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Bright Yellow Moon is the latest in a series of eschatological meditations from Current 93, with the inimitably hallucinogenic assistance of fellow traveler Nurse With Wound. Tibet's musical trajectory has taken him in a sort of closing spiral from the universal apocalypse of "Nature Unveiled" & "The Seven Seals" towards ever more personal losses, and artistry which is correspondingly more powerful and emotionally complex.Having put his father to rest only a year earlier with the stunning album "Sleep Has His House," an unexpected personal brush with death provided the fodder for this latest, most claustrophobic installment. Where "Sleep" was all hush and harmonium, beautifully mournful and exquisitely aware of the unknowability of the next world, "Bright Yellow Moon" is a far more harrowing journey to the terrifyingly knowable last moments of this world. At turns dreamlike and painfully lucid, Tibet's astonishingly generous work here takes the form of an unblinking stare at the catastrophic dilemma of original sin. The religious concerns remain predictably prominent, but they are seen here through the microcosm of a single life's end, suggesting, as did "The Great in the Small", that any meaningful sense we might find of larger purposes or "the grand scheme of things" will come to us not through vast divine revelations, but from the stitching together of the modest minutiae of our lives, in the small, temporary space of our daily experience.
"Bright Yellow Moon" (and the accompanying disc "Purtle" for those fortunate enough to have received the limited edition) is a terribly beautiful work, brutal in its willingness to face the emptiness of our last moments, brutal in its uncompromising assertion that we are all thoroughly surrounded and invaded by evil, and brutal in its capacity to maintain the painful awareness of the possible meaninglessness of our lives. "Nichts I and II", compositions at least as chilling as those of Stapleton's recently reissued "Thunder Perfect Mind", strike me as perfect and perfectly forceful illustrations of this brutality. But throughout, as in all his work, a fervent hope is expressed, and small memories of love and beauty are enshrined as edifices against a sea of incomprehensible loss. In the fifth track, a vision of sailing with a beloved companion on a light-streamed ocean describes a love which transcends lifetimes, and "a life inextinguishable in you and your love." Lest you think our Tibet has gone the way of all schlock, the beautiful vocals gradually disintegrate in this song, as in "I have a special plan for this world,' into unintelligibly garbled paralysis. As always, words fail: Tibet laments that "we all speak unknown languages to each other", and I lament that I am unable to sufficiently convey the majestic scope and beauty of this fantastic album.
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In creating, deconstructing and re-assembling his music, Fenneszshowcases different styles throughout the CD: from the guitar-filledtitle track with several movements, the crackling static-filled stringson the verge of resonance in "happy audio", to melodic Oval-esque"skipping CD" (tm) stylings of "before I leave". Unfortunately, somemight find these processing methods slightly gimmicky or an overuse ofDSP-noodling. However, if one can accept the minimal, competentlytweaked nature of the songs, it is easy to see that they are used toshowcase genuine emotion and makes Fennesz's "difficult third album"not seem so difficult after all - he makes it look easy.
Perhaps suffering from recently being prematurely hyped in the press asbeing "classic", "Endless Summer" is neverless a startlingly good albumboth on its own or placed next to releases of all his laptopcontemporaries; suffice to say that it's brilliant music for beginningyour day or ending it, regardless of season.
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- Andrew Schrock
- Albums and Singles
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As to be expected from a compilation of 35 artists with each trackclocking in at around the 2 minute mark, it has a widely variedtopograhy. The premise of a multitude of short, hard-hitting trackkeeps in tune with the original "Attention: Cats", which presented tothe listener a large number of brief, distorted, often humorousnoise/drum&bass songs attributed to a flurry of unknown aliases,all ultimately traceable to one Keith Whitman, aka Hrvatski and head ofReckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge.
Although the sheer track variety keeps pigeonholing the style of therelease impossible, the remixes are roughly split between minimalglitch/laptop, "IDM", and loud, distorted drum & bass stylings,similar in feel to the "Kid606 and Friends Vol. 1" CD on Tigerbeat6 ofrecent memory. There are some flat-out duds, namely Thurston Moore'sdistracting 3 1/2 minute "remix" (longest track on the CD) which seemsto find the rockstar tuning a radio while fiddling with the outputjack. Such foolery aside, almost all the remixes have enough bite,composition, and originality to hold their own. Even taken as a whole,the CD is well-mixed and flows better than one might guess given thatthe number and diversity of songs. Wicked listening for the ADD-blessedteenager in you.
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- 2m24 (V/Vm)
- Super G5 C-Clamp Retrofit (ESP)
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- Robin Amos
- Albums and Singles
It's four a.m. and I haven't slept and have no desire to. My moonshadow accompanies me as I wander through a snow-covered forest. My footsteps leave a muffled reminder that I am still alive. I am not lost but have no idea where I am. Time and Space have given up their eternal battle for dimensional supremacy and have abandoned me. I eventually find my way to cabin that appears to be vacant so I take a respite from my journey and enter. The interior is dark with only a bed and a table, however on the table is a CD by Tor Lundvall entitled The Mist - it has a fascinating cover featuring subtle images of a winter landscape. I put the CD on my walkman and lie down to rest - the music envelops me in a dark desolate mindscape that is hauntingly benign radiating a warm emotional state. I decide to while a way some time by writing about the songs in my journal - here are my observations.
The CD opens with an instrumental: "Ribbon", which sets the mood for the rest of what is to come by conveying a quiet uncertainty that flows into the second piece: "Ghost Girl". "Ghost Girl" is a song featuring recessed vocals that glide effortlessly over a strange melodic bed created rhythmic bell tones set against short-wave radio like heterodyning modulations. "Streets" is a which piece definitely reminds me of my early morning walks along empty city streets - streets that exude a feeling of anticipation; pregnant with the possibility of the unexpected. "29" is another loose song, built around a set of keyboard patterns with Lundvall's vocals mixed more up-front displaying his subtle vocal talents. The line: "My clock is set to a different time" really defines the mood of this CD. "Leave" enfolds the listener in an eternal autumn (the use of vocal timbres are particularly effective here). "Crooked" flows seamlessly from "Leave" featuring echo laden ring modulated textures that paint a prevailing feeling of isolation. "Deadmoon" is a beautiful piece built around a descending overtone pattern that reinforces Lundvall's evocative vocals. "The Hollow" features naturalistic ambient sounds such as insects mixed with the kind of ring modulated sounds that Lundvall seems to favor. This song balances well the prior set of instrumentals. "Pale Sun" is another keyboard piece that shines gently upon an open chordal soundscape reminiscent of the work of Harold Budd. "6:00 AM", ah the morning harkens, what shall the day bring? Happiness or disaster? "Outpost" is once again built around a descending pattern set against other worldly vocals begging the question: "Are we alone waiting?" "Grey Life" moves through a beautiful minimal cyclic piano phrase surrounded by an artificial toy piano pattern. Essentially a ballad wherein Lundvall asks: "Where is my soul?" I get a sense of questioning loss seeking redemption from an unanswerable void. "The Mist", what beckons us from the heart of the mist? Salvation through surrender or permanent failure? "Her Train" feels like when all she leaves you with is a bittersweet memory. "Remember" memories fade as life is eclipsed by time. "The Years" is a forlorn song that brings closure to the previous suite of instrumentals (Mist, Her Train & Remember) by giving voice to that which has not be spoken. The last two pieces: "Dark Spring" and "A Green Darner" return to the understated naturalistic style that has punctuated the whole work through out and ending the CD with a feeling of quiet resolve.
I fell asleep lulled by Lundvall's music and had some wonderful nightmares. I would recommend this The Mist to anyone interested in well considered Isolationist Music such as has been pioneered by Eno, Lustmord, Budd etc. The CD grows with each listening revealing it's somber reptiles that lay in wait amongst its sonic crags.
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