Special
Russian ‘Best Of’ from the Italian Medieval / Ethereal legends! This
2CD set also includes: TWO new and exclusive songs recorded in 2007; a
previously unreleased, older track; plus a re-recorded, new version of
"Hovering", from one of Ataraxia’s best release ever: the
limited and long sold out EP "Des Paroles Blanches"; and even two songs
from the rarity "Orlando" - an EP released on the Prikosnovenie label
almost 10 years ago! 22 tracks in total.
"Loss"
is not about the violent moment of loss, but its aftermath. The
crushing melancholia, the endless questions of “what if?” and “why?”,
as well as the concepts of regret, missed opportunity, or a feeling or
moment in time that can never be recaptured. But even in the midst of
this gloomy scene, hope and light are born, for loss is never total.
Memory lingers, a residue of evidence is left behind, and life goes on.
“For me, the album is an extension of the previous release, Ghosts on
Magnetic Tape, which relates to Electronic Voice Phenomena, or the idea
that the dead can still communicate with the living world through
recorded media. In order to try to capture this feeling I wanted the
music to leave a spectral, ghostly impression, and to have an organic
decaying quality, like something trying to break through from another
world. To this end my musical sources were mainly 78 rpm records, a
vibraphone and an upright piano. No synths or electronics were used,
only organic sources or instrumentation that has been around for at
least the last century.” This package consists of a high resolution 5.1
surround sound DVD-Audio disc (NTSC, but will play in the vast majority
of European DVD players) and a standard stereo CD. Presented in a
hardback gatefold digifile.
'Go Crystal Tears' is the first outing for the new Burial Hex sound and
highlights influences such as 80s horror synth master John Carpenter
and Goblin coming to the fore and blending with the almost black metal
vocal style and "horror electronics". 'Temple of the Flood', clocking
in at a 14 and a half minutes, is one of the final old-style Burial Hex
tracks and proceeds in a style reminiscent of previous works with
heavily processed analogue electronics and synths up, developing into
eroding layers of primitive percussion, water drops and exotica piano,
before ending in a deluge of sub bass and redemptive church organ. Nika
(aka Zola Jesus) is here joined here by live member Dead Luke. Nika's
voice, reminiscent of a teenage Diamanda Galas or a more deranged Beth
Ditto, soars and wails within an ever changing cloud of pulsing synths
and analogue electronics, joined by a warm synth line. Spot-varnished
sleeve.
Reissue
of the rare "Arkades" LP, which was also originally released on Fourth
Dimension in Spring 2006, plus an extra disc comprising a live concert
recording featuring three lengthy tracks, ‘Maltan Haukka’, ‘Ibizan
Rambo’ and ‘Fuutikeri’. This apocalyptic Finnish avant-metal / improv.
/ folk / Neu-Prog group return with a special live radio session
originally recorded for WFMU during their October 2005 US tour.
Possibly one of their best, most blissed-out, records yet. Featuring
two long workouts and wrapped in a Spaghetti Western sleeve. Perfect.
Vinyl-only
release from Finland’s finest export. This release gathers recordings
for a session at WFMU, recorded during their second US tour and
captured live on the 25th September 2007. Spread over the four sides
are the six cuts which made up Circle’s second session for WFMU, once
more capturing the self-proclaimed New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal
outfit proving themselves to be almost everything but ‘Heavy Metal’
despite possessing the only too apparent ability to compete with the
best amongst that world. Taking in operatic vocals, unearthly mulch,
psychedelic splurge, nods towards folk and krautrock, and mammoth riffs
capable of knocking down nearby buildings, avant-rock has rarely
arrived both so potent and in dire need of a straitjacket before.
Presented in a stunning glossy gatefold sleeve!
Recorded
in Poland on archaic Soviet Bloc technology,"My Firstborn Will Surely
Be Blind" sees Dead Raven Choir in full throttle audio assault with
total disregard for all conventions of audio fidelity, with great songs
of the 20th Century by artists diverse as Townes Van Zandt, Richard
Thompson and Cole Porter torn limb from limb and dragged through
Smolken's forest home. Curiously upbeat in parts, though with harrowing
and bizarre artwork. "A ghostly fog. A hollow sonic death rattle: Doom
with pneumonia" (The Wire). Ltd x 900 copies on 300 'smoke' coloured
vinyl with printed inner sleeve.
Deleyaman
translate a sense of timeless spirituality into a contemporary and
universal language, carrying the listener into a mesmerizing world.
Hardly classifiable into a single genre, “Fourth, Part One” combines
Darkwave with ethnic, exotic and ethereal elements. The
use of several languages (French, English, Armenian) by vocalists
Beatrice Valantin and Aret Madilian has always been a distinct
characteristic of the band, with inspiration from American poets
(Robinson, Hecht, Emerson, Poe) and Lebanese mystic poet Khalil Gibran.
Presented in digipak format, accompanied by a 32-page booklet.
With
"Years Lend A Golden Charm" we are invited to experience the very birth
of what is now a well established project within the Dark Ambient
Industrial scene. 73 minutes of material from the first three DM
cassette releases from 1993 ("Consecrare", "Via Peregrinus", "Hortus
Conclusus / Triptych"), plus one previously unreleased track. Highly
sought after by collectors but only available in a mere dozen handmade
copies, these songs are now finally made available to a greater
audience. When you listen to the music with the knowledge that
hindsight brings, it is obvious that these are the roots and the
foundations, not only of the first full album "Songs Over Ruins", but
of every subsequent release up to the latest, "Seven Sorrows". Russian
import in a digipak.
This
double CD set catches legendary German experimental rock outfit Faust’s
debut concert in Poland, from Krakow’s Loch Ness Club, on the 15th
November 2006. Spread over both discs, we are afforded a perfect
opportunity to hear a blend of the band’s classic songs and material
previewed from their new studio album, played energetically and with a
vigour reflecting precisely how happy they were to be in a completely
new environment which, in turn, welcomed them with open arms. The
entire concert was recorded and mixed professionally by two of Poland’s
most experienced sound engineers, Piotr Papier and Marcin Cheblowski.
Reissue
of the eponymous album from this Dutch act, originally released in an
edition of 50 copies in 2007. Music about forests, transcendence,
cleansing, drowning, fire and light. Technical innovations +
atmospheric aesthetics and thus the 'black' of black metal music,
prepared piano music by 20th century avant-gardist composers, some art
rock, ambient and shoegaze of the 90s, ritual music, Neofolk, bending,
functional dissonance, non-song-based structuring and vocal
experiments. Pro-pressed CD, presented in a handmade wooden gatefold
sleeve with cloth lining and 4 inserts. Wrapped in incense-dried leaves
and sealed in a plastic sleeve. Highly recommended!
The vinyl-only "Waking, Shaking" release consists of two lengthy
tracks: 'Tidal Blackness' is a 23 minute cloud of improvised guitar and
bass drone, underpinned with sparse percussive elements and dappled
with the rays of ethereal melodies. This track, recorded live in
Oakland in 2008, represents the more gentle side of Heavy Winged in
some ways and is largely soothing. The second side harbors 'Morning
Flesh'; 18 minutes that veer towards the caveman Krautrock of the
recent "Alive In My Mouth" LP, drums pounding, Neanderthal guitar
chugging, though with a melodic haze drifting across the musical
landscape like a lysergic mistral, leading the listener ever further
into the shifting sands of the forbidden zone.. Ltd x 500 copies on
transparent grey vinyl.
Jesu
creates yet another epic record, Justin Broadrick marrying his
trademark bass-heavy riffs with an almost Phil Spector-ish pop
sensibility creating anthems of melancholic euphoria. Half buried clean
singing collides with speaker rattling low end, blissed out humming
resonance and machine beats to create an otherworldly ghost pop. The
"Sun Down / Sun Rise" EP picks up where 2006's "Silver" EP left off,
this time taking two songs and stretching them out over 35 minutes,
mixing the bittersweet melody with huge swathes of oceanic drone and
minimalist electronica. This is by far the most accomplished and
ambitious that Jesu have sounded to date. Ltd x 300 copies on
translucent/magenta vinyl.
"Malefeasance"
is a lengthy and complex affair that further explores L'Acephale's
fascinations and strikes headlong into the darkest of musical vistas.
The journey this time is perhaps even more academic than the debut
"Mord Und Totsclag": further ethnographic audio elements are now
present, more spacious passages, a deeper approach. A mix of ambient,
warping tones, black metal, chanting, ethereal keyboards, drones,
acoustic guitars, noise, field recordings and Tibetan ritual music. The
last two tracks best show the nature of Set Sothis' collaborations with
Markus Wolff (Waldteufel, Crash Worship), sharing some of his vocal and
percussive styles. By no means do L'Acephale make music for the casual
listener. In many ways they transcend the preconceived ideas of what
may be expected: L'Acephale are most successful at operating beyond the
constraints of genre altogether, and 'Malefeasance', with its dark,
dreamlike and harrowing atmospheres, is their testament.
