SAMHAIN (31 October 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

MORTIIS

ÅNDEN SOM GJORDE OPPRØR




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

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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 HARVEST MOON (12 October 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

ALQUIMIA

COATLICUE "GODDESS OF THE EARTH"


Original Issue: 1992 Musica Onirica (MOCD 002)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from All Music Guide:

Latin music is fused with futuristic electronics by Mexican-born Alquima. While her basic tracks feature vocals and piano, Alquima enhances her recordings with layers of looped vocals, electronic processors, sound effects, samples, synthesizers, gongs and bells.

The result is a sound that combines the musical traditions of Latin America with influences of rock, pop, avant-garde, classical and improvisational music. According to Audion magazine, "Alquima aims to dazzle, entrance , relax and excite, and, does so on all counts."

Alquima's debut album, Coatlicue: Goddess of the Earth, released in 1992, featured a nine-part title track and five individual pieces. Her second album, Wings of Perception, released in 1995, was inspired, by what she told an interviewer, "my experiences in the Yucatan region of Mexico, the mysticism of the ancient temples and my reading of the works of Carlos Castaneda."

Alquima recorded her third album Dead Tongues in 1996 with Mexican composer Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma, who played Fender Rhodes, synthesizers, percussion, voices, shells, flutes and electronic sounds. The daily Mexican newspaper called Dead Tongues, "the best Mexican album of its kind this decade." Alquima divides her time between studying music and mysticism in London and composing and recording in her own studios in London and Mexico City.

Craig Harris

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from New Gibraltar Encyclopaedia Of Progressive Rock:

Alquimia is from Mexico, though she now lives and records in the UK. Her music is inspired by Mexican/Central American occult and pagan influences, including Mayan religion and Carlos Castaneda. I have several of her albums, and they vary quite a bit from one to the next. Most of them have in common a "tribal" feel with lots of hand drums, rattles, wood blocks and other ancient-sounding rhythmic devices.

Coatlique is her first and her most experimental album (of those I've heard at least). There are those who might say "this isn't music at all!" This is more along the lines of sound collage, though she sings with a vocal timbre somewhere between Gilli Smyth and Enya, from ethereal and lofty to trancing chants. The tribal drums and percussion are most prevalent on this album, along with an array of synthesized groans, klangs, hissing and percussive sounds designed to elicit emotions ranging from elation to skin-crawling.

This is an excellent album and should be of interest to most prog fans who don't need too much melody to satisfy them. Those who only like symphonic or neo-prog style progressive music will probably be bored.

BELTANE (01 May 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

AQUILAR ILDEFONSO

Erosión


Original Issue: 1985 Ja-Ja (Ja-Ja-6)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Progarchives :

Not only an electronic artist, but a dedicated photographer and painter as well, ILDEFONSO AGUILAR seems to state a small late pioneering into Spanish electronic music by just an album, "Erosion" (released 1978, later rehashed into more complete music). After studying Beautiful and Applied Arts, he makes several audio-visual experimentations, plus, between 1978 -1980, he makes impressions and recordings out of journeys taken in different countries.

His devotion in this figment goes towards the soft electronic machinery, as well as guitar mastering. Dedicated, from 1986, only towards the artistic activity, his little reached record production becomes palliated, despite being a fan artist and being the collaborator with the most impelling work for the Visual Music festival, that is celebrated since 1989, and that takes place in natural scenes of his native island Lanzarote. (and that, although it is not a contest centered exclusively in electronic music, has welcomed in musicians of the stature of Constance Demby, Steve Roach, Robert Rich or Brian Eno). He also appeared, recently, on a Russell Mills wide collaboration-album, along royal (read: imposant) names.

Ildefonso Aguilar's studies interact with the natural compelling, covering the sound motemp or the analog synthetism. Whilst his photography has the landscaping, ortographic and consumating look appeal, so is the music sheet able to, in general, spire placid work, beauty and sensitivity, rescriben privacy, ebeautiful levation in impression. It's taken as an ancient and work of rarefact and isolationist ambient music. Also as a conceptual point of electronism in opposite of a real and truthful rock vein. Cosmic music reveales a loose symphonic synth solvent. Mystical, instrumental of a new compulsory attitude and ober-toned. Inside the logic, "Erosion" can be conceived as concept blatant affinity. The adventurous synth escapade of it recommends, somehow flawlessly, the hints of drone aftertaste, or the natural omuses like Edgar W. Froese's "Aqua".

Ildelfonso Aguilar seems both the complete artist and the personality with the heart of an artist. In the short term of music, his album is a concrete result of his studies, dedicated equivocally to landscaping, to finding the ambient inside the world, to measuring the scales of a music fade. His album is rare, consequently intentional.

FULL SNOW MOON (18 February 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

EMMANUEL J.D.

WIZARDS


Original Issue: 1982 North Star Productions (NSP-2003) Buy it here!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Boomkat:

Chances are you won't have heard of J D Emmanuel before.

This record in particular was a private pressing released back in 1982 and owned by a select few punters who quite clearly did their research. In recent years the record's reputation has spread, with rumours circulating that it was a transcendent blend of Terry Riley, The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Popul Vuh and early Kraftwerk - but finding it was about as easy as looking for a connection between Wolf Eyes and The Spice Girls.

Then, without fanfare, the album re-appeared as a limited edition on the Belgian 'Dreamtime Taped Sounds' and we knew as soon as we got our grubby mitts on a copy that this was something that simply had to be heard to be believed, that would stun just about everyone we know with its almost meditative electronic explorations.

I'm sure many of you remember Delia Derbyshire's amazing 'Electrosonic' LP (that lasted about two weeks...) and this album gives us the same kind of chills, it's just THAT sound, it's impossible to put your finger on but even more impossible to re-create. With the amount of retro-electronic music coming out at the moment you'd think someone would have nailed it, but no, it's still these records that emerged at the time, that came from people genuinely excited by the technology and the possibilities this technology could inform that really hit you where you need to be hit. Using three Sequential Circuit Pro-1 synthesizers, a Crumar Organ and some delays (recording direct to tape) Emmanuel manages to conjure up deep, distorted faraway lands, astral plains and shimmering multi-coloured skies - the soft synthesizer tones dictating the journey perfectly. Whether with bubbling, almost sequenced-sounding synth bass, or with organ-like improvised phrases, Emmanuel never takes a wrong turn and this is an album that will rarely leave your turntable (trust me, it's been welded to mine since I got it).

The sensitivity and simplicity of the music is almost impossible to convey, suffice to say we think it's one of the best (and most unexpected) things we've heard this year so far, and followers of early electronic music, Kraftwerk and the Radiophonic Workshop need to get a hold of one right away. Stunning stuff, and incredibly limited - we only have a few so be quick if you want to secure yourself a copy.

ESSENTIAL PURCHASE.

IMBOLC (02 Febrary 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

SEPI KUU

RANNAN USVASSA


Original Issue: 1980 Heliander (Help 703)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪from CD Reissue Wish List :

An amazing find... intense droning Finnish vocals and searing fuzz guitars with hand percussion. Sounds like the more serious tracks on Walter Wegmuller's "Tarot" album. Or even Sergius Golowin's "Lord Krishna Von Goloka". Comes completely out of left field, and is pretty much one of a kind, especially considering the time and place.

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from New Gibraltar :

Rannan Usvassa (Heliander HELP 703) may be the most obscure Finnish progressive rock album. In fact, even the identity of the musicians behind the pseudonym Sepi Kuu is unclear. Stylistically Rannan Usvassa (In the Mist of the Shore) is actually more late-in-the-day psychedelia than progressive rock, as most of the album's twelve short tracks build on a few chords strummed or arpeggiated on acoustic guitar, over which an unsonorous voice more recites than sings blank verse about existential angst and mysticism by the numbers. Organ, oscillators and flute gather their modal mist around these structures, while a fuzz guitar occasionally snakes up to thicken arrangements with background growls or, in the case of "Puhukaa mitä puhutte" ("Say What You Will") and the title track, understated solos, in a style remotely comparable to early Jade Warrior. Bass and percussion also make appearances, played with the same homespun plainness and lack of technical boasting that marks the whole project - for better or worse.

There is a decidedly amateurish air about the monotonous staccato thrum of "Tämän linnoituksen on kestettävä" ("This Fortress Must Stand") or the stop-start, kindergarten-variety proto-industrial-metal muck that accompanies the vicious circle of amateur-philosopher homilies in "Ajatus" ("Thought"). And yet "Muuratut kasvot" ("Bricked Faces") digs up surprising lyricism from its dusky vocal melodies, ringing guitar arpeggios and meditative keyboard solo, while the one instrumental "Manvantara" cleverly flanks its centre-position solo flute with asynchronous sets of drums panned to the opposite sides of the stereo field, each coupled with a feedbacking guitar or synthesizer. As a small-time psychedelic album Rannan Usvassa is quite acceptable, but any aura of lost classic obscurity may have furnished it with is totally unwarranted. And obscurity was a fact in 2004, for the original vinyl was very rare and no CD release existed (the Tachika pirate-CD-R edition does not rate as one).

Kai Karmanheimo

FULL COLD MOON (21 December 2010)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

NERELL LOREN

LILIN DEWA


Original Issue: 1996 Soleilmoon (DFX 26) Buy it here!!!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from http://home.earthlink.net/~lnerell/ldreviews.html:

Option May-June 1997

Nerells' chops as both a synthesizer expert and a student of the gamelan allow him to explore the border region between electronics and one of the world's most highly developed acoustic orchestras -- not that this hasn't been done before. But Nerell takes the gamelan into ambient realms, where-as many of the other fusions of Western musics with gamelan have turned on gamelan's rhythmic elements, Nerell uses gamelan in combination with synths, but also electronically morphs the gamelans into subtle, delicate resonant spaces, where just traces of the originals loop through the composition. At times reminiscent of Jon Hassell and the darker soundscapes of Steve Roach, Nerell's music shows a delicate touch of great beauty, and his understanding and love of gamelan never leave you feeling even the hint of appropriation. John Baxter

Alternative Press May 1997

(four fingers out of five meaning: well done).
Nerell is an American who became spellbound by Bali and Java's gamelan music after a chance encounter with it 15 years ago. He merges field recordings of said music with his own studio manipulaitons (via synths and samplers), but only skilled ears could tell which is which. Nerell's tools include various Indonesian gongs, rain-stick, dholak and slenthem.

Lilin Dewa should strike a resonant chord with Westerners receptive to contemplative musics, even if they don't have a clue about gamelan. The moan-and-groan drone of Galungan has ritualistic overtones that induce an uneasy, peaceful feeling, like being isloated in a desert, Borobudur 4AM is akin to Paul Schutze's cinematic take on Souteastern Asian ambience. Muted chanting and cricketsong add to the song's mesmerizing chill. Bamboo, Iron, Resin, Bronze is one of the most gorgeous and euphoric peices of music since Don Cherry's "brown Rice" (1975), conjuring the image of a stately glide down an Indoesian river. Dave Segal

Interface version 4.1

It seems as though everytime you turn around, Portland-based Soleilmoon Recordings puts out another batch of reissues, collections, anthologies and new releases that transcend the usual glut of meaningless industrial anthem rock, and define a whole other, more sincere world of ambient sounds and settings. Quickly becoming the grandfather of Industrial World Music, Soleilmoon must rank at the top of the list for any aficionado of textual sound canvases and internationally-mixed keyboard cacophonies. This latest batch of exceptional ambient releases all arrived at my door within the last few months, and they are collectively better than the junk-mail singles collections substituting for albums that clutter major labels, release schedules for an entire year.....Nerell and Muzlimgauze offer enchanting forays into the realm of world music with their new releases....all are superior and recommended trance music for the thinking man. Anais

Camera Obscura

Nerell, originally awakened by Tangerine Dream's Rubycon, also took an early liking to gamelan music, tape manipulation, and electronic sound generation. He's been known for his work with Steve Roach, Djam Karet, Kronos Quartet, Paul Haslinger, and others. Why he's taken so long to release his first solo is a mystery, but some artists only do things when they consider the time is exactly right. Lilin Dewa is a slow, brooding, swirling, mysterious quintet of nighted murals. A cross between Vidna Obmana, Alain Kremski, and a somnabulistic Steve Reich, it demands liquid patience from the listener and displays a debt to Harry Partch that only the initiated will understand. It also requires a breadth of experience, attention, and, at least initially, non-judgementalism. The opening track, Irama, is deceptive, seeming somewhat more minimal than necessary, and perhaps a tad paradoxically World Music-y in this fad-time of politically correct obeisance to imaginary social demands from art (of all things). It is, however, a preparation agent and owes no uncivil subordination to current contexts and trends. It slows the listener and thickens the listening environment, and is important to the fourth track, Hiasan (Ornament), which contains very subtle information and is an epic (20:00) of quietude, joining such masterpieces as Eno's 2/2, John Abercrombie's Still, and a much-too-small body of sublime quiet-art. It also has latencies of the On Land work.

The closer, Borobudur 4AM, carries on Hiasan's mission, but as terrenely alien electronics within a rain forest (the ambients were recorded at Borobudur, in Java, site of the largest Buddhist stupa in the world) counterpointed by a distanced ceremonial event. And neither Nerell nor the label indicate whether there was an intention for the bird song and insects to act as natural music, but they do, giving a bit of an exposure to the coincidental experience of nature as an unrecognized music "form". Given the savantry displayed and Nerell's immersion in the culture (he played in-country with native bands) bounced against his American birth, I'd wager he knew exactly what he was doing yet got more than he intended. The degree of identification with this environment is almost unsettling, creating the transference for the wet loamy fecundity of the jungle to seep slowly into the listener's bones......through the ears.

This cd will not be for everyone, of course. It requires more than a modicum of culture and serenity of mind and spirit. Many who essay it unprepared will soon be clawing to crawl out of their skins and toss on some Metallica. But, for the connoisseur, it will sit on the shelf of outre musics for slightly twisted ears. And once you've finished listening, the answer to my curiosity (as to why he took so long to go solo) should become obvious. Marc Tucker

Exposé No. 14, Winter 1998

Here is a composer who has been busy working to put Indonesia on the map as the next landing point in the trek in search of inspiration. In his music Loren Nerell has always shown the explorer spirit, and Lilin Dewa reflects the fruits of his study of ancient and rare forms of Balinese gamelan. This he uses as source material to create ethnic-drone hybrid material that you could safely say has precedence in Brian Eno's seminal On Land. Reference points to the techno-tribal or Berlin-style space music directions taken on his previous cassettes (not to mention other influences such as Harry Partch) are scant, if existent at all, on this (his third) release. Far and away the standout track for me was the evocatively titled, Bamboo, Iron, Resin, Bronze, with its simple but very effective hints at gamelan. Such a beautiful blending of authentic instrumentation flanked by a synthetic layering - you wish it would go on much longer. Hiasan is a sedate meditation constructed around motives played on the kempul (a row of highly vibrant, tuned Javanese gongs). If their resonance seems to beckon one to the imperial courts of Jogyakarta, then the Roach-like drone of Galungan bids one to stay and soak in the ceremonial atmosphere the work evinces. Voices and flute creep into the menacing admixture ever so subtly. The ambient drone supporting Borubudur 4AM is based around field recordings made near the Borubudur temple in Java. It is the next best thing to being there I'm sure, but given its fifteen-minute length you might wish for the intrusion of some more prominent instrumentation. The CD closes there, however, leaving us to ponder what may follow. That this one-time Djam Karet collaborator has few peers in the subgenre lends a sense of limitlessness which I hope Loren will exploit further in the future. Mike Ezzo

Wind & Wire Issue 7 July/August 1998


Genre: Gamelan (Ambient/Trance/World)

Music that invites the deepest of listenings are few and far between when one reviews music as much as I do. Loren Nerell's recording Lilin Dewa is music that merits it, though. Seldom do I hear a work that almost literally jumps into my head and says, "Listen, dammit. I have something important to say." But, after hearing just the first several minutes of this CD, listen (and very intently) is just what I did. It was time well spent.

Lilin Dewa could very well be the sequel to Robert Rich's superlative 1989 recording, Rainforest. Both are heavily influenced (and in the case of Loren, very directly so) by the gamelan music of Bali. To put this CD in the same league of Robert's is, coming from me, very heady praise. To me, Rainforest is a literally essential CD and may be Robert's best work. That Lilin Dewa stands toe-to-toe with it and even expands on some of that release's work is quite a feat.

Using an assortment of Indonesian gongs and kempuls, Balinese suling and gambuh, plus many other instruments that not only do I not know what they are but probably can't even pronounce them, along with wonderful synth and sampler textures, Loren has produced a work of feeling, mystery, depth, and beauty. I want to submerge myself in this CD and let my mind drift away to distant lands. This is not ambient music in that it should not be ignored. Or, if you treat it as such, you are missing the point. Which is not to say that you can't play this in the background. God knows it's beautifully unobtrusive at times. But, be prepared to pay attention and allow the music to work its magic on you.

The album opens with Irama which uses gongs and percussion to sound a steady rhythm which should immediately make those comparisons to Rainforest evident to anyone who knows the recording. But on the next cut, Galungan, the CD shifts gears abruptly into trance and drone-mode. Galungan, per the liner notes, is a ceremony practiced in Bali to commemorate the beginning of a new year. The ceremony must be very spiritual because this is not "Auld Lang Syne!"

With the exception of the third cut, Bamboo, Iron, Resin, Bronze which is just over six minutes long and is a wonderful excursion into dense polyrhythms, the other four songs are all at least ten minutes long (one clocks in at twenty minutes!). This is music that breathes. It is patient and develops over time. For example, the last two songs on the CD are wonderfully evocative and atmospheric. But the listener must commit themselves to really listening to this music. Again, this may not mean sitting still. It depends on how skillful a listener you are. For me, I simply had to pay attention to this music.

Loren is deeply committed to gamelan music and has spent the better part of this decade studying it first-hand. Lilin Dewa is a recording that shows what happens when an artist becomes not just inspired but even consumed by his or her love of music. Loren has created a work deeply enmeshed with this other culture. I admire not just his craft and his devotion, but also his conviction. For those interested in gamelan music and/or recordings that truly draw the listener into the experience of the music, I recommend spending some time with Lilin Dewa. Bill Binkelman

Dreams Word

I always love it when an artist successfully blends different styles of music into a unique listening experience. Combining modern dark ambient and ages old gamelan music may not seem an easy task, but in the hands of Loren Nerell, it feels that way on Lilin Dewa. Dark drones open Irama, but are soon joined by metallic chimes of ancient instruments. Beginning slowly, the beats gradually pick up speed and musical intensity. Just when it seems things will build to a crescendo, the music slows down again. Ah, but wait, here it goes again. Irama rides a musical wave up and down, then finally crests and falls. On listening, the musical pattern seems deceptively simple, though it is probably not easily achieved. Primitive influences continue with Galungan, an 18-minute journey into long forgotten cultures, again blending traditional instruments and synthesizers, this time with chants added as well. I must confess to a Western world bias against too much chanting in my music, but it is not too distracting here, and definitely fits with the overall mood.

Each of the five tracks range from ten to twenty minutes, with the exception of the six-minute Bamboo, Iron, Resin, Bronze, named for the four primary materials used in the recording. This is a fascinating sound collage, and should appeal to fans of Steve Roach's albums Artifacts and Origins.

The CD is beautifully packaged, with detailed liner notes explaining how Lilin Dewa came into being, including the meaning, intent, and recording method behind each song. For example, it is explained that the 20-minute Hiasan is based on small knobbed gongs, called kempuls, which are featured. This minimal piece very effectively uses ancient instruments in the same way modern ambient artists use synthesizers to soothe and relax the listener.

Lilin Dewa rewards both passive and attentive listening, though I highly recommend the latter, to fully appreciate all its nuances and subleties. Though it seems like many are going for a tribal ambient sound these days, something about Lilin Dewa is very refreshing and original. Recommended, especially for fans of ambient with tribal overtones. Phil Derby

FULL FLOWER MOON (27 May 2010)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

ÄLGARNAS TRÄDGÅRD

Framtiden Är Svävande Skepp, Förankrat I Forntiden



Original Issue: 1972 Silence (SRS 4611) Buy it here!!!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

One of the most incredible psychedelic albums coming out of the '70s!

ESSENTIAL LISTENING

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

1 Two Hours Over Two Blue Mountains With A Cuckoo On Each Side, Of The Hours... That Is 13:13
2 There Is A Time For Everything, There Is A Time When Even Time Will Meet... 6:10
3 Children Of Possibilities 3:12
4 La Rotta 1:41
5 Viriditas 2:59
6 Rings Of Saturn 7:15
7 The Future Is A Hovering Ship, Anchored In The Past 5:06
8 5/4 10:26
9 The Mirrors Of Gabriel

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Forced Exposure:

Älgarnas Trädgård's name translates as "Garden of the Elks" and this debut album has always stood as one of the pinnacles of underground psychedelic rock -- comparable to early Pink Floyd, Group 1850 and other world masters of space-out genius.

The title translates as The Future is a Hovering Ship Anchored in the Past. The group employed an instrumental array made of: violins, rebec, cello, guitars, sitar, piano, zither, organ flutes, zinks, jew's harps, tablas, percussion, Moog-synthesizer & VC-3 Putney-synthesizer.

Recorded at Studio Decibel in 1971, this CD reissue adds two bonus live tracks from 1972. From Dan Söderqvist's notes: "We have known each other since 1968, when we met in our home neighborhood Västra Frölunda, Gothenburg.

We listened to everything; Perotinus heavenly choirs from the 13th century, Messien's heavy works for orchestra, Beefheart's Safe as Milk, with it's surreal lyrics, King Crimson's endless string of chords, the beautiful acoustic Third Ear Band, Terry Riley's minimalism and above all the psychedelic music of early Pink Floyd.

Sometimes we played our 'dägga-däng-music', crazy rhythmical plays with acoustic guitars and hysterical giggles. Sometimes we just sat and listened to the sounds slowly disappearing into space ... We experimented with getting strange sounds out of our instruments, started to use amplifiers and played with echoes ... We constantly expanded our possibilities to get new sounds, with organs, mouth harps and pedals ... We got our hands on the first Moog module system that just about had reached Sweden. We mixed Middle Age instruments such as zinks and rebecs, sound effects, church bells, fragments of both Bach and The Beatles and improvised our way through the first album.

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)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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 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)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

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

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

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.

AUSSIE MOON (aboriginal musick)

ROACH STEVE & KENT STEPHEN & NEWBY KENNETH

HALCYON DAYS

Original Issue: 1996 Fathom (11072-2) Buy it here!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

1 Halcyon Days (10:20)
2 First Day (9:22)
3 Rainfrog Dreaming (7:56)
4 Snake Brothers (5:52)
5 Slow Walk At Stone Wash (9:22)
6 Riding The Atlas (5:28)
7 Calyx Revelation (8:00)
8 Kingfisher Flight (7:00)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Lastsigh�:

Roach, Kent and Newby began working on this CD in winter of 1995 during the time known as the Halcyon Days (around the Winter Solstice), in Tuscon Arizona, Sonoran Desert. What came of this gathering, is a beautiful blend of talent and skill of all three artists as heard in this: Halcyon Days release.

The music of Halcyon Days is another yet incredible piece of music that brings to the listener a well defined ambiance of indiginous and synthetic sounds. Halcyon Days, track 1 begins the voyage with sounds that seem to emanate from deep within an ancient forest -- water trickling, envision of a lost soul seeking passage through the dark winter days -- birds saluting the short daylight hours with their melodious song coupled with a backdrop of beautifully orchestrated symphonics and a constant chant-like drumming effect. These sounds within, sweetly reflect the Halcyon Days.

First Day reminds me of one of those sexy Marlon Brando films of latter mid-century where the saxophone slowly drones and sways a melody line that keeps my attention in wondering where I'm going next with the characters, in the heat of the night. Again the chant-like drumming effects the entire piece intertwined with the subtlety of various indigenous instrumental sounds inserted. Swirling, music in motion -- again the slow ambient sounds of a flute and/or the didgeridoo with the ching-chings of bells or metal pots resonate harmonics in this piece. This track [Rainfrog Dreaming] is a bit spooky, dark and rich in texture.


Snake Brothers brings out the use rattles with an Eastern harmonic droning quality. The beat picks up somewhat with the time keeping pulse of sticks being banged together in the background, picking up tempo toward the end. Is it the Didgeridoo that seems to express itself as if it were talking?

Take a Slow Walk at Stone Wash sounds like a good idea to me. This track again brings out the soft yet powerful qualities of sound produced by the trio during their time together to create this CD. The cresendo of rich expansive sounds dominate the piece, interjected with slow moving deep didgeridoo, flutelike basics, mello drumming and harmony.

Riding the Atlas begins with rolling drums, clicking, and sounds shaken not stirred. Set in motion with what seems to be a guitar and dreamy flutelike ambience combine to bring forth a vision of life in timeless ancient forests.

Quietly starting in a whirling motion that ebbs and flows back and forth, Calyx Revelation takes off for flight into previously unchartered intellectual aural territory. You really DO need to sit down and hear this track with no external noise, it's just too good not to hear uninterrupted. Slow vibrating drones, and swirling soundscapes create the atmospherics in this piece.


A bit higher in pitch than the previous track, Kingfisher Flight incorporates deep drums, the slow sensuous flute that enters into Roach's music often, and dry seed filled gourds being shaken at precisely the right times. Another beautiful work of art by Steve Roach, Stephen Kent and Kenneth Newby.

If you enjoy the more *organic* sounds of indigenous [darker] ambient intertwined with synths, make sure this release finds its way to your home.

HALF MOON (medioriental musick)

HORTOBÁGYI LÁSZLÓ

TRADITIONAL MUSIC OF AMYGDALA

Original Issue: 1991 Erdenklang (91349) Buy it here!!!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

1 The Ritual Of Maháparinirvána (8:44)
2 Legend Of Yrch (4:48)
3 The Márg Of Excessus (10:05)
4 Hypotaxis (5:11)
5 Kyrie Bhajan (1:24)
6 The Inanis Mantra (2:33)
7 Bhairaví (7:26)
8 Anankhe Gat (5:59)
9 The End (2:07)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Erdenklang:

"Traditional Musik of Amygdala" offers you an imaginary journey throughout the entire Amygdala Empire in the spirit of the ethno-musicology expeditions at the turn of the century.

"Traditional Music of Amygdala“ is a musicological-sociological fiction with a great past in human culture concerning ceremony of alienation and death, wrapped in rituals and mysteries.

Amygdala (corpus amygdaloideum) is to be found in our brain; hidden there are human "behaviour“, genetically inherited and the instinctsystem formed by culture and environment. The world is being totally reorganized by the modern industrial societies with their overhelming superiority in technology and dynamic expansion, and all the traditional cultures which are alien to their technologically "homogeneous“ societies are doomed to extinction.

Therefore a real possibility exists that the traditional cultures will out before they can get into "world-culture“ circulation. With this mystical, futuristic pictures László Hortobágyi by no means describes an apocalyptic mood. He sensitizes our cultural (listening) consciousness by transporting, in his stories and music, Asian culture images into socio-political surroundings of the future.

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Amazon:

Lâszlô Hortobâgyi - is a Hungarian avant-garde musician and the godfather of "Gâyan Uttejak Society" - an Eastern European society dedicated to the study of oriental music. His music is heavily influenced by North Indian music, but often incorporates a wide variety of instruments, vocals, and arrangements from around the world and from various time periods.

In one of his interviews Lâszlô noted that he sees music as time travel, and his album "Traditional Music Of Amygdala," released in 1991 proves just that. It is a ethnographical, mythical, musical journey to the fictional empire created by the eccentric mind of Lâszlô Hortobâgyi. The name of the album according to the press release comes from Corpus Amygdaloideum located in human brain - "hidden there are human "behavior", genetically inherited and the instinct system formed by culture and environment." Taking this as a starting point, Lâszlô Hortobâgyi creates an entire fictional Amygdala culture, complete with fictional geographical locations, religion, philosophy, etc. Lâszlô Hortobâgyi tells us about Amygdala in nine out-worldly tracks accompanied by fascinating notes written by Lâszlô himself.

"Traditional Music Of Amygdala" is a bizarre, yet beautiful combination of Indian classical music, modern Western computer arrangements, with an occasional vocal or instrumental touch of unidentifiable origin. It's a fantastic music journey that is worth every dollar you spend on it.

Maxim Eremine

RUNIC MOON (nordic musick)

COSMIC TRIGGER
POLAR REGIONS

Original Issue: 1993 Silent Records (SR9345)

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

Nordic ambient musick masterpiece by the likes of Andrew M.McKenzie (The Hafler Trio) and Zbigniew Karkowski!

Read the intricate (as expected) story behind this recording here

1 A Viking's Lament (30:12)
2 Sunrise Over The Crystal Fjord (30:16)

from Reign of Toads:

Continuous choirs of angelic voices within a gentle and steady synth envelope. Drones within drones. These voices are saying something--not necessarily in the literal sense, but vibrationally.

The amazingly interesting (and almost believable) liner notes evolve the experience so that this CD becomes a tool. The mythology includes a complete listing of the 29 phonemes employed within this recording alongside their corresponding mythological significance. The obscured history detailed within the liner notes alludes to two gentleman who worked in a mine somewhere near the Arctic for 20 years, ended up doing some sort of sense-dep tank and black-room living for another month or so, and then went on to some university sound laboratory where they met up with Andrew M. McKenzie of the Hafler Trio.

WSB sums it up on the back cover's collection of quotes: "Humanity may be an outmoded vehicle, but it is still capable of constructing mechanisms that can enable us to leave where we are stuck. This is not an artifact. It is a tool and should be used as such.

from Amazon:

This amazing album is a journey in itself. The story behind it's inception is even more amazing. Put this album on and immediately one's mental state seems to level off and clear out. Everything becomes 'smooth' but on a higher level. One seems to rise above this cacophany and slide through chaotic corporeal reality with ease. Many uses in many different 'states' of consciousness. Recently used with Salvia Divinorum. Nice and grounding for the participant.

BLACK MOON (the dark side of musick)

REYES JORGE

COMALA

Original Issue: 1986 Producciones Exilio (LEX 001)

Reissue: 1989 Mundo Music (MMCD 8801)

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

1 Comala (11:33)
2 Adios Mi Acompañamiento (2:39)
3 Hekura (1:58)
4 Nadie Se Libra En Tamohuanchan (6:05)
5 La Diosa De Las Águilas (3:06)
6 El Ánima Sola (6:35)
7 Mi Sombra Empolvada (3:46)
8 Nadie Supo De Dónde Venía (5:10)
9 El Hechicero De La Dicha Tranquila (4:10)

from Amazon:


The album Comala is inspired on the surrealistic novel Pedro Paramo by mexican writer Juan Rulfo. It's a short story where "Rulfo's characters emerge gradually from a landscape of death and decay, as his tale offers testament to the enduring integrity of the human soul."

The music is designed to submerge the listener in a state of consciousness where boundaries between life and death disappear and the use of acoustics and chanting will transport you to Rulfo's mythic Comala.

The remarkable use of pre-hispanic instruments and real native american ritualistic chanting mixed with futuristic sounds and synthesizers creates an atmospheric limbo of the afterlife.

The old woman chanting is Maria Sabina, a Mazatec curandera / high priestess that used to conduct ceremonial mushroom rituals in the 60's and 70's. Maria Sabina lived in Huautla de Jimenez, a small village in Oaxaca, Mexico.

John Lennon, Peter Townshend, Mick Jagger, and Bob Dylan are some of the celebrities who traveled to Huautla, seeking the spiritual guidance of Maria Sabina.

In any case, Jorge Reyes work of art combines past and present, the old and the new and transports the listener to a world that exists only in a space in time called Comala.

Juan Ramirez

BLUE MOON (musick by request)

ANNA SJÄLV TREDJE
TUSSILAGO FANFARA
(INTRASK I KOSMISKA GRÄNSMARKER MED)

Original Issue: 1977 Silence (SRS 4646)


Margot-meter: 4 moons / 5

01 - Mossen
02 - Inkomster Utanför Tiden
03 - Den Barbariska Söndagen
04 - Tusen År & Sju Timmar

I LOVE THIS COVER...PERHAPS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ARTWORK!

from Progarchives:

Anna Själv Tredje (with a reference, I think, towards St. Anne, mother of Virgin Mary) is a duo created by music-makers Ingemar Ljungström and Mikael Bojen. Neither of the two artists' music experience tells the consistent shrud of the duo's journey, the music decides "itself" on the entire meaningful style and experiment. The two artists practiced this music starting 1975 or 1976, they succeed a defining album, titled Tussilago Fanfara, then dis-ambled at the end of the decade. Ljunström himself is much more known, since he joins a couple of more electronic, punk, wave or rock duos or trios, most profoundly Cosmic Overdose (a polished band, but an insatiable order of sound) or Twice A Man (even trickier...). Mikael Bojen is yet an obscure artist and music composer as, in this album, he makes entire ornaments and sound-ballads towards the uncommon artist and the un-related passion.

The importance of the Anna Själv Tredje ensemble, and of Tussilago Fanfara, should be rather big, considering a few things, like the flawless (or very atom-hard perfectioned) creation orientation, deep in the humble electronic artistry and progressiveness, the colorful obscure intentions marked by the precision or the delouse of their initiative, the pretty rare recording factor (that has an entire emotion of great and adapted music) or the symbols of a band with no echo and misty presence, that surrounds all the intelligent and organic means and natures of its so-approved style. Then again, Anna Själv Tredje isn't about the glory of the music in the dust of the resemblance, some things are moderately elevated and dynamic, others contemplate the music that the entire breath of classic electronic and modulating experiment covered up, in the 70s, to an extent of a powerful overdose.

The band's marked flavor has tendencies towards a psych-active late impression, or towards the kraut-bytes of some dimensions beyond the bad dream and the teared reality. Yet, for sure, Anna Själv Tredje is exclusively a band for the electronic mature stage, upon the vast influence that comes from Klaus Schulze and the even more enormous impression the music-melody-sound intricate line of thought goes through, directly convincing of Schulze soundscapes, dark ambients or sequence energetic conversion. The point of ephemeral and experiment even can allude some drone-actions, likewise the serene or subtle machine-shades from Cyborg. But the best fragrance comes from the mid-Schulze delight, starling Moondawn when working on sound-mist and melody-raptures or Mirage when the dynamics and the sequencers, the synthesis work and the strange forms have a better and more significant development. There are small minimal parts that can satisfy parallel-styles from Hamel, Glass or Reich. Plus, upon the electric guitar work Bojen does (and in fact, given an entire piece, Tusen år & sju timmar), the album opens up its color to breath in more popular, shapeless or post-experimental substances, genre a low-pitch groove and guitar swell by Ashra.

Overall, Anna Själv Tredje are greatly hooked in the entire Berlin School mechanism, plus they share (gratingly) their own moment of music, experiment and vaporous sound-stream. The album is a "mindphase" for aficionados, yet stands out just as much as an electronic gift of sound and surround.