Welcome

elcome to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blog. The aim of this blog is to introduce the readers to music that is out of print, commercially unavailable, released under a creative commons license, or with approval by the featured artist. The majority of the music posted here would be considered underground. Don't let that fool you into thinking that the music featured here might be any less enjoyable than that of the mainstream artists you hear on the radio, as this couldn't be further from the truth. Please keep in mind that the majority of the artists that appear on this blog, along with their respective record labels, are not wealthy and need your support. If you enjoy the material that you find here, please support the artists/labels by purchasing their material afterwards. If you are an artist/label that would prefer to have your material removed from this blog, simply leave me a comment, and I would be more than happy to promptly remove the offending post. In addition to running this blog, I also work on a few other projects during my spare time. You can find links to those, as well as a few other important links associated with Digital Meltd0wn in the menu bar above.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

芸能山城組 Geinō Yamashirogumi - 恐山/銅之剣舞 Osorezan / Dou No Kenbai (1976)



Saturday, March 26, 2011

World's End Girlfriend - Dream's End Come True (2002 - 320kbps)

World's End Girlfriend - Dream's End Come True

Thursday, March 24, 2011

虚装束 Karasyozoku - Mischievous Sigyn 1923 cassette (2008 - 320Kbps)


On September 1, 1923, the great Kantō earthquake (関 東 大 震 災) struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū. First hand accounts reported the duration of the earthquake at between 4 & 10 minutes, believed to be 7.9 on the Richter scale. The power & intensity managed to move a 121 ton statue of Buddha almost two feet. An estimated 100,000 to 140,000 people lost their lives. In present day Japan, September 1 is Disaster Prevention Day. Schools, & both public & private organizations host disaster drills. Because of these practices, the Japanese people were more prepared than most populations for the current disaster.

Karasyozoku’s debut release, Mischievous Sigyn 1923 is based on this natural disaster as well as the political & social events that accompanied it. This is the second release from Lust Vessel in the new wave of Japanese noise. It is a mixture of terrifying heavy electronics, de-constructed organ, tortured female vocals mixed with various field recordings. It has elements of Musique Concrète & old school industrial. It could easily be the horrifying soundtrack of past or current events in Japan. Not for the squeamish.

Karasyozoku is made up of three members: Dr. Torikabuto; Kichi; & Annoying Labia. All tracks were recorded & mixed late 2007 at Sacred Lust Studio. It was released on cassette with a A5 sized 14 page booklet with photos & lyrics, limited to 150 copies, currently out of print.

Year of Release: 2008
Label: Lust Vessel LV#002
Genre: J-noise, Industrial, Musique Concrete

Tracklist:
Side A -
Sigyn Turned the Basin Over Her Husband at Last
Strayers Seek Crowd, Even Though They Don't Have the Reason
Balm from the Crucible of Corpses
Side B -
Fact is More Horrible than Drama
To Be or Not to Be; Criminals as Existence
Die Todesfalle und die Dirnen

Download: Karasyozoku - Mischievous Sigyn 1923 cassette
Download Size: 113MB

Saturday, March 19, 2011

三上 寛 Mikami Kan - BANG! (1980 - 320Kbps)


As the earthquake, tsunami, & nuclear disaster in Japan unfolds, we cannot help but feeling overwhelmed as we learn of the increasing death & injury toll, as we see the tremendous destruction. We have never before witnessed the magnitude of events taking place in Japan.

In the coming days & weeks, the Japanese people as well as many others of us around the world will be experiencing intense psychological feelings; extreme anxiety; depression; insomnia; bad dreams; flashbacks of the past horrible events; helplessness; numbing detachment; feelings of unreality; depersonalization; dissociative amnesia where a person can’t recall important aspects of the trauma; & tendencies to avoid anything or any thoughts to do with the trauma.

In other words, everybody will have the Japanese Blues.

The Blues may not be native to Japan, but there is one artist in Japan at the very fore-front of what he himself has named 'Japanese Blues'. That is the legendary 三上 寛 Mikami Kan. Mikami is a guitarist, singer & songwriter, a fixture in the Tokyo musickal underground, the master of twisted Enka Blues, Japan’s king of the surrealist aside & situationist duckwalk. Kan has been around for over four decades, playing his solo material in Tokyo live musick houses regularly. He is a mainstay of the Japanese countercultural underground, having over time worked with everyone from Shuji Terayama & his Tenjo Sajiki theatrical troupe to leading lights of the PSF Records Japanese noise psych camp via his work in Vajra with Haino Keiji & Ishizuka Toshi or the Haino/Mikami/Yoshizawa trio.

When Mikami arrived in Tokyo in 1968 he was overwhelmed with the feeling of violence in modern life as a result of American intervention in Japan. So, harnessing that universal emotion, a whole new species of Blues was born. The Japanese Blues... the 'Mikami mojo'. A unifying thread of violent emotion runs through all of Mikami's recordings. It's a thread composed of brutality tempered with tenderness, angst with empathy. It's a harsh yet graceful sonic melee sung in Mikami's singular silken rasp. Perhaps the most striking of Mikami's muses is his use of anger in a powerful homegrown blend of rustic wisdom & urban cynicism.

Most people associate the blues with depressing lyrics about loss or loneliness, but that’s not completely accurate. As the famous Bluesman Willie Dixon explains, "It's got to be a fact or it wouldn't be Blues." The Blues is about life, the good parts & the bad parts, but the Blues has always been a musick of hope & healing. It reflects humanity’s power to overcome adversity & empathize with others. Here’s hoping that Mikami Kan’s surrealist take on the Blues will ring a unifying note in these surreal days.

Year of Release: 1980
Label: Sound Marketing System SM20-4144
Genre: Japanese Blues, Folk Rock, Free Jazz

Tracklist:

Side A:
このレコードを私に下さい (wo watashi ni kudasai)
逢えてよかった (aete yokatta)
華麗なる絶望 (kareinaru zetubou)
BANG!

Side B:
密漁の夜 (mitsuryou no yoru)
なんてひどい唄なんだ (nante hidoi uta nanda)
赤い馬 (akai uma)
最後の最後の最後のサンバ (saigo no saigo no saigo no sanba)

Download: Mikami Kan - BANG!
Download Size: 109.91MB

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Friction - Atsureki (1980 - 320kbps)





Ananda Shankar - Ananda Shankar (1970 - 320kbps)


Update: Re-upped as requested on March 16, 2011

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Enos - Chapter 1 (2010 - 320kbps)


Friday, March 11, 2011

The Dance of Al Qaynah





Thursday, March 10, 2011

Introducing Our Newest Contributor - Saturnword

Saturnword
I am very pleased to announce that we have a new regular contributor here at Digital Meltd0wn. Her name is Sarah, but most people know her as Saturnword. I'm not going to reveal too much information about her because I want to give her the opportunity to introduce herself to you all as she sees fit. I met SaturnWord at last.fm while trying to find out more information about music from the countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, which have been experiencing widespread protests and revolutions. I was thoroughly impressed when she sent me back a lengthy message providing far more information than I ever expected about various bands and scenes in the Middle East and North Africa. However, her musical knowledge extends far beyond what originates in those regions. I won't spoil what she has in store for you all, but I can guarantee that she will be delivering music of the quality that you have come to expect here at Digital Meltd0wn. I'm excited to have another contributor here, as it will ensure that we can present a greater diversity of music than ever before. I believe that we may finally be able to deliver music to you on a scale not seen since 2008, when we were able to crank out 284 posts. I would like to turn things over to Saturnword now so that she can introduce herself to you all.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

La Fraction - La Fraction EP (1996)


Monday, March 07, 2011

Zero Hour - Zero Hour EP (1994)


Saturday, March 05, 2011

Red Dons - Death to Idealism (2007, Brazilian Press LP 2009)

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 04/15/2014. Enjoy, NØ