SAMHAIN (31 October 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

MORTIIS

ÅNDEN SOM GJORDE OPPRØR




Original Issue: 1995 Cold Meat Industry (CMI.31)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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Do not forget to take a look at the comments section :-)

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from http://www.metal-archives.com/:

Onward from the slower, majestic predecessor, Fodt Til A Herske, Mortiis continues to bring you on a journey with the epic releases he has created. With Anden Som Gjorde Oppror, he is able to continue with his musical anticipations. Unlike the slower, more emotionally connected predecessor, the sophmore album of Mortiis shows a different side. You can just picture marching into a battle with this music being the ambience to surround you with every step you take upon the frostbitten grounds.

Words can hardly describe Mortiis. As in the first full-length release, Mortiis continues to create music that's like the soundtrack of a majestic film setting. Though unlike the first one with the mere castle standing within your vision, Mortiis decides to bring a more epic warlike theme to the second full-length release. You'll feel ready to march into battle to slay the enemies. Unlike most warlike opus' you find, this release is more natural form of the warlike atmosphere that remains to keep you on the edge of your seat with passion for the true beauty that music can create and allow you to visualize.

Mortiis again is able to define the true wonders that music can create upon the souls. Showing the more natural sounds of atmospheric brilliance through his early works. With the heavy, more furious sides of music. Possessing very harsh surroundings in a medieval visualization, and then to persue a light more peaceful side. Even with war, there must be peace. Mortiis is able to capture both sides of the spectrum through this second journey known as Anden Som Gjorde Oppror. Mortiis is also able to conclude both epics with a climatical ending that reaches much higher plateus each time.

This album cannot be denied as a brilliant work of art. Mortiis is able to display every feeling in a manner so clear with this release. From the more angered emotions, to the victorious feelings, to the darker emotions still lurking in the shadows. Everything in put together into the perfect formation to show all aspects of the story being told. Much like Fodt Til A Herske, Anden Som Gjorde Oppror was able to tell a story with not a dry moment. All of it remains a beautiful essence of the true art behind his musical brilliance.

There is no questioning of Mortiis' creations. This album is clearly parallel to Fodt Til A Herske with the true feeling of Mortiis lying right inside the undertow, but at the same time has a soul of its own that is sometimes hidden under the shadows of Mortiis's first release. Everyone will remember his very first masterpiece, but this one shows an equally, if not more powerful beast as Mortiis is able to mature his sound. When in comparison with the predecessor it's clear that Mortiis has evolved through the time between the two releases as he makes a more complete feel with this second album. It can no longer be shadowed and break out of the cacoon as it brings its own spirit into existance with two new epics which keep the body of Mortiis' music, while expanding the horizons into the very peaks of each mountain, and higher into the heavens of musical beauty, power, and epic brilliance.

FULL STURGEON MOON (13 August 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

CAMERATA MEDIOLANENSE

CAMPO DI MARTE


Original Issue: 1996 Discordia (Disc 093 CD)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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Do not forget to take a look at the comments section :-)

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from Old Europa Café:

This album was released back in 1996 and is still one of the very best Neoclassic albums ever ! True European music!

The quality of Camerata in their music stile is unique and no other group was able to achieve such results …

Fanfare, Drums, super wonderful Vocals especially the female ones, Cembalo plus other classic instruments, simply majestic sounds and exquisite compositions !

LAMMAS (01 August 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

DER BLUTHARSCH

THE TRACK OF THE HUNTED



Original Issue: 2000 WKN (WKN 10)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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Do not forget to take a look at the comments section :-)

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from Stereo Invaders (Google Translation from Italian :

"The trace of the man who is prone to hunting," fate, oppression, predeterminism, escape, violence, foreboding, anxiety, grief, all this is contained in the title of the album and the music it contains. In perfect consistency with the ideal artistic vision and content by Albin Julius, Der Blutharsch. Dark ambient, martial neofolk with drifts; Titanism atavistic, primal well-commented that it would corrupt the exploits of Roman patricians, or the exploits of the heroic classicism of Prometheus, in constant struggle with adverse fate and divinity. If someone is pushed to label as "sacred music" that consists of Julius would certainly shocking and unorthodox in his thinking, but not so far away from the essence of true. Many ethnic and popular music (folk) got the basics of the Austrian composer to write this "TTOTH". We are in the presence of the usual track list (10) untitled; "let the music do the talking" to put American and undoubtedly contributes to donate so much mystery also the right atmosphere to the project Der Blutharsch. For those wishing to necessarily references, except the understanding that Albin Julius is very unique, I could mention a few moments of Death in June (with which our works well) and Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, although compared to the Swedes there is less room for the esoteric and the occult here, however, the greater the interest in the human comedy, made of misery and nobility, power and submission. Albin plays and manipulates samples like no other, creating real works of symphonic ambient neofolk post-industrial, able to lift the soul of the listener and land at the same time. The track number 9 in particular is a sample (shown in full) of a 30s song in German, probably a song that he met his fortune under the Nazis. Fascist and neo-Nazi epithets are often saddled with Julius, so in the past prevented him from concerts in Israel, and this is largely due to the use of iconography and issues close to the Third Reich by Julius. A course nothing is worth the net claim against the person concerned, or his firm will be able to play in the land of David.

FULL WORM MOON (19 March 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES

IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES


Original Issue: 1988 Cold Meat Industry (CMI-04)

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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Swedish industrial act, formed by Jouni Havukainen in 1985. ISN has used many different sounds over the years, from dark ambient soundscapes to martial industrial stompage to neoclassical orchestration.

FULL HUNTERS' MOON (22 October 2010)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

LAIBACH

NATO


Original Issue: 1994 Mute Records (CDSTUMM121) Buy it here!!!

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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Miscellaneous reviews:

Following the 1992's "Kapital" and the launch of their new republic (don't ask), Laibach are back. You may remember their reinvention of Queen's "One Vision" as stirring Volk anthem, which somehow managed to highlight some peculiarly common ground between Nuremberg and Freddie Mercury ("Ein Fleisch!/Ein Mensch..."). You may even remember their slow detonation of "Sympathy For The Devil", reinvented as a funereal postcard from hell. Laibach have always been scary and hilarious - mostly at the same time. "NATO", I'm delighted to say, exceeds even their most burlesque moments.

Apparently, "NATO" is inspired by the state of flux gripping Eastern Europe. But don't let that put you off the fact that Laibach's penchant for dignying silly pop songs like Status Quo's "In The Army Now" with absurdly operatic pomp and Teutonic portent, reveals them to be more akin to a kind of solemn Slovenian Frank Sidebottom. On Europe's "The Final Countdown" Milan scarily intones, "We're heading for Venus/But still we stand tall", and immediately the poodle-permed rockers become ashen-faced harbringers of the apocalypse. Elsewhere, the album's theme of changing world orders takes the Holst ("The Planets"), Pink Floyd ("Dogs Of War") and Edwin Star ("War"), relocated within Laibach's grand vision of a Europe in flux at the of the millennium. Nostradamus, Wagner, Giorgio Moroder and the Warsaw Pact make ideal bedfellows. Quite how Laibach have kept a straight face for so long, is something I'll never understand. I wouldn't have them any other way though.

Peter Paphides, Time Out, 19 - 26 October 1994

It's always been very difficult to pin Laibach down to a particular style. Certain ingredients of their sound (a dark orchestral feel, heavily accented, sepulchral vocals) have remained relatively constant, and allowed the easy identification of their work. However, the context within which those characteristic features are used has varified widely. They've done everything from stage-related concept albums such as "Macbeth" to all - cover releases like "Let It Be" and "Sympathy For The Devil".

"NATO" fuses both of these extremes into a seamless whole, an album with a consistent theme that is implemented entirely through cover versions. Rather than stick with a single artist, the group have selected material from a number of sources and fed it through the Laibach mincer. Not all of the songs chosen were originally on the theme of war, but given their talent for making almost anything sound like it was recorded at a Red Army requiem disco, this isn't important.

First up is "NATO" itself. At some time in the dim distant past this track was Gustav Holst's "Mars" but Laibach have, in typically awkward fashion, taken the most intrinsically warlike piece of music on the album, and added a dance beat and assorted electronic burbles to produce a bizarre cross of full orchestra and lightweight techno that updates Holst's pre - First World War piece to an age of electronic warfare and laser - guided munitions. It works, but Laibach's interpretation is rather less doom - laden than the original, allowing it to meet the other metamorphosed covers here halfway.

Edwin Starr's "War" is equally unconventional. Part contemporary techno, part Laibach theatrics, the lyrics here have been cleverly altered so that Starr's original rhetorical question of "War - what is good for?" is for once actually answered. Science, religion, domination and communication, according to Laibach. More specifically, they list (among others) GM, IBM, Newsweek, CNN, Universal, Siemens, Sony... the list goes on. Very cleverly done, both musically and lyrically, even if Laibach's list of martial benefactors seems a little odd at times. Sony? Aren't they purely a consumer electronics firm? Or did I somehow miss the launch of the Bombman?

The first single taken from this album, a cover of Europe's "The Final Countdown", was a highly commercial mixture of lightweight Euro - disco and the usual Laibach ingredients. When I heard the single, I suspected the album version would be rather less explicitly dancefloor friendly.

I was right, but not to be expected degree. The version here does indeed suggest that the Pet Shop Boys have run off to a remote Balkan castle and begun experimenting with a pipe organ the size of a house and a heavily accented choir, but it's still rather more poppy and rather less overblown and pompous than I'd hoped. Still, it's pretty good and would certainly have Joey Tempest turning in his grave if he was dead in anything but a musical sense.

The thought of Laibach covering Status Quo is strange enough in itself but the blunt reality of it is stranger still. Their rendition of "In The Army Now" is recognizable, but reshapes the song in Laibach's own image as a blend of grandiose choral sequences and a dance beat. It works well but there's really not more I can say about it. Pink Floyd's "Dogs Of War" gets a similar treatment. I'm not familiar with the original, but regardless of how it originally sounded it's now a high BPM techno track with a choir and those gravelly Slovenian tones over the top. Again, it works well although it's difficult to say exactly why.

Probably the most faithful cover here is that of DAF's "Alle Gegen Alle". This is perhaps due to the stark minimalism of the original - there was so little to it to begin with that you can't really add all that much if you want it to remain recognizable. On the top of this, let's face it, even Shirley Temple would sound like DAF if she were to bark German lyrics over a stripped - down militaristic dance beat. Musically, it's very close to the original, but adds the inevitable Laibach vocals and choir, plus an odd choral bridge that suggests Laibach are considering adding the track to a 30s musical spectacular about the Nuremberg rallies.

The next track finds Laibach indulging in a little lyrical meddling, metamorphosing "Indian Reservation" into "National Reservation" with appropriate lyrical changes to slant the song towards the situation of the former Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe. It's perhaps not entirely fair to liken the current situation of the Eastern European states to that of native Americans, but musically the track's interesting enough and trundles along nicely.

Their interpretation of the old Zagen And Evans hit "In The Year 2525" hits some rather more firmly. The song was always rather more suited musically to their current approach than most of the material here, but Laibach have done some very interesting things to the track lyrically, replacing the umpteen - thousand years of future history chronicled by the original by a gloomy and decidedly apocalyptic history of the period 1994 - 1999. Those dark Slovenian vocals are perfect here, and manage to convey an incredible sense of world weariness, cynicism and sadness. The minimalist backing track of a thunderous heartbeat works well too.

The album is rounded off by the song I couldn't trace the original of. I know that it was originally "March On River Drina" (read: The War God Mars on River Drina, read: March On River Drina - which is a Serbian military marching anthem from the First World War) but that's about it - the credits for the original versions are, alas, printed rather illegibly on the disc itself rather than in the booklet. It looks like it was composed by Stanislav Binicki, but I'm unsure of the spelling of that surname and with my musical encyclopedia inaccessible can't confirm it. Anyway, regardless of the composer, Laibach's arrangement of the track is excellent. It begins in a dark and warlike vein, punctuated by male and female choirs, eerie moans and groans and a militaristic drumbeat before veering into a more contemporary vein. The slightly cheesy brass is a little odd - one picture Captain Kirk fighting a man in a lizard suit for the hand of a woman with green hair rather than anything military, and the choir sometimes suggests the flying monkeys from the Wizard Of Oz, but there you have it. Very enjoyable, even if it doesn't quite have the desired effect.

Overall, I'm very impressed. As always, it's difficult to compare this to any prior Laibach releases since they never seem to head in quite the same direction twice in succession. However, it's more likely to appeal to those who're into the group's cover material such as "Let It Be" than those who like "Macbeth" or their early work.

The interest here lies less in Laibach's distinctive take - no - prisoners approach to covering other people's material than in what their reinterpretations actually say. There's less parody here than before, with Laibach apparently focusing less on a demolition job of the artists covered than on using their material to get Laibach's own point across.

Of course, that's not to say that the material here couldn't be enjoyed in a parodic sense - "Final Countdown" is, for example, a fine example of the total war approach to cover versions that Laibach have used in the past. There's more to this on though, and it's by turns beautiful and terrible, although not quite to the same degree as their best material. Definitely worth a listen though, and as good an introduction to their more recent sound as anything they've put out in the past few years.

Al Crawford - awrc@access.digex.net

FULL HARVEST MOON (23 September 2010)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

CHURCH UNIVERSAL AND TRIUMPHANT INC. (THE) FEAT. ELIZABETH CLARE PROPHET

THE SOUNDS OF AMERICAN DOOMSDAY CULTS (VOL. 14)


Original Issue: 1990 Faithways International (No Number)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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from Synrecords.com:

A document of the spellbinding chants, call-and-response decrees, hypnotic invocations and prayers performed against the demon rock'n'roll by the ultra-conservative new age church universal and triumphant, led by charismatic, gun-hoarding nutjob elizabeth clare prophet--who is believed by her followers to be divinely inspired by a host of ascended masters, including merlin the magician, hercules, william shakespeare, jesus christ, gautama buddha, the archangel michael, and other emo legends. humorous for its damnation of seemingly harmless rock stars like billy joel, which explains why negativland and other experimentalists would sample it, this mesmerizing, all-vocal performance should fascinate listeners interested in la monte young's drones, kurt schwitters' "ursonate," or the stringent choral works of ligeti, penderecki and scelsi.

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from Aquarius Records:

It's hard to believe this is real. In fact, it took a lot to convince Andee, who was sure this was some sort of elaborate prank. But it's one of those things that just makes you proud / embarassed to be an American. Elizabeth Clare Prophet purchased 24,000 acres in Paradise Valley, Montana and started The Church Universal and Triumphant, a creepy new age doomsday cult in which Prophet channeled spirits such as Jesus, Buddha, K-17, Morya, Quan Yin, Afra, Hercules, Mighty Victory, Astrea, Shiva, Pope John XXIII, and more. (Sort of like J.Z. Knight of Yelm, Washington and her channelling of "Ramtha" except even more scary.) Prophet and her husband stockpiled arms, built giant bomb shelters, and coerced their devotees to purchase their own survival equipment at exorbitant prices. Throughout its existence various members of CUT were indicted for kidnapping, lost custody of the children who belonged to the church and were investigated for tax exempt status and firearms violations. In 1995 former member Joeseph Pietrangelo Jr wrote a book condemning CUT entitled "Lambs to Slaughter: My Fourteen Years with Elizabeth Clare Prophet and Church Universal Triumphant".
But the thing that really puts CUT on the map for us is their way of conducting their religious services. The tapes of these services have been floating around for years already. Those of you familiar with Negativland's 1989 album "Escape From Noise" will already be familiar with an excerpt of one of the tracks on this album, as they used it for the track "Michael Jackson", and Steve Fisk has been using these tapes for years as well. This record features live recordings of Clare Prophet 'speaking' out against the evils of rock music. She sounds perfectly normal as she introduces her 'psalms' or 'songs' or 'speeches' or whatever they are. But when she gets going, it's amazing. And so goddamn insane sounding. Her rapid fire high pitched testifying sounds a bit like an impossible mix of an auctioneer, a yodeller, the guy who sings the directions at a square dance, Neil Hamburger huffing helium and variations of baseball's 'hey batter batter' chant only faster. It's like that sound you make when you sort of hum/breathe out and move your finger up and down between your lips making a sort of 'bebubebubebubebubebubebubebubebu' sound. It's one of the most amazing things we've ever heard! A must for all cult fanatics, new age withdrawal victims, seekers of the truly strange, and fans of extended, trance-like vocal techniques. Ever so highly recommended! We'd almost have made this cd edition our Record of the Week if we weren't certain that it would probably bug the heck out of more people than (like us) would love it!!

FULL BLUE MOON (31 December 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

JARBOE

MAGICK FOR MISCHIEFS


Original Issue: 2006 The Living Jarboe (No Number)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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1 Five Point Star 7:46
2 Furfur 7:29
3 Psychedelick 6:23
4 Ascension 4:56
5 Running Through Invisibility 6:25
6 Magickgrl 8:31

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from http://blogcritics.org/:

Experimental vocalist Jarboe is currently creating a trilogy of CDs which reflect her ongoing studies in Buddhism, Islam, and the Kabbalah: Magick for Mischiefs, Magick for Prudence, and Magick for Cherishings. This sometimes ethereal, sometimes dissonant series of releases is the latest creation in a career that started with The Swans in the 80s and has not subsided. Although Jarboe is not radio or major label material, she has carved a niche for herself, marketing her work to fans through her website. She has also performed with many others in the avant-garde, most notably Neurosis, and the interviews on her website are a veritable who's who, including talks with Diamanda Galas, Athan Maroulis, Steven Severin, Richard Kern, and Lydia Lunch.

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from Rate Your Music (and my dear blog-friend Brad):

Positively my favorite recording by Jarboe so far (although I have not yet received my copy of Prudence yet). This CD is brilliant. Jarboe's amazing vocal talents are on display in both ways you have come accustomed to with this brilliant vocalist, and new ways as of yet unexplored.

The CD starts off with my favorite track "Five Point Star" Beautifully crafted with a piano score that sounds right off of Greed or Holy Money by Swans. Jarboe's vocals, multilayered and beautiful, sound like a coven of young witches lamenting over one of their own. Georgeous.

Furfur will thrash your speakers. Jarboe hits some notes on this one that have permanently fuzzed my car stereo. Don't let that deter you though. This mostly instrumental track is beautiful and her voice is Angelic. Psychedelick is the exact opposite. Her voice isn't Angelic here, more like possessed, but not in the guttural roar that we found on Anhedoniac. No, Psychedelick has Jarboe sounding primitive and almost animal like. Very interesting and unique track. Ascension and Running Through Invisibility are reminiscent of the work that she did with Blackmouth... somewhat. Both tracks feature a more traditional song structure and "rock". The CD finishes off with Magickgrl which is basically an instrumental version of Five Point Star until the end when Jarboe sings a repeated chorus and the drums kick in.

If you haven't ordered it, do so now. If it's sold out, prey for it to be re-issued!

TheeBradMiller

SAMHAIN (31 October 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

SHINJUKU THIEF

THE WITCH HUNTER


Original Issue: 1995 Dorobo (Dorobo 009)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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1 Prelude - In The Wake Of Walpurga's Ashes
2 A Black Furrow
3 Cobwebs And Vinegar
4 Shadow Path
5 A Swim At Night
6 The Second Dream
7 Blue Flame
8 Smoke And Ice
9 Marias' Shirt
10 Berserkir
11 The Witch Hunter
12 Four Ember Weeks Of Ecstatic Sleep

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from http://www.darrinverhagen.com/:

For the second release in the "witch" trilogy, Shinjuku Thief descend further into the nightmare world of medieval superstition, paranoia and vengeance. East European violin, reflective passages of brooding ambience and occasional moments of hope are undercut by sheer orchestral violence and a chillingly bleak filmic landscape.

Overwhelming...gorgeous. If only most classical music could mean as much as this. I think this guy should be shipped off to LA to show Mr ravel a thing or two." - the Wire, UK

"A work of discipline and assurance and no little beauty, given an added dimension by its mysterious subtexts of found sounds and radio interference. Indispensable." - the Wire, UK (yearly wrap-up 1995)

"Like it's predecessor, a marvellously evocative album." - Al Crawford, USA

"Enchanting, bewitching, darkness unveiled. Essential" - Dark Angel, AU

"Top 10, office ambience 1995" - the Wire, UK

FULL CORN MOON (04 September 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

NIJIUMU

LIVE

Original Issue: 1997 Big Cat (ABB 1000/2CD)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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01 Untitled (3:11)
02 Untitled (49:38)
03 Untitled (12:29)

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from The Sound Projector:

Top of the range is Nijiumu, one of Keiji Haino’s quieter musical hats, and for sheer pathos this live recording worth your entry money by itself; to call this slice of sheer emotion tear-inducing is not enough. You will weep!

FULL BUCK MOON (07 July 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

FINN SIMON

PASS THE DISTANCE


Original Issue: 1970 Mushroom (100 MR 2)

Reissue: 2004 Durtro/Jnana (DURTRO/JNANA 1970 CD) (Buy it here!!!)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Listen to "Jerusalem" and, just after the last note, please write a comment with your thoughts

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1 Very Close Friend (1:19)
2 The Courtyard (5:43)
3 What A Day (3:16)
4 Fades (Pass The Distance) (3:39)
5 Jerusalem (6:44)
6 Where's Your Master Gone (3:13)
7 Laughing 'Til Tomorrow (2:54)
8 Hiawatha (4:58)
9 Patrice (2:49)
10 Big White Car (5:48)
11 Children's Eyes (4:36)
12 Good Morning (3:00)
13 Butterfly (3:27)
14 Colonel Bleep (3:04)

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from Foxy digitalis:

I normally don't review reissues. Other rags insist on giving precious print space to Pink Floyd reissues. My problem is not with the fact that I simply don't like Pink Floyd. That's fine, I don't like a lot of music. The problem I have with an independent music site taking the time to write a review of the latest Pink Floyd reissue is that it's a complete waste of time and resources. Everyone knows who Pink Floyd is and knows about their records. Trust me, they haven't changed in 20 years. Reviewing said reissues takes away valuable space from some great, lesser-known band that could actually benefit from the press. I shouldn't be surprised. These are the same 'zines who seem to only review things they are paid to, which destroys any remaining credibility they might have. But I digress...

Simon Finn's "Pass the Distance" has a strange and tumultuous past. It was originally issued in 1970 on Mushroom Records, but subsequently deleted because of issues with the artwork. Thankfully, Durtro has rescued this seminal, acid-soaked masterpiece. Remastered from the original tapes, it's been reissued with loads of additional information. I had heard about this album for years and managed to track down a few songs, but was not prepared for the onslaught of hallucinatory genius that it unleashes.

"Pass the Distance" is the forbearer for all the psych-folk that has been proliferating the airwaves over the past few years. All those brilliant Six Organs of Admittance and Fursaxa records you love owe a lot to this record. Finn was doing all the same things they are now, but he did it 30 years ago. That's what makes this album so impressive. Hearing it completely for the first time recently, it holds up. This could easily be mistaken for something brand new. That's a feat in-and-of itself.

The beauty of this album not only lies in the individual songs, all of which are excellent in their own right, but also in how they are pieced together to create the perfect flow. It's as if this record could not have been sequenced in any other way. Each song moves into the next like an aging artist moving through the various stages of his life. As in life, you can't change how time passes, and so it goes with "Pass the Distance." It goes like this because it has to.

But really, the genius is in the songs. Every one of them is worth mentioning, but I don't have the time or space to go through why each track is wonderful. Instead, I'll focus on the three most impressive, and let me tell you, whittling it down to this trio of songs was not easy. First is the short and whimsical "Patrice." It's near the end of the album and offers a breath of fresh air after some heavier tracks. It's like the period of time right after a midlife crisis where nothing phases you. Life is simply beautiful and you are thankful for all the things in it. This song glides along under the sun without a care in the world. With a combination of acoustic guitar, flutes, and other reed instruments, this has vague hints of Nick Drake, but is distinctly Finn's own creation. "My poetry just lives to guide you, my songs to start your day," he half-whispers. It's these heartfelt and sincere sentiments that make this song great. The overall feel is one of someone in love with someone they view as perfect. It's sappy in all the right ways and simply makes you feel very, very good.

Contrasting the darker undercurrents present throughout "Pass the Distance" with the hopeful hallucinatory anthems it?s full of is "Where's Your Master Gone." This melodic track is like Bob Dylan on acid. With the meandering lead guitar track and minimal percussion accenting Finn's guitar, they create an uneasy, somewhat solemn web for him to sing on top of. His words are gorgeous, and in this context, powerful. It brings to mind the most psychedelic Beatles stuff, but takes it even further. "How do you know when you should set someone to go?" Finn asks. "The wizard spoke his piece, the person at least was never to be born." His soft voice floats in the air like a fine mist spewing from overcast skies. His words evaporate as soon as they're released. "You are no more evil now than man was and is and ever more will be," he sings. It's a powerful castigation, and his words are still relevant today. It's absolutely fantastic.

But on this album, there are nine amazing songs and then there is "Jerusalem." I would rate this as one of the ten best songs I've ever heard in my life. For a song about Jesus and his impact on the world, Finn's lyrics cut like a knife. Brilliant is the understatement of the year. This hallucinatory tale is as moving as anything you'll ever hear, and when Finn lets go with his acid tongue, even the staunchest cynics will be impressed. "And Jesus was a good guy who lived on figs and wine. A political revolutionary out to let you have a good time," he wails. This is somebody who has a true grasp on Jesus the man, which is oft overlooked by Christians. As the church organ drones build in the background, the intensity is turned up notch after notch. It's almost intimidating. "Did he imagine at that moment that 2 million hypocrites would praise his name? And were he now to come down, those hypocrites would crucify him again," he screams. It's biting commentary, and paired with this stunning music, it will do nothing but blow your fucking mind.

If there ever was an essential record to own, "Pass the Distance" is it. This is influential work and for any avid reader of this website, I urge you to go out and pick this album up today. Every word I can use to describe it doesn't do it justice. You have to hear it. You have to experience it. You have to let it run through your veins. Some of these songs are more lighthearted than others, and some take you on an emotional tailspin that you'll never fully recover from. "Pass the Distance" is an album that should have never been in the vaults for 30 years. This is an album that will make you see music differently and pay closer attention to the intricacies therein. Simon Finn's innovative work will stand up with any of your favorite records, and will likely nestle itself comfortably at the top. Absolutely essential. 10/10

Brad Rose

LITHA (21 June 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

MARTIRANO SALVATORE

L's G.A. / BALLAD / OCTECT

Original Issue: 1968 Polydor (24-5001)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Track 1 is entitled "L's GA For Gas-Masked Politico, Helium Bomb, And Two-Channel Tape" and is an ASTONISHING piece of music!!!

Do you need something more to convince you?

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1 L's GA For Gas-Masked Politico, Helium Bomb, And Two-Channel Tape (24:19)
2 Ballad (11:46)
3 Octet (7:01)

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from http://ems.music.uiuc.edu/~martiran/:


"Blow your mind (and 50c) on the mixed media concert in Finney Chapel," suggest signs presently posted on the Oberlin College campus.

Featured on the avant-garde program tonight at 8:30 will be a staged performance of "L's GA" ("Lincoln's Gettysburg Address") by Salvatore Martirano, a theater piece for gas-masked politicos, helium bomb, three movie projectors and two-channel tape recorder.

Describing his notorious composition to a group of Oberlin students yesterday, Martirano said, "It starts with eight minutes of low sound that actually vibrates the floor (you get a massage), and ends with an organ version of 'My heart at thy sweet voice' from 'Samson and Delilah.' It gives a very exalted feeling."

The 24-minute piece, the composer explained, also incorporated Lincoln's speech recited in several dialects, films of faces, flowers, tongues and other things, and electronic sound from 24 speakers.

"It's not too loud for people who are accustomed to rock," he said.

The original impetus for "L's GA," which also exists in recorded and filmed versions, came from a lecture Martirano heard opposing the use of political subjects in art works. So negative was the former Marine's reaction that he decided to write a work showing that "it could be done."

Completed in 1968, the piece has received 35 performances in a variety of geographical locations and physical environments.

The audience reaction is different every time," Martirano said. "At the Electric Circus in New York, people were shouting and cheering. But in Portland, Ore., they just sat there, stunned."

Martirano reports, however, that his music has never stimulated violent responses.

"I try to make connections with the audience," he said. "I start with something they know - texts by Lincoln, Shakespeare, Dante - and then translate word inflections into many different sounds. Generally, people like my music - because it's easy."

Martirano's career as a composer began more than 20 years ago when he was a student of Herbert Elwell at Oberlin. After completing his undergraduate degree, he attended the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Bernard Rogers. He then received a Fulbright fellowship to Italy where he worked with Luigi Dallapiccola.

Numerous fellowships, grants, awards and commissions followed. And today as composer-in-residence at the University of Illinois, Martirano is securely entrenched in the university complex, which he regards as "a very enlightened place to be."

To an impressive list of compositions for orchestra, chamber ensemble, chorus, voice, electronic tape and mixed media, Martirano will soon add a new work scored for large orchestra, controller and bunny.

Wilma Salisbury

SAMHAIN (31 October 2008)

The Musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

WHEN

SVARTEDAUEN (THE BLACK DEATH)


Original Issue: 1992 Tatra (TATCD 008)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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1 The Black Death (38:27)

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from Jester Records:

In 1992 came When's heaviest piece, Svartedauen (The Black Death), inspired by Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen's drawings with the same name, describing the ravages of the plague in Norway during the Middle Age.

This single 38-minute piece is by many considered Pedersen's most evocative album.

Svartedauen contains elements from Norwegian folk music played on fiddle and mouth harp, terrifying symphonic parts à la Death in the Blue Lake with pounding drums, choir and strings, and a carpet of other grotesque sounds: hearses, moans of the dying, rats, flagellants? whips and a scythe being sharpened, to name a few.

Did you record sounds yourself, or did you get them from elsewhere?

LP: "I mixed many of my own sounds, and borrowed some from Norwegian Film. Bernt Kanstad, the technician, was working there, so I got access to many sounds that I sampled, looped and used manually. And I recorded many scraping sounds on a big, old cello that was standing in the studio, but many of those sounds were heavily manipulated afterwards, so you can?t always hear that they are cello sounds. I like working that way: not using entirely natural sounds, but doing something extra with them".

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from Volcanic Tongue:

When is the solo-project of Lars Pedersen, known for his work in Norwegian art-rockers Holy Toy in the 80s. His When project seems to be his own musical playground, as every album seems different from the other.

The later works have been prog-rock/pop vein, but Svartedauen, his third album from 1991, is a pure 38 minute musique concrète sound-collage. Svartedauen translates to The Black Death and the album is an abstract sound-journey of the plague entering and ravishing the Norwegian countryside in 1349, killing two-thirds of the Norwegian population within a year.

The album was inspired by a series of haunted and eerie drawings of Theodor Kittelsen from 1900 on the subject. Pedersen has made a soundtrack to it.

Fans of Norwegian black metal will recognize the Kittelsen art as the same that adorns the cover of several Burzum albums. A little known fact is that Burzum, and most other black metal musicians during their church-burning heydays, were big fans of this When album. Listening to it with that in mind it actually makes a lot of sense.

Svartedauen in many ways manages to evoke the feeling of doom and medieval dread that the rock-Satanists attempted with distorted guitars. It’s a scary and uncomfortable listen.

BLACK MOON (the dark side of musick)

GALÀS DIAMANDA

THE DIVINE PUNISHMENT

Original Issue: 1986 Mute Records (STUMM 27)

Reissue: 1989 Mute Records (CD STUMM 33) Buy it here!

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

Diamanda Galàs: the woman (in musick, but probably in art in general) I admire most...intelligent, provocative, uncompromisable, theatrical, extreme...and even sexy!

Faint-of-heart...PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS RECORD!!!

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1. Deliver Me From Mine Enemies
1. This Is the Law of the Plague
2. Deliver Me from Mine Enemies
3. We shall not accept your Quarentine
4. Deliver Me
5. Yiati O Ozoe
6. Psalm 22

2. Free Among the Dead
1. Psalm 88
2. Lamentations
3. Sono L'Antichristo

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from Epinions.com:

In the eighties Diamanda recorded a trilogy of albums about the AIDS epidemic. Each of the albums of the trilogy focus on different aspects of the epidemic and feature totally different musical approaches as well.

The Divine Punishment is the first of the trilogy and is perhaps the most avantgarde and unmusical of the three. This album focuses on society's judgment on the diseased person and is composed almost entirely of her readings of various old testament texts.

Her voice sometimes uses a mocking nasal tone and sometimes a stretched moan and the biblical texts feel totally alien with droning synthesized background noises added. This really doesn't qualify as music but perhaps more as a really experimental spoken word performance though some wordless and beautiful Arabic style wailing that Diamanda often uses appears as well.

The album consists only of two long tracks but contained in these two tracks are many different "songs" or recitations as well as some moments of wordless vocals including the previously mentioned wailing as well as strange multi layered groaning and other even harder to describe sounds.

The album only breaks of from this scheme in it's last few minutes when Diamanda over booming piano chords performs the only lyric not lifted from the bible but written by herself in Italian called "Sono L'Antichristo" which means simply "I am the Antichrist".

Here she howls such phrases such as "I am the holy fool" and "I am the butchers meat" as well as producing perhaps the most inhuman screams of her career. The meaning of this track is to portrait an homosexual or AIDS positive individual scorned by his society giving in and saying: yes! I am just as evil and depraved as you believe me to be!

The final moments of The Divine Punishment sets the stage for the second installment of the trilogy "The Saint Of The Pit" which focuses more on the view of the AIDS infected person himself.

Boffo

LITHA (21 June 2008)

The Musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

VARIOUS ARTISTS

HEAT & BIRDS (JEWELLED ANTLER COMPILATION #2)

Original Issue: 2002 Jewelled Antler (#2; limited to 100 copies)

Margot-meter: 4 moons / 5

Essential introduction to the Jewelled Antler sound-world
By the way, this compilation contains the best Hala Strana track ever; fantastic east-European tune gorgeously manipulated by Mr. Steven R. Smith.

1 Donovan Quinn - Heat & Birds 2:16
2 Hala Strana - Kanasztancok Ket Hegedun 3:03
3 The Floating Birthday Children - Swan on a Black Lake 1:30
4 Muons - Little Star 3:51
5 Of - Aerial Cisterns 4:12
6 Kemialliset Ystävät - Juurakkotukka 2:49
7 The Blithe Sons - Death in the Woods 3:01
8 Dead Raven Choir - Red Rocking Chair 3:29
9 Markus [FIN] - Kingo of Black Leaves 2:35
10 Byram Abbott - Doves Rehabilitating at Fort Cronkhite, 2001 1:02
11 Family of Apostolic - Mabel's Umbrage 3:52
12 The Franciscan Hobbies - The Horned Ibexes 3:22
13 Avarus - Hessu Se Tässä Vaan, Ei Mikki 1:59
14 Golden Hotel - The Blame 1:39
15 MCMS - Live in Brooklyn, 24 August 2002 8:23
16 Thuja - Opaque Reeds 8:24
17 Krsna Meditation - Gill's Pier, 6 a.m., 7 July 2002/Yasomati-nandana 14:28

from Aquarius Records:

"Heat & Birds" is the second 'friends and family' compilation to emerge from the Jewelled Antler collective, offering an overview not only of the numerous activities that are constantly evolving within the collective but also of like-minded artists from across the globe.

Common to Jewelled Antler sound is a magical wistfulness, which seeps through every sound within the label and draws metaphors to half-dreamt memories, impossible lands that only exist in the imagination, or the simple awe of nature.

While the core members (Glenn Donaldson, Loren Chasse, Rob Reger, and Steven R. Smith) are present, they've presented themselves in a variety of unique monikers and projects: such as Hala Strana (an uncredited pseudonym for Steven R. Smith, recreating a manic Hungarian folk instrumental with his trademarked production style of layered sounds building repeated riffs up to bittersweet crescendos), Of (an enigmatic project of evocative etherialism by Loren Chasse), and The Floating Birthday Children (the duo of Donaldson and Kerry McLaughlin offering pensive folk meanderings). Other, better-known Jewelled Antler projects, The Blithe Sons & Daughters, Thuja, and Franciscan Hobbies, also make appearances.

Of the non-JA projects, "Heat & Birds" also features the Finnish avant-improv-rock bands Kemialliset Ystavat, the medieval sounding Markus, and the elusive Avarus. Also, the San Francisco band Golden Hotel have produced another brilliant, drugged-out folk song, but do they remember recording it? And, there's some wonderful field recordings by AQ's own Byram Abbott of the birds in rehabilitation at Fort Cronkite just north of San Francisco. I could go on, but why spoil the mysteries?

"Heat & Birds" is a great collection from a great organization. Recommended.

CRAZY MOON (incredibly strange musick)

ZERO KAMA
THE SECRET EYE OF L.A.Y.L.A.H.

Original Issue: 1984 Nekrophile (NRC 07)

Reissue: 1991 Permis De Construire (PER 023)


Margot-meter: 4 moons / 5

1 Death Posture (3:12)
2 Atavism Dream (3:52)
3 Night Of Matter (3:21)
4 Inaguration Of The Pleasure Dome (3:55)
5 Love Alway Yieldeth (4:03)
6 Azure-Lidded Woman (Pregnant Womb Of Non) (3:50)
7 Hassan | Sabbah (4:03)
8 Starlit Mire (3:53)
9 Winged Eye Hadit (5:12)
10 Love Alway Hardeneth (3:58)
11 Town Of Pyramids (Night Of Pan) (3:28)

From Reissue Liner Notes

All instruments to be heard on this album were exclusively made from human bones and skulls by the hand of Zero Kama. They never have been used since the time of its recording, which took place at the Secret Temple of Laylah from 5th to 28th of May 1984 e.v.

Remixed at Psychonaut Studio Vienna in November 1987 e.v., and dedicated to the symbol of Laylah, meaning night and death, as well as to its numerical equivalent, Oz, a goat or unrestrained sexual force of creation, thus showing the identity of the basic two opposite forces in this generous universe of beauty and strength, in which the Lovers my find ecstasy in Pan. Who wishes to enter this world of darkness, in which the Great Goat dwelleth, may pass through the sigil of Oz given at the front of this Cover.

BELTANE (01 May 2008)

The Musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

COIL/CURRENT 93/NURSE WITH WOUND
ENGLAND'S HIDDEN REVERSE

Original Issue: 2003 World Serpent (LM 4716)

Margot-meter: 4 moons / 5

Please click here if you want to discover which are the personalities represented on the book cover

Limited edition hardback including CD containing:

Nurse With Wound: Pre-Menstrual Music For Merry Maidens (re-worked tracks: Soliloquy For Lilith, Strange Play Of The Mouth, Sea Armchair, Great Balls Of Fur, Two Shaves And A Shine, The Schmürz, Mummer's Little Weeper, Rock And Roll Station)

Current 93: The Great Bloody and Bruised Veil Of This World, Niemandswasser, In The Heart Of The Wood And What I Found There, The Frolic

Coil: Are You Shivering?, Chaostrophy, Amethyst Deceivers, The Lost Rivers Of London

from SAF Publishing:

Birthed in the fall-out from legendary 'Industrial' units Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV in the late Seventies/early Eighties, David Tibet's Current 93, John Balance and Peter Christopherson's Coil and Steven Stapleton's Nurse With Wound represent the real English underground in all its sexual, cultural and artistic variety. For reasons of social inadequacy, or because their work was deemed too damned perverse, decadent or mad, such artists frequently went unnoticed in their own lifetimes.

For all that, the three groups of friends have maintained a symbiotic, yet uneasy relationship with the mainstream of popular culture, even as their beliefs and practices repel them farthest from it. Their impact goes deeper than is usually acknowledged. Their early pioneering work with samplers, tape loops and electronics has been soaked up and assimilated via the fringes of dance culture and through close friends and collaborators such as Nick Cave, Bjork and Marc Almond, they retain a loose connection to contemporary pop. That said, they'd be the last people to deny that theirs remains very much a secret history. Until now.

SACRIFICE MOON (offering musick)

kindly donated by Craig S.

REVOLUTIONARY ARMY OF THE INFANT JESUS
THE GIFT OF TEARS

Original Issue: 1987 Probe Plus (PROBE 12)


Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

1 Come Holy Spirit (9:29)
2 Tales From Europe (4:06)
3 The Miller (4:09)
4 De Profundis (3:37)
5 The Singing Ringing Tree (2:06)
6 Beauty After The Fall (9:16)
7 The Dream (4:47)
8 Lament (Ashes In The Water) (3:11)
9 Transfiguration (5:31)
10 Communion (3:14)

from Opuszine (find more here and here!)

“Mystery”, “whimsy”, “confusion”, and “otherness” are all words that could easily be applied to the strangely-named Revolutionary Army Of The Infant Jesus (indeed, if the name alone made you roll your eyes, you may just want stop here).

The Liverpool-based RAIJ is often lumped in with the rest of the “apocalyptic/experimental folk” genre, alongside groups such as Current 93, Death In June, Sol Invictus, and The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud.

Like those artists, RAIJ’s music is a blend of folksy, acoustic instrumentation, cryptic lyrics full of sacred/apocalyptic imagery, and trance-like vocals that seem more like invocation. However, the band also incorporates ambient and industrial sounds a la Les Joyaux de la Princesse, as well as plenty of samples from European films (Andrei Tarkovsky and Jean Cocteau seem to be as big an influence as anything), old Russian speeches, and tattered radio broadcasts.

from Amazon

This record is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. It's proof of an unjust world that this album has scarcely been available over the past ten years. Except those rare copies offered at prices of an arm and a leg.

Eschewing economics, the beautiful music of RAIJ has bucketloads of passion, mystery, innocence, and is rife with an adventurous spirit of experimentation. You can literally hear the joy in their musical discoveries, from track to track. In it, you'll hear a valid attempt invoking the spirit of Europe: From otherworldly Gregorian-style chants to madrigal acoustic guitars/flutes to echo-chamber percussion and floating electronic soundscapes, even excerpts from Cocteau's movie ORPHEE. That is, a musical journey from medieval times to our electronic era. And it's breathtaking to hear such imaginal leaps through their sound.

It wouldn't be too off the mark to consider their music in the "apocalyptic folk" tradition of, say, Current 93, Death In June, etc. And like this style, it takes acoustic instruments and collides them with electronic manipulations. But this collision is done in a way that is totally singular and without peer.

Only an anarcho-Christian collective like them could have brought all of these elements together: Acoustic-electronic, innocence-wisdom, lucidity-confusion, Christian-pagan.

Michael Thomas Jones

SACRIFICE MOON (offering musick)

ASWYNN FREYA
THE FRUITS OF YGGDRASIL

Original Issue: 1987 Eyas Media ( EYAS 006)

Reissue: 2002 Edition Ananael (Ananael Audio 01) Buy it here!!!


Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

Well, this one was a big big surprise for me and I really have to thank one of this blog readers for "donating" this shamanic jewel; unfortunately I'm not able to remember his/her name.

This is magick musick of the highest degree - a true bridge towards arcane (and mighty) forces!

1 Havamal
2 Voluspa
3 Wotan
4 Invokation Of The Gods
5 Knighting
6 Sigdrifumal
7 Northstar
8 Ragnarok
9 Panzer Rune
10 North
11 Futhark
12 Nietzsche
13 Seeker

from World Music Central

If you find you have an interest in the magical properties of rune songs, Freya Aswynn's Songs of Yggdrasil, released by the metaphysical book publisher, Llewellyn is worth a listen.
This CD delves deeply into the actual chants performed by the Nordic shaman Freya.

According to the CD liner notes, "In Shamanism one of the most valued techniques is the use of sound. There are two main techniques: chanting and drumming, which are combined with breath control and synchronized with a heartbeat. The main reason for employing these techniques is to achieve an altered state of consciousness... There are two different kinds of trance states. One is exhilarating and leads to tremendous amounts of energy; in this state magic acts can be performed usually on the spur of the moment..."

Freya goes on to describe the second kind of trance which is a journey state and the shaman's attentions are turned inward.

The chants that appear on Songs of Yggdrasil recount the shaman's journey and in this case the shaman journeys through nine worlds, where various Nordic gods/goddesses and entities such as Odin and Freya are evoked. In the past, I had read a book that described the journeys of seidr (Nordic seers) in which the seidre would sit on a high chair and drop into a trance where the seidre would journey through the nine worlds bringing back information for those ceremonial attendees seeking answers.

I'm not sure how Freya's recording fits into this practice. However, the chants included on the CD represent particular runes and vibrations associated with those particular runes. Freya cites, "Through chanting the runes, one can express the meaning of that rune." Her recording demonstrates the galdr technique.

Whipping wind and howling wolves accompany Freya's chants. This creates a gothic atmosphere and easily sends its listeners on an inward quest. Freya also explains what and whom she encounters on the journey as well as, performing various invocations and chants. Also note that the chants on this CD are not melodic. While drums appear on at least one of the tracks, this recording represents sound healing through the use of shamanic chants.

However, if you are interested in pursuing the sound healing aspects of rune songs and would like to explore the Northern Mysteries, then picking up Freya Aswynn's Songs of Yggdrasil along with her book, Northern Mysteries and Magick (Llewellyn), will get you off on the right foot. Working with sound and loving intentions could transform the world we live in for the better.

I am certainly not an expert on rune songs and I can find very little in the way of books on the subject, at least ones written in English. I will say that rune songs are worth exploring as both a musical and a magical practice.