John Aldridge package review

Last week I received a package in the mail from John Aldridge (Hillsborough, NC). Mr. Aldridge has been involved in multiple projects, including NJ9842, Big Ed, and was a member of the (sadly now defunct) Facepalm Death. I first met him at the first ATLANTIFEST in December 2016, and he later booked my gig at the Juggling Gypsy in Wilmington, NC during my Hell Garbage tour last November.

The items were packed in an envelope previously sent to him by Henry Rial (From Pittsburgh, PA and runs the PENNSYLVANIA HYPNOCENTER label; he also booked my Pittsburgh gig at the Glitterbox Theater during my aforementioned tour), who also wrote the note on the back of it.

Each item was limited to 15 copies apiece.
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Óglaigh Na hÉireann - Niae
MENMAE-001:
A collage of field recordings, gargled lo-fi black metal vocals, strumming on an electric that doesn't sound like it's plugged into anything, and all throughout the disc is a high-frequency buzzing sound. I imagine a black metal musician playing his guitar while on a nature hike at a state park. Lots of birds chirping. It's like something that the Les Legions Noires collective (notably Aäkon Këëtrëh) would record/release in this day of age of digital recording devices. The last track is different from the rest in that it consists of a collage of tape manipulated vocals. Kinda like the closing bit on Pink Floyd's "Bike" but on some realllllly bad acid during a Satanic ritual. It must be an outtake from the first Ghoulies movie or something, haha.

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Léig - Baithis
MENMAE-002:
Harsh noise made by a six-year old with his caretakers and one guest. No really, it says so in the liner notes, and you can hear his voice throughout. It's like if Finland's own THE SILVER ditched their guitars and drumkit in favor of a bunch of fx pedals. DO YOU WANNA DAAAAAAANCE?!

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JRV/NJ9842/ACEPHALE 
3-way split tape
Single-sided cassette

This one's gonna be a bit tricky to review because it sounds like all of the tracks segue directly into each other. Kind of like an audio exquisite corpse.

JRV is the solo noise project of Carl Kruger from Wilmington, NC.  I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Kruger perform at the Juggling Gypsy cafe in Wilmington during my Hell Garbage tour last November. He performed with his daughter (!) under the name "Kruger Family Christmas" 

His track consists of what sounds like metal scraping, feedback, EQ'd madness, and a low droning cable buzz hum behind it all. Chaotic yet organized at the same time.

NJ9842 is the next track. Cinematic soundscapes with what sounds like a guitar and someone messing with a toy phone at the beginning. The track quickly simmers down, and I'm guessing into the ACEPHALE track, which starts off with delay fx applied to Casio drumbeats and other stuff.  Has kind of an underwater low-key vibe to it. It slowly builds up into clanging noises and harmonium-esque sounds. Kinda like Nico's The Marble Index meets Einstürzende Neubauten. The track abruptly cuts off, ending the tape.