Tactile "Borderlands" Sentrax Corporation SCS 01CD 1999 (55:44)
Grief (8:21)
Rotation (7:17)
On the Borders of the Silences... (9:03)
Teratogenic (7:00)
Do the Dead Stars Make the Green Sun Their Grave? (6:08)
Expulsion (9:22)
Perichoresis (8:32)
Music by John Everall ? Teresa Mills. Vocals on "Grief" by John Balance.
"Borderlands" is the first release of the new limited edition Sentrax Collector Series, this one being 500 cds: 131 "special edition" which includes an original ink drawing by Teresa Mills and 369 standard editions with insert but no drawing. I picked up the latter but have seen a friend's copy of the former ... very nice. Both come in a transparent oval fronted tyvek pouch sans jewel case. The seven tracks here are pretty typical for Tactile: rumbling/buzzing drone pieces. The first track, "Grief" stands out in that John Balance of Coil contributes a reading of an original text by William Hope Hodgson over an ominous wave of sound. The remainder of the album seems to explore variations on the same musical theme: there is usually one continuos tone or buzzing hum (they sound like generators of some sort) through the entire track and various other drones/hums/rumblings/buzzes going on in the background, sometimes sweeping up and down and/or panning about the stereo field. It is rather minimal and doesn't vary all that greatly within each track, but each individual track does have a certain tonal nature and feel. "Borderlands" works well as a whole, in fact I believe it is meant to be taken in as one long piece. I am particularly fond of "Teratogenic" ("of, relating to, or causing developmental malformations", according to Websters) and "Perichoresis" due to their slightly higher degree of variation and "Grief" simply because Tactile's sounds serve as a perfect background for Balance's spoken words. This music seems to be intentionally desolate, somber and emotionally bleak ... most likely a result of the recent passing of John Everall's mother at the time of recording. The title and music of "Borderlands" is no doubt a reference to the in-between state of life and death ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.