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I’m just going to keep on pushing Martyn Bates until you’re sick of it, and then continue doing it. Although he’s surely not the only one deserving this unenviable status, he’s the first person I think of when I consider artists with severely underrated careers. Bates had been making music since the late seventies, most famously as half of Eyeless in Gaza, spanning genres from noise to pop, rock to ambient, and his staple influence: folk. His latest album Unsung is in the latter category, though all of these except “Wait and See” are original songs by Bates. If anything, this album is stripped: the lion’s share of it is just Martyn and his guitar. It’s powerful singer/songwriter stuff from one of the most recognisable voices around, and there is a freshness in a lot of these songs that is remarkable given the ubiquity of the genre, as well as the fact that Bates has been making music for so long. That said, the strongest parallel is between this album and Bates’ solo albums around the year 1990, particularly the superb Letters to a Scattered Family. This new one is less bombastic, more subdued, and doesn’t immediately stand out when considered in the context of Bates’ œuvre. [...read more...]
The name Ulaan Passerine didn’t immediately ring a bell, but once I found out that it’s a project by Steven R. Smith of Hala Strana (among others), things started falling into place. This is a man with a respected, if relatively obscure, musical history, who played a central role in establishing experimental folk sounds in the US since the late nineties. Even without that context, though, this new double tape on Brave Mysteries would have blown me away. These four pieces — each occupying a tape side of sixteen to eighteen minutes — are best classified as freefolk, but Smith has such a strong voice (figuratively speaking) that comparisons with other artists are practically useless to draw. [...read more...]
This here seal of the devil is one of those albums that I enjoy because one track grips me in particular, and that is the utterly majestic opener “Born from the Abyss”. It is a velvety layer cake of misty chants and deep, warm synths that perfectly recalls the heyday of Scandinavian dark ambient, roughly fifteen years ago. Certainly not out of place on a label like Cyclic Law, that’s for sure. The rest of this album, the work of St. Petersburg resident Alina Antonova, is nothing to scoff at either, but it is definitely a mood piece, a nostalgic amalgam of ethereal, darkwave, ritual, and ambient influences that epitomises goth atmosphere to me personally. It’s a fairly consistent album, but the best is at the start. Still, Sigillum Diaboli will be required fare for some of you, a dark work somewhere between raison d’être, Coph Nia, Arcana, and more recently, Rose Croix. [...read more...]
Like last year’s tape on Brave Mysteries, this new full length by the currently Germany-based Sangre de Muerdago is an excellent reminder of what is great about neofolk. Though mostly devoid of the psychedelic trappings of some artists we’ve admired through the years, the band does weld together a number of different local sounds, with elements taken from various European areal styles, and perhaps a bit of US neofolk as well. This is a subtle difference from the previous release, which I classified as mostly typically German. It might be me, but I think I can hear a few more diverse threads picked up here. [...read more...]
Witxes’ debut album Sorcery/Geography almost made it to our list of last year’s favourite releases, and now, after not too long a wait, we’re treated to a strong follow-up album. It’s the first release on new label Denovali, and it coincides with a rerelease of the first album bearing the same new imprint. In short: that’s two double LPs worth picking up. A Fabric of Beliefs starts off a bit slow, perhaps, with the tripartite “Through Abraxas”, but these tracks do show that composer Maxime Vavasseur still has a firm grip on his electronics, drones, and some chugging rock parts. The buildup is very good, and it works towards a pretty dark climax, which is beautifully offset by the bright and shimmering acoustic guitar of “The Strands”. [...read more...]
Nicholas Palmer is no stranger to our site, as he deserves a place of honour for being one half of the duo The A. Lords, together with Michael Tanner, whose self-titled 2011 LP remains a favourite. Palmer’s solo work as Directorsound hasn’t featured here before, however, something which I hereby wish to rectify. Following in the footsteps of the magnificent The Cloisters album (Tanner again), subscriber label Second Language has just released I Hunt Alone, the latest Directorsound work. [...read more...]
After digging into their earlier demos and releases last year, I fully expected Eitarnora to be on the brink of producing a really solid album. That early material showed lots of promise and an original, meandering take on folk, but it sure was rough around the edges. Tall Grasses and Black Ash shows that all it took to take the music to the next level was to sit down and do it: better recording quality and production, slightly fuller compositions, and a few guest appearances to round out the sound. [...read more...]
artist: Stone Breath release: Spear of Flame, Horse of Air format: LP year of release: 2013 label: Brave Mysteries duration: 37:05
detailed info: discogs.com
It’s been really good to see Stone Breath back on the scene the past few years. Last year’s Twist of Thorn tape wasn’t without a few flaws, but it was full of the unique charm and unassuming folk style that Timothy Renner has been honing for roughly two decades. It also marked the debut of the band on the Brave Mysteries label, a rapidly rising star among American underground labels that returning readers should be [...read more...]
artist: Dirk Serries release: Microphonics XXI-XXV format: CD year of release: 2013 label: Tonefloat duration: 45:56
detailed info: discogs.com
Most of Dirk Serries’ Microphonics works since the first five have been released on limited LPs and as such, they’ve only reached a small audience. It’s very wise of tonefloat to go for a larger CD edition to house these four latest works, though, as it’s a quartet of very powerful tracks that deserve as much exposure as possible.
If you’re wondering where “Microphonics XXI” went… I have no clue either. It hardly matters, as the album [...read more...]
2145
artist: Sabled Sun release: 2145, 2146 format: Digital year of release: 2012 label: Cryo Chamber duration: 62:59, 53:13
detailed info: discogs.com [1, 2]
The name Atrium Carceri will surely ring some bells among lovers of dark ambient. Well, Simon Heath is the man behind both that project and this new offshoot, Sabled Sun. Musically, it’s not a very big departure from his usual works, but Sabled Sun is a very conceptual affair: impressions from the experience of a man waking up from cryostasis in a post-apocalyptic future world. These two albums, both released in 2012, encompass the first [...read more...]
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