electro fest, though the electronics are more the primary focus than on subsequent tracks. "Blissful In Enchantro" features a rapid whimsical synth pattern that dances about accompanied by intense cosmic spacescapes. The spacey synths get quite intense and a bit brain searing as they rise to their peak. The percussion has an almost jazzy feel which combined with the spacey synths and bouncy beat make for an interesting glom of sounds. On "The Gladiator" we get more spacescapes, a funky jam on the bells, and what sounds like might be wah'd guitar (maybe it's keyboards). "Drone Fury (The Terrordrone)" is the one track with "true" percussion, courtesy of Richard McCracken. And there's plenty of it to go with the synth excursions. And "Crying & Praying" has a steady beat and a cool space jazzy synth freakout.

Chris and Carl have collaborated off and on since 1987 and are clearly operating in complimentary realms. Fans of electronic space music who are getting bored and want something a little different would do well to check this out.

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Mental Anguish & NoMuzic - Po Boyz With Gobot War Toys - HRCD001
This CD is a collection of trax recorded between 1987 - 1989, the trax are from 3 cassette releases by Harsh Reality Music & Audiofile Tapes. If you hear tape hiss deal with it. The first four trax are from the" War Toys" release recorded in New York City at Space Station Studio in 1987. The next four trax are from the" Po Boyz" release recorded in Memphis, TN at Harsh Reality in 1988. The final 3 trax are from the "Angels With Gobot Faces" release recorded at AT Central in Jersey City in 1989.Features Roger Moneymaker - guitar, fx trax 6, 7 & 8. Features Mike Jackson - synth, fx track 11.

Track Listing/order :
1 - Three
2 - Two
3 - Four
4 - Eight
5 - Such A Disgace
6 - Pigs In The Barnyard
7 - Arliss' Country Kitchen
8 - Jumpin' Off The Point
9 - Look Ma, No Software !
10 - Six Strings Short Of A Load
11 - Too Early For Words

Eight - 5:38

Four - 6:23

Pigs In The Barnyard - 8:34

Jumpin' Off The Point - 6:35

Look Ma, No Software - 7:39

Three - 9:19

Review:

Mental Anguish & Nomuzic - "Po Boyz With Gobot War Toyz" (Harsh Reality 2000, HRC001)

From Aural Innovations #13 (October 2000)

"Po Boyz With Gobot War Toyz" is a CDR compilation of tracks from three cassettes recorded and released by Mental Anguish (Chris Phinney) and Nomuzic (Carl Howard) between 1987-1989. Across the disc's 11 tracks we hear thumping space rock, cosmic space electronica, and even some head boppin' and toe tappin' tunes that border on pop.

Songs like "Two" and "Eight" feature cool electronica that also have a bit of a dance beat. "Two" is a freaky electro dance tune. Not techno, but a percussion beat that makes it danceable is backed by spacey backdrops and bouncy melody lines. "Eight" has a dark and haunting, yet dreamy backdrop led by more danceable percussion beats. Again, there's lots of freaky stuff backing the dance bits. Very cool.

On the more drifting space side is "Four", a dreamy melodic tune accompanied by a mechanical repetitive synth line which contrasts in mood with the more floating keyboards. An interesting combo. "Arliss' Country Kitchen" is similar, only there seems to be quite a bit more going on musically. Dreamy atomospherics combined with cool oddball synth noodlings. Sort of a pop instrumental but high on the freaky meter when you listen closely to all the background happenings. "Look Ma, No Software" is a strong track that features classic space electronica recalling 70's Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schultz, and other related artists. The primary synth line moves along at a rapid clip while numerous other synths play their parts at varied speeds. An interesting contrast of both rhythm and sounds.

My hands down favorite tracks on the disc are "Pigs In The Barnyard" and "Jumpin' Off The Point". "Pigs In the Barnyard" kicks off with some heavy, slowly driving spacerock like Hawkwind or Krel (or Thru Black Holes Band Carl!). Slow but blistering guitar licks lead the tune while equally potent space synths provide the cosmic wall of fire that backs it up. Simple, no flash, but a powerful statement nonetheless. "Jumpin' Off The Point" is a kick ass rocker with a catchy melody line, screaming guitar, and space synth madness. Bubble, gurgle, whooooosh! I'll call it space jam rock n roll. These two alone are worth the price of admission, and make me want to check out the original three cassettes this duo produced.

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

All Music Copyright Harsh Reality Music/AudiofileRound