The Rita
The Rita (aka Canadian Sam Mckinlay) essentially pioneered the idea of the “harsh noise wall”: a formless, unwavering monolith of sound that does to power-electronics what Earth did to metal. In recent years, numerous other artists have followed strictly to the guidelines of HNW, whereas McKinlay himself has continually pushed onward, unwilling to plough the same terrain for too long, only content while scratching deeper into the creative recesses of his mind. Dig into any of the many The Rita releases and you’ll find a trove of overt sexual imagery, allusions to silent film, and most interestingly, more shark sounds/references/worship than you ever thought possible, all playing crucial roles in both the context and actual sound of his music.
The Rita (aka Canadian Sam Mckinlay) essentially pioneered the idea of the “harsh noise wall”: a formless, unwavering monolith of sound that does to power-electronics what Earth did to metal. In recent years, numerous other artists have followed strictly to the guidelines of HNW, whereas McKinlay himself has continually pushed onward, unwilling to plough the same terrain for too long, only content while scratching deeper into the creative recesses of his mind. Dig into any of the many The Rita releases and you’ll find a trove of overt sexual imagery, allusions to silent film, and most interestingly, more shark sounds/references/worship than you ever thought possible, all playing crucial roles in both the context and actual sound of his music.
The Alceste
A new chapter in The Rita's singular trajectory - an artist who, despite his widespread appreciation, continues to be alone on the forefront of radical and challenging exploration of harsh sound. "The Alceste" is a return to a more layered technique, but still continuing to pursue the minimal, almost percussive sparse crackle of the recent “King Richard III” process recordings - but now in rapid-fire clusters, conjuring McKinlay's muse the 2-Stroke Engine more vividly than ever. Source recording…
Correlations (Book)
This monograph presents the visual language inseparable from the higly influential sound project of Sam McKinlay, pioneer of the "harsh noise wall" with the multidisciplinary entity The Rita. Correlations presents some of the images and documents Sam McKinlay finds most definitive in his practice. The monograph is designed to provide a cohesive understanding of the artist's creative trajectory, as well as illuminate The Rita's uncanny process that visually, conceptually, and historically 'connec…
Lines of Black Nylon and Red Cut Throats
*300 copies limited edition* Vice Wears Black Hose (V.W.B.H.) is a collaborative project by 2 monsters of the American Noise, P/E, HNW scene: Sam McKinlay aka The Rita and Richard Ramirez aka Black Leather Jesus. Project name was inspired by the Italian "Giallo" movie "Il Vizio ha le Calze Nere" (Italian translation of VWBH) released in 1975 by Tano Cimarosa. No need to describe sounds as you know exactly what to expect. If you need more words you don't need that CD.
Magazine
Tip! *2023 stock* New Forces is happy to announce a 2xCD edition of the monumental "Magazine" by The Rita. This 2-disc edition is fully remastered by Grant Richardson, and includes the tracks by Treriksröset and Werewolf Jerusalem, recorded using "Magazine" as source material, that were previously only available as bonus tapes in the special edition of the double LP version. Packaged in a 6-panel digipack with old and new artwork by Sam McKinlay, as well as a booklet featuring liner notes by Sam…
Sten MK II / Breda - SAFAT
*199 copies limited edition* Guns & Harsh Noise Walls! The Rita & Uuincodified meet up for an album devoted to 2 legendary guns used during Warl War II: Sten MK II (British machine gun used by British and Commonwealth forces); Breda-SAFAT (Italian machine gun used by Italian forces). If you need to know more you don't need that CD!
Self Shop
*300 copies limited edition* The Rita and Caligula031 "Self Shop" was first released as a split tape in 2013 by the Italian cult tape-label Nil By Mouth in a limited edition of 180 copies. 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of this album and here we go with the CD re-edition including a third long collaborative track. You know what to expect from those monsters of the Noise-Industrial & HNW scene: this is a sharp and uncompromising harsh noise wall, sounds cutting like a razor inside your brains wh…
Split
*200 copies limited edition. In process of stocking* Brand new split LP by two titans of the harsh noise scene. One side long piece by each artist, delivering trademark splintered harsh noise and low pummelling bass rumble and crunch. Please note that whilst there is no digital only release, all copies come with a download code included.
Medora
*2022 stock. Limited edition of 300 copies.* Here comes the next The Rita attack on Old Europa Cafe...This time also coadiuvated in noise-crime by Caligula031, Climax Denial, Lingua Ignota, Ted Byrnes...
“I’ve seen some people saying that English National Ballet’s Le Corsaire is so out-of-date it’s risible to see it staged in the 21st century. Sex trafficking, men in black with scimitars in Istanbul, pirates trading slaves across the Mediterranean, rich fat men rubbing their jewelled paws over f…
Adding And Subtracting Limbs
*Limited edition of 300 copies.* Formed in Texas by Richard Ramirez back in 1989, Black Leather Jesus is for sure one of the more prominent and reknown harsh-noise collectives world-wide. The Rita is the solo project of Sam McKinlay, also reknown for inventing a new noise sub-genere called "Harsh Noise Wall" (HNW). That said, you already know what to expect from such collaboration. This is a 43 minutes long track of pure and violent NOISE!
Sharks And The Female Form / Tight Fitting Armor
Sharks and the Female Form. The aesthetics and patterns of a woman’s physical form violently and tragically manipulated in the arts:
Painting“You have dared to torture the female who was so certain he would always be adored! You have scourged her, flogged her in all her pride; you have emptied her breasts, creviced her belly, blown up her buttocks, twisted her legs, battered her face! And over it all you have spread a noxious color, composed of all the reds of blood and the greens of putrefactio…
The Elizabeth, The Mary
For those who have followed this project over the years, at this point you are either fully on board or perhaps you've abandoned ship. This is not the type of project you occasionally dabble with, it's a multi-verse of escapism for the fanatically obsessed. It's not just about the sound either...all of the myriad themes and imagery as well as the sound source origins are equally important to the entirety of the whole experience. This is elevated art with concealed benefits earned by means of cul…
Bandaged Invisibility
*Limited to 50 comes along an exclusive black t-shirt in chain-spun cotton with white monochrome print with the original artwork by Sam McKinlay * With his flagship project based in Canada, The Rita, Sam McKinlay has explored and distilled into sound various permutations of obsession and vice for over five lustrums. Though his musical approach has remained more or less consistent, the subject matter inspiring McKinlay's work has periodically shifted through the years, mapping out the constellati…
Bandaged Invisibility
Crushingly beautiful, conceptual rich, and patent by a deep sense of emotive tension, The Rita’s Bandaged Invisibility is issued as double cassette in a very limited edition of 99 hand numbered copies, housed in a beautiful deluxe wooden box.
Womankind
** Compilation of the two Womankind cassettes released on Survivalist in 2010 and 2012. Remastered in an edition of 200 copies ** A new compilation featuring the two Womankind tapes by The Rita released on Survivalist in 2010 & 2012. Remastered by Grant Richardson and co-released with Self Abuse Records.
Swingers Get Killed
** Remastered by Grant Richardson. Edition of 200 CDs in digipak covers ** Reissue of the classic The Rita's album released on Solipsism in 1998. Featuring new artwork and co-released with Self Abuse Records. A true noise classic.
Gamzatti
* Reissue on CD with 8 panel digipak, booklet, includes new material * CD reissue of the long sold-out The Rita LP 'Gamzatti'. Includes an extra 27 minute long reworking of original source material entitled "Gamzatti Stripped". 'Gamzatti' marked the first The Rita recordings utilizing sound sources from pointe shoe work. Pointe shoe preparation and technique by Hannah Sarah Myrberg. This CD reissue is dedicated to her memory. Gamzatti is arguably Sam McKinlay's favourite classical ballet female …
Threesome Slitting
**In process of stocking. 300 copies white label 45 RPM 12".** Live collaboration between these titans of harsh noise. Recorded February 2014 at Dead Audio studio, in Houston, Texas. Double sided offset printed DIY style pasted covers, including A4 insert, plus fliers from live events taking place surrounding these sessions. Mastered and cut at Dubplates & Mastering for maximum fidelity. Absolutely brutal record, you know what to expect with this one.
The Nylons of Laura Antonelli
**300 copies** "Here we have The Nylons of Laura Antonelli, a multi-item release by The Rita, Sam McKinlay. The version you have here is its third issue. This release is the sound of different models of nylon for legs used according to Sam's own purposes. If filled with a spirit of non-literalism, what is "Laura Antonelli"? Forward movement-wise I think of it as a series of inhibitors of varying volume. You can conceive of silence being the underlying reality on this release, and it allows you t…
Journey Of The K-Verband (Throat Lure)
2017 Edition. Journey Of The K-Verband (Throat Lure) was recorded in the summer of 2011 and is the second chapter of The Voyage Of The Decima Mas. The K-Verband was the WWII German frogman equivalent to the Italian Decima MAS; taking example from the Italian frogmen and their missions. The Rita has used the WWII frogmen theme as representative of the recordings, this time via sound sources from the miking of ocean fishing lures while jigging for Lingcod in the same areas snorkelled for the VOT…
Wide-Eyed In The Dark
2017 Edition. This is an immersive collaboration between 2 heavyweight practitioners of the noise sub-genre Harsh Noise Wall: An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter and The Rita. Wide-Eyed In The Dark features the ever prolific American noisemaker Richard Ramirez with one of his HNW projects An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter comprising partners in wall noise, Sean E. Matzus, Sarada Holt, James Tallis and Monica Isabel Sanchez. Formed in 1994, Giallo horror-slasher theme takes centrestage in this noise pr…