FULL HUNTER'S MOON (14 October 2008)

The Musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

VELVET UNDERGROUND (THE)

APRIL 1966, SCEPTER STUDIOS (NORMAN DOLPH ACETATE)


Original Issue: 1966

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Dedicated to all my dear male followers...from Margot, your "Venus in furs" ;-)

shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather

whiplash girlchild in the dark

comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him

strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart


downy sins of streetlight fancies

chase the costumes she shall wear

ermine furs adorn the imperious

severin, severin awaits you there


i am tired, i am weary

i could sleep for a thousand years

a thousand dreams that would awake me

different colors made of tears


kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather

shiny leather in the dark

tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you

strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart


severin, severin, speak so slightly

severin, down on your bended knee

taste the whip, in love not given lightly

taste the whip, now plead for me


i am tired, i am weary

i could sleep for a thousand years

a thousand dreams that would awake me

different colors made of tears


shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather

whiplash girlchild in the dark

severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him

strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

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1 European Son
2 The Black Angel's Death Song
3 All Tomorrow's Parties
4 I'll Be Your Mirror
5 Heroin
6 Femme Fatale
7 Venus In Furs
8 I'm Waiting For The Man
9 Run Run Run

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from the E-Bay auction:

This auction is for a unique 12" LP acetate whose unearthing has been storied in several underground/label international news features, periodicals and a documentary over the last several years including Rolling Stone Magazine (December 30, 2004), Mojo Magazine (May 2005), U.K. Record Collector Magazine (May 2005), Goldmine Magazine (December 8, 2006), The Globe & Mail (May 28, 2005 and January 14, 2006), and the 2006 Documentary "Velvet Underground Under Review (An Independent Critical Analysis)".

Following is excerpted and adapted (with the author's approval) from the article written by Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records in Portland Oregon which is featured in the December 8, 2006 issue of Goldmine Magazine currently on news-stands through mid December:

THE MYSTERY OF THE VELVET UNDERGROUND'S "REAL FIRST RECORD" (AND HOW THE ONLY EXISTING COPY WAS BOUGHT FOR 75 CENTS)

In September of 2002 Warren Hill of Montreal Canada was perusing a box of records at a Chelsea, New York street sale when he happened upon a nice Leadbelly 10" on Folkways, a water damaged copy of the first Modern Lovers LP on Beserkely, and a brittle 12" piece of acetone-covered aluminum with the words "Velvet Underground. 4-25-66. Att N. Dolph" written on the label. He purchased the three records for 75 cents each.

As I have a small knowledge of records and am an old friend of Warren's, I got a call from him the next day in which he described the acetate. Because of the date and the unique type of pressing, we both agreed that it was probably an in-studio acetate made during the recording of the first Velvet Underground LP back in 1966 (I had heard that they occasionally would have a vinyl cutting lathe in the studio to cut records of the day's recordings for the artists and/or producers to take home for review). Warren didn't want to play the mysterious platter due to the fragile nature of acetates, and the cheap nature of his record needle, so we agreed that the next time he was visiting me in Portland we would check it out together. If it turned out to be what we thought it was, maybe we could sell it at Mississippi Records, the small neighbourhood record store in Portland that I work at. Sight unseen and sound unheard, I assumed that it was likely an acetate pressing of the recording which would be eventually be released as the group's first album, "The Velvet Underground & Nico".

It took awhile for Warren to visit, but when he did he brought along the acetate. We cued it up and were stunned -- the first song was not "Sunday Morning" as on the "Velvet Underground & Nico" Verve LP, but rather it was "European Son"- the song that is last on that LP, and it was a version neither of us had ever heard before! It was less bombastic and more bluesy than the released version, and it clocked in at a full two minutes longer. I immediately took the needle off the record, and realized that we had something special. Between the two of us we had heard many Velvets outtakes on both official and less than official releases, but the present material had never been heard by either of us.

The next few days found us scrambling for clues and information about what to make of this find; calling every record collector/historian we knew and reading everything we could find concerning the early recordings of the VU. We pieced together that this was probably a surviving copy of the legendary Scepter studios recordings which had been regarded as lost (hence the epic moniker "the lost scepter studios recordings" applied to these unheard sessions over the years). The recording is comprised of the primitive first "finished" version of the LP that Andy Warhol had shopped to Columbia as a ready-to-release debut album by his protege collective "The Velvet Underground".

This acetate, which is possibly the only surviving copy, represents the first Velvet Underground album as Andy Warhol intended it to be released.

Though the same compositions and even a few of the same "takes" (albeit in different mixes) were used on the subsequent commercial release, that which was eventually issued as their debut album on Verve, "The Velvet Underground & Nico", was a significantly different creation. I had heard of these nascent recordings before... it was said by some that the master tapes had burned in a fire, by others that all of those recordings ended up being on the released album, and still by others that the only existing copy of that material was on an acetate owned by David Bowie, and that he was known to tout it as his most prized possession.

The truth about what we held was fuzzy until Warren managed to track down the N. Dolph referred to on the label for an interview.

Norman Dolph was a perennial in the New York art & music scene of the 1960's. He worked as a sales representative at Columbia Records through 1967, and was deeply involved with different facets of the independent music world on the side. Andy Warhol, who was managing the Velvets at the time, contacted Dolph & offered him a painting in exchange for services as "ghost" (uncredited) producer for the Velvet's first recording session. Warhol wanted to record a Velvets album before they had a record company behind them as this would tend to minimize meddling label executives' mobility in compromising the musical arrangement's distraught primal force, not to mention the unprecedented taboo lyrics which openly address sex, drugs, and depravity. Warhol's plan was to have Dolph record it and then shop it around to labels (first & foremost Columbia) as a finished recording.

...and so Dolph rented out Scepter studios, and with an engineer named John Licata by his side, they recorded the Velvets for four days. At the time Scepter studios was between reconstruction and demolition with walls falling over and holes in the floor. Velvets' bass & viola player John Cale would later recall the environment as "Post-Apocalyptic".

Dolph took the master tapes made during this session to the Columbia building, which still had an in-house pressing plant, and cut the acetate "after hours" with people he knew on the inside. Dolph then sent the acetate to Columbia to see if they were interested in releasing it. It was returned promptly with a note that said something akin to "do you think we're out of our f**king minds?" Dolph then gave the acetate to Andy Warhol or John Cale, he cannot remember which.

Six of the songs recorded during the Scepter session made it on to the "Velvet Underground & Nico" LP, albeit with radically different mixes. The other four songs were re-recorded in LA by Tom Wilson. As far as we know, the only listenable copy of the original versions of Heroin, Venus In Furs, I'm Waiting For The Man, and European Son exist on the acetate that Warren found. (A Japanese bootleg of the same material did appear, but in poor, arguably ‘unlistenable' sound quality. It is possible that the source tape for the Japanese bootleg was made from this very acetate decades ago when it was in different hands. Who knows?) We have since realized that we are in possession of a likely one of a kind artifact - the first recordings by one of the most influential rock bands of all time!

After establishing the authenticity of Warren's find we photographed the item and made a high quality digital back-up copy of the material. A media frenzy ensued, with articles appearing in Rolling Stone, Mojo, Record Collector, The Globe & Mail, and many other news sources. Calls started flooding in from people interested in buying the acetate, as well as record companies interested in releasing the songs on it. After much consideration, we decided that it would be best to release it to the highest bidder through an auction facilitated by our good friends at Saturn Records in Oakland, California (a store that has a well-established presence in the international vinyl collecting community, and an excellent reputation on the internet).

As to the most interesting mystery brought up by the appearance of this item - how did such an important artifact disappear for 37 years & end up at a Chelsea New York yard sale priced at 75 cents? ...We have no answer.

The track differences between the acetate versions and the commercial recordings on "The Velvet Underground & Nico" are detailed as follows:

1.European Son- completely different version,. Guitar solo is much bluesier. Less noisy and experimental. Longer by 2 minutes or so.

2.Black Angel's Death Song-Same take as released version. Different mix.

3.All Tomorrow's Parties- Same take as released version. Different mix.

4.I'll Be Your Mirror-Same take as released version. Radically different mix. No echo on Nico's vocals. Background vocals on end of song are more subdued.

5.Heroin-Completely different take than released version. Guitar line is different. Vocal inflections different, and a few different lyrics. Drumming is more primitive & off kilter. There is a tambourine dragging throughout the song.

6.Femme Fatale- Same take as released version. Radically different mix. Percussion more prominent. Alternate take on background vocals. Much more "poppy".

7.Venus In Furs- Different take than released version. Vocal inflections completely different. Instrumentation more based around Cales' violin than the guitar as in the released version.

8.I'm Waiting For The Man- Different take than released version. Guitar line is completely different. Vocal inflections different, and a few different lyrics. No drums, just tambourine. Bluesy guitar solo.

9.Run Run Run- Same take as released version. Different mix.

BLACK MOON (the dark side of musick)

VON TILL STEVE

IF I SHOULD FALL TO THE FIELD

Original Issue: 2002 Neurot (NR020) Buy it here!

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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1 Breathe (5:41)
2 To The Field (6:36)
3 My Work Is Done (2:45)
4 Hallowed Ground (5:15)
5 This River (5:08)
6 Running Dry (4:53)
7 The Wild Hunt (5:27)
8 Am I Born To Die (4:05)
9 Dawn (3:54)
10 The Harpy (2:28)

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from Rolling Stone:

Grandly ethereal solo efforts are rarely endowed with the kind of eerily personal magic that's cast here.

No less weighty and brash than his heavy, rich sludgework in seminal ambient metal outfit Neurosis, If I Should Fall to the Field reveals Von Till urgently searching for the past's effect on his present through the marriage of traditionally textural folk acoustics and moody, current rock orchestration.

While the exploration of aging, spirituality and universal human connectivity isn't a new exercise in songwriting, Von Till's respect for and nod towards historic American roots music is so smart, honest and engaging that it may as well be.

Rugged vocals emerge from the throat with such fluid, confessional ease that listening feels like voyeurism. Creepiest is the album's climax, "The Harpy" -- a chilling recording of Von Till's grandfather passionately reciting ancient rhyme over his grandson's somber backdrop.

Joan Hiller

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from Amazon:

grandfather's funeral... rural despair... at first i giggled at it, but when i checked the music out, i found it just about appropriate. but don't let that have you expecting some alt country drivel, this is some truly dark, poetic and evocative stuff right here.

what separates this guy from the rest of the "pack" for me (although the music IS quite original in and of itself) is that he's not some skinny and scrappy quasi-bohemian alcoholic, but rather a heavy-set and shaven dude (that somehow makes his pain more "credible" and "unique" for me) with a deep, somber, masculine croon that doesn't sound the tiniest bit forced. just a naturally powerful voice that sends shivers down your spine. he's got that "whispering in your ear at normal pitch" thing going on, for lack of a better way to describe it.

apart from that, expect slow-paced songs that consist mostly of acoustic guitars, with some distant humming sounds etc. and occasional drums. the topics are dark explorations of life, death, etc. but quite poetic, IMHO.

occasionally, the dude "let's it rip" vocally (the end of the "breathe" chorus, etc.) and that's when the shivers REALLY set it. i don't know what else to say, this stuff is so emotional, unique, dark and moving that it's almost bizarre.

screw elliott smith, this is the real deal, folks. listen on headphones, at dusk/night, alone.

p.s. and don't expect no neurosis here.

K. Goettlicher "the_last_of_the_idealists"

PINK MOON (feminine musick)

MIRANDA SEX GARDEN

FAIRYTALES OF SLAVERY

Original Issue: 1994 Mute Records (CD STUMM 129) Buy it here

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

1. Cut
2. Fly
3. Peep Show
4. Wooden Boat
5. Havana Lied
6. Cover My Face
7. Transit
8. Freezing
9. Serial Angels
10. Wheel
11. Intermission
12. Monk Song
13. Fairytale About Slavery

from Progarchives:

Since their debut with the exclusively vocal "Madra", Miranda Sex Garden kept making changes in the music and lineup, 1994 is not the exception, before the release of "Fairytales of Slavery" Kelly McCusker left the band and is replaced by the talented vocalist and keyboardist Hepzibah Sessa and the band recruits Kim Fahey to take care of the bass, leaving Trevor Sharpe only in charge of drums and percussion due to the complexity of the rhythm section of this album.

The first problem is how to describe this album, still we can listen the evident and main Gothic/Folk/Medieval influence but with a more aggressive edge that leaves them closer to Industrial and Post Rock with a touch of Symphonic, probably if we listen carefully we'll find some other genres but the main thing is that this is a clearly Progressive Rock album.

It’s a pity that “so called” critics have lumped this band into the underground Goth genre keeping it hidden from the world, because it’s not accurate, they are Gothic in the classical sense of the world because they are Medieval and as we know Gothic is the name that was given to the last two centuries of Middle Age music (For God’s sake, their first album is only composed of Madrigals from the 1600’s, how more classical and late Medieval can it get?).

Of course is obscurantist because the Middle Ages were dark and obscure but this self proclaimed experts probably believe that the main genre is Goth (The black, vampire inspired rock sub-genre) and not just a commercial derivation of this classical epoch, in the case of Miranda Sex Garden they keep the Gothic sound intact but adding many different influences in a complex and perfectly elaborated way.

If you are searching for epics and abrupt changes maybe you'll be disappointed, but if you love atmospheric, dark and aggressive music, well this is a good choice, sounds like RENAISSANCE meets FANTOMAS, the result is absolutely scary but excellent, somehow like "The Director's Cut" sung by Annie Haslam.

But lets go to check the 13 tracks (Cabalistic number by the way):

The album starts with an unusual rock oriented track based in a strong guitar and the wonderful vocals that seem to float above this chaos of sounds, the violent violin by Donna McKevitt is simply delightful, frantic from start to end with perfect synchronicity between bass and drums, no time to breath, of course the usual strange sounds add the darkness required.

“Fly” starts with a mysterious guitar surrounded by low bass and keyboards absolutely dark and haunting, the vocals slowly blend with this phantasmagoric atmosphere until a sudden explosion shows us that they have enough power, but again they return to the softer and dark sound and again another explosion that marks the end of the track.

“Peep Show” starts so soft that is almost not audible for the first 30 seconds, but in a fraction of second and out of nowhere the band and vocalists attack us based mostly in drums, bass and guitar, the vocals sound as being in a second but different plane, by moments I feel some Oldfield like sections. But of course with Katharine distinctive vocals.

“The Wooden Boat” sounds much more Medieval, like a return to their early Madrigals album, but the soft instrumental arrangements and strange sounds reminds us they have a post rock edge, very experimental song even when not one of my favorites.

“Havana Lied” is a Cabaret song in German (Creating some sort of WWII atmosphere), Andrew Blick’s trumpet (Guest musician) is simply perfect for an excellent recreation, this song prove once again that this band is really weird but imaginative and original. “Havana Lied” is a repetitive but interesting experimental track.

“Cover My Face” is brilliant, so strong, so violent and at the same time softened by the beautiful vocals that seem to hide behind all this aggression, some ancient maybe Egyptian influences that can be barely listened above the Industrial background, one of the best tracks by Miranda Sex Garden, no abrupt changes, but absolutely dramatic, the ending is an absolute chaos, simply love it.

“Transit” of course starts with the guitar drums and keyboards simulating the sounds you can listen in a traffic jam, honestly too weird for my taste, the instruments seem too fight one against the other and Katharine uses his voice only to hound like a police or ambulance siren.

“Freezing” starts almost like Overture from Tommy, the guitar reminds clearly of Pete Townsend, but the howling by Katharine and the other girls return us to a different reality we’re before another strange track, short but effective.

“Serial Angels” is one really beautiful track, different to all the previous, the vocals are not so important, the problem is that the first half is recorded so low that you have to rise the volume to the max to barely listen it, but then a soft guitar and drums that go in crescendo mark the change, to a more rhythmic section where all the melody is provided by a soft chorus.

“Wheels” is like a time machine, from the late XX Century we return to the XIV or XV, this is almost like a cyclical song that describes perfectly a carousel, seems absolutely repetitive but don’t let this impression fool you, each repetition or cycle is different to the previous, as I said starts clearly medieval, but in the next round an instrument is added, first some chords, then bass, keyboards and at the end a beautiful and shocking chaos, almost the same procedure used by Mike Oldfield at the end of Tubular Bells side one, but more chaotic.

“Intermission” is just a collection of sounds like an Orchestra of bagpipes, but in the deepest part of this sounds there’s a haunting melody, pretty scary but short.

Now if you want weirdness “The Monk Song” is your best choice starts with the strangest vocal arrangements, lots of howling and moaning perfectly synchronized by the three women who have an incredible vocal range, all this screams supported by the drummer playing the metals, interesting and advanced but absolutely out of this world.

The album is closed with the best song “A Fairytale about Slavery” wonderful and magic track that starts absolutely Medieval with piccolo, drums and completely haunting vocals, creating a beautiful melody, the rest of the instruments especially keys and violins blend progressively creating a second tune in the background that slowly starts to take the lead and relegate the vocals to a second plane, until it reaches a point where the aggressive instrumentation and the vocals mix loudly with a very heavy and distorted guitar, creating as usual a dreamy mixture of the ancient and sacred with the modern and Pagan, a collision between two worlds and two conceptions of music, at the end the melody dissolves as if it was blending with the air and we can only listen the repetitive piccolo. 100% Progressive Rock, lovely and brilliant.

Hard to rate it, maybe some people will say this is subjective and too high, but something as adventurous, weird, dramatic and beautiful can’t be rated with less than 5 stars, yes it’s shocking for people used to melodic Symphonic, but Progressive Rock must also be innovative and dramatic.

If you never heard of this band, start with “Fairytales of Slavery” I’m sure that Symphonic, Post Rock, Folk and even Industrial fans will love it, probably is too weird and aggressive for Art Rock and Neo Prog fans because of it’s extreme complexity, but not everybody has to love the same music.

Iván Melgar-Morey

CRAZY MOON (incredibly strange musick)

SHAGGS (THE)

PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD

Original Issue: 1969 Third World (TCLP 3001)

Reissue: 1999 RCA Victor (09026 63371-2)

Margot-meter: ??? moons / 5

Groundbreaking pre-everything masterpiece or complete rubbish?
Only YOU can decide!!!

This album has been variously defined as:

• the worst musical performances ever
• juvenile, awful, inept, and unlistenable while being creative, beautiful, sophisticated, and progressive
• the proof to the old idea that putting a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years will eventually produce "Henry V"
• a cultural phenomenon
• naive, terrible, special, unique, childish and profound at the same time
• everybody needs to hear the Shaggs in their lifetime
• this is actual ANTI music
• sounds almost exactly like some basic form of punk music
• disconnected, disjointed, dysharmonious, dysrhythmic sounds made with musical instruments
• I'd like to track down the beatnik who declared this album "cool and avant-garde" and punch him repeatedly
• people giving this tripe five stars simply have it in their collection because it makes them feel superior and "in the know"
• this stuff is horrid, but I must pretend to like it to show that I am one of the enlightened few
• these girls had a mentally unbalanced, abusive father(possibly sexually abusive) who wouldn't even allow his daughters to have friends

so I think there are a lot of very good reasons to give it a spin ;-)

1 Philosophy Of The World (2:56)
2 That Little Sports Car (2:06)
3 Who Are Parents (2:58)
4 My Pal Foot Foot (2:31)
5 My Companion (2:04)
6 I'm So Happy When You're Near (2:12)
7 Things I Wonder (2:12)
8 Sweet Thing (2:57)
9 It's Halloween (2:22)
10 Why Do I Feel? (3:57)
11 What Should I Do? (2:18)
12 We Have A Savior (3:06)

from Guypetersreviews.com:

Now THIS is something completely different. One of the cultest of all cult albums, Philosophy of the World is probably even weirder than any Captain Beefheart-album you own, as it almost sounds like an interrupted transmission from outer space.

The Shaggs consisted of three sisters (Dorothy, lead guitar and vocals; Betty, rhythm guitar and vocals; Helen, drums) who, “guided” by their ambitious father, took up music lessons and eventually also recorded an album. When the album came off the presses, the majority of the copies were stolen, so the poorly distributed album very quickly became a forgotten item…. until Frank Zappa declared it one of his all-time favorites a few years later, which triggered a true Shaggs-cult that went on throughout the years, eventually also resulting in a 1999 reissue, which tried to reinstate the original.

A prime example of ‘outsider music,’ Philosophy sounds as if it’s played either by complete ignorants or avant-garde musicians (for a long time I thought it was a hoax, instigated by some obscure free jazz collective, and you have to admit that the girls on the cover look a bit ‘weird’, too). If you thought that Jad Fair, Jandek and Daniel Johnston had already been making very personal and awkward music that seems to defy all musical conventions and logic, then The Shaggs’ approach might be a truly inspiring treat for you.

The girls sing without any harmony, tuneless, and with a weird phrasing. It sometimes sounds as if you’re overhearing a class of Chinese children singing American standards. The subject matter ranges from the equality of all people (“Philosophy of the World”), to a disappeared dog (“My Pal Foot Foot”), and other existential concerns (“Things I Wonder,” “Why Do I Feel?,” etc). Helen Wiggin’s drum kit apparently consists only of a snare drum, a floor tom and one cymbal (hi-hat), while her patterns can be called poly-rhythmic I guess, as they are as steady as an Elisabeth Taylor marriage, suddenly shifting from one rhythm to the next. On top of that she plays the weirdest drum fills imaginable (take that, Phil Collins), seemingly unaware of the song’s underlying structure. The competence of Dorothy and Betty is similarly limited, as they strum their guitars in a totally incoherent way, playing false notes and inventing new stuff as they go along.

And it is exactly this that seems to be the weirdest aspect of their music: it sounds as if these girls weren’t exposed to any music at all between their 2nd and 15th year. Somehow, they seem to have a basic idea of what music should be like (a basic rhythm, melody, ‘different parts,’ a grammar of the music), but at the same time they also seem confused about it, as verses and chorus seem almost indistinguishable and randomly placed.

The result of it all is one of the most incompetent albums imaginable, a ramshackle effort in which nothing is what it should be, an effort that defies almost every rule. And while some people thought it was one of the most liberating and inspiring albums in pop history, I can only endure this in small doses, and while I’m doing that, I probably make some funny faces. Therefore, yours sincerely considers this album as a curiosity any music fan should hear at least once, but it’s not one that you will ‘enjoy’ on a regular basis. Unless having the freakiest collection of your circle of acquaintances or driving your housemates mad is your ultimate goal.

STONED MOON (pscikadilik musick)

MY BLOODY VALENTINE
TREMOLO

Original Issue: 1991 Creation (CRESCD085)

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

1. To Here Knows When
2. Swallow
3. Honey Power
4. Moon Song

SIMPLY THE PERFECT MUSICK FOR MAKING LOVE...SENSUAL, DREAMY, STONED! ESSENTIAL LISTENING FROM AN ESSENTIAL BAND!

from Amazon:

On Tremolo My Bloody Valentine create a mini-album that would be played right after Loveless and sound like a continuation more than anything. Tremolo also is a great record all by itself, it grooves and moves in all the right places, and sounds like it was recorded through the same hazy druggy sensualness that graced Loveless. However at times the drums seem even lower in the mix than on Loveless, which adds to its' dreaminess, which I guess is the point, but really I think the drums should have been more prominent, but hey whatever, it still sounds great. All in all I highly suggest picking this up if you're a MBV fan and already have Loveless and Isn't Anything.

Karl Haikara

If you've just gotten in to My Bloody Valentine with "Isn't Anything" and their classic "Loveless", the Tremolo EP is absolutely one of the best places to look afterwards for new songs. Coming off like a series of lost songs that didn't make it onto "Loveless", Tremolo is slightly more accessible (albeit just as beautiful) than their albums, and contains the superior version of the song "To Here Knows When" (the outro to this version fits the song FAR better than the distorted heavy metal one on "Loveless").

"Swallow" is simply breathtaking. Far-Eastern sounding strings and percussion float gently across Bilinda Butcher's dreamy vocals to make this goosebump inducing collage of sound. I have no idea why this never made it onto any of their records.

"Honey Power" is more of a rock-oriented track, with it's catchy, driving grungy guitars, but around the 2/3 mark, it transforms into a sleepy acoustic section that also manages to give you goosebumps.

"Moon Song" is strange, even by MBV standards. It's cold, stark, and contains none of the other song's warmth, but is still stunning, nonetheless, with Kevin Shields melancholy singing that intertwines perfectly with the melody.

With their 3rd album expected shortly after this EP was released, one might expect a rush job. Instead, you get a miniature masterpiece from one of indie rock's most legendary bands. What an excellent surprise.

Kazuo

BLACK MOON (the dark side of musick)

SONGS: OHIA
GHOST TROPIC

Original Issue: 2000 Secretly Canadian (SC040) Buy it!


Margot-meter: 4.5 moons / 5

1 Lightning Risked It All
2 The Body Burned Away
3 No Limits On The Words
4 Ghost Tropic
5 The Ocean's Nerves
6 Not Just A Ghost's Heart
7 Ghost Tropic
8 Incantation

Together with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's "I see a darkness", one of Margot's favourites. THIS MUSICK HURTS!

Amazon review:

Molina furnishes a technicolour portrait of the more ethereal territory of spiritual wanderlust and saddened backward glances. As a result, Ghost Tropic is a liberating musical experience - carrying all the weight of worldly woes yet still achieving an exhilirating level of emotional transcendence.

Dirk Hugo

Ghost Tropic really lives up to its name; the album is haunted, otherworldly and utterly desolate, creating entirely its own existential landscape from scratch with the help of Mike Mogis and Alasdair Roberts. "Simply to live/that is my plan" sings Jason Molina, accompanied by the most minimal guitar you have heard since Mark Hollis ditched his band because they 'played too many notes'.

This record is dark, laying bare a spiritual isolation and emptiness which is rarely heard in any form of music. The album slowly evolves from acoustic beginnings to take in tropical environmental twitterings and creaky programmed percussion, ending with the final synth movement of Incantation, which sounds akin to Joy Division's "The Eternal" if it really did go on forever... Ghost Tropic is modern folk music that sounds like it has just crawled out of the swamp, completely unaware of conventions or anything that has gone before it.

Mr. R.A.Riggs