FULL FLOWER MOON (17 May 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

ROSEMARY'S BABY

ANDREW WOODHOUSE


Original Issue: 1986 Ricerche Studi Babalon (RSB 3/7)

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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from L'Erba della Strega (Google automatic translation from Italian):

From the beginning of its work, RSB said to put the TOPY as a starting point and not necessarily of arrival.

This implied the fact that prior to putting in the fruit of his research could be of any type and not necessarily on one side or the other for stupid statement.

With the completion of this project, "Andrew Woodhouse is immediately and permanently ended the research studies Babalon and his work as TOPY Italian, also comes to an end the existence of Rosemary's Baby, a subsidiary of the music more complex project RSB : Babalon was researched and studied and, at the present time was recognized.

Below we publish the results.

RSB - July 1986



This is the statement that opens the book contained in the final production of Rosemary's Baby: The LP Andrew Woodhouse. After only a couple of years, as the group bids farewell to his supporters, admirers and followers, exalted, and not trendy. Print run 500 copies of the disc, 250 in free distribution. The title itself symbolizes the change took place in the group: in the film Rosemary Andrew is the name that would give his son, and will ultimately be called Adrian. Nearly a change of course.

Disk and the words contained in the booklet and in the letters that he wrote about Pierre, he could talk for pages, but I remember the premise made at the beginning of the article. I have uncovered the tomb where rests Rosemary's Baby, I tried to describe their past life, but I do not want to completely remove the veil that envelops the body. This we can do each of us if interested and with his head.

What is certain is that the project had actually worked well, the purpose of study and research had been fully pursued and at the time had come to maturity of the ideas with the point from which he had left had little to do. The results mentioned in the statement are not disclosed. Instead, they are presented as extracts from books by various authors, among which is expected to emphasize the preponderance of the quotations from the works of Rene Guenon: its opinions on the psyche and the magic, the modern world and human development.

The entire A side of the disc is occupied by an impressive cover of "The End" The Doors, re-run in a tribal, ethereal, dreamy, full of percussion and never disturbing and oppressive as it could be a "... The power of love." You find yourself floating in a smoky haze for the duration of the piece, even more exciting final for the registration of which the Rosemary's Baby have used some tools used by Tibetan monks for the last piece of the B-side The text is modified, you can read all handwritten in a copy of a calendar page dated July 3 (death of Jim Morrison ...), also attached to the disk. Text not changed at random, as Pierre explains in one of his last letters.

The B side is instead of three recordings. "ENI," Byzantine chant sung and celebrated in the Monastery of Xenophontos. "La ilaha illallah" Muslim who obsessively repeats the song title, which sounds like "There is no god but Allah." "Swayambunath" recording of a song made by Tibetan R'sB in the temple of Swayambhunath.

Pierre closes one of his last letters with the phrase "Seek the Lord." I believe that reflecting on this fact and the three songs that Rosemary's Baby have decided to include in the B side of the disc, you can guess what was the road that they were trying to take at that time.

LITHA (21 June 2010)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

VARIOUS ARTISTS

VOR DER FLUT (Hommage An Einen Wasserspeicher)


Original Issue: 1985 Eigelstein Musikproduktion (ES 2025/26CD) Buy it here!

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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1 Christian Bollmann , Doris Zeman , Gerd Kappelhoff , Helmut Scherner , Jochen Vetter , Roberto Laneri , Stephanie Wolf - Invocationes 2:59
2 Dario Domingues - Pacha Siku 3:40
3 Pauline Oliveros - Watertank Software 4:41
4 Büdi Siebert , Joe Koinzer - Trüffeltanz 4:14
5 Jochen Vetter , Doris Zeman , Gerd Kappelhoff , Helmut Scherner , Jochen Vetter - Praevocationes 5:25
6 Dario Domingues - The Spirit Of The Wind 3:44
7 Pauline Oliveros - The Gentle-Short Version 5:42
8 Büdi Siebert - Wal-Hall-A 4:47
9 Saxophon Mafia - Kellerdschungel 4:50
10 Conrad Bauer - Bötz 10:05
11 Butz Dähn , Michael Höhler , Wolfgang Hamm - Unter Der Stadt 6:52
12 Heiner Goebbels - Die Sintflut - Ein Vorfilm Für Herbert Achternbusch 6:29

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from liner notes :

In December 1984 musicians from different countries and the 'Tanzforum der Oper/Köln' met in the almost 100 years old drinking water tank SEVERIN, located on the southside of Cologne, for an exceptional music and dance project.
The recordings of this compact disc testify for the unique acoustics of this subterranean colonnade. All takes have only been recorded with microphones distributed throughout the tank, without using any additional studio effect equipment."

The water reservoir was empty for 2 years for construction works. The longest audible reverb recorded at the empty tank lasts approximately 45 seconds. After the project the water tank was flooded again with about 20 million litres of drinking water.

FULL STURGEON MOON (5 August 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

ROACH STEVE & STEARNS MICHAEL & SUNSINGER RON

KIVA


Original Issue: 1995 Fathom (HS11056-2)

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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1 Passage One (2:27)
2 East Kiva - Calling In The Midnight Water (13:42)
3 Passage Two (1:59)
4 South Kiva - Mother Ayahuasca (15:13)
5 Passage Three (2:12)
6 West Kiva - Sacrifice, Prayer, And Visions (17:27)
7 Passage Four (2:00)
8 North Kiva - Trust And Remenber (9:42)
9 The Center (2:33)

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from All Music Guide:

Ron Sunsinger, a Native American tribal artist and musician, joins two space music pioneers on Kiva, an atmospheric re-creation of sacred tribal ceremonies representing the directions of the Four Winds.

For the Southwest tribes, a kiva is a circular subterranean structure used for ceremony and ritual; other tribes may use a canopy of trees, the circular space of a Sun Dance, or a cavern. For this recording, Sunsinger obtained, with permission, field recordings of traditional ceremonies. The musicians then brought the kiva space into their music studio. Each wind direction is preceded by an atmospheric passage of chanting, nature sounds, and rattles. "East Kiva: Calling in the Midnight Water" features chanting with the rattles and rapid drumbeats of a peyote ceremony. The space music continues the ceremony to an expanded heartbeat, with horns signaling breakthroughs of thunder strikes. A more celestial space is heralded by organ tones and crickets. Hearing the overlapping layers of sound and the progression allows the listener's mind to travel, while still being connected to the ceremonial music and rhythms.

Ghostly voices usher in the passage to "South Kiva: Mother Ayahuasca." Here, breathy whistles and a hypnotic twang of a stringed instrument begin a trance that takes off on one of the most dramatic space blastoffs on record. It climaxes through shouts and ceremonial purging, a sacred song, and whistling; the organ/chanting drone background is very trippy with its sonic infinity pattern of organ tones, chanting, jungle birds, and distorted drumming. "West Kiva: Sacrifice, Prayer and Visions" includes the powerful powwow drumming, singing, and stomped bells of the Native American Sun Dance. The space music collides sounds and rhythms -- a dizzying and hallucinatory clash of reality and illusion.

The music then "passes out" and takes the listener on a voyage through a sonic tunnel where all time is suspended. The final "North Kiva: Trust and Remember," recorded in a cavern, thunders with resonant drums and the growls of the didgeridoo. This recording is an excellent introduction to space music and the shamanic experience. You'll find it's not a free ride.

Carol Wright

FULL PINK MOON (09 April 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

TIME MACHINES

TIME MACHINES


Original Issue: 1998 Eskaton (ESKATON 010)

Reissue: 2001 Eskaton (ESKATON 028)

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

Psycho-active musick!!! Handle with care

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1 7-Methoxy-ß-Carboline: (Telepathine) (23:10)
2 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Ethyl-Amphetamine: (DOET/Hecate) (13:28)
3 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyl: (5-MeO-DMT) (10:02)
4 4-Indolol,3-[2-(Dimethylamino)Ethyl],Phosphate Ester: (Psilocybin) (26:51)

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from Wikipedia:

Time Machines is Coil's landmark drone music album, released under the alias Time Machines. It consists of 4 tracks which are composed of a single tone, called a drone. Each tone represents a certain hallucinogenic chemical (see track titles).

It is similar to Brian Eno's early ambient albums, but more functional in that, instead of creating an atmosphere of calm, it facilitates time travel, according to band founder John Balance. Each tone was tested and retested in the studio for maximum narcotic potency. John Balance described the album as an attempt to "dissolve time".

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from Almost Cool Music Reviews:

Since I've never taken any sort of hallucinatory drugs, I'm probably the wrong person to be reviewing this album, but I'm going to take a stab at it anyway. This album is a concept album of sorts in that there are 4 tracks (varying in length from 10 to 27 minutes) of strictly tonal qualities that have been constructed to "facilitate travel through time." As if that weren't enough, instead of track titles, the four pieces are named as chemical structures of hallucinatory drugs (track 2 is "2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Ethyl-Amphetamine:(DOET/Hecate)").

If you're a fan of Coils previous work, this album may even take some work for you to get through. Quite simply, it is the most minimal piece of work that they have ever done. The tracks on this disc are droning and long and change only slightly throughout their duration. If you've ever listened to music of this sort (as I have quite a bit), you'll know that it's best to either leave it on in the foreground and let yourself completely be consumed by it (as in meditation), or put it on a little more quietly in the background and let it blend in with lots of other things that are going on around you. As it says in the cover, "Artifacts generated by your listening environment are an intrinsic part of the experience." Be it police sirens, the hum of your refridgerator, or the clink-clank of dishes as you wash them, almost every noise will seem to blend into the the background tone that is this recording.

As with other Coil releases, the packaging on the disc is very cool. The first 2,000 copies printed come with 6 brightly colored stickers that, when overlayed (which you really can't do without messing them up) create a new symbol. As explained above, the music is very trying, especially if you have a short attention span. It's very minimal and kind of creepy, but if you let it, it will suck you in. It's probably even better on hallucinatory drugs, but I'll stick to listening to it while I'm doing yoga.

FULL WORM MOON (10 March 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

RASA

COMING INTO FULL BLOOM


Original Issue: 1979 Lotus Eye (BBT S-17)

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

I must admit I bought this one in a flea market just for the cover artwork (never heard before about this Hare Khrishna guys). Exquisite ethnic-fusion mantras inside!!!

An unusual entry for the Moon Musick blog but I record I often put on my plate

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1 Eternal Spaceman (7:15)
2 Maha-mantra (8:55)
3 My Wasted Life (6:30)
4 Six Wonderful Men (7:50)
5 The Jewel Quality (6:30)
6 Childhood Pastimes (6:52)

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from Wikipedia:

The group RASA began in the summer of 1978. Robert Campagnola, then known as Harikesa Swami, had been playing devotional Sanskrit bhajans in a joking manner on a large organ recently donated to ISKCON Germany. Some of these songs were recorded and the tapes passed around. Jorgen Sundsvall (Vegavan das), heard these tapes and decided it could be potentially profitable to record an album and distribute it. He invited Robert into a room in the building where they stayed where he had secretly arranged a recording session with a drummer (Dattatreya), piano player Madhava Puri Das (Mats Olausson), electric guitarist (Stig Sjoberg), bass player and a recording engineer (Sperling). Robert sat behind the piano and started spontaneously playing Cintamani while the others gradually joined in. This became the first track on the extremely successful album, Oasis, which sold many hundreds of thousands of copies throughout Europe[citation needed]. Subsequent RASA albums were released, some with the same original musicians, and the band grew so popular they were requested to play the large open air concerts in Germany before huge crowds.

To facilitate the recording of the material, Robert built a recording studio in Korsnas Gard, Sweden, with the help of Ekhardt Matz (Ekanath das) and others. Together they learned the art of recording, mixing and mastering, and custom built many of the facilities within the studio that were used to record other albums and shows for bands and Radio Krishna, a popular Narradion production for Stockholm.

The music and lyrics were either adaptations of traditional Indian songs or original compositions by Robert. The band ceased to exist in 1984 . From 1987 till 1995, Robert recorded under the band name of BLISS.

FULL SNOW MOON (9 February 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

SECLUSION

YUKIGAFURU (PART I-IV)


Original Issue: 1993 Some Fine Legacy (SFL 001)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Another mind bending masterpiece by the likes of Christoph Heemann and the members of Jack or Jive!

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1 Yukigafuru (Parts 1-3) (20:51)
2 Yukigafuru (Part 4) (8:39)

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from Incursion.org:

Seclusion is Makoto Hattori, Chako and Christoph Heemann. From the moment I put this in my player I was stopped dead in my tracks. This music on this 30 minute EP has an overwhelming power, and I find myself returning to it time and time again.

It opens with a quiet drone, interspersed with drops of crystalline sound, as gentle as the gentlest snowfall (this first visual effect is suggested by the superb cover art). As I have come to expect from any project with Heemann in its personnel, the production work here is incredible; these sounds breathe a life of their own that is truly remarkable. Deep into the drones of the opening sequences, immersed in their depth and beauty, there comes a gentle voice strained in song, later accompanied by the quiet and deep intonations of an organ. You encounter her voice as you would a pool of clear cool water in a tranquil wilderness; as still as sadness itself, a scene for contemplation and reflection, a place of infinite beauty that pulls you to stillness.

Please excuse my liberties here: I can only speak of this music, itself so very poetical, in terms of analogy and metaphor. Needless to say, this record comes highly highly recommended.

Richard Di Santo

IMBOLC (02 February 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

YATHA SIDHRA

A MEDITATION MASS


Original Issue: 1974 Brain/Metronome (BRAIN 1045)

Reissue: 2004 Motor Music (06024 981308-4)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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1 Part 1 (17:45)
2 Part 2 (3:13)
3 Part 3 (12:00)
4 Part 4 (7:16)

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from Amazon:

Yatha Sidhra was a little known Krautrock group that didn't get much attention, despite recording for Brain. A Meditation Mass became one of the rarest albums to surface on that label.

The original LP came with a die-cut cover, in which The Laser's Edge nicely replicated when they reissued it on CD back in '92. In '95 Spalax in France reissued it again on CD, but this time, without the die-cut replication.

Comparisons to Ash Ra Tempel and Popol Vuh are often leveled at these guys, and of course they were contemporaries of such groups. The band consisted of Rolf Fichter on guitar, keyboards, Indian flute, and vocals, Klaus Fichter on drums/percussion, Matthias Nicolai on 12-string guitar and bass, and Peter Elbracht on flute.

The album is loaded with flute, while Rolf Fichter plays the guitar in the style of a sitar, trying to create a droning effect. Moog and electric piano surface from time ti time. As the album title suggusts, A Meditation Mass tends to be mellow, so the music isn't hurried. That means you won't get raw, intense, in-your-face passages like you might get with Ash Ra Tempel at times.

The music tends to keep one pace, except when the band decides to venture off in to jazzy territory, which you do have your fair share. The music is basically one long piece divided in to four parts. Each part revolving around a theme or a jam, while the final part is basically previous themes on the album revisited. Great stuff, but requires a few listens to get it. I very much highly recommend this album.

Benjamin Miler

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from Geocities:

Yatha Sidhra is the only group I am aware of that released only one song in their entire recording career. This song, the forty-minute 'A Meditation Mass' is one of the more soothing tracks in the genre.

For their CD release, Spalax divided the track into 4 sections; I am not sure why? 'A Meditation Mass' builds slowly and includes a hypnotically repetitive guitar and percussion background overtop of which flute solos and moog drones can be heard.

Unintelligible droning vocals are introduced around the ten-minute mark further enhancing the meditative qualities. The track picks up musically near the eighteen-minute mark when the beat shifts towards a rock bass riff led by some jazzy electric piano work. This middle section extends throughout track 3 and gets heavier and more psychedelic until ultimately ending in an explosive fury twentyeight-minutes into the track. Slowly, the meditative qualities build, returning the track to its original hypnotic state for the final seven-minutes.

The members of Yatha Sidhra were friends with Achim Reichel, whom many believe had a helping hand in procuring the bands recording contract. Sadly, they made just this one album; however, Rolf Fichter did record an album with the band Dreamworld in 1980.

STARLESS MOON (nacht musick)

GÜNTER BERNHARD

REDSHIFT/ABSCHIED

Original Issue: 2002 Trente Oiseaux (toc 021) Buy it here!

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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1 Redshift (31:47)
2 Abschied (20:50)

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from Bernard Günter homepage�:

The constant growth of Bernhard Günter keeps going. "Redshift" is based on sounds he found on his DAT collections, dating from almost 10 years ago; they have been processed and reworked with the usual care for the micro-details, creating a canvas on which nuances and shadows propagate in hypnotic, repetitive fashion - classical Günter style. But the best track is "Abschied": a requiem for the kind soul of a deceased person (in this case, Bernhard's wife's aunt) it's worked from treated orchestral samplings which become a faraway, melancholic delicacy of tenuous rarefaction and faint breathing, pointed with the glowing of drying tears. Again, one of the most intense compositions I came across recently, a music that will make you think for long moments after it's over. [Massimo Ricci, TOUCHING EXTREMES]

This release combines two pieces, 'Redshift' (30 minutes) and 'Abschied'} (20 minutes), realized in 2001. Although they both fit Bernhard Günter's esthetic, they share no common conceptual bond, which prompted the artist to include two interchangeable covers. 'Redshift' was put together from old samples dating back to Günter's beginnings (circa 1993). The music mainly consists of three separate layers: a faint humming background, almost inaudible, and two tracks of rattling sounds (could be contact microphones) placed far away in the left and right stereo channels.
In headphones it produces a schizophrenic effect; on loudspeakers it transforms the room into a wide sound field you can loose yourself in.
Settings change in the course of the first three movements, but the basic idea remains the same. The last seven minutes leave a lone horn calling long notes in the distance. This mournful finale turns out to be the perfect introduction for 'Abschied' composed in memory of the deceased aunt of the composer's wife. Sustained tones, calm and discreet, weave an ever-changing pattern inducing a state of meditation. Are they strings or horns? At one point, through a short transformational process reminiscent of Trevor Wishart's 'Red Bird' or Bernhard Gal's works on 'Relisten', appear the sounds of a city street at rush hour. Instead of casting some light on the piece it makes it more puzzling and beautiful.

(Note by bg: I do not own a contact microphone, and the 'street noise' part is not a field recording, but also consists of instrumental sounds.) [François Couture, ALL MUSIC GUIDE]

Redshift is the latest release from sound artist Bernhard Günter. The title piece was composed using noise sounds from Günter's DAT archive, from his early sampling days in 1993. This long piece begins with faint crackling, soft fluctuations giving the impression of movement, of a gently changing sonic space. Beneath the crackling sounds is the quiet roar of a fan, a motor, a distant drone, but it too rests gently on the listening space. Sharper textures rise and fall throughout the piece, of varying frequencies and timbres, all of which create hypnotizing movements of fluctuating sounds perfectly suited for playback at medium volume. The disc also contains a second piece, "Abschied," which otherwise has no connection with the first. It was composed in memory of Erika Kedziora, an aunt of Günter's wife who had recently passed away. Slow moving, dissonant harmonics, sounding as if they were made using a combination of bowed instruments (stringed, metallic or otherwise), create a beautiful soundscape mourning the loss and celebrating the memory of a relative who is obviously very close to Günter's heart. The piece might not have any thematic or compositional connection with "Redshift", and yet these two pieces compliment each other well. The uneven crackling and subtle noises of the first piece are answered by the sustained notes of the second. A stunning new release, one that won't want to leave your CD player for days on end. [Richard di Santo, INCURSION MUSIC REVIEW]

ALCHEMICAL MOON (transformation musick)

RABELAIS AKIRA

SPELLEWAUERYNSHERDE

Original Issue: 2004 Samadhi Sound (sound cd ss003) Buy it here!

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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1		1382 Wyclif Gen. II. 7 And Spiride In To The Face Of Hym An Entre Of Breth Of Lijf. (6:18)
2		1390 Gower Conf. II. 20 I Can Noght Thanne Unethes Spelle That I Wende Altherbest Have Rad. (7:24)
3		1440 Promp. Parv. 518/2 Wawyn, Or Waueryn, Yn A Myry Totyr, Oscillo. (6:36)
4		1483 Caxton Golden Leg. 208 B/2 He Put Not Away The Wodenes Of His Flessh With A Sherde Or Shelle. (21:15)
5		1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 125 Within Which Draw An Other Circle, A Finger Bredth Distant. (0:44)
6		(Gorgeous Curves Lovely Fragments Labyrinthed On Occasions Entwined Charms, A Few Stories At Any Longer Sworn To Gathered From A Guileless Angel And The Hilt Edges Of Old Hearts, If They Do In The Guilt Of Deep Despondency.) (6:09)
7		1671 Milton Samson 1122 Add Thy Spear, A Weavers Beam, And Seven-Times-Folded Shield. (8:06)

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from Samadhi Sound homepage:

What Rabelais has come up with in Spellewauerynsherde, is a haunting spiritual disk that sounds at once medieval, especially framed by Rabelais' beautiful texts, while at the same time, on the cutting edge of electronic music.

Digital technologies, with their use of permutation and combination of seemingly unrelated elements, bring us back to the world of magic, which also sought to transform matter in ways that give it spiritual significance.

Spellewauerynsherde brings back voices from the edges of history, tapes gathering dust in archives, and transforms them into ghosts that thrive in the digital era, albeit in sometimes monstrous forms.

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from Boomkat:

Akira Rebalais is an artist cloaked in mystery, try unlocking the secrets on his magical website, an Irdialesque warren of coded messages, revelatory software programs, cryptic poems and serious essays.

...

Undertaking a project to transfer from tape to digital some old tape recordings of Icelandic vocal lament songs presumed to have been recording in the 1960's Akira claims to have been completely obsessed by them to an extent where he wished to incorporate the vocals into his own music.

'1382 Wyclif Gen. ii. 7' - the single voice swept up into an echoic overlapping framework, subtely falling apart until a strong wind blows across a group of microphones - astonishing.

'1390 Glower Conf. II.20' is a more melancholic song, one which would lie perfectly within context in one of Ingmar Bergman's stark films like 'Winter Light' and 'Shame'.

'1440 Promp Parv. 518/20' finds Akira hightening the ghostly quality of this vocal through reverb, echo and subdued time stretch that would make a Chris Morris disturbathon sketch even more effective.

'1483 Caxton Golden Leg, 208b/2' stretches out for over twenty minutes feeling like a floating fogbound rework of Gyorgy Ligeti's 'Lux Aeterna'.

To round up 'Spellewauerynsherde' brings to myself memories of loved one's passed, favourite films that haunt your consciousness for weeks after viewing and make you want to revisit your favourite spiritually enhancing CD's.

Not many album's will move you in quite the way that this album does. Believe.

SACRIFICE MOON (offering musick)

Kindly donated by Rousselle

MONTGOMERY JOCELYN & LYNCH DAVID

LUX VIVENS (THE MUSIC OF HILDEGARD VON BINGEN)

Original Issue: 1998 Mammoth ( 354 980 183-2)

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Margot-meter: 3,5 moons / 5

Rousselle lovely introduction to the musick

"Hello Margot, what a lovely job you do with Wheel of the Year! Recently you posted Miranda Sex Garden, a lovely selection. One of the founders, Jocelyn Montgomery released a splendid CD of the works of the medieval mystic Abbess Hildegard Von Bingen in collaboration with David Lynch, of all people! Hildegard, regarded by many as centuries ahead of her time, considered the feminine principle,(the flowering branch) as essential to spirituality. One can argue back and forth about context, whether she is or is not fairly regarded as the "patron saint" of the eco-movement, but her contributions, though suppressed by the church for centuries, endured and have re-emerged with powerful force since the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Her music, which was in many ways centuries ahead of the rest of western music- rooted in the pagan folk melodies she heard as a child, married to the church music, and the Latin structures"

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1 Flame And Vision (1:53)
2 Sapientie (3:10)
3 O Tu Illustrata (8:23)
4 Et Ideo (3:21)
5 Viridissima (5:07)
6 Battle And Aftermath (1:41)
7 Gloria Patri (2:31)
8 Lux Vivens (8:22)
9 Deus Enim (2:50)
10 Clarissima (7:21)
11 Orzchis (2:43)
12 Caritas (2:49)
13 Kyrie (2:56)
14 Hodie (2:56)
15 Alleluia (3:51)

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from Geocities:

David Lynch goes sacred; dug around in the past and found something to bring back with him.

It's never certain what a man who uses animal carcasses and ants in his hanging art will unearth or create. For example, he has directed truly mesmerizing films from Eraserhead to Blue Velvet. This time he has scraped up some old songs, dusted them off and recruited a talented songstress to add the perfect polish. The new album Lux Vivens is the result.

David Lynch came up with a beautiful new album that explores a few familiar themes – religion, vindication and the contemporizing the past. His artful production presents a smooth, unified recording.

Despite the album's ingenuity, it surely won't be played on B-94 until they start playing 12th Century German sacred music alongside Matchbox 20 and Hanson. In fact, this album not only marks Lynch's return to music; it is also the debut of Jocelyn Montgomery, the album's vocalist.

Lux Vivens came about through Lynch's fascination with the music of an outspoken, 12th century nun. Hildegard Von Bingen was one of the most radical feminists of her time. She was also thought to be a child prophet whose visions culminated in the text "Scivias – Know the Ways." She was even challenged by Pope Eugene III to further prophesy, and eventually was confirmed as a visionary by the pope.

Lynch needed a singer who could make Von Bingen's music her own. Although she had no interest in a recording deal, Jocelyn Montgomery's vocal style attracted Lynch and Lux Vivens is their debut.

Lynch opens the album with "Flame and Vision," which evokes images of a fiery sky and landscapes ravaged by storms. It works to jolt the listener into a curiously introspective mind-set. Each song consumes and haunts you with its surrealism. It's a beautiful revival of an artistic expression that's nine centuries old. This is art in its beauty and texture – layered and complex.

Montgomery's voice echoes as though she were singing in a large abandoned cathedral in outstanding pieces like "Lux Vivens," the title track, and "Sapientie." Montgomery's soprano touches the soul with Von Bingen' s words, deeper each time you press play.

Lux Vivens is incredibly unique. There are no hooks, no gloss and no sheen to the music. It is designed to be as faithful to Von Bingen' s Latin originals. But it's still a very interesting period piece that someone like David Lynch can filter through his vision. Listen with an open mind and leave your prejudices about sacred music at the door.

MEDITATION MOON (OM musick)

HALFHIDE NIGEL CHARLES

MOVEMENTS OF MIND (Five Overtone Movements)

Original Issue: 1987 Jecklin Musikhaus (Jecklin-Disco 615-2)

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

Über-rare overtone singing masterpiece by Nigel Charles Halfhide who is considered among the best western performers (together with Michael Vetter and David Hykes) in the khoomei tradition.

On this record voice is accompanied alternately by a tambura and an indian harmonium. Both instruments are ideally suited to the accompaniment of overtone singing, since the overtones are constantly present in their sound, supporting the voice .

1 Part I (Voice And Tambura)
2 Part II (Voice And Harmonium)
3 Part III (Voice And Tambura)
4 Part IV (Voice And Harmonium)
5 Part V (Voice And Tambura)

from Wikipedia:

Overtone singing, also known as throat singing, overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the harmonic resonances (or formants) created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.

Throat singing is both a generic and a specific term. Generally, the term is applied to any singing style which entails the application of a harsh voice or some other constriction, although it is sometimes incorrectly applied to unconstricted overtone singing. Specifically, the term refers to a type of Central Asian overtone singing.

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.

FULL PINK MOON (20 April 2008)

The Musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

TUU
ALL OUR ANCESTORS

Original Issue: 1994 Beyond ( RBADCD 9)

Reissue: 1995 Waveform (85102-2) Buy it here!!!

Margot-meter: 4 moons / 5

1 Triple Gem Of Wisdom
2 All Our Ancestors
3 House Of The Waters
4 Stillpoint In Motion
5 Rainfall
6 Illumination
7 Shiva Descending

from Amazon:

Put your headphones on, adjust the levels to achieve maximum results, close your eyes, open your heart, breathe deeply and take in all the sensations this disc will provide you. Light a stick of incense while you're at it; it'll enhance the experience. When you listen to this disc you embark on a transcendental journey from within.

This is music with an Eastern flair, complete with water drums, clay pots, flutes (Chinese and Bansuri) , chants and various percussion instruments that are blended with samples, synths and loops for an otherworldly experience. Although it is heavy on the Eastern vibe, like meditative monks dancing through your head, the universal appeal of this ambient world music goes beyond religions into the realm of spirituality.

This is a good disc to listen to focus your attention within and reach out to the world around you. It is extremely peaceful, relaxing and not in the least bit boring since the exotic nature of the instruments holds your attention quite well. This music shadows the distant past, the unknown future and the mystery of life. Recommended as a backdrop for those meditative moments in life.

Enrique Torres

MEDITATION MOON (OM musick)

MICUS STEPHAN
ATHOS (A JOURNEY TO THE HOLY MOUNTAIN)

Original Issue: 1994 ECM ( ECM 1551) Buy it here!!!


Margot-meter: 4 moons / 5

01 - On The Way
02 - The First Night
03 - The First Day
04 - The Second Night
05 - The Second Day
06 - The Third Night
07 - The Third Day
08 - On The Way Back (2 Bavarian Zithers, Sattar, 11 Voices)

from Celebforu.com:

Athos is a 1994 album produced by Stephan Micus for ECM. Based on a three-day visit to Mount Athos, in it Micus tries to capture his experiences with the Greek Orthodox liturgy he experienced in the monasteries there, framing it with pieces that evoke his emotions at going to and leaving the isolated peninsula. Between them he recreates the liturgical experience of the services over the three days he was there, in six alternating pieces of night and day.

As in his other works, Micus uses a combination of traditional instruments from various cultures to capture the feel of the monastery. These include the sattar (a bowed 10-string instrument used by the Uyghur people), the shakuhachi (a Japanese bamboo flute), the suling (a reed flute from Bali), the ney (a Middle Eastern flute), and even 22 flowerpots, filled with water, which he plays with his hands and with mallets. These instruments are only used in the pieces representing the days on Mount Athos. To emulate the Greek Orthodox tradition of not using musical instruments in their services, his pieces devoted to the nights are performed by a 22-man choir singing prayers to the Virgin Mary.

MEDITATION MOON (OM musick)

PRIMA MATERIA
THE TAIL OF THE TIGER

Original Issue: 1977 Ananda (N. 2)

Reissue: 2005 Die Schachtel (DS 10) Buy it here!!!


Margot-meter: 4 moons / 5

01 - The Tail Of The Tiger
02 - Berlin, October 19th, 1974 Metamusik Festival
03 - Roma, January 17, 1976

from Psychevanhetfolk Homestead:

I know of only a handful of successful new music releases that are a thoughtful consideration of meditative music, compared to such a powerful recording like that of a Tibetan Monks Tantric ritual. Stockhausen’s second version of his “Stimmung” performed by Singcircle (Hyperion, CDA66115) uses vowels and consonants of Gods and deities, which are related with the 7 days of the week, and repeats them in certain patterns in that way they gently flow into each other. This album, in combination with experimental singer Tamia’s first private release was used and appreciated as an introduction for my radio show for the last 10 years without much change. It is not so related with overtones, but still has other ideas which are equally interesting and brilliant as a performance.
The second example of Prima Materia comes closer to a comparable idea I could eventually describe as a kind of western raga/raag form of the coming to deeper concentration “Om…” (this “Om” in our Western world section with new music and electronic music could easily be replaced by “Ohm”, if you wish, like the great organisation ‘Sound Ohm’ did, of which I think the label Die Schachtel is a section.
Italian born Roberto Laneri graduated as a composer at the University of California with a thesis on ‘sound as the vehicle of altered states of consciousnesses'. His so called “extended vocal techniques” were since 1972 at first developed at the University of California, with the help of an organist Susanne Hendricks, and, once in Italy, was performed by various vocalists (Gianni Nebbiosi, Claudio Ricciardi, Alvin Curran, Michiko Hirayama, Maria Monti, Nicola Bernardini, and others). Since 1974 the group began touring with performances in Berlin, Köln, Zagreb, Rome, and Paris. One 33’30” performance was recorded for a private pressing LP in 1977. Two of the other live recordings (Berlin in 1974, a recording of about 16 minutes (other than almost half an hour, as indicated), and Rome, 1976, a performance of nearly 14 minutes) are included here on this cd reissue too.

The musicians individually researched and developed vocal techniques which were originally used in Tantric rituals around the Himalaya, and were based upon the use of overtones expressed in a state of deeper concentration, a state which is necessary to achieve this technical inner control. Furthermore Laneri says that non-sound as well as sound here have an equal role, like breathing and a time spanning fluidity with conscious inner communications making a better synthesis to all the participating aspects, creating thus a sound with a great portion of a more collective and inner strength.
The LP recording sounds like a very consciously performed and built up sphere. With at first, each individual voice distinguishable, it evolves and becomes its own organic interactive soundsystem. There are parts where individual ideas merge, with a few unexpected extra sounds, which are at times a bit amusing within a respectful way and still having enough power to drag your attention back into the wholeness of the performance. We hear varied techniques, from bass to flute-like overtones as well as combinations from notes. On the second part, the group becomes more like a multi-harmonic wave of energy, something which I think could be achieved even better or with slightly different effect with somewhat bigger groups. The Berlin performance has its own deep concentration towards a certain vocal and living overtone harmony. But also here are strange and even truly weird vocal adapted experiments; sounding like new music and a few times like somewhat odd ideas surely when at first only just one person starts to adapt them.

A great bonus inclusion to the original LP recording. Also the Rome recording is not just another performance but has again different, interesting perhaps even somewhat coincidentally achieved harmonies by improvisation. It builds up from more obviously harmonizing tones to unexpected changes through deeper concentration into other, broader sound perspectives. The CD reissue is done with great respect and has a booklet with info and pictures and there’s another art booklet with colour prints of mantra-like forms in nature and in ethnical art, printed on half transparent paper, a beautiful work on its own. Highly recommended!