stimbox

FEEDBACK:
From: Night Science III
STIMBOX "Special-K" 3" cdr
Misanthrope Studio 2004

"this is without doubt the worst Stimbox release I've ever heard. Even in stimbox's early tapes, as fumbling and experimental as they are, engender more interest than this 20 minute "effort" Apparently zapped out in tribute to a stripper Tim feels the need to give this piece the shallowest of touches as a female oohs and aahs and oh my gods in lustful rapture at the squiggles of pedal noise arcing across her scantily clad form. This must stand next to Gerogerigegege "showa" 12" (visa-a-vis) as one of the most nonsensical uses of pornography samples i've heard in a noise release (although I use that term very loosely when referring to "showa" an idea which works well if done properly (pornoise anyone?) and is nothing but extremely tacky if done poorly i think you know where i say special k fits. even aside form the bump n grind this disc is a bore, reliant only in the lacklustre, overly processed high end workout given by the effects on display for today one whining, squeaking, bleeping passage limps its sorry self after the next, completely avoiding any meaningful, impactful fortitude to instead act as the audio condensation of a searies of laser-gun skirmishes. i completely lose interest when something is this superficial. i only hope special k is not a sad glimpse into the stimbox future; this is made all the worst when knowing what tim has done previously and this therefore presumably still capable of."

From: Tiny Mix Tapes
STIMBOX "12-01-2005" CDR
Obscuria (sic), 2006
rating: 0.5/5
reviewer: p funk

Exhibit A in the case for nŸ-noise as nŸ-metal: the mixing on underground noise releases and big label loud rock discs is beginning to sound dishearteningly similar. True, Merzbow and Borbetomagus have been churning out red-level sounds since the early '80s, but their seminal recordings (and especially their newer works) are not without dynamic range. Even if it's just a contrast between pulsing, searing synths and pulsing-er, searing-er snyths and guitars and saxophones, a well-recorded piece of avant-garde extremism will reflect its own ripples and wrinkles in its mixing: if the music is brave enough to drop a couple of decibels, the recorded product is, too. The masters needn't prove just how bludgeoning and massive their sounds are each and every second.

Works like this Stimbox live CD-R won't allow you to turn your volume knob up above its lowest level, though. Albums like this are as relentlessly and exhaustingly loud as the latest Relapse or Nuclear Blast release, stripping the music of its pulse, vibrancy, color, dynamic, etc. and settling into an unbecoming aggro-rock mode.

In this instance, the problem is particular damaging. For a 60-minute freakout, this slab of sound possesses an enveloping, wave-like quality, finding massaging rhythms with ease and laying down ebbing textures that sink into a gap between shoegaze and industrial. Problem is, the mixing's too damn loud to let the music move, breathe, and explore the tension between its perfectly formed wavefields and its cold, inhuman touch. The intense volume and loudness paint Stimbox as intensely antisocial here. Music-as-retreat has left us with some entrancing albums by a great number of artists, but in all of these cases ∆ whether it's R.E.M., Moondog, or the aforementioned Merzbow ∆ the artist's retreat is never complete or final. Compelling retreats become means of finding alternative communities, outlets for self-indulgence and unmediated pleasure, protests, spaces in which to experiment. 12-01-2005 simply barks "Get the fuck out my face!" Okay, sure.

From: Joe Lombardo
Stimbox - 12/01/2005 CDR on www.obscurica.com
Ruff as nuts, yet with a subtle ambience, this will bore a hole through you just as if a wet burlap bag of eight penny nails is swung in a windmill like motion only to rip you shreds and have you pieces land on a bed of roses. Beginning with high pitches and careful orchestrated feedback the track weeps in pain and makes sure you are going to feel the brunt of it. An emotional piece that is torturous as it sounds and even more beautiful than I should admit. Like a wave of passion and desperation the noise seeps far into the flesh and takes root. Noise for the conscious and sub-conscious, sane and ill, a pleasure to experience as it is to drink as it sips on you. Pushing ever farther into the mind, this reminds me of Stimbox masterpiece NEIN. Harsh as it is smooth, like a cheep brandy chocolate for those you weren't expecting any alcohol, this surprises and continues as if the world were balanced with only a pedal of choice and club. As the sound continues weeping the noise punishes us all and leaves us an ever so new angle on what we might have on our plate. I thought I had problems, but this beautiful extension of the artist clearly tells me that I have it alright if I were only smart enough to realize that. I haven't been this moved by noise in a long time. You may think of sTIMbox as a pedal wielding madman, but this release will show you and other side to the brilliance that I have been enthralled with for over ten years now. If you're not sure what STIMBOX you might like and can't make up you mind as what to get, well, this is a perfect place to start and I'm pretty sure Tim would agree with me.

From: http://noisereviews.blogspot.com/
Stimbox - 12-01-2005
Format: CD-r
Year Released: 2005
Label: Obscurica
Ok, first things first. This isn't a live release. This is a 62 minute-long track. Just the fact that this legend in the noise can put out 62 minutes of original abrasive in one session is mindblowing. Ok, on to the actual noise. Stimbox manages to create every noise there ever was - harsh densed out noise, 'shrieked' noise, soft noise, calm noise, unpredictable noise, you name it, it's there. My favourites, of course, are the harsher and denser part, and the beginning. Listening to all of this in 1 sit could be the noise challenge of the decade. The tracks starts to get milder, or dare I say atmospheric near the 45 minute mark, creating unique noises i've never heard before. There's no harsh comeback near the end, but Stimbox manages yet again to create unique noises that I've yet to hear in any other noise, let alone experimental release. I can skip to any second in this loud 62 minute track, and no matter what, i'll get something different. Describing and enumerating every noise this CD goes through would take a lifetime, so i'll just stick to this: Stimbox has mastered the art of noise, and this release should go down as one of the greatest noise releases ever, no joking. Check out more of Stimbox' stuff, namely the 4x3" comp. on Obscurica. I have to go now, before I go deaf.

Stimbox - Bogul Bogul CDR

I was wondering if HLAS was ever going to make a comeback and I now think I have the answer. HLAS is back and with a killer new release of its owner Stimbox. This my friends is why I began listen to noise. Seething harsh as hell, blistering white hot noise that cinders your ear extremities with everything from a match to a flame thrower then crossed over to make sure nothing is left of them and seemingly you, with everything form a candle to a blowtorch finishes your ass off. This is appears to be a whole new Stimbox. It still has very loud psychedelic feel, but this breathes a bit more living space in the dynamics. Each track has its own feel and yet then again creates a unique cohesiveness that leaves me speechless in the end. I have been listening to Stimbox ever since I read his interview in NOISE magazine, in I believe 1994. Can anyone confirm this? Anyway, since the beginning there has been a lot of tweaking and in some cases stagnation to the overall Stimbox sound, but my friends, is going to leave you a pile of ashes. The first two tracks are alone worth the CD, but it only gets better! Track three is a short but fever pitched piece that hurts then blends well into then seemingly less abrasive track four. Well, that idea is shot to hell in the first five seconds and soon you realize that this twelve minute plus track is going to be like riding a one car subway train that has lost its brakes and been set aflame screaming through each stop and accumulating more victims as it roars passed the platforms. Ah, also as reminder, be sure to play track seven at the loudest possible level and just wait for the police. The response time should be a new record. Track eight is a whopping twenty minute plus track with a lot of variation, swamped in higher frequencies and plenty of pitch peeks and valleys. The last track is going to be the wind that blows your remains all over your room. This should be just in time for police to show up and wonder what the fuck happened. Get ready you sorry SOB, this is what you have been waiting for. -- Joe Lombardo

Stimbox - Impulse 3ÓCDr, copy 47/50

Wow! Tim never senses to amaze me; this is the most ambient recording I have heard since the NIEN cassette. Now don't get me wrong, this baby is full of pip and pepper, but not in the usual Stimbox fashion... It builds than attacks as if to take your ass down, only to release you and play with you like a black panther might its prey. If you aren't a Stimbox fan due to too much Stimbox this is more you, and for those of you who are worried that something is missing, well let's just say... that this is the most satisfying release of the entire list of reviews that you will read. I think is a perfect complement to the Lupus Tuberculoso 3" CDr that was release a while back. I remember many years back when I would talk to Tim he said, that he did not have the inspiration to create noise as much as he used to and that he felt everything noise has already been done before... Well, I am so happy that Stimbox is back on track and that newer noise that has been created has evolved into a new sound that will out last most artists. Damn, just try and get yourself a copy, you will thank me later. -- Joe Lombardo

review of stimbox/a.u.m./death squad's enjoy happiness ·

stimbox/a.u.m./death squad
enjoy happiness
hebi like a snake, 1996
compact disc, 68:41, 6 tracks (limited to 993 copies)

review:
· don't let the obnoxious artwork and colors lead you astray from this release. stimbox, death squad and a.u.m. (a collaboration between stimbox and death squad) have created some of the best harsh noise around. according to the h.l.a.s. website, the music on this cd was inspired by the tokyo subway gassings, although that isn't apparent in the music itself.

·stimbox offers up two high-intensity tracks that'll leave you begging for more. dynamic walls of noise are created and built upon, bringing forth a wide range of sounds that won't cease to amaze you. the a.u.m. track, am 1476 khz starts off sounding like a mixture of radio broadcasts, but after a minute various tones start in and degenerate into violently focused noise. with communique shoko, death squad take aim on feedback and pull the trigger. it's a blaringly simple piece revolving around feedback with a few slightly-altering effects occasionally abused. theological genocide starts off with eerie ambience and some played-out terminator samples. it quickly turns into a jumbled blast of furious static and high-end wailing. at almost four minutes, it's long enough to enjoy but short enough to leave you wanting more. electro-staticsphere is composed of piercing high-end whining and low-end static rumbling, making for a diverse and constantly changing piece with loops and builds upon itself

· this release has been placed on the essential list, if not only for the a.u.m. track and death squad's electro-staticsphere. the other tracks are excellent as well, but those two stand out above the others for both their diversity and intensity. go get a copy of this while you still can.

tracklisting:
01· stimbox - love and truth
02· stimbox - electronic chattering
03· a.u.m. - am 1476 khz
04· death squad - communique shoko
05· death squad - theological genocide
06· death squad - electro-staticsphere

review from Sinkhole e-zine

Stimbox -- "Crush" (cs)

Stimbox is one of my favorite bands from the U.S. All of his works are consistent, pure noise. The kind of sounds that suffocate the mind and force it to pay attention. With large chunks of harsh noise this cassette weaves the listener in and out of consciousness. A complete joy for the unexpecting soul who hears these four tracks. Just get it. (joe lombardo)

Stimbox/MO*TE -- split (c30x2)

This release is hot off the press and guaranteed to warm up the winter blues. Ever since I got this in the mail I have not taken it out of the tape deck. For those of you like me who have been waiting for something new from these two artists for a while. The wait has been well worth it. Also for those of you who are not familiar with either artists this is a perfect place to start. MO*TE dishes out some of the most violent sounds with fine textures that flow smoothly though all four tracks. Stimbox gives his listeners the forceful amplification of harsh sounds that eternally swell in the head. In addition to the individual artists' great sounds, both artists compliment each other's style perfectly. Thus making this split mandatory for all harsh noise fanatics everywhere. (joe lombardo)

Contact MO*TE c/o Fumiyuki Nagura, 56 Takahisa, Yoshikawa-shi, Saitama 342, Japan.

Stimbox - Merry X-mas Cassette (cs) 1/1

This is a gift in return for some copies I had made for Tim. I consider myself an avid fan of Stimbox and I believe this is todate some of his finest work. Thank you, Tim! The cassette is a collection of the various sounds from stuff on various soon to be released compilations. I highly recommend looking for Stimbox on any newly released compilations. You will be glad you did. The tracks are pure power with uncompromising beauty in the construction of the sounds evolving, dying and recreating themselves over again. These tracks are sure to please. It's some damm fine work. (joe lombardo)

Stimbox - Powerrr Dump (cs)

I think this well-packaged beauty is one of Stimbox's most complex releases to date. This is feedback developed to the most enlightening extreme. It's pure bliss for the dedicated Stimbox fans out there and for those of you who have only heard of him. `Powerrr Dump' is full of life with earthly tones and hellish pitches, insane enough to drive your car off a mountain. Crafted in a such a way, you will be addicted for rest of your noise loving life. This is the Stimbox release all of you first timers have been looking for, really memorable stuff. (joe lombardo)

Stimbox/Mo*te - split 2xC30 (UnCut)
Western observers of Japanese culture often characterize the latter's formal relationship with cleanliness as "obsessive." It's precisely the sort of broad, sweeping generalization I ingest with a hefty grain of salt and accompanying sniff-laden air of self-congradulation. That is, up until the day I received this: a double-cassette splitter from Tokyo label UnCut. The moment I laid eyes on the painstakingly-wrapped package, apologies started bubbling to the surface. Clearly, I hadn't been giving the average cultural observer enough credit. Bundled neatly in a black underwear net for easy laundering, the latest from UnCut features two of the most underrated noisicians on the planet: the American King of mutant un-ambient headcrush, AKA Stimbox, and Mo*te, one of Japan's rising masters of high-velocity bleachbath. Each artist occupies one side of two 30-minute tapes, a technical point which translates quite nicely into long-lasting very high-fidelity sound. Both tape and artwork look to have been run through a few wash cycles at least before being air-dried without the benefit of fabric softener. Cudos to UnCut for some gorgeous, squeaky-clean package-work, to say nothing of the sound. As for the sound, no less gorgeous and no less squeaky-clean. The perfect clash of noiseworlds, and one the serious wrestling fan cannot do without. Mo*te strips down, dons his stainless steel flip-flops and scuffles about the antiseptic confines of the world's biggest karaoke bidet. With the distant, concrete-muffled voice of Sinatra urging him forward, Mo*te claws and gouges at the flawless porcelin surface, striving valiantly to scale his way to the rim. Success appears immiminent until someone turns on the spout. In a mad effort to escape "The Drowning," Mo*te pulls out a pair of ice-picks and starts chunking his work into bite-sized bits. With each imprecision cut, he hacks, chokes and gasps his way a little further across the slippery "Wet Floor," and then gurgles in hoarse delight when, on the verge of going under, the bowl drains and a giant sucking sound of the sort envisaged by crazed presidential hopefuls signifies the end. Stimbox responds with "Tension," a stylish intermix of muted power-electronic psychedelia and constrictive, pulsing waves of boa-hiss. Things open in traditional fashion: slow, steady and subtle. The perfect audio massage. Then things start to get uncomfortable. With each undulation, the writhing mass grows progressively harsher and rougher, accelerating ever so patiently into a state of spasmic depression and manic apprehension. Just at the point of bursting, the merciful paw of Azrael reaches out and yanks the plug at a too-short 14-minutes. Saved by the yank, but only just. Round 1, Stimbox. Mo*te saves face next tape over. Fed up with his useless stash of ninja toys, Mo*te scours his own flooded lungs for inner strength and goes organic on the arse. The rough metallic bellowing that follows is strangely mechanical, however. "Pass Out" consists of a dry-heaving shred, sprinkled with brittle crackling tumble, which more closely resembles sped-up sessions of needle-sharp garbage compaction than anything one might pass off as natural. All "Momentary" trace of the human factor fades permanently into the background when the garbage compactor kicks into high percussive gear and angrily hammers away at the distant surrender of mournful violins. Stimbox has always handled organic stuff with a little more class. Alone in the relaxed atmospheres of "Release," he positively thrives on it. Tense, stress-tested sheets of undulating, delay-effected aluminum siding slither and shimmer through a looped network of high-pressured drainpipes. As the drainpipes feed into the wide ocean blue, a wayward, untethered whitewash feeds quite generously into overcooked psychedelic soundscrape. Again, the Headcrush King seems to have run out of time. A few minutes short of letting go entirely, Stimbox maintains his poker face throughout. His reign over all earthly constraints proves equally watertight. The net effect is more strained than it might be. Round 2, Mo*te. (Bless Ed)

MO*TE c/o Fumiyuki Nagura, 56 Takahisa, Yoshikawa-Shi, Saitama 342 JAPAN email: <uncut@mb.infoweb.ne.jp>

Mo*te - Life in a Peaceful New World C60 (HLAS)
Ahhh yes. Truly, this is the Life. Life, as filtured through the awesome genius that is Mo*te. Life, amplified beyond belief and compressed into sixty short minutes of blinding radiance. Life, at a million noisegasms per second. Life in a Peaceful New World. For the last few years, Fumiyuki Nagura has been patiently accumulating a small but impressive arsenal of delectable noise goodies under the working name Mo*te. Mo*te, you muse. Sounds familiar. Well it should. Confined at first to rot in the depths of Japanoise obscurity, Mo*te has suddenly bounced to full international visibility thanks to a recent merger with the Stimbox/Hebi Like a Snake grooming mill. The Gospel according to Mo*te can now be had all across North America. And thanks to new standards HLAS has set in the underground cassette medium, it can be had in glorious super high-fidelity. Credit GROSS with initiating the trend, but credit HLAS with perfecting the technology. These tapes are louder than most CDs. Ignorance is no longer an excuse; though frankly, any noisehead worth her salt would be plead nothing of the kind. To pass up Mo*te would be to do one's noisehead, and the noiseworld at large, a shameful disservice. More than a disservice. A disgrace. Noise doesn't get much better than Mo*te. Except perhaps when Mo*te gets a helping hand from his friendly neighbourhood Stimbox. Culled from "three tapes sent over the course of a year's time," Life does not so much represent the Mo*te sound as it does the combined genius of messiers Nagura and Oliveria. In fact, if not for Oliveria's adamant inistence to the contrary, I'd be very hard-pressed *not* to characterize this as a collaboration between the two. One can't help but notice the spacious Stimbox signature floating at the perimeter, weaving a subtle path through the sixty minute course. Oliveria does credit himself with "remixing and recomposition," which is the least he can do. Life is essentially a multitrack recompiling of some 100minutes worth of original Mo*te material. Oliveria feeds each Mo*te track through several channels, then adds some telltale delay to help smooth out the rough edges. As a consequence, Mo*te's characteristic grittiness is somewhat muted, diffusing gently over a wide-swathe of frequencies. Harshness grudgingly gives way in the wake of halfarsed ambient ululations. As the more perceptive of you might already have wagered, there is, in some vague capacity, a genuine resemblence to CCCC. The net effect, however, is infinitely more active and dynamic than anything Hasegawa and friends have ever produced. Instead of leaving the good stuff buried in the mix and leaving the development and dialogue to your imagination, high-end scorching waves take command, wafting self-important-like from channel to channel. Wish them luck, because now a note of pathos. Ever one to deflate a threat to level-headed noise puritism, Mo*te takes those scorching waves and repeatedly flatlines the fuckers with screeching, ever-higher-velocity cut-ups. In short, absolutely gorgeous sound, at once capturing the multidimensional roaring intensity of an Incapacitants and the unstable blistering tenacity of a junk-pedalled Pain Jerk. But Mo*te isn't finished yet. Oh no. First in the foreground, then in the background, a chilling counterbalance of mesmerizing ambient chill gently soothes the frayed-raw follicles. Following on their ambiguous heels, a series of odd, eerie, electronic tones drift and drone among the psychedelic overtones, creating a third, inorganic balance to the organic sheen which frames it. Noisehead's paradise to be sure, but there's enough care and concern for the less noiseheaded listener. Under Oliveria's subtle guidance, even the poorly-trained noisear can take Mo*te's raging peak of jagged scathe with a minimum of apparent damage. Though a word of caution. "Apparent" is truly the word. However subtle the use of ear-bleed sonics, 30 straight minutes of this stuff at high levels, or any level, can render the unassuming earhole burnt beyond recognition. (Never mind the full one-hour course.) Side TE is particularly effective to this end, seldom straying outside a world of four-channel styrofoam shammies pocked with hemhorraging rustshred and the panning cantakerous screech of overworked jigsaw. Side MO offers the earholes a minimum of respite, mostly owing to an earthquake the neighbours keep complaining about. Feign ignorance, and if that gets you nowhere, feign deafness. (Bless Ed)
MO*TE c/o Fumiyuki Nagura, 56 Takahisa, Yoshikawa-Shi, Saitama 342 JAPAN email: <uncut@mb.infoweb.ne.jp>

STIMBOX/A.U.M./DEATH SQUAD- "Enjoy Happiness"(CD by Hebi Like A Snake) Three bands on a joint theme: the sarin gas attacks by Jap metro in 1995. Stimbox have also some tapes out, on the same label (as it is their own label). This is the industrial music side of things, distortion throughout, overload being the concept... on all three bands. The credits say 'hi & thanks & inspiration' and read like a who's who in the Jap noise scene. If I say that Stimbox reminded me of Merzbow, then you know where to place this. Not bad actually as they don't fall into mere static, but changes are apparent throughout. The mysterious A.U.M. have one track with distorted radio sound and synths (they have no credits on the cover). Death Squad are on the feedback side of industrial music on one track. Their 'Theological Genocide' is a really tense and scary piece of radio snippets that burst into plain noise. An interesting CD, one of the better in the noise field. (FdW)

STIMBOX "FORCE FEEDback" cass. (Extraction)
The second release from new U.S. noise label,
fifty minutes of prime Stimbox material. This
is also probably the best Stimbox material I've
heard so far; this guy must go through speakers
like a bulemic goes through stomach lining.
Intense, blasting waves of cataclysmic noise,
Stimbox incorporates more ideas in fifty
minutes of noise than I've heard on the last
five Merzbow releases. This is a promising
release for Extraction, who have forthcoming
cassettes on the way from the likes of Richard
Ramirez, AutoErotiChrist, and Macronympha.
[From EyeSore#1 by R. Mason]

STIMBOX/A.U.M./DEATH SQUAD - ENJOY HAPPINESS[CD]
For anyone out there who wants a triple threat of speaker destroying
noise should run out to the stores or mailboxes quickly and place an
order for this disc. Stimbox kicks it off in true Stimbox fashion by
knocking a listener back with walls of sonic destruction and blasts of
murder all on this digital circle. AUM follows up in excellent
fashion though I thought some of the parts seemed to pale here and
there compared to Stimbox. This may be personal bias on my part since
I enjoyed the Stimbox so much but I do not wish to take anything away
from AUM as their contribution was great. The last kick below the
belt on this disc came from Death Squad who unleashed their own style
of brutal noise which tears about not only speakers, but the listener
as well. Their track "Theological Genocide" features a great exerpt
from Terminator and uses the sound track as a source sound for their
brash blast of harshtronics. This disc wins high honors for
unleashing a wide variety of noise but managing to stay consistently
harsh at the same time. Even with the fluxuations here and there, the
noise never drops down to a point that could be labeled as surreal or
ambient as it is all powerful and destructive from start to finish.
Once again, another great showing from Stimbox and excellent showings
from AUM and Death Squad as well. (GABE)

Stimbox/Death Squad/A.U.M. - Enjoy Happiness (H.L.A.S.)

I'm actually happy to have been proved wrong now on not one, but two occasions, after my little diatribe about the state of American noise on the 2FMP page. After bitching about how either US Noise is either not harsh enough, or relies too much on shock tactics, I end up hearing stuff that makes me look like a fool. First was the Macronympha/Gov't Alpha split Obliteration, and now Stimbox. Well, maybe this is kind of coincidental, since Stimbox mastermind Tim Oliveira is also a contributor to Macro, but still... Enjoy Happiness is more of a collaborative effort, with Stimbox submitting two long tracks ("Love and Truth" and "Electronic Chattering"), Death Squad provides three mid length songs ("Communique Shoko", "Theological Genocide" and "Electro-staticsphere"), and one with both artists working together as A.U.M. (the 20+ minute "AM 1476 kHz"). Ok, we don't have tracks like "Slut Cunt Whoremurder" or anything like that, and the artwork is a grating with some Japanese script on the front, and a very colorful picture of a radio on the back..so this must be weak corny noise, right? Wrong...all 6 tracks are dynamic, diverse sheets of textural noise that can stand toe to toe with the best from the east. Tim's rumored multi-thousand dollar pedal collection is put to very good use...it creates two long slabs of pulsating noise that manage to be harsh throughout, but are still able to change, grow and mutate, even with some rhythmic bits here and there. Extra points to the fact that he gets both piericing highs and some great, crunchy distorted bass sounds. Death Squad's three tracks range from high and mid range blasts to processed (and destroyed) Terminator 2 samples, and churning, high end distortion. And the A.U.M. collaboration is nothing short of explosive...initially just garbled radio transmissions, but eventually developing into a wall of shifting, diverse sound. This is what I like in noise...enough harshness to justify it as noise, but enough diversity to keep it from being boring and monotonous. It's one of those noise discs where the songs are actually discernable. Highly recommended to noiseheads everywhere. (CREAIG D.)

Overall - 9/10