Still:
Blastocyst / Reverse Mouth Split LP (ltd. 100)
(Heat Retention Records, Phase! / HRR#021, PHR-45)
"Some funny phrases have been bandied about in the independent music press over the past few years like 'free jazz underground' and 'weird new America' only to describe what ? Is it not enough to accept the fact that anyone anywhere can equally embrace the works of Albert Ayler, Throbbing Gristle, The Boredoms and Ligeti in this age of information overload? Freewheeling free-form freakouts are a freaking fact of life these days so just accept it for what it is: new music. Call it noise if you like, but time will ultimately judge what goes into your kiddies history books. There's a reason why certain music transcends and others fall by the wayside and it's not just marketing folks. Did Anthony Braxton and Wolf Eyes jam together to sell more records ? More a sign of the times than the joker that conceived of that split LP of such disparate souls as Sun Ra and John Cage. 'Let's put the two biggest weirdos of their genres....etc.'
Weirdos of the new school unite on this split LP. Two duos from two continents that are kindred spirits in more ways than one. No, they really don't sound anything alike, but still make for a nice pair here. Hell, they've even toured and lived together. A bit of yin and yang maybe?
Blastocyst have done the bulk of their damage in Brooklyn, but have roots in free music birthed from their playing in the larger George Steeltoe Ensemble (initially formed in Kentucky several years back). Pared down to a duo, Jay Dunbar (bass/voice/electronics) and Brian Osborne (drums/voice/electronics) shed any jazz tendencies or academic leanings and check their bags at the door. It's not overtly rock enough or noisy enough to pigeonhole, but they create something wholly their own while delivering a truly glorious racket with some unwholesome sonic expletives. Straight out of the box they unleash a torrent of cathartic destruction that never lets up throughout the first number. It's like a sick hybrid of Discordance Axis and Whitehouse with the combined power of both groups melting all inhibitions. The second track could almost pass as an outtake from a Butthole Surfers lysergic meltdown after-hours jam from their mid-80s period of acid-damaged noise-rock; you know...a pulsating puddle of sorts. 'Clandestine Beers Of The Casserollers' flails around on the ground a bit and comes up to teeter on tippy-toes only to get shoved back down for some carpet burn. Or, if you prefer, it's more like stage-diving at the municipal landfill after spending happy hour at the waste water treatment plant. The last track draws initially from some tasty psychedelic loop-work before the duo wail all over your ass like some PCP-agitated gangbanger. Oh well, they seemed like nice guys.
The Greek duo Reverse Mouth consists of Panagiotis Spoulos and Sofia Zoitu, but who does what is a mystery to me. I'm familiar with some of their previous work, but this one is somewhat of a departure. The first couple of minutes are nearly silent until little bits of feedback and prepared guitar bubble to the surface. As smoke fills the room, the duo indulge in some delay-infused trippy improvising. This pretty much sets the pace for the entire side: a really intimate, warm and almost sensual excursion. For a group known to shred speakers on some of their past releases, this is a real treat. It's not placid by any means, but displays some admirable and comfortable discipline. I'd even go so far as to say that there's a kinship here with the first couple of Cluster LPs without an analogue synth in sight. The feedback control is especially impressive. Are these kids mellowing with age or refining their art? Ultimately, who cares? As long as they keep at it, I'll be a happy man.
So is this the free weird new underground noise that everyone's talking about? I personally don't find anything weird about it as this shit feels like home to me. Maybe that says more about myself than it does about this record. Life is short and so is the pressing of this LP, 100 copies in fact. Go. (Empty J)" Heathen Harvest
(order here)
Released November 2007. Screenprinted jackets by Marc Zajack in various colors (yellow, green, white) plus b&w insert.
Tracks: BLASTOCYST SIDE: Nexium And Digitalis • Blur Car Blur Eyes Blur Suit • Clandestine Beers Of The Casserollers • Marjoe Works For Free / RM SIDE: Somebody Put Something In My Drink (Hair) 
Texan Zona 1-sided C60 (ltd. ??)
(Kourlyk Records / Kourlyk05)
(order here)
Released November 2007. Color photocopied art by RM, assembled by Noemie Dal.
Tracks: Forest Jumpsuits • Public Toilets In Rochester • Velvet In Furs • Bela Lugosi Is Dead • Blonde Takes Them All • Guggle
Royal Sleep CDR (ltd. 50)
(Sycophanticide / Sycophanticide#022)
(order here)
Released September 2007. Xerox covers, Stamped & handnumbered discs. Photos by Oneirothopter Systems. Recorded & mastered by Themis Pantelopoulos.
Track: Royal Sleep
Taking Good Care Of The States CDR (ltd. 35)
(Rumor / RMR04)
(order here)
Released July 2007. Transparent covers + stenciled labels, handnumbered. Artwork by Panagiotis.
Track: Live in New Brunshwick, NJ 24 NOV 06
Ballades Pour Un Patriote CDR (ltd. 60)
(Tanzprocesz / tzpCD20)
"By far the best packaging yet from those people over at Tanz Procesz , loving its glowing copper sheen and handsome bookish binding which is a bit of a departure from the usual red splatter cake and newspaper textures.
Both the pic on the front (a hint of the music inside) and the blurred photocopy of Ronny Reagan (or an incredibility young John Wayne) on the back are great to stare into whilst listening. They have that odd sense of detachment/ movement you get from film stills, their double edges sorta shimmer along to the string based sounds contained within.
The music is baked in places with an invigorating amp purr, showcasing a fabulous series of guitar tinkerings, drones, frazzled amputations, and spacey clatterings, mostly of the semi abstract variety. All expressively charged; a few of these mood enhancers slip towards a deliciously frayed tunefulness that teeters nicely on the point of collapse. Track three - The Dragger , is my favourite with its wildly oriental flavour, those loose percussive sounds hinting at Japanese theatre - all twisting Geisha bodies and demon masks, like half deciphered readings - the spaces gleaming in possibility. (Cloudboy)" Rottenmeats
(order here)
Released March 2007. Totally handmade limited edition w/ xerox art pasted on spraypainted cardboards, tied w/ wool. Insert, spraypainted black cdrs. Art by Jonathan Terroir, photographs by RM.
Tracks: Prisoner Age Six • More Films Than John Wayne • The Dragger • Black Moth • Naval Force • Folk Killah • Bitty • Fragile Valley
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Gone:
Black On Pussy Tour only 3''CDR (ltd. 20)
(Rumor / RMR05)
Released November 2007 for the european dates w/ Blastocyst. Color printed covers, artwork by Eyeshite.
Tracks (not credited): Philiopeano • Annunci • Bleeding Desert (o Rosso)
Reverse Mouth / Fossils - Terror Tapes #20 Split C60 (ltd. 33)
(Middle James Co / MJC120)
Released July 2007. Xerox covers, spraypainted cassettes, handnumbered. Artwork by David Payne.
Tracks: RM SIDE: Retardation Crack • Mongoloid Gold • Period Blood Hut / FOSSILS SIDE: Untitled
Gay Control Icon 3"CDR (ltd. 50)
(Phase!Records / PHR-41)
"Ahhh...the kids these days. It's folks like Sofia Zoitu and Panagiotis Spoulos that are giving the supposed cradle of western civilization a bad name. Do you think Socrates would own up to such a marriage of string instruments and electricity ? Would Plato's vision of a sophisticated state allow for it's younger constituents to participate in the republic by way of pedal-knob manipulation ? What would Aristotle do?
Reverse Mouth can't be bothered with such trivial nonsense, they have their own agenda. In just under nineteen minutes 'Gay Control Icon' gets their point across quite sufficiently using prepared guitar, processors and varying degrees of feedback control. 'Little Bodie' sums thing up nicely; the pitter-patter of little footsteps tease the ears to the point of threatening to blow up in your face. Just when you think everything's about to go apeshit noise on your ass, all you get is a platter-full of high-frequency paint-peeling pancakes. Very refreshing ! There are layers of sound here and not mere squealing for pigs' sake. Hell, I would have been satisfied if this eleven-minute track were the only piece offered, but no. The duo shift gears and deliver some air-escaping-out-of-the-balloon-bouncing-off-guitar-string-stone-scraping textures on the second track. This one's for all you folks who could never tolerate the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard, but couldn't wait to rub your teeth on Styrofoam. Yeah, whatevah; my fashion blog can kick your fashion blog's ass, etc...
The title of the last track may lead one to believe that extreme low frequencies are involved. Nope. In fact the higher end of the spectrum gets more props than on 'Little Bodie.' Ever suffered from tinnitus ? If not, here's your chance. I personally love the way these tones dance around the periphery of my skull and eventually make their way into my mind's ear. Life almost seems incomplete without such phenomena. Perhaps my favorite moment on this disc occurs about thirty seconds before the end when an alien patois emerges from the feedback like some urgent message trying to break through. Alas, this golden moment gets sucked back up into the upper stratosphere of audibility and concludes abruptly. Too soon ? Nope. As a side note, this track would be perfect for a side of a 7' record, but I would re-title it 'Coming Home w/ Crap In Your Pants.' As my daughter, Ophelia, would say it's 'smokin' hot.'
Something is going horribly wrong over there in Athens. The country is rife with anarchist groups, squatters, terrorists and the likes of Reverse Mouth. These derelicts hand-screen and package their releases (this one's an edition of fifty), run a label and maintain websites that distribute dubious music from all over the planet. I bet these ne'er-do-wells have never even read 'The Bacchae.' What would Pythagoras do ? He'd get busy...so should you. (Empty J)" Heathen Harvest
Released June 2007. Stenciled / rubberstamped color cardstock 10 x 20cm, spraypainted labels + handnumbered xerox inners. Artwork by RM.
Tracks: Little Bodie • Fashion Blog Whatevah • Go Out w/ Crap In Your Pants
Reverse Mouth / Slasher Risk Split C40 (ltd. 80)
(Phase!Records / PHR-38)
"I recognize the name Reverse Mouth, but from where I cannot say. Whatever the case, they present “Negative Cutter”: a 15-minute (give or take) side of intense, nebulous noise constructions in the vein of Kevin Shields, Pedestrian Deposit, etc., mellowing towards the center with increasing detail as the player emerges with erratic attacks, distorted crumples, and welts of feedback. Slasher Risk takes a more “musical” approach with two pieces, “Amrican Football Fux” [sic] emitting the deepest of bass throb over staticky, Mammalian guitar sketches, human drummer emerging with sheet-metal and cardboard beats: the band huddles free-form a bit of before entering formation, the pace quickly entering a frenzy as the players compete to stay in a pack. Eventually the ravenous spirit collapses into disdain as a sort of Gang Wizard rowdiness ensues, riff-raff vocals in faint duet with the jagged guitar, the group eventually dispersing for darker parking lots. Other track “???” holds a steady war-drum beat next to the oboe of gently-prodded guitar feedback, a muddy warm-up/outtake if you will, to reify the barrage of the prior track. Colorful, glossy photo-paper J-cards enclose transparent cassettes, edition of 80." Animal Psi
"Reverse Mouth is the duo of Panagiotis Spoulos and Sofia Zoitu who hail from Athens, Greece. Spoulos also runs the Phase! label which issued this release. "Negative Cutter" is a slab of minimal amplifier abuse, heavy on guitar feedback and effects twitching. It has some good ear-wincing moments, but the second half runs out of steam too soon. Brooklyn-based Slasher Risk (currently on tour in Europe) offer an extremely muddy four-on-the-floor stomp a la Punks with "American Football Fux." Disco beats, smoky riffage and thanks to the squalid recording a liberal dose of "???". (Max Gudmunson)" Cassette Gods
Released April 2007. Full color collaborative artwork by the two bands, handnumbered.
Tracks: RM SIDE: Negative Cutter / SR SIDE: Amrican Football Fux • ???
Lard Bum CDR (ltd. 20)
(Rumor / RMR03)
Released March 2007 for the Strange Attraktor gig w/ Aux. Spraypainted / rubberstamped George Bush covers. Sick as lard. Stenciled cdrs. Art by RM.
Tracks: Lard Bum
Black Bimbo C30 (ltd. 50)
(Rumor / RMR02)
Released January 2007. Black laser printing on yellow paper, stamped & handnumbered. Art by eyeshite.
Tracks: Black Bimbo • Animal Martyr • Yo Bobby • Thin Crisp
"Fourth or so release of Reverse Mouth [ website ] that I get the chance to listen to, and next to the split-tape they did with Slasher Risk, a band they have a lot in common with I think, one of my favourites so far. This one is a white C30-tape, and the artwork is some old-school xerox-work, the looks are tops ‘n simple, so my expectations were high, knowing the good stuff I got from them in the past.
Black Bimbo , the title track of this release, and the first on side A, is a shorty: a mono-recording of a fainting voice, not much longer than just one minute, and mainly serving as an intro of what's going to follow, and probably also an expression of Reverse Mouths' intention to grab you by - if not yer balls - your throat, in the eye of an atonal storm.
Track 2, Animal Martyr , is at first marked by what seems to be a bouncing loop followed by a slide creating a pounding factorybeat, reminding me a bit of Pervertigo Porks World Billyclub that's on one side of the K2/Smell & Quims' collab 7? - an oldie, but hell, a true a classic - In the 5 minutes that this track lasts, Animal Martyr gets more layered with feedbacknoises, a touch of destroyed guitar is added, and when at first I would locate this track on the factoryfloor, I'm tempted to say that later on the sound is more F1-induced, with lots of ripping motornoises.
Track 3, Yo Baby , some 10 minutes in length, starts in a calmer, droney way - resonating strings - but this track too is marked by an industrial, factory-like feel, its structure soon enough becoming more and more complex, growing denser into layers of feedback, and distant voices.
Thin Crisp is the only track on side B, and gradually changes throughout its 15 minutes from dark ‘n rambling to a more melodic layered feedback-track: it starts off in a pretty dark way (as already stated), with what's probably some guitars being scraped over the floor and over each other, against a fat background of distant noises, while a thin iron, cyclic feedbacktone sets in - there's lots of delay, lots of loops, a bit of a contactmiked turntable effect - and all these layers soon enough result in hidden refrains and melodies popping up - and really, at moments I had to think of the Velvet's Underground Melody Laughter-bootleg, which also is one long, repetitive track, pounding ‘n haunting - hell yeah, it's not the same, but it basically has that same rhythm in it - next to guitar Reverse Mouth uses lots of whistling voices in this one, and this adds to the effect.
This one is limited to 50 copies, released on RMR (Reverse Mouth Recordings?), I'd say get in touch with them quickly to score yourself a copy. The band will be on tour late
November, playing a show at De Living (stay tuned on that one), and also in The Student in Brussels, at one of the Kourlyk Events organised by Noémie Dal. Be sure to check them out live on at least one of those occasions. " Noiseblog
We Rub Our Hands With A Tendency To Start Fires CDR (ltd. 65)
(Phase!Records / PHR-35)
Released September 2006. Handstamped covers, spraypainted labels w/ handnumbered outers - design by RM.
Tracks: Heroin Nurse • Happy Hands Club Band 
Black Trance C20 (ltd. 20)
(Rumor / RMR01)
Released August 2006 for the Athens show w/ Paper Leg. Full color covers / hand painted on the back, spraypainted cases - design by RM.
Tracks: Black Trance • Frank Black (Trance) 
The Bible-Eater C20 (ltd. 48)
(Phase!Records / PHR-33)
Released
May 2006 for the mini tour w/ Donna Parker. Full color covers - design
by RM.
Tracks:
Unsilent Foetus • Eight Minute Soul Deposit • Free Jazz
(Punk) • Money Money Hope Hope • Jesus Makes Fun Of The
Gypsykidz • Swords • Danke
A Child, A Dwarf, A Sickness CDR (ltd. 90)
(Phase!Records / PHR-29)
"I have no idea who or what Reverse Mouth is, but the title of their release makes us fear the worst. Yes, it's a rather lo-fi affair of noise related music, but it's also quite nice. In five pieces, Reverse Mouth uses feedback sounds, metal scraping and some relatively simple forms of sound processing. It never goes over the top with extreme walls of distortion, but it stays rather on a more intimate side of things. Obscured rumbling of objects, with a bit of electronica. Lo-fi indeed, but it's all rather nice." (FdW) Vital Weekly
I don't know who Reverse Mouth is (...are?) and even a rapid Google search didn't reveal much. But what I heard in the 27+ minutes of this disc is particular and revealing. It's obviously a homemade program, yet hitchhiking amidst these five tracks leads us to several highly gratifying moments; the spirit I detect is akin to other low-budget (but significant) meditative realities recently described here, Gart & Seekatze being one of them. Funny tricks and hypnotic segments create an intriguing structure of malaise and ear perforation; half-human, half-suffering beast utterances find a niche in a pleasant sense of perturbed indetermination where an imaginative use of instruments, found sounds and effects falsifies our mental tranquillity, throwing us right into the arms of the mopes only to sample a couple of additional combinations of crude nudity and oneiric leprosy. A quagmire of peculiarities, well worth of repeated visits. (Massimo Ricci) Touching Extremes
Released April 2006. Handpainted / stenciled covers, acrylic stained labels w/ handnumbered inners - design by RM.
Tracks: Comet Camel • Groove Seductor • Chill Out With The Jamaican Husband Of Margot Tenenbaum • El Paso • Kotah Filth
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