Ghoatefische - Room For One More

(Photo by Ackronomicon)

Some quick shameless self-promotion.

In 2003, I resumed my noise project Goatfish, only I added a few letters to the name and, taking some guidance from Ron K of Eckankore, I focused my soundscapes rather than letting chaos rule. The result was a darker, more nightmarish noise than my Merzbow-inspired experiments of old.

Initially released as a made-to-order CDR, the web-based Eleventh Key Records has reissued Room For One More, my first album as the mutated Ghoatefische, in their "Distributed Titles" section with new album art designed by Brian Magar. It's only $2 but over an hour of eardrum-piercing intensity, so it's quite a bargain, if I do say so myself.

Also, watch for news of the Necroparthenophacy/Layr split 3"CD, coming soon on Eleventh Key!

Ghoatefische
Room For One More CDR/MP3
(MPAE)
2003

Download Room For One More from Eleventh Key!

Stream the album on Bandcamp!

Goatfish - Noise for Films

(Mr Phreek circa 1998 - Photo by Ackronomicon)

I haven't had much time to post lately, so here's a quick noise "single" to get me back into the groove.

Both these tracks were used for student films.
About the songs:
01. Me & You - I met Stephen Franklin at John's house (where The Gardeners started). He showed us his latest film project, Me & You, where somebody eats a Madagascar cockroach. I was particularly interested because he used Throbbing Gristle as the sound track. At that time, I was looking to expand MPAE, so I approached him about releasing it on video through MPAE. The only thing was, he needed to change the soundtrack because I didn't want to bother getting performance rights for TG. One night he came over to my house, and we recorded this soundtrack on my four-track. Stephen did an excellent job of directing the audio to fit the visuals. The video never happened, of course. This was burned directly from my VHS copy, one of maybe three in existance.

02. Credit Sounds - Ack needed some sound for the credits to one of his student film projects, so he asked me to do some noise. New Room was kind of a music video with a plot. From what I remember, a girl arrives at a house full of dead bodies and the killer (played by me) is running rampant through the house. All this was set to a song by Chavez (I think). That's me in the picture above, covered in blood at the end of the film.

Goatfish
Noise For Films CS
(n/a)
1999

Download Noise For Films free!

Goatfish - The Goatfish Oratorio

(Mr Phreek circa 1998 - Photo by Ackronomicon)

Okay, so maybe I was a little too harsh on my first Goatfish release. I've listened to it a few times and I've realized that it's a lot better than I thought it was when I wrote that post, so if you like what you hear here, download the first release here.

This is the unfinished, unreleased, unheard second Goatfish album, which would have been the fourth release on MPAE, the cassette-only noise label. I hadn't heard this stuff for over ten years until I finally burned it to CD.

At this point, I was using my 4-track as an instrument. I'd record a core sound onto all four tracks, and then overdub various sounds through various effects, while twiddling knobs, onto three of the four tracks. All the tracks with German language titles (possibly taken from Rainer Maria Rilke? - I can't remember now) were recorded this way. I really like these.

The tracks labeled "Billy," on the other hand, were recorded in 1996 for my weird homemade short film, When Billy Said, "Maaaaaaah!" It was shot on a Hi8 camera and I recorded the guitar noise live while I shot portions of the film. For some reason, I wanted them on this album, so here they are.

About the songs:

01. Billy 1 - The first bit of delayed guitar noise that I did for the short film. I like how the first few seconds are static-y noise. It's a good opening.

02. Untergehen - I began with the sound of a train moving on railroad tracks and went from there. One of my favorite noise tracks ever.

03. Billy 2 - Lots of playing with the knobs on my delay pedal while I made noise on the guitar.

04. Ubergang und Untergang - The rare "rhythmic" noise track. I forgot what the core sound was (something from a white noise sleep aid machine), but I basically overmodulated it and twiddled knobs. It came out really well. Sounds a little like Non.

05. Billy 3 - Probably the most controlled of all my Billy tracks. This actually sounds like a creepy B-movie horror soundtrack, like from a Roger Corman Poe movie or something. The wind-down at the end is perfect.

06. Rede Vorrede - Another excellent use of the 4-track as instrument. Damn, I wish I had released this tape.

07. Billy 4 - More creepy horror movie music.

08. Brecher Vorbrecher - I either never recorded this track, or never mixed it down, so while I was burning the tape to CD, I boosted the levels at the end of When Billy Said, "Maaaaaaah!" and made it the final track. I think it works as an end to the album.

Goatfish
The Goatfish Oratorio CS
(n/a)
1998

Buy The Goatfish Oratorio on Bandcamp!

Goatfish - The End of a Fortnight

After the deng tape, I decided to launch my solo noise project, Goatfish, with this tape. This was actually the third release on MPAE - Squeakquencer's Aerobics for Dead People was second.

Unfortunately, The End of a Fortnight doesn't hold up as well as Spasmodic Goat. Most of the tracks lack focus and end up as chaotic free-for-alls.

All 50 tapes came in the above purple sack, which was hand-sewn by Hellicine, the artist who drew the cover.

I've since continued Goatfish as Ghoatefische, with a much more focused, controlled approach.

About the songs:

01. Gone - Probably the first solo noise track I ever recorded. Too bad I can't remember anything about it.

02. Longing - Four tracks of a power drill through various effects. I think the idea was better than the result.

03. Missed - Lots of chaos that doesn't really go anywhere.

04. Frustration - A "serious" attempt at mimicking Masonna.

05. The Wait - A quieter track that didn't turn out so badly.

06. Distance - A little like Aube maybe?

07. Alone - Definitely one of my favorites. This is much more the direction I've headed with Ghoatefische.

08. Lament - My favorite track on the tape. I found samples of goats bleating online, mic-ed my computer's speakers into my four-track and added effects. The result is quite unnerving.

09. Remembering - Way too long track of my guitar feeding back over rumbles from my newly bought bass. I really should have watched the time here.

10. Silence - Another favorite track that shows the more controlled, focused direction I would go.

Goatfish
The End of a Fortnight CS
(MPAE)
1997

Buy The End of a Fortnight on Bandcamp!