CLXX. Lycia | Estrella

LYCIA

Estrella

©Projekt. US, 1998.

‟The first time I heard Lycia, it was on a free sampler I received from Projekt, perhaps the premier darkwave/goth label of the 1990s, and perhaps the only label that was making a very serious attempt at following in the footsteps of esteemed British label 4AD. I don't remember what Lycia's song was, but I do remember that they sounded quite different than their labelmates, and that unlike other bands, they really didn't seem concerned about fashion or image, and the song sounded more like Aphex Twin than The Cure or This Mortal Coil. I thought their song was rather stunning and beautiful, but admittedly, I never did follow through.
Listening to the recently-reissued , the band's final album (and the first release in a Lycia reissue program), it's quite clear that Lycia was a different sort of band. The duo of Mark VanPortfleet and Tara VanFlower combined their strengths to make music that was haunting, beautiful and stunning, and in this goal, they were quite successful. Estrella found the band at a creative high, and the result was a record that lured the listener and took them into other realms of aural ecstacy. From the tribal "Tongues" to the Harold Budd-like "Clouds in the Southern Sky" and from the transcendent bliss of "Estrella" to the melancholy "The Kite," Lycia exploited the term "atmospheric" to the hilt--and the result was heavenly. Comparisons to The Cocteau Twins were and are inevitable, and while VanFlower's voice never quite reached to Liz Frasier's vocal heights--that's an impossible goal, anyway--her voice, in combination with VanPortfleet's stunning Robin Guthrie-inspired accompaniment, certainly justfied the comparison.
If you're not familiar with Lycia, Estrella is as excellent a starting point as you could find, because this record's beauty is a perfection that most bands could only dream of obtaining. Hopefully the forthcoming reissue series will illuminate this gorgeous darkwave band, and deservedly so.‟

Joseph Kyle

CLXIII. Flores Funebres | A Moment Before Nothingness

FLORES FUNEBRES

A Moment Before Nothingness

©Ambientaria. France, 2010.

 

‟Flores Funebres is an one man band from Poland, formed by Mespheris in 2001. From the beginning, the project was based on elements of orchestral/classical music, dark wave, dark ambient and on instrumental parts inspired by black metal.

Flores Funebres music is often symbolic. It includes elements of the philosophy of nihilism, fear of death with a simultaneous fascination with the phenomenon of passing. The music is sometimes inspired by the metaphorical character of Lucifer, but also deals with universal issues and questions about the meaning of existence.

Flores Funebres explores the feelings of despair, grief, melancholy, suicidal thoughts, emptiness, pain of life… It is a musical exploration of the literary world of the late 19th century and of the aesthetics of decadence.‟

Ambientaria

CL. Hungry Lucy | Apparitions

HUNGRY LUCY

Apparitions

©Fishtank Soundworks. US, 2000.

‟Noche húmeda, noche lluviosa, desesperada… el paisaje a lo lejos plomizo y mi corazón distraído, perturbado; noche bella, triste noche, la ausencia de las estrellas no me inquieta, sé que están ahí aguardando detrás de ese inmenso telón horizontal umbroso, que llora incesantes migajas de agua como de vástagos se ahoga el mundo. Procedo. Necesito música, ese corazón distraído que cubro con armadura endeble, y que no encuentra paliativo perpetuo, clama por un destello, por alguna resonancia del espacio que ambicione varar en esta inhóspita estancia. Busco por entre los cajones de ese inmenso mueble que embellece grotescamente mi habitación, ultrajó cada uno de sus rincones, no entiende el porqué de mi acosador trato el herrumbroso armatoste, pero seguro agradeció el final estridente de mi búsqueda alocada, cuando despojé de su cansado interior, alejado de la realidad y la luz, un disco extraño. Los coloco, el disco en su lugar y mi ser en otro… no entiendo lo que pasa pero sé que estoy hipnotizado, o quizá solamente he pedido auxilio del alelamiento, caótico, lujurioso… las sombras se extienden, me tienden su irreparable contoneo, las notas vacilan por la habitación, chocan entre sí, se reservan la pantomima de su jugueteo y me la conceden al final con altanería. Malvadas. Allá, fuera de este refugio, detrás de esa inmensa ventana, de ese ojo cuadrado y furtivo que me comunica con la realidad, el sonido fastidioso de los brotes celestiales, que al impactarse con todas esas superficies agobiadas por el frío, el agua y las energías que sostienen, crean pequeños conciertos, efímeros y desestimados, que me recuerdan que aún tengo algunas invitadas difuminadas y ennegrecidas bailando para mí, están ahí, por todas partes; afortunadamente están ahí enloquecidas por esa voz humana, femenina, dulce y encantadora que sabe postrarse por encima de esa vestidura musical que la cobija en ritmo monótono, decadente y sempiterno. Divinos momentos, ya extintos, se instalan en mi mente  y aunque el bacanal de sombrías y primitivas siluetas se desdibujo, me queda el cobijo de esta fría noche, de esa bruma lobrega que atiza las calles y que armoniza mi guarida.

Me queda claro que hay discos para escuchar, la gran mayoría; los menos son para sentir, para soñar y para suspirar, este es uno de ellos…‟

Crimsondelator

CXLVIII. Rising Shadows | Falling Deep Within

RISING SHADOWS

Falling Deep Within

©Twilight. Argentina, 2006.

‟Falling Deep Within is the debut album of RISING SHADOWS. A beautful journey into the darkness of ourselves and our past. Featuring the enchanting vocals of Linda-li. This is music for the soul and it will paint your mind images and dreams.

Rising Shadows started back in 1996 under the name Shadow of the Concealed. Within the first year of existence The Gathering was made. The demo however remained unreleased due to quality reasons. Work instead began on a second tape called The Seventh Gate.

The release in autumn 1997 coincided with the change of bandname into Rising Shadows. Still the only person involved was Fredrik Klingwall. Another cassette was recorded to promote the change of name but it wasn´t exactly wellspread. The first Rising Shadows release worth of it's name came over a year later. In autumn 1999 Delirium was released. It passed by rather unnoticed and Fredrik started writing more filmmusic and solowork instead. While Rising Shadows more and more plunged down into oblivion. Over the years some material was made and the concept became clearer, in 2004 the time was right to bring life to this project. Together with singer Linda-li a new demo was created. Horror Vacui was released in August 2004.
 

Early 2005 the track 'Vacui' was contributed to the Waerloga Compilation; A Tribute To Uglakh. Along with such acts as The soil bleeds black, Za Frûmi, Sagor & Swing, Autumn tears and many more.
 

In February 2006 the debut album Falling Deep Within was recorded. For release through Argentinian label Twilight Records later this year.   
 

Soon the shadows will rise again!‟

Twilight-records

 

CXLV. Black Tape For A Blue Girl | Mesmerized By The Sirens

BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL

Mesmerized By The Sirens

©Projekt. US, 1991.

‟On Black Tape's second album, Sam Rosenthal and his rotating pool of collaborators create another fine release, much more textured and atmospheric than The Rope and more in line with the future of the band's career. While there are again a couple of songs that have a much more conventional rock air (unsurprisingly, these are the ones again featuring drummer Allan Kraut), many now embrace unconventional verse structures and eschew immediate hooks -- it's a quietly bold move that works wonders. The mix of singers (about eight all told) and instrumentation again creates a striking variety through Mesmerized, even while still maintaining an overall unity in presentation. Rosenthal's own musical voice is his work on keyboards, soft, minimal swells, sweeping orchestrations, and more all coming to the fore, especially on such solo cuts as "Dark Skinned and Inviting" and "With a Million Tears." As before, Oscar Herrera is the evocative voice at the center of key songs, most notably "A Teardrop Left Behind," a majestic, obsessive portrayal of love further fleshed out by Walter Holland's subtle acoustic guitar and Rosenthal's own strong synth arrangements. It's perhaps one of the band's most self-consciously goth efforts, but of a very Romantic (with a capital "r") bent, made all the more intriguing by its distinct two-part structure, with wordless singing matched with spoken word in the calmer conclusion. Another standout with Herrera is "Beneath the Planks," with Rosenthal's harpsichord-sounding keys and Richard Watson's clarinet providing the bed for the singer's bravura performance. The contrast between Herrera and Holland, who sings on "Lie Broken, Bleeding" is pretty clear, the latter's somewhat strained vocals not quite fitting with the album's overall flow. An amusing moment happens at the start with "Jamais Pars," where singer Sue Kenny-Smith audibly fluffs a line and laughs. It's a nice, human touch to leave in.‟

Ned Raggett

CXLIV. Rozz Williams And Gitane Demone | Dream Home Heartache

ROZZ WILLIAMS AND GITANE DEMONE

Dream Home Heartache

©Triple X. US, 1995.

‟This 1995 collaboration between Rozz Williams and Gitane Demone finds them abandoning their death-rock origins, instead attempting a more esoteric stance. It works in their favour.

The album kicks in with a nightmarish cabaret take on the Roxy Music classic "In Every Dream Home A Heartache", which explodes in a frenzied litany in the end with Demone's wailing vocals. Similarly, "These Vulnerable Eyes" finds Demone in full-blown jazzy cabaret diva mode. The mood is that of an autumn walk by a river in an elegant European city. Rozz then takes over with "The Pope's Egg Hat", a somber piano meditation, with Gitane in the background playing the muse enchanting lost souls.

Things get slightly more lively with "Flowers", and the almost vivid "A World apart" (yet still enclosed in the album's sense of tragedy). The album reaches yet another peak with the lullaby "Moon Without A Tear", with Gitane's tender vocals contrasting a menacing drone. And finally, the reprise of "Dream Home Heartache" swirls with almost apocalyptic intensity. The album has completed a full circle.

Rozz Williams and Gitane Demone may well have found their true niche here.‟

Ily

CXXVII. Sorrow | Under The Yew Possessed

SORROW

Under The Yew Possessed

©Piski Disk. UK, 1993.

‟Sorrow is an English-based band that is the brain child of Rose McDowall, once known as one half of the 80s pop duo, Strawberry Switchblade. Rose's first band was called The Poems, an experimental three piece based in her hometown of Glasgow. While still with The Poems, Rose also joined with Jill Bryson as Strawberry Switchblade. The Poems released one EP entitled Achieving Unity, but they broke up shortly after its release, when Strawberry Switchblade began to gain popularity. Switchblade's top-five hit, "Since Yesterday," is featured on many 80s compilations, and still receives considerable club and radio play. Switchblade disbanded in 1986.

Since 1985, Rose has worked with many other bands, including Current 93, Coil, Death In June, Felt, and Psychic TV. Through the years Rose has carried on working in a more experimental vein, and ultimately formed SORROW, releasing their first LP, "Under The Yew Possessed", in 1993. They have since produced: "Sleep Now Forever" (1999), "Final Solstice" (1999), and "Let There Be Thorns" (2001).‟

Wassonii

CXXIV. Dead Can Dance | Aion

DEAD CAN DANCE

Aion

©4AD. UK, 1990.

‟Desconcertante el designio de la clarividencia: el muerto puede bailar. ¿Prodigio o infortunio? Peor aún, ¡su ritmo!, ese contoneo corrupto que dibuja una vil existencia; esa demencial imagen, placida, de tortura psicológica delineada por una atmósfera disímil, turgente de escabrosos detalles armoniosos que como tibias notas, como embrujo de lágrimas musicales, agobian y fascinan, cual relación bipolar. Y es que es asombroso como ese manto musical, ese murmullo sardónico que se esconde tras esta mirada cabizbaja, deprava a la belleza y la ahoga en un estado vesánico, y que tras arrebatos pasionales la saca a flote, y el duelo del desenfreno se desarrolla sobre una espesa e impenetrable niebla de desilusión. ¡Sí!, esa niebla, que cobija a las sombras reptantes en su narcótica intimidad embustera y de esta suerte, forma la unidad, punto de partida e inicio hacia mundos de ensueño y profunda introspección. Proeza mórbida, maldición suprema, amor sucio, manto de oscuridad que ofusca a la razón, haciéndola despreciadora de la cognición, y que malamente troca esa virtud por el desenfreno de las prohibiciones, del instinto natural y de versos recargados y vacíos que nos han de dar consuelo. Desconcertante el designio de la clarividencia, el muerto puede bailar: ¡me estoy moviendo, el muerto soy yo!.‟

Crimsondelator

 

 

CXIX. Faith And The Muse | Elyria

FAITH AND THE MUSE

Elyria

©Tess. US, 1994.

‟Faith and the Muse found me at a very good time, a time i was searching for something new to listen to, something i could really latch on to - the 'next big thing'. And they fit the bill perfectly. 'Annwyn, Beneath the Waves', their second, was actually the one to reach me first, but it was only a matter of time from there that i delved into the rest of their catalogue, including Elyria, their debut.

Very diverse band, tying in lots of gothic, Celtic, and even tribal influences... and i love tribal influences. Dark, atmospheric, moody, heavy, they run pretty much the whole Gauntlet of Goth. Vocalist/instrumentalist Monica Richards, formerly of Strange Boutique, has a wonderful, vaguely-Siouxsie Sioux-ish voice, and while she may be a little 'pitchy', the studio finds her at her best, and former-Christian Death/Mephisto Walz instrumentalist William Faith is simply incredible. And Elyria was a beautiful starting point for this highly-recommended band.‟

Drakkar

CXVI. The Dreamside | Pale Blue Lights

THE DREAMSIDE

Pale Blue Lights

©Deathwish Office. Deutschland, 1994.

‟The band was formed by Italian-Dutch singer Kemi Vita. The Dreamside recorded 'Pale Blue Lights', the band's debut album, pretty much solo with assistance from various musicians; it was released in 1994 to excellent reviews. To tour the album Vita recruited guitarist Fried Bruggink, who became another core member of the band.
The Dreamside's next release, 'Nuda Veritas' (1995), consisted of several dance/techno remixes of songs from their debut album.
In 1996 they released their second album, 'Apaika', a glossier, more ethereal album than the first. Again reviews were excellent, and the Dreamside steadily became more popular in Europe. They also toured the USA for the first time, although to a tepid response, as the American Goth scene had shifted attention to harder-edged styles.

The band took an extended break, recruited bass player, producer and songwriter Roman Schoensee, and returned in 2001 with 'Mirror Moon', a harder, more metallic album. The group, and particularly Vita, changed looks, abandoning their Victorian-style dress for corsets, rubber and fetish gear. The following year the band returned to the USA, releasing Faery Child, a "best of" compilation.
The Dreamside's fourth "proper" album, 'Spin Moon Magic', was released in September 2005; it continues in the harder, more rock style of 'Mirror Moon'. The band currently consists of Kemi Vita, Roman Schoensee, guitarists Cees Viset, Fried Bruggink and Louis Buurman and drummer Merijn Mol. In August 2011 the band founded here on Label Spin Moon Media and re-released the Mirror Moon album on 23. August.‟

Dreamside.nl

 

CXI. Siddal | The Pedestal

SIDDAL

The Pedestal 

©Bedazzler. US, 1995.

‟Siddal began in 1991 when four music fans came together for a love of art, poetry, and culture. However, constant lineup changes plagued the group and by 1992, Siddal consisted of Elaine Winters and Richard Brinkley. The duo, who took their name from the 19th century activist Elizabeth Siddal, incorporated elements of space rock, trance, and darkwave, and they were frequently compared to the likes of the Cranes, the Cocteau Twins, and The Sundays. Bedazzled issued their first single, "Frozen Garden" in 1992 and subsequent tracks and albums followed throughout the decade: "Pedastal" (1995), "The Crossing" (1996) and "Mystery and The Sea" EP (1997) . By the close of the '90s, Winters and Brinkley married and had a son.‟

Soundunwound

 

CX. Rhea's Obsession | Between Earth And Sky

RHEA'S OBSESSION

Between Earth And Sky

©Metropolis. US, 2000.

‟My introduction of Rhea's Obsession came from Cleopatra Records's The Black Bible compilation. A little time spent on last.fm gave me further insight, and eventually i made the gamble and added their material to my want list on lala.com. The end result of this experiment - Between Earth and Sky.

The experiment was a success. Not quite as gothic as i was expecting, it is nevertheless a wonderful, diverse release. A wonderful mix of dark and light, multi-cultural, at times haunting... what's not to like about that? If there's anything not to like, strangely enough it is the beginning, as the intro to the opening track is a little nervesome... but once past that, this is beautiful. Vocally excellent, musically solid. The occasional hint of nu-metal can be ignored within such surroundings, as it's never overwhelming in the first place.

One of those wonderful releases that stretched beyond just me. After playing this for my beautiful wife and attempting to play it a second time, i asked if she would mind a repeat, and she asked how she could possibly mind this. Indeed.‟

Drakkar

XCIX. This Mortal Coil | Blood

THIS MORTAL COIL

Blood

©4AD. UK, 1991.

‟The least interesting of their three albums, "Blood" is filled with pointless instrumental music (some composed by Ivo Watts-Russel himself) and some awesome songs, the best of them are remakes of original songs by Randy California, Chris Bell and Syd Barrett, among others. I once had "Blood" in vinyl and I hated it because of its dark and depressing atmosphere - where once existed mystery and terror (essentially the first album) now rested a dimming light. Basically I bought this for Caroline Crawley, the beautiful female voice of Shelleyan Orphan, who unfortunately disappeared from view several years ago. With her voice, "Mr. Somewhere" worth this album alone.‟

Antonbildern

XCV. The Chameleons | Script Of The Bridge

THE CHAMELEONS

Script Of The Bridge

©Statik. UK, 1982.

‟Que la valoración de la música se basa casi por completo en apreciaciones subjetivas es algo que a estas alturas ya ni me atrevo a cuestionar. Sin embargo, los razonamientos por los cuales se encumbran bandas y se condena a otras al cajón del olvido son, a menudo, incomprensibles para mí.
Uno de los casos más lacerantes es el de este conjunto de Manchester, relegado a ser una nota a pie de página en la historia del rock, mientras que los que han explotado su legado casi rozando el plagio -Interpol, Coldplay- o coetáneos suyos con menos enjundia -Depeche Mode, U2- venden discos como churros o hacen que la gente duerma al raso para ir a un concierto suyo.

La comparación con estos últimos es de recibo. Las texturas ensoñadoras, el sonido de guitarra reverberante, el sentido de la solemnidad de las canciones, a veces rayando en la afectación y la pomposidad ... Incluso el timbre de voz de Mark Burguess es sorprendentemente parecido al de Bono. Todos estos elementos sitúan a the Chameleons en la misma liga que los irlandeses. El factor decisivo, en mi opinión, es que en la música de los de británicos hay mucha más honestidad, fuerza, tensión, riesgo y emoción pura que las que se pueden encontrar en The unforgettable fire, War o The Joshua tree.

"The script of the bridge" fue el primer acto de una corta pero intensa discografía. Nació de la grisura de la Inglaterra tatcheriana, así que lo que abunda en él son las expresiones de desolación y vacío existencial que acuciaban a cierta juventud de la época. La misma juventud que encontró un reflejo en las letanías de Joy Division o en la melancolía abúlica de The Smiths. Desde el cañonazo post-punk que abre el disco hasta el precioso epílogo que es "View from a hill", este disco es una referencia ineludible en su género y una obra de obligada escucha y sobredosis para los fans de la ola fría de principios de los ochenta (Echo and the Bunnymen, the Cure, Bauhaus, Teardrop Explodes,etc). A reivindicar.‟

 I Love Riots

LXXXVIII. Cranes | Self-Non-Self

 

CRANES

Self-Non-Self

©Bite Back!. UK, 1989.

‟After the extremely limited release of the "Fuse" cassette, Cranes, now expanded to a four-piece, put out "Self Non Self" in 1989. Originally only six tracks, including a dramatic, stronger re-recording of "Fuse" itself, Dedicated added a further two upon its re-release in 1992. The rough, spooky sonics from the band's earliest days were there in force, but evidence of the increased texturing and powerful arrangements started to surface as well.

Alison Shaw's singing is already fully in place as the lost, lonely voice later releases would make all the more familiar, though at times, as on 'Focus Breathe', she has surprisingly deeper tones in comparison. The re-release bonus tracks include a live song called 'Reach', a strong, surging piece, and 'Nothing in the Middle, Nothing in the End', a murky little number with a rough snare drum rhythm and doomy bass.‟

Dogs Body

LXXXIII. Lycia | Ionia

LYCIA

Ionia

©Projekt. US, 1991.

‟This album is about human weakness and regrets. In the first track, a man see his will dragged down by a thing called "Ionia".
Even if Ionia is personified (Mike VanPorfleet is talking about her face and her grin) it doesn't suit the general mood of the album to think she is a woman. It rather reminds me a lot of Oscar wilde "I can resist everything except temptation", that Ionia must be a symbol of temptation. I'm really fond of Portfleet's vision of music and art, you can't find a single track of that man that isn't serious as hell. Poetic without being naive, depressed without being angry (which is extremely rare and almost makes his music unique), that album has all arguments of a masterpiece, despite of having been roughly produced (related to his equipment at that time). The second track without the vocals could have been on a silent hill soundtrack, and songs like "november, monsoon II" fit very well the mood of the music from "legacy of kain blood omen".
I strongly recommend this album for all the openminded music lovers out there, it's just a pity the work of that guy (moreover who has had to deal with diabetes all his career long) isn't more known. He is definitely to put among too many good artists who haven't really the popularity they deserve.‟

Dimitri Ostrovitch

 

LXXII. Judgement Of Paris | Conversion

JUDGEMENT OF PARIS

Conversion (reissue)

©Projekt: Archive. US, 2000.

‟From its opening track “Windswept” to its closer “Eleven,” Judgement of Paris’ ambitious 18-track debut juxtaposes organic and inorganic sound sources, evoking post-apocalyptic sirens, Middle Eastern textures, nursery-rhyme bells, Native American ceremony, images of medieval liturgy, and the twisted wee hours of rave ecstasy.
Using a combination of live keyboards and sequences, fretless electric bass, acoustic and electric guitars, woodwinds, hammer dulcimer, and a variety of percussion instruments, the band has produced a darkly textured and often hypnotic sound. Recorded live to DAT over a one-month period in late 1991, Conversion brings to mind such varied artists as Dead Can Dance, Fatboy Slim, David Sylvian, and early Pink Floyd.

This is obviously a young band without a definitive sound, but the resulting eclecticism coupled with a surprising compositional maturity is wonderfully intriguing. “Reign” appears to be an homage to Bach’s organ preludes. “Spheres of Influence” makes a breathtaking midstream shift from dancefloor highlife to a creamy slice of mutant bluegrass.
The tintinnabulations of the triptych “Denial (Part One),” “Denial (Part Two),” “Denial (Part Three)” shift like the images in a fun-house mirror, culminating in a dizzying mix of resonant vocals, chiming dulcimer, churning guitar and a maelstrom of keyboard sweeps and gurgles. The final result is flawed but breathtaking.‟

Sanz Lashley

LXXI. Cello | Alva

CELLO

Alva

©Simbiose. Portugal, 1993.

‟The band was formed in 1993 by three friends who wanted to explore different musical approaches - José Nave and Pedro Temporão are the original members. This trio played instrumental music for some time, trying to define some musical orientation, wich however would be based on electronics. Soon Cristina Martins joined the band and Cello was formed. The first demo quickly raised the interest of a portuguese independent label, Symbiose, who signed the band for a three records deal. In the same year the first album, "Alva" (1993), was released. Critics didn`t hesitate to point to Cello a place in the portuguese music scene, as a "promissing band", although still looking for a more personalised sound. The internationalization goal was present right from the begining. The earliest Cello compositions and, specially, the use of french lyrics, convinced the band about the good chances of an international carreer in some european countries. This goal was somehow achieved with the first album and consolidated with the second, "À L`Ombre du Temps" (1995). These records had an international destribution through the "independent circuit" - Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Holand, Greece, México, Hong Kong, etc... Between 1994 and 1997 the band`s releases received good critics and program radios pointed them out as well. The participation on international compilations, side by side with the hype of the alternative european scene - bands like The Young Gods, Bel Canto, Miranda Sex Garden, In The Nursery, Von Magnet, Chandeen, Sleeping Dogs Wake... - would also help Cello`s internationalization process. In Portugal the band gradually conquered new fans as well, along the music work and the intense live presentations. They toured all over the country, passing through the main stages, suporting sometimes foreign bands - Cocteau Twins, Red House Painters, Sol Invictus... By the other side, the band would gather media unanimity through out the years: albums, EP`s, singles were considered "quality releases" - some would be elected among the best portuguese records. And after five long working years, plus a label change, the band presents the brand new album "Long Voyage" (2000). Eleven electro-rock/pop songs mixing an exciting combination of raw intensity and dizzy frailty... «Cello`s best album», many say. Again, it would be considered among last year`s best portuguese releases. "Aprés-Midi" was released in early 2003. This record is a compilation of remixes, containing also some originals. It was Cello`s last record.‟

myspace.com/celloband

LXX. Lovesliescrushing | Voirshn

LOVESLIESCRUSHING

Voirshn

©Projekt. US, 2002.

‟Lovesliescrushing returns to Projekt with a special mail-order-only release. This CD will not be available in stores. It's the second in a new series of discs from Projekt, presenting excellent music available especially for the fans via our website. This arrangement bypasses the hassle and frustration of retail and makes the music available directly to you.

On their newest album, Voirshn, Lovesliescrushing (one of the few remaining representatives of the 'shoegazer' genre) continues their trend further from the traditional rock elements that characterized earlier dream pop bands. From the beginning, instrumentalist Scott Cortez and vocalist Melissa Arpin distanced themselves from the genre by rejecting conventional song stuctures in favor of an intensified version of the meandering sound that was forcefully inaugurated by MBV's classic Loveless. In Lovesliescrushing, this aesthetic has gradually approached pure ambience. Nevertheless, their typically warm guitars counterveil this tendency even with the absence of percussion and song structure. On Voirshn, their 4th recording, both are either minimal or entirely absent; wordless female vocals drift in and out while 'electronic beats' - guitarnoise softened by semi-lo-fi production - occasionally interrupt a wash of guitar. Although consistent in style, the album avoids sounding like one continuous song through adequately diverse guitar sounds ranging from the lush vibrant tone of the opening track 'glixen' to the subdued quasi-detatched feel of 'sovfx'. Overall, Lovesliescrushing continues to exist between the worlds of shoegazer and ambience, although the ascendant former has once again conceded to the latter. This is pure glitch-bliss.

Lovesliescrushing. [Voirshn] is a synthesis of processed ambient gloss and lo-fi grit, creating a digital-analog hybrid that Scott terms 'glitch-bliss'. Songs were compiled from a palette of sonorities extrapolated from a collection of voice and guitars, warped into rumbling subsonics, staticblast hiss, hazy chord clusters, extended infinite tone loops, melody spirals, avian-like whistles, glistening overtones, voices cut-up into splintered fragments, thoughtforms suspended over warm tonesheets like a ghost cloud, indistinct and luminous. Still eschewing bass and drums, rhythmic elements are culled from filtered guitar tones mutated into stroboscopic pulsations and digital dust clickings. Once again guitardamage is wrought upon six-strings, manipulated, deconstructed, reassembled to create bloodrush pulses reminiscent of a softly humming embryonic landscape of digitized lullabies.‟

 Projekt

 

LII. Radio Werewolf | Love Conquers All

RADIO WEREWOLF

Love Conquers All

©Gymnastic. Deutschland, 1992.

‟This band and album are of notable mention mainly because of who the members are and how strange and extreme their ethos is/was. Made up of only two members, RADIO WEREWOLF is none other than Nicholas Shreck and Zeena LaVey (whose father was the infamous founder of the Church of Satan), heads of the notorious Werewolf Order.

As for the music, it's obvious that they have attempted a DEATH IN JUNE/CURRENT 93 sound here, but at best they achieve a nice, remote, strange quality that has helped to make this band and album somewhat of a cult phenomenon. Other than that, Zeena really has no business singing whatsoever. She sucks through and through, but at least the album retains a comic quality because of it. Actually, I stopped listening to this album in 1996, but felt it at least deserved some mention. Who knows? You may want this if you're a collector of some kind.‟

The Metal Observer