CLXXIX. Paavoharju | Yhä Hämärää

PAAVOHARJU

Yhä Hämärää

©Fonal. Suomen Tasavalta, 2005.

‟My notion of "Christian music" was built from my experiences in church sermons and Christian summer camp and it's agonising acoustic sing-alongs about some deep philosophical insight about a cloth made out of rags. Thankfully Paavoharju doesn't take cues from that most of the time, but more from traditional finnish hymns, without the soul crushingly boring sermons.

Yhä hämärää is like listening to a cassette you found lying inside a table drawer inside a lone abandoned wooden house somewhere in the Finnish Carelian countryside on a cold autumn day. A soundtrack to some old loner's melancholic memories. From touching lo-fi post-rock - "Valo tihkuu kaiken läpi" being a prime example and top pick - to folk acoustics with glitch electro sprinkled on top. What comes to comparisons, Xinlisupreme comes closest with their more calmer tunes. (Indeed, some surfing on Paavoharju reveals them as a confessed influence.)

The album doesn't have any real flaws, some tracks maybe being a bit too vague to make them memorable. But as a whole, it's definitely an experience, the album also not suffering from "let's cram stuff in this CD to it's full capacity" syndrome, which is always a plus in my book. And it sure beats those annoying sing-alongs. Something even a confessed atheist can enjoy.‟

Cthulhu

CLXV. For Against | Echelons

FOR AGAINST

Echelons

©Words On Music. US, 2004.

‟Available for the first time on CD! Echelons is the debut album by Nebraska's For Against, first released in 1987 for Independent Project. The album blends Factory Records atmospherics with the aggressive jangle of early R.E.M., juxtaposed against the earnest and isolated voice of Jeffrey Runnings. These elements conjoin to set the definitive image of the depth, vastness, and loneliness of America's sparse heartland.

Several songs on Echelons ("Echelons," "Forget Who You Are," "Broke My Back") perfectly capture the dark colorings of early Factory Records. The title track is replete with jagged, rusty guitar chords, painting gray and black trails onto which Runnings travels while reiterating the cautiously optimistic refrain, "Someone somewhere waits for me." The finale "Broke My Back" is a 7-minute anthem with shadowy chords and Runnings' boldly minimalist bassline — creating an atmosphere so bleak and compelling you can almost picture Martin Hannett behind the mixing console.

"Autocrat" weaves guitarist Harry Dingman's Gang of Four-inspired choppy, but ingeniously precise feedback and chord stabs through drummer Greg Hill and bassist Runnings' punchy, but solid rhythm section. Runnings wryly captures the song's essence with a repetitive one-line vocal melody: "Yeah, that's right, that's the way it is."

Other material ("Shine," "Get On With It") asserts the janglier elements of early 80s Athens rock, led by Dingmans' Peter-Buck-with-a-reverb-box melodies and Hill's lightning-quick drum patterns. All nine songs are distinctly identified by Runnings' clear, gliding timbre — a striking counterpoint to the dimly lit music supporting him.

One of the definitive American post-punk albums, Echelons was celebrated with a Grammy nomination for its remarkable cover design by Bruce Licher (a shaft of wheat accompanied each record sleeve in its initial 1,000 copy letter press run). This re-release is remastered with a six-panel digipak design by Licher.‟

Words On Music

 

CXLVI. His Name Is Alive | Livonia

HIS NAME IS ALIVE

Livonia

©4AD. UK, 1990.

‟His Name Is Alive evolved dream-pop for the new decade. Thus, set in a far more electronic landscape, "As We Could Ever" brought the Cocteau Twins into the 90's. Then the ghostly soprano vox and desolate loops of "E-nicolle" occupied a haunted dimension. It wasn't surprising that "Some And I" embraced dark-punk atmospherics, a la Siouxsie And The Banshees (circa A Kiss In The Dreamhouse). In the meantime, their dream-pop seized a disassembled futurist structure in "Fossil". Even more ambitious, the reprise of "E-nicolle" was built around a future-primitive dance in a void - raising memories of Jon Hassell.

In contrast, "Caroline's Supposed Demon" was more or less medieval folk. But then "Reincarnation" was comprised of industrial loops in it's entirety. As if troubled by turmoil, and never staying somewhere for too long, "You And I Have Seizures" displayed a baroque and dream-like neoclassical dream-pop. Then the stark and desolate distortions of "How Ghosts Affect Relationships" followed a parallel course as the Slowdive of the first EPs. In a final great touch, "Darkest Dreams" embosomed the subconscious grand folklore of the fairy-tale element.

A very intriguing album by Warn Defever Aka His Name Is Alive.‟

Ily

 

CXXXV. Rose McDowall | Cut With The Cake Knife

ROSE McDOWALL

Cut With The Cake Knife

©Bad Fairy Productions. UK, 2004.

‟McDowall’s first venture into music was in The Poems, an art- punk trio formed in 1978 with her then-husband Drew McDowall. She formed Strawberry Switchblade in 1981 with Jill Bryson. After signing with Warner Bros. Records they enjoyed chart success with their single “Since Yesterday” in 1984, however later singles and an album did not sell as well as expected. This and internal problems lead to an acrimonious split in 1986. 

For the next six years Rose was primarily a guest vocalist or “floating member” of several different alternative bands. She contributed backing or lead vocals for Coil, Current 93, Death in June, Felt, Alex Fergusson, Into A Circle, Megas, Nature and Organisation, Nurse With Wound, Ornamental, Psychic TV, and Boyd Rice on recordings as well as singing or playing guitar for live appearances. In 1993 she collaborated with Boyd Rice under the band name Spell producing 2 singles and an album of 1960s style pop, country and psychedelia covers for Mute Records .

At the same time she formed a folk rock band called Sorrow with then-husband Robert Lee. Between 1993 and 2001 they released two albums and one EP through World Serpent Distribution and performed in Europe and the U.S. During this time McDowall continued to record and perform with Current 93 and Coil, including the short lived group Rosa Mundi. Robert Lee left the band in 2002. Rose and her remaining bandmates continued to perform under the name until 2005 when she began performing under her own name.

McDowall is best known as a vocalist but also plays guitar, keyboards, melodica, and drums. Her signature instruments are a Washburn 12 string acoustic guitar, a Fender Coronado electric 6 string guitar, and an electric harmonium.‟

Creepyinsight

 

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

CXXII. Low | The Curtain Hits The Cast

LOW

The Curtain Hits The Cast

©Vernon Yard. US, 1996.

‟Back in '96, while I and countless others were listening to Sixteen Stone and Dookie, Low was crafting a gem of an album - one that would not ever be fully appreciated by its audience. With two other albums under their belt, Low obviously was used to it and unwilling to allow it to stop them from releasing their slower-than-molasses indie rock ballads upon the masses. Thank God they did. The Curtain Hits The Cast is one of those ahead-of-its-time masterpieces that opens up like a ten year old bordeaux - slowly and intoxicatingly. With each track that seemingly drifts in and out of existence, Low's tailored minimalism hangs like a haze over the listener, lulling them inward, inside themselves, to the place where all their fears and joys reside. "Anon" plays like a lonesome drive, while the ever more-hushed "Coattails" reminds me of my first experience with love and longing. Without a doubt, the winner here is the lengthy-yet-rewarding "Do You Know How To Waltz?", with its heavily delayed, lush layers of guitar and magnificently thoughtful lyric, "One more dance before they take away the light", which seems to be what we all want from each other anyway: one last chance.

Whether you're a lover, a fighter, a thinker or a writer, The Curtain Hits The Cast will drop its emotionally-charged anti-ballads of love and desperation into the broken hearts we all pretend we don't carry around with us under our Sunday best. This album will become your new obsession.‟

Shutupandbreakdance

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

 

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