Black Faction "Internal Dissident Part 1" Soleilmoon SOL 127 CD 2001 (69:57)
Introduction (1:10)
Manchestique
Concréte (6:44)
Virgil's Bridge (6:13)
Caucus Burial Tape Part II (13:29)
Sepia
Indate (6:46)
Afghan Front v1.1 (8:07)
Odessa (10:11)
Caucus Burial Tape Part I (7:10)
Widow
Maker (10:07)
Manchester based sound designer Andrew Diey has already shed the Foreign Terrain moniker in favor of Black Faction after just three years and a handful of discs. Last year's stunning FT debut "LP 1" was a soothing global audio travelogue comprised of over two dozen pieces of mild electronic ambiance and beats. "Internal Dissident Part 1" is much the same but does so with a lesser number of longer tracks (most in the 6 to 10 minute range, 70 total) as sound effects, atmospheres and melodies are applied to relatively simple, yet very effective, electro beat box grooves. The dissident's journey parallels that of Dante's epic passage through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, "The Divine Comedy". We begin in Diey's hometown but time and distance soon become irrelevant as we smoothly shift into other mindsets and geographic locations. "Manchestique Concréte" is a respectful head nod to the thriving local electronica scene, past and present. An early '90s IDM melodic sensibility provides a lulling warmth as a slightly unsettling verbal tick is conjoined to the rhythm. With "Virgil's Bridge" Diey puts his commercial sound design skills to work with a virtual environment of otherworldliness and demonic voices. Most of the latter half of the disc once again pays homage to fellow Mancunian and friend Bryn Jones, suffusing some of the trademark Arabic and electronic overtones and politics of Muslimgauze into the mix. In particular, "Sepia Indate" wails with regional instrumentation and "Afghan Front v1.1" features sound bites of President Carter's condemnation of the Soviet Union attack on Afghanistan. "Widow Maker" brings the journey to a heavenly end as beautifully understated string/key melodies and beats gradually build and break upon a sizzling canvas of static. Nice. Very nice. A 12" for "Manchestique Concréte" will be out soon via Dal Riada and Part II will be a live version of the album released as a limited edition LP, also by Soleilmoon ...
Black Faction/Foreign
Terrain
Andrew
Diey Discography
Soleilmoon Recordings
Where did I get this cd? - promo from Soleilmoon.