I picked up a very cheap copy of this 1972 T. Rex compilation because, when I saw it, I realised I don’t have any. It’s not rare or particularly special as a compilation, but boy did I enjoy listening to it. The average re-sale price of this LP is £2, but that doesn’t mean the songs aren’t great. I used to have a greatest hits cassette back in the early 80’s and it seemed to always be in the tape player so it was played a lot. I seem to recall decorating a bedroom and the cassette was on repeat for about three days, Just T. Rex and nothing else.
I remember Bolan well, I was 10 years old when he died, but he had a TV show that I watched sometimes and, though it seems unlikely, I am convinced that I heard ‘Ride A White Swan’ on the radio when it was first released, which would have been 1970 when I was 3 1/2 years old, it’s possible, but maybe my memory has done some re-writing of history there.
A1
Ride A White Swan
A2
Debora
A3
Child Star
A4
Cat Black (The Wizard’s Hat)
A5
Consuala
A6
Strange Orchestras
B1
One Inch Rock
B2
Salamanda Palaganda
B3
Lofty Skies
B4
Stacey Grove
B5
King Of The Rumbling Spires
B6
Elemental Child
Sing along:
Ride it on out like a bird in the sky ways Ride it on out like you were a bird Fly it all out like an eagle in a sunbeam Ride it on out like you were a bird
Wear a tall hat like a druid in the old days Wear a tall hat and a tattooed gown Ride a white swan like the people of the Beltane Wear your hair long, babe, you can’t go wrong
Catch a bright star and place it on your fore-head Say a few spells and baby there you go Take a black cat Sit it on your shoulder And in the morning you’ll know all you know
Da-da-di-di-da Da-da-di-di-da
I’m probably going to have to get a couple of other albums now because I want 20th Century Boy, Jeepster, Metal Guru, Telegram Sam an so on, he had a long string of hits and even though he had tapered off creatively towards the end, he was definitely on the way back and it’s a real shame that we never saw what he was going to do next.
There are two things that made me buy this record, the first were the words ‘ Limited Edition’ and ‘Coloured Vinyl’, the second was that I’d heard quite a few Matmos tracks in the past that I liked, maybe that’s three things, anyway, it’s quite clear that I am easily seduced by the first two and this was no exception. It wasn’t until after I’d left the record store that I released what the picture on the record sleeve was, I had thought it was a sort of abstract mushroom:
Even though it’s quite clear that it is a washing machine with chunks taken out of it. I just can’t have been paying attention. The album, ‘Ultimate Care II’ is named after that very washing machine and is made up entirely of samples of the sounds the washing machine makes.
This is a problem. I bloody hate the sounds a washing machine makes, well, mine at least, when it starts its spin cycle it is so loud that it drowns out all other noise and it’s damn annoying. So I really didn’t have high hopes for this album when I realised exactly what it was I’d bought.
I’ve given the album about three full listens through and there is no doubt that it is technically adept, well constructed and is, despite it being a washing machine, highly musical but as one might expect, it has a lot of percussive elements.
The liner notes on the inner sleeve explain exactly what it is you are listening to:
WARNING All sounds on this recording were originally generated by a Whirlpool Ultimate Care II washing machine in the basement of our home in Baltimore. These sounds were then manipulated with samplers, software and outboard processing gear. No synthesizers or drum machines were used.
It is 9 tracks, or excerpts as they are listed, although I believe the CD version is one long track designed to echo the washing machine cycle. The vinyl has a ‘Wash’ side and a ‘Rinse’ side. Have a listen to a track below to judge for yourself.
There are knobs being turned, lids being slammed shut, water gurgling, all manner of bangs and electronically beepy sounds that must have been treated, and it does alternate between highly listenable and not.
As an artifact it is something that I rather like owning and I can appreciate the skill it must have taken to create these tracks from a single sound source, but I can’t see myself playing it too often. I’ve said that about other albums before of course and ended up liking them a lot more that I thought I would, so who knows, maybe it’s a grower.
Another month goes by and another surprise arrives in the post. This month the album I received from ‘That Special Record‘ was ‘Verdaillon’ by ‘Saåad’. Why not press play below now before you read any further so you can hear exactly what I’m talking about.
Listening? Good, then I’ll begin.
This current incarnation of Saåad consists of Romain Barbot and Gregory Buffier, who were once part of the Toulousian post-hardcore scene and have produced about a dozen albums so far. I did not know any of this before the album arrived this morning, frankly, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as post-hardcore scene anywhere, which is one of the great pleasures of allowing somebody else to choose an album for you. As I am quite a few months in now I feel that I can trust Miguel at ‘That Special Record‘ not to send me anything bad as there isn’t a single release I’ve received that I haven’t liked, to varying degrees admittedly, but I’ve never not played an album multiple times and enjoyed the listen.
I find the back story of this album really rather interesting, and I’ll quote it from the official release: ‘ Upon invitation of the local Les Orgues festival, giving them access to the Puget organ located in the Church of Notre-Dame de la Dalbade, they composed an original creation that In Paradisum is proud to publish under the form of the album Verdaillon.’
My only frame of reference for the music is the above paragraph and the sleeve of the album:
The front cover (above) depicts building works on a Monastery in Boulogne taken in 1954 by Henri Barbot and the back cover (below) depicts the 1926 collapse of a steeple on Eglise Notre Dame de la Dalbade taken on April 11th 1926.
As a result, through my own imagination or by design, I am transported to catacombs, to a room in the back of a church where there is water being scooped from a font, to the end of a service where a full house lays their bibles down on the pews in unison. Workmen repair something broken in an out of the way apse, monks, hoods up with faces hidden in shadow chant as an old but magnificent church organ sustains long chord changes. And then there is the ambience. It sounds almost ridiculous to me as I write it but much of this music is constructed around a church organ, an instrument I never thought would dominate any album I would ever own, but the sound of it, in it’s original setting with giant reverberations make it a powerful, dark, brooding thing at times, but at others it invokes all those memories of church services attended as a boy where everything was so very serious, and mysterious, to the child dressed up in his Sunday best and not knowing what was going on, only that it must be very important. At other times the organ is uplifting, spiritual even, bringing light to the dull lives of the listening congregation.
Puget pipe organ in the Church of Notre-Dame de la Dalbade
If you did press play a few hundred words back then hopefully you will, by now, hear exactly what I’m getting at. This is music that would sit comfortably as the score to a Gothic film thanks to it’s mood but although categorised as Dark Ambient, Drone and others, it doesn’t seem typical of those genres to me. It has a fullness about it, textures, layers and, with the field recordings, seems to be set very much in a place, in a way of life, that is fading still.
It isn’t for everybody but, to my surprise perhaps, it is for me. It’s been on repeat all day and each cycle presents something new for me to savour.I am not religious, and this is not religious music, but it is both spiritual and secular, simultaneously of yesteryear and of tomorrow.
Tracks:
1. Egregore – 2:26
2. Marsyas (Ad Lib) – 1:32
3. The Harvest – 7:07
4. Incarnat I (Subèrn) – 3:31
5. Opaque Mirror – 5:24
6. Incarnat II (1888) – 2:05
7. Eternal Grow – 6:01
8. Incarnat III (The Invisible Steeple) – 4:46
9 .Vorde – 7:50
Credits:music by Romain Barbot & Grégory Buffier .
Romain Barbot : grand orgue, aulos, vocals, grand orgue samples, field recordings.
Grégory Buffler : grand orgue, aulos, guitar, acoustic laptop, field recordings.
additional aulos on The Harvest by Patrick Faubert.
Grand orgue recorded by Patrick Faubert on 18th & 19th June, 2014 (Toulouse, France), additional recordings by Romain Barbot & Grégory Buffier (2014-2015).
mixed by Aurélien Prévost at BillyPan studio (2015)
mastered by James Plotkin (2016)
The Royal Albert Hall is a a bit of a bugger to get to on a Wednesday evening so when Dave agreed not only to go with me but also to drive that was a real bonus. The day before I had a blowout on the way home from work so I had to get some new tyres on Wednesday, then drive down to Didcot to meet up with Dave and on to London and a side street with free parking, near to a tube station that was only three stops from South Kensington, the nearest station to the Albert Hall.
It’s been quite some time since Dave had been on the tube and it’s fair to say he was quite shocked that it was just under £10 a return ticket for only three stops,to be honest, I was a little surprised myself , I had thought £5 or so, but £10?, a taxi would have been cheaper.
Here’s Dave as we arrived and had a look around:
It’s an impressive structure that’s for sure, although we still got a little lost on the walk from the tube, mostly my fault as I completely lost my ability to understand what google maps was telling me.
In an effort to stop the secondary selling of tickets it was necessary to have the tickets, cover note with name and address and a photo ID to get in, which was fine for us at door 8 and we got in almost immediately, but there were some pretty long queues at the other doors. We were about an hour early so we made our way to the Old Speckled Hen bar where I rather enjoyed a Gin before taking our seats.
We were seated in the circle, which was not good for me as I’m really not very fond of heights and it was a long way down with a barrier that was only at about the level of my knees. I rather nervously shuffled to my seat and sat in what was a very small space for a big man, or a medium man even.
Dave is not worried by heights, which may be why he is wearing that semi-evil smile but this:
scared the crap out of me and I began to wish I’d managed to buy tickets at ground level, however, I was where I was so there was no point moaning about it, but I did, a bit anyway. It had looked as though the concert was going to start with only a half full Albert Hall but at 7:30 it very quickly filled up and by 7:45 it was full.
The Aurora Orchestra walked out and took their seats, followed by Conductor then after a brief pause Bjork appeared stage right and we were underway. I can truthfully say that I was a little choked up as the first track, ‘Stonemilker’ began and Bjork sang the first lines. I have been trying, one way or another, to see her perform live for years and this , finally, was it.
The first half of the performance was a rather hard listen as it was tracks from Vulnicura, which is a rather a difficult mind set to find oneself in being as it is about the breakup of a relationship and the effects it has on a family unit. I have previously mentioned in an earlier post that I was finding the whole Vulnicurna album to be very difficult to get into but, as a result of seeing it performed right there in front of me, I found a way in and have a much deeper appreciation of the songs and am beginning to love it.
The acoustics int the Albert Hall are really astounding. At one point Bjork was singing acapella and stamped her foot on the stage, which I could hear clearly even though I was quite some distance away. Everything was beautifully clear, not a hint of distortion and it was a pleasure on the ears. As I discussed with Dave, the approach to this concert had to be a little different as there was no percussion, no variation I suppose as we had strings and Bjork’s voice, so we approached it as though it were a concert of classical music, which one day may well be the case, but it helped us to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate what was unfolding in front of us. Without the accompanying electronics, with no beat, Bjork seemed even more exposed, vulnerable even as she documented her break up from film director Matthew Barney.
The arrangement of ‘Black Lake’ was quite unnerving in a way, the strings would hold a long note, slowly dying away to the point that the song may have ended, until Bjork again sang, and then the note would be held again, to drift away, at one point eliciting rousing applause as many thought the song finished, before Bjork would again begin to sing.
It was, in a way, an opera, one full of tragedy. As she sang the word that were hauntingly sad, as from ‘Family’:
Is there a place Where I can pay respects For the death of my family
Followed by:
How will I sing us Out of this sorrow Build a safe bridge For the child out of this danger
After about 50 minutes there was an intermission which gave people a chance to nip to the loo, or the bar, but I sat where I was, chatting to Dave, I really didn’t want to stand up and see that drop again. All the opening songs were from Vulnicurna I think, which means the first half was probably as follows:
Stonemilker
Lionsong
History of Touches
Black Lake
Family
Notget
The second half kicked off and was somewhat more upbeat although we did still have just strings and voice, but what a voice, and what an orchestra, everything was beautifully executed. The version of Jóga was indeed beautiful, more delicate with only strings, but retaining it’s essence, even though, just for one song, some percussion or electronics to add light and shade would have been welcome, in the end it didn’t matter, Bjork was majestic, floating about the stage in a dress that reacted to UV light and lit her up like a jellyfish drifting on the tides.
The second half tracks and encore were:
Aurora
I’ve Seen It All
Jóga
Pagan Poetry
Quicksand
Mouth Mantra
Encore:
The Anchor Song
Pluto
As you can see from the numbers below, Vulnicura was the main event, which is understandable as it has been the focus of the last three official releases, the studio album, with strings and Live:
When Björk left the stage after a wonderful version of Pluto, the crowd, who had previously seemed to be under a spell, broke free and there was stamping of the floor and taking up of the song’s “ooh-oooh-ooh-ooh” chant. The house lights came up but it continued, until, alone, Bjork returned to the stage to thank London, “my second musical home”.
Here are some professional photographs taken on the evening and borrowed from the Bjork website:
And here are various bits of video that have turned up since Wednesday last week, of varying length and quality but it gives a flavor of the event:
An the crowd went wild!:
In summation, it wasn’t quite what I expected but it was brilliant all the same and I would have gone to the Hammersmith Apollo a few days later if I could have afforded tickets, but next time around I will be going again for a full band experience, because like any great performer, she left me wanting more.
Did you love Twin Peaks? I did, it was so odd and somehow compelling, with the show creating a feeling that everybody there had something to hide, whether it related to the death of Laura Palmer or not. The strange, slightly uncomfortable viewing was enhanced greatly by the music of Angelo Badalamenti, who seemed to have created a perfect musical accompaniment.
I pre-ordered a re-issue, re-master of the soundtrack a while ago and it arrived last week, it’s a lovely thing. It has a die cut outer sleeve and an inner gatefold housing a coloured vinyl, what colour? Damn fine coffee coloured apparently.
I went to the location where the series was filmed in Washington state back in 1999 (With friends Dirk and Allison pointing things out) and it was quite weird to be there. What you see on the TV screen is, of course, not what is there in reality, however, seeing the actual place made the whole show seem somehow more real and, in many ways, rather more frightening as the protection of the TV screen was removed. I watched it again after visiting and, even though I knew what happened, it still put me rather on edge a lot of the time.
Who could forget this:
Genius! Also crazy, but genius all the same.
I’ve been listening to the soundtrack all week and I do now plan to watch the entire series again, for a third time, because, well, why not?
You can, should you wish, remind yourself of just how good this soundtrack is by playing the video below.
Several years ago I bought a double CD of Electronic music, I can’t remember what it was called, it’s in a drawer somewhere at home, but it was a sort of origins compilation and on it was a track named ‘Cars’ by To Rococo Rot that I really liked, but I never explored any further. When I saw their last album (2014) in the record store for £8.00 it seemed to me that I had little choice but to buy it, so I did and I don’t regret it at all. Although I’ve only listened to the vinyl copy once, I have been listening to the album via Apple Music, probably 7 or 8 times by now. Carrying my turntable, amp and speakers around was difficult enough, then I had to find somewhere to plug it in, so my phone has to suffice when I’m out and about.
I’ve no idea why it was so cheap but, while it is quite different to ‘Cars’, which was around in 1999, it’s still very much the sort of thing that I like.
WIKI: To Rococo Rot is a Berlin-based trio who combine electronic and acoustic elements to create instrumental post-rock and electronic music. The group is composed of bass guitarist Stefan Schneider (ex-member of Düsseldorf-based group, Kreidler) and brothers Robert (guitar, electronics) and Ronald Lippok (drums, effects). Ronald Lippok has also gained praise for his work in Tarwater. The band’s name is a palindrome, as it can be spelled the same both forwards and backwards.
The group’s first album, To Rococo Rot, was released in 1996 in the form of an untitled picture disc. It was subsequently reissued on CD by Kitty Yo. The more widely distributed Veiculo, released by the UK independent label City Slang, appeared the following year. In 1997, the group recorded an album’s worth of material with the producer David Moufang. Following a move to Mute Records, the band released The Amateur View in 1999 and Music Is a Hungry Ghost in 2001, followed by the critically acclaimed Hotel Morgen in 2004. Speculation was released in March 2010, and their latest full-length album, Instrument, was released in July 2014.
I’d had ‘Cars’ on a few playlists so had heard it often but it’s been quite a while and ‘Instrument’has a much more polished feel about it, but is still quite experimental, at times seemingly created by randomly generating notes, although I am making this comparison based on one song vs an entire album.
It does have a feel of what Kosmische Musik (Krautrock) might have developed into, or perhaps just elements of that music and that is a positive as I’m rather fond of Kosmische Musik. It reminds me a little of ‘Fujiya & Miyagi’ at times, but a little more downtempo, less in your face. There are certainly passages where I can hear strong links to Can, which is also no bad thing. I will probably have to do a little more back catalogue investigating as I liked this album a lot.
On Saturday I popped into the local record store and was having a dig around the discounted section where i found a brand new album for £4.00. When there are 7″ singles priced at £11.00 this comes as quite a surprise. I knew nothing about the artist at all but it was classified as ‘World’ music and looked worth a listen, so I decided to buy it.
The artist is Cheikh Lô, and I found the following biography at this site:
http://leopardmannen.no/cheikh-lo/born to Senegalese parents in the town of Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso, West Africa. His father ran a jewelry business and the home was always packed with people. Cheikh Lo himself says that this is perhaps the reason why he is so open as a person, something that is reflected in his music.The young Lo developed an interest in music at an early age, playing drums and singing. His father was accepting of this, but his mother disliked it. The other sons in the family had all studied, and his mother was not happy at the thought of Cheikh Lo becoming a musician and playing in all sorts of sleazy clubs. Yet he continued to practice (obviously) and became a member of the Orchestre Volta Jazz, that played Cuban and Congolese hits plus pop versions of traditional songs from Burkina Faso. In 1978 Lo moved to Senegal and performed with several mbalax bands. In 1985 he bought his first guitar and began composing his own songs.
At that time he was working with musicians from the Ivory Coast and France, and they went to Paris to record a disk in 1987. Eventually the band split up but Lo sayed on for two years and worked as a studio musician. He came in contact with, among others, Papa Wemba. In 1990 he recorded his first cassette in Dakar. The music caught on and this marked the beginning of his career.
A year later he made another cassette but didn’t release it because he was displeased with the sound quality. But Cheikh Lo’s music began to take shape: a gentle form of mbalax that uses impulses from reggae and soukous. The opportunity to record an album came in 1995 when Youssou N’Dour expressed a willingness to produce what was the debut album, “Ne La Thiass”. Cheikh Lo’s first performance in Europe was as the warm-up band for Youssou N’Dour.
Cheikh Lo is a Muslim and member of the Baye Fall brotherhood, a part of the larger brotherhood Mouride. The founder of Mouride, Cheikh Amadou Bamba, had as his maxim: “Pray to God as if you should die tomorrow, work as if you would never die.” The Mourides are now responsible for up to 80% of business life of Senegal. Members of the Baye Fall brotherhood sport rasta hair, and Cheikh Lo is often perceived as a Rastafarian, something he is not. The Muslim Baye Fall tradition predates Rasta tradition in Jamaica.
So know you know as least as much as I do.
I am not really a collector of World music and am somewhat confused by the term to be honest. In Senegal is Lady Gaga classed as ‘World’ music for them? It’s such a wide ranging classification and seems, to me, to have too much lumped into it. Indigenous Folk music doesn’t really work either as much of what was once just called folk music has a whole host of influences that move it away from traditional folk music of any specific region or location. Perhaps it’s too complicated, but if it is to be categorized I think I’d like it to be where it originates and then what it is, using the normal categorizations that we use for western music. For example:
Sengalese/Traditional Folk
S.African/Folk Blues
Or some idea along those lines. Lumping everything as ‘World’ seems somehow dismissive. Below is the categorisation for Tiniwaren that pops up on the right of a google search:
Origin: Tessalit, Mali (1979) Genres: Tichumaren, World music, Blues, Folk music, Rock music
There is no categorisation for Cheikh Lô.
Back to the album, actually, I’ve said little about the album so I really should start. I think it is mostly sung in French or at least some of it is. I understand almost none of the lyrics, which is fine, the voice is an instrument and words are not always necessary (growing up listening to the Cocteau Twins is a good primer for not worrying about lyrics).
The Guardian:The album was recorded in Sweden and Paris, it’s packed with sleek mbalax grooves, mixing funk horns and talking drums, and fronted by Lô’s sweet, dancing vocals, at times falsetto, at others husky. There’s a lovely cross-Atlantic fusion on Degg Gui, with Brazilian chanteuse Flavia Coelho, a duet with Mali’s Oumou Sangaré, and a sultry title track threaded with the Miles-like trumpet of Ibrahim Maalouf. A follower of Baye Fall, a mystic Islamic sect, Lô is a peace warrior on a mission, the light to Boko Haram’s darkness, as Baissons les Armes suggests.
Tracklist
Bamba
3:48
Degg Gui (Album Version)
4:03
Doyal Naniou
5:55
Gemou Ma Ko
5:13
Suzanah
2:51
Balbalou
4:40
Lutax
4:25
Baissons Les Armes
4:03
Leer Gui Fall
6:10
Kouma Magni
2:11
I’ve listened to the album about 10 times now and love it, it is quite possibly the best £4.00 I’ve ever spent on vinyl. Press play on the video above and have a listen to the track, it’s worth it.
I spent yesterday in London touring Universities but managed to slip away long enough to nip to Berwick street and have a root through the basement of Sister Ray. I could, had I had the money, spent £1000 and still left there feeling there were just a couple more albums I could have picked up, but I don’t have that sort of money so I had to be picky. My first choice, from what was quite a large Morricone section, was the soundtrack to the 1968 film Escalation. It’s a re-release from Dagored and this one is one of the yellow clear vinyl versions limited to 500 copies. As you can see in the picture below:
Dagored have this to say:
In 1968 the Maestro Morricone was at the height of his career scoring Sergio Leone’s classic “Once Upon a Time in the West”. For the soundtrack of Roberto Faenza’s cult debut movie ESCALATION, set in swinging London, 1968, Morricone teams up with fellow composer Bruno Nicolai and the vocalizations of Alessandro Alessandroni’s “Cantori Moderni”, making this one of his least minimal soundtracks.
Containing the legendary tune DIES IRAE PSICHEDELICO , this is one of the most essential Morricone soundtracks of all- time.
It’s certainly a beautiful object and though I haven’t seen the film, but will, I expect it to be really rather odd based on the soundtrack, which is equally beautiful and bonkers.
Here, courtesy of youtube, are a few of the tracks from it:
Album Tracklist:
Escalation
Dies Irae Psichedelico
Collage N. 1
Luca’s Sound
Senza Respiro
Luca
Casa Londra
Matrimonio
Collage N. 2
Carillon Erotico
Primo Rito
Secondo Rito
Funerale Nero
The soundtrack has all of the classic Moriccone traits, from harpsichord to wordless vocals (and some with words, shouty mad words, in Italian, probabaly), and they work brilliantly. With films this old it’s often possible to stream them for free online but I haven’t found anything yet, not even a clip, so I may have to try and find a dvd of it from somewhere.
I also nipped across the road to Reckless Records, which is, for the most part, used vinyl, but after a brief flick through the racks I didn’t see anything that I really fancied. There may have been a few things but it was organised in such a way that I couldn’t easily go to the sections I wanted.
Next time i’m in the area I’ll have to give it a little more time.
It was great to receive another 12″ with my ‘That Special Record’ subscription, because it was a great 12″from Danish label ‘No Hands’. I guess it is a sampler of sorts as it has 4 different artists on it but they sit side by side really well and the listening experience is very consistent. By this I mean that the the chosen tracks flow from one to the other without noticeably effecting the listener, breaking one out of a mood so to speak, it flows.
While I would like to present a rather more glamorous view of myself, I listened to this 12″ nice and loud while washing the dishes, which gives me an idea for a suite of music similar to ‘Music for Airports’ by Brian Eno. ‘Music for Washing Dishes’ doesn’t sound quite as intriguing though.
I can’t recommend the Maizena Boys 12″ highly enough. It’s a corker
Tracklist
A1
–DJ Sports
Emotional Endeavour
6:02
A2
–Manmade DeeJay & Palta
Improvise In Order
8:55
Fake Picasso Side
B1
–C.K
Log On
5:22
B2
–Patla
Fingerdansen
8:19
This months album is ‘Prayer and Resonance’ by ‘Unearth Noise’ which is an odd one. It’s a double LP with a wonderful cover, which makes me feel slightly odd if I stare at it for too long. Here it is:
I haven’t had a lot of time to give this album a proper listen but I can tell you that on first listen I frowned a lot, either from concentrating or wondering what I was actually listening to. Then I took closer note of the album title and track names and things began to make a little more sense. ‘A place where prayers are heard’, for example is, musically, a perfect embodiment of the title. To provide some reference point, if you have watched the Netflix series ‘Stranger Things’ (which is a great series) and know the part where they are walking through the woods in the upside down world, then this track would slot in there quite nicely. It is both creepy and joyous, depending on how you choose to think about it. Have a listen and make your own mind up (but I am coming around to the idea that I like this track a lot):
Juno Records website had this to say:
In March, Izabel Caligiore decided to launch a label named after her superb Lullabies For Insomniacs show on Redlight Radio, with its debut release coming from the excellent Sugai Ken. Lullabies For Insomniacs now returns, proffering a debut LP from the impeccably obscure Unearth Noise. Full of clandestine mood pieces, droning textures, unsettling pitched-down IDM rhythms, mutant wind chimes and deep space explorations, Prayer & Resonance does a fine job balancing dark and maudlin material, with tracks that feel more gently positive. At 17 tracks deep, it takes a little time to fully take root in your consciousness, but the musical rewards are more than worth the effort.
They say it better than me. I feel like this is a grower, and it’s not all weirdness, ‘Sacred Souls’ for example, is a much more instantly accessible track, well, to my ears it is at least.
There’s still something unsettling about it though.
Tracklist
A1
Soul Surgery
A2
Ayahuasca
A3
Divining Rod
A4
Decoding the past
A5
A Place Where Prayers are Heard
B1
Message from the Dead
B2
Redemption
B3
Sacred Soul
B4
The Sound Is God
Violin – Gautam Karnik
C1
Eulogy
C2
The Mist
Violin – Gautam Karnik
C3
Sceptres
D1
I Have a Dream
D2
I Surrender
D3
Like Meeting God
Words By – Tanisha Jackson
D4
Another Dimension
Credits
Artwork By – Mario Martinez
Composed By – Roger Berkowitz
Design – Steele Bonus
Mastered By – Wouter Branderburg
There a soundcloud preview and a nice write up here:
Overall I think I’m going to enjoy getting to know this album, it has some nice textures and odd dissonance which are a couple of the things that really appeal to me in music, even if that music has the ability to make me a little uncomfortable.
False Readings On is the new album from renowned experimental composer, Eluvium. Its creation was originally inspired by themes of cognitive dissonance in modern society. By its conclusion it had become a mirror rather than a magnifying glass, evolving into an hour-long meditation on self-doubt, anxiety, and separation from one’s self. There is an emotional lucidity and melodic ingenuity to Eluvium‘s music that has made him increasingly stand out from the sea of ambient artists that his earlier albums no doubt helped inspire. Sounding like an orchestra ceaselessly performing even as it sinks beneath an ocean of distortions and tape noise – with the occasional operatic voice piercing the surface – False Readings On is assuredly the most daring, dynamic, and distinct album of his luminous career.
TRACK LISTING
1. Strangeworks
2. Fugue State
3. Drowning Tone
4. Regenerative Being
5. Washer Logistics
6. Movie Night Revisited
7. Beyond The Moon For Someone In Reverse
8. False Readings On
9. Rorschach Pavan
10. Individuation
11. Posturing Through Metaphysical Collapse
is it ‘assuredly the most daring, dynamic, and distinct album of his luminous career.’? Well, yes, it probably is because it’s brilliant.
I was in town yesterday and it was the first thing I saw when I walked in, well, the first vinyl album anyway, I had to stroll nonchalantly and with a slight superiority complex past the CD’s first. I’m not proud of it, it just sort of happens. So there it was, I picked it up, I bought it. Not a particularly exciting story but that’s what happened. There are 500 grey vinyl copies but I don’t have one of those, it would have been nice, but I’m happy with what I have.
In order to convey not only how this music sounds, but how it feels, it is necessary to use words such as, Majestic, Sweeping & Vistas, perhaps all together, majestic sweeping vistas, yes, that works. I was happily listening, being carried away on undulating ocean waves, when, during ‘Regenerative Being’ a voice broke through, and it moved me close to tears such was the beauty of it. Even after it is gone it seems to echo there still. It’s a rare moment in music when something resonates with the listener quite as much as this did with me. We have that voice, contemplative piano, stirring strings and it becomes an ocean upon which we are adrift. These components are not unique, but the manner in which they are structured and combined makes them so.
And here it is, do have a listen if you have the time, it’s a wonderful piece of music:
There is still more to come, as the album builds to the final track, the 17-minute epic “Posturing Through Metaphysical Collapse.” It builds and builds, barely noticeable at first but moving forward as though drifting towards a massive waterfall.
For those who like ambient or instrumental music, ‘False Readings On’ really is a triumph.
I am sat outside a Costa listening to a digital version of a vinyl album I just bought. I forgot how much I enjoy doing this, just being left alone, with some music and my own thoughts.
I’m always on the lookout for something new to listen to, especially if it’s cheap. I bought ‘illuminate’ by Alex Banks because in was in the dance/electronic section and was a double vinyl for £8. The good news is that I really like it! So that’s a score.
I’ll pop a track here later when I’m back on the computer and not using my phone.
For information purposes, I have no idea how to reply to a comment on this blog, really, no clue at all. I’d like to reply, but all I’m offered is an edit button, which isn’t the same thing at all. I’ve tried different themes to see if that’s why there is no reply button, but that didn’t help, so I ‘Like’ comments, not because I’m being rude, but because it seems to be the best I am able to do, which is a bit embarrassing. Sorry. I will continue to try and figure out what the problem is. Just realised I can do it on my phone.
Public Image Limited announced they would be playing at The Assembly in Leamington Spa, which is 7 miles from my house, so I’m going to that. I saw them at the beginning of June this year at the O2 in Oxford but didn’t enjoy it all that much, which I think was mostly because I was a little under the weather, so I’m hoping this will be better. It’s in November which will, I hope, allow me to have calmed down a bit regarding the recent re-release announcements.
Why am I annoyed about these announcements? It’s all about the money. I’d love to have a copy of ‘Metal Box’, in the original metal tin, but the re-release (Deluxe Edition) is so overpriced I won’t be able to afford it. Here’s the announcement that I saw:
The box contains the following:
‘Metal Box’ 4 LP
LP 1: Metal Box
LP 2: Metal Box (continued)
LP 3: Live at Manchester, Russell’s Club (The Factory) 18/6/79
LP 4: Rare Mixes & BBC Session
I’d love these, I really would, but the price is £162.99 (or $216.19 if that’s your currency), for 4 records, two of which I happen to already have, as would most people who are in the market to buy this. So I’d be paying £162.99 for 2 LP’s and a box to put them in. Too much, way too much. I’d rather have the original to be honest, which was three 12″ singles in the metal box (picture below). The price really annoys me as it just seems to be about twice what it should cost.
This month I will be going to see Bjork at the Royal Albert all, which I’m very excited about, even though the tickets haven’t actually arrived yet.
I also picked up a couple of tickets for another gig at The Assembly, though it isn’t until next year, to see The Handsome Family.
If you have ever watched the TV series ‘True Detective’ then you will know The Handsome Family as the opening music was taken from their 2003 album Singing Bones, which I had on CD when it came out, I still have it somewhere I should think. It came as quite a surprise to me when I watched the first episode of True Detective, but a nice one.
Here is that very song, which is called ‘Far From Any Road’:
Other gigs that I’ve been considering are Beth Orton in Oxford, although I’ve already seen her twice so may not go for that one. The Kills, Gary Numan, both also in Oxford. Mø is playing in Birmingham in October, as are Polica.
I need to find a gig buddy, a friend with benefits, the benefit being that they go to gigs with me. I go to a lot on my own as most people I know don’t share the same taste in music as me, although, admittedly, my tastes are eclectic, but sometimes it’s worth going for the experience, whether you know much about the band or not.
enjoy listening to it. The average re-sale price of this LP is £2, but that doesn’t mean the songs aren’t great. I used to have a greatest hits cassette back in the early 80’s and it seemed to always be in the tape player so it was played a lot. I seem to recall decorating a bedroom and the cassette was on repeat for about three days, Just T. Rex and nothing else.
a feeling that everybody there had something to hide, whether it related to the death of Laura Palmer or not. The strange, slightly uncomfortable viewing was enhanced greatly by the music of Angelo Badalamenti, who seemed to have created a perfect musical accompaniment.
album’s worth of material with the producer David Moufang. Following a move to Mute Records, the band released The Amateur View in 1999 and Music Is a Hungry Ghost in 2001, followed by the critically acclaimed Hotel Morgen in 2004. Speculation was released in March 2010, and their latest full-length album, Instrument, was released in July 2014.
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