peter wright - at last a new dawn- students of decay – 2xcd – 18$
"At Last a New Dawn" is a double disc set of truly epic proportions. It constitutes
the first new recordings by Peter Wright released to CD since 2004's "Yellow
Horizon," and is, without a doubt, a radiant high point, perhaps even the
pinnacle, of his distinguished and exceptional discography. All of the familiar
and wonderous Wright touchstones are present here in pristine form: a wealth
of gorgeous, ghostly guitar drones and swells, and impeccably employed
field recordings from manifold fascinating sources. Also worth noting is the
emergence of some slightly harsher sounds found here, a divergence from the
traditionally pastoral nature of much of Wright's catalog. This is reflective of
Peter's current live setup, which employs increased overdrive and distortion.
The album's title is, Peter asserts, a 'vauge reference to undying optimism in the
face of gloom.' Many of the track titles too reflect a contemplation of death, pain,
loss and tragedy. In fact, one of the tracks, 'Blue Light District,' was recorded on
July 7th, 2005, the morning of the London terrorist attacks, its title referencing the
rash of emergency vehicles swarming throughout the city in the wake of the violence.
This is the sound of misery and death, and ultimately, of hope and redemption.
-studentsofdecay
the nether dawn - long shadow of a dream- students of decay – cd – 11$
The Nether Dawn is arguably the most narcotic, most ethereal
of the many guises of the ever-prolific and talented Antony Milton.
For the unfamiliar few, Milton runs the sainted Pseudoarcana
label out of his native New Zealand and records as Myrtu!, A.M.,
Paintings of Windows, Clay Man in the Well, Swagger Jack and
as a member of Claypipe, With Throats as Fine as Needles,
The Stumps, Glory Fckn Sun and more. Running through all of
his projects is something of a dreamlike, nostalgic delirium
that is concretized and distilled on "Long Shadow of a Dream."
The recordings on "Long Shadow of a Dream" date from 2004-2006.
Despite this temporal span they seem like they've emerged organically
from the same eternal, humming tapestry of sound. The album's final
track is, unquestionably, its apex and it contains what are perhaps the
most soul-baring, cathartic moments which Milton has committed to
tape. Here, Antony's vision becomes nearly visible in its mammoth
totality - howling whisps of feedback, billows of keyboard and loops
conjoin with voice and throat in ecstatic communion. The aural landscape
of Milton's Nether Dawn will utterly entrance and beguile you
and, in the end, it will surely devour you whole.
-sod
uton - ground's dream cosmic love -students of decay – cdr – 8$
Once again, Finland's Jani Hirvonen pilots his Uton vessel
through majestic, organic vectors of ur-drone bliss. These
subterranean landscapes both threaten and beguile, with
oppressive hum and hiss giving way to distant lullaby
melodies that sound like they're being transmitted live
and direct from some primitive metropolis whose
inhabitants have never seen the sun.
-students of decay
skeletons out - in remembrance of me - students of decay – cd – 11$
"In Remembrance of Me" is the debut release by the Boston
based duo Skeletons Out, comprised of Howard Stelzer and
Jay Sullivan. Stelzer and Sullivan make use of tapes and vinyl
respectively, using these spare, deceptively crude means to
conjure strikingly developed, transportive aural landscapes
which are equal parts lush and expansive and claustorphobic
and atrophied. The record begins with breakdown, as swarming,
hissing tapes flutter, and amidst stuttering, resonant clatter
a rusted automaton buckles, faltering, afraid, before pistons
fire anew and it rises, heralding the slow imploding collapses
which will inevitably follow, as though rising from this detritus.
Stelzer and Sullivan traverse the same barren netherworld
valleys as Mirror at their most blasted, while foraging deep
within coppices akin to the natural decay states which inform
the aesthetics of corrosion at work in much of Loren Chasse
and Jim Haynes' output. Think of "In Remembrance of Me"
as a fugue caked in mud, one which beckons you deeper
and deeper down into its manifold ravaged and entropic depths.
Mastered by Ernst Karel with artwork by Justin Meyers.
-sod
fabio orsi - before long, before anyone, the stars will be walls in my mind - students of decay – 3" cdr – 7$
The final installment in the Orsi SOD trilogy, "Before
Long..." is as a slow-moving star in orbit, all evanescent
low-register drones and scintillating harmonics. Orsi's
deft hands and painterly approach have once again
concocted a beautiful, expansive space for your mind
to roam about. Music for telescope nights.
-sod
procer veneficus - deathwanderings - students of decay – cdr –8$
On "Deathwanderings," Procer Veneficus appropriates
drifting fugues from Chopin, Satie and Schubert and
distorts them into beautiful smears of wistful
ambience. These are pieces that, Derek notes, have
" been examined, assembled, and deconstructed into
cavernous resonance. Originally intended for use as
a soporific, this is music for worlds of ice constructed
in the deepest recesses of the mind, and for wanderings
at the threshold of death." Not a million miles off from
recent Andrew Chalk recordings, and gorgeous as all hell.
-sod
terracid - 2023 - students of decay – cdr –8$
"2023" marks the latest interplanetary excursions by
Michael Donnelly (mymwly/Brothers of the Occult
Sisterhood) and it's a diverse platter of headtripping
psych-drone-clatter-rock if ever I've heard one. In
fact, each of the album's twelve tracks finds Donnelly
mining different territory, channeling the psychedelic
ghosts of Japan and Germany through the lens of the
sonic traditions of planets light years further away
from the Sun than our own.
concern - s/t - students of decay – cdr –8$
This self-titled release is the debut by Concern, a
solo endeavor by Gordon Ashworth, who is perhaps
best known for issuing complex harsh noise missives
as Oscillating Innards. That said, Concern is an entirely
different affair. Here, Ashworth's principal focus is on
the drone - shimmering, multi-layered and dynamic,
he stretches loooong tones into gorgeous sonic tendrils
which dissolve or implode into impossibly nostalgic
field recordings and static. Recorded throughout the
years 2004 - 2007 and, surely, not to be missed.
-sod
david kirby - inside it is ringing - students of decay – cdr – 7$
This is it. Long in the making, we have here THEE definitive statement (for the time being) from Atlanta, Georgia
soundwizard David Kirby. And God, it's a monster. "Inside, it is Ringing" is born of the same brain erasing dust
as his recent "Shrieks Against the Glass Pt. 2" and his work in the Wire Thicket duo. However, this record transcends
those previous outings in every possible way. Kirby offers cavernous drones, alien rumblings and static depth
charges here that could level mountains. His recording processes are as hermetic as they are obsessive, and, like
the work of all the finest craftsmen, nothing is superfluous. Play impossibly loud. Inhale the vapors.
And float the fuck away.
-students of decay
tombi - black humid mist - students of decay – cdr –7$
Tombi is the solo moniker of Ry Wharton (who runs the great
Twonicorn tape label). Over the course of several limited edition
cassettes, including the simply fantastic "Forest of Three Trees"
released on Tone Filth midway through 2006, Wharton has sculpted
subterranean synth and electronics into obsessive basement
hymns. "Black Humid Mist" begins with a calming tide pool
of ringing bell tones, which open up into the hypnotic riptide
static of the title track - an enchanting live feed from some
bleak and beautiful valley far beneath earth's surface.
-sod
jefre cantu-ledesma - shining skull breath- students of decay – cdr –8$
"Shining Skull Breath" documents the latest solo recordings by Root
Strata label head and founding Tarentel member Jefre Cantu-Ledesma.
Those familiar with Jefre's recent solo outings, such as "The Garden
of Forking Paths" and"Floating Weeds," will recognize the stunning,
wistful, barely-there melodies which abound on those albums. However,
this time around these slow orbits of somber, evocative tone are
submerged in boiling vats of molten fuzz and static making for an
increasingly dynamic and bewitching listen. This truly is brilliant, potent,
deep listening of the highest order.
-studentsofdecay
wire thicket - dust, static - students of decay –– 3" cd –6$
In describing the debut Wire Thicket album, released on Pseudoarcana in 2006,
Antony Milton applied to the duo the term "power-drone." On their second outing,
the pair have fully embraced this label and taken it to new, delirious peaks. The
title track is a fifteen minute blast of singing, celestial metal; an impassioned,
deeply meditative flight into the starry night conjured from guitar, electronics and
field recordings. Characteristic of the duo's prior work together, the piece is an
excercise in accretion -- with layers and layers of meticulously detailed sound
arranged into a furious, beautiful blanket of howling drone. Emerging from
the tonal rubble is a second, shorter piece: a reworking of Taiga Remains'
"Brilliant Dead Highways" (a piece featured previously on a split 7'' with CJA) -
akin to a delicate, drifting calm at the end of an immense storn.
-sod
various - Molten Strings, Train Wrecks, and Birdsong - students of decay – cd – 12$
Almost two years in the making, "Molten Strings, Train Wrecks and Birdsong" is
an expansive compilation loosely centered around sound made by stringed
instruments. Strings are the primary sources of sound on all of these recordings,
and the majority of the works are generated solely from them. The record offers
a wealth of different approaches to these instruments. From the scathing, feedback
blasts yielded by Fred Lonberg-Holm's cello and mini-amplifiers, to the dexterous blur of
C. Spencer Yeh's violin fretwork, from the pastoral vistas of Peter Wright's Danelectro
12 string, to the billowy dirges of Birchville Cat Motel, Zaimph, Family Underground,
and Taiga Remains
Lending the record even further diversity are joyous bouzouki renderings from The North
Sea, and damaged, eerie and beautiful contributions from Robert Horton and Brothers
of the Occult Sisterhood. Presented together, the record is cohesive in the same way that
the best compilations are, flowing effortlessly from track to track and, in the process,
demonstrating the diversity and immense capability of all things stringed.
students of decay
brothers of the occult sisterhood - suppress (detached) orchestra - students of decay – lp – 14$
"Suppress (Detached) Orchestra" is the vinyl debut for Australia's
Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood. BOTOS is centered around
Michael Donnelly and a revolving cast of free thinkers who exist
collectively as musicyourmindwillloveyou and have released a myriad
of post-psychedelic free drone action on a wide variety of formats,
culminating with "Goodbye," released in 2006 by Digitalis.
The LP consists of two side-long freakouts, the first recorded in
2006 by the latest incarnation of the group, and the second by the
original duo lineup of Michael and his sister Kristina, recorded in 2004.
Because of this difference, both temporal and in personnel, each side
is immediately distinct in sound. Lurching, shamanistic percussion,
sonorous cello, snarling, blistering psych guitar, shambling piano,
and a wealth of other heaving, joyous sounds congeal and morph
in this fascinating journey through the minds of Australia's most
wrecked sons and daughters.
-sod
taiga remains - crushed radiant deities - students of decay – cd – 10$
Luminescent, wrecked shards of overtone drones merged with zoned
and disembodied choral whispers and ribbons of pure white electricity.
"Crushed Radiant Deities" is the first widely available Taiga Remains
release, bundling remastered versions of the two tracks from the long
out-of-print "Paper Lanterns" EP with two new longform works to form
a dense, polyphonic fugue of dynamic collisions and endless collapses.
Artwork by Justin Meyer
glass organ - our - students of decay – cd – 10$
Glass Organ is the Minnesota duo of Justin Meyers (Devillock/Tone Filth)
and Tom Helgerson. "Our" is their third release, following tapes on Tone Filth
and Twonicorn (which have recently been released together as the "Two Tapes"
LP), and constitutes a formal peak for their unmistakable sound. Helgerson's
utterly blasted guitar spurts smoldering static drones which are stalked and
devoured by Meyers' rumbling tapes and electronics. Broken plumes of
charred, oceanic rumbling, and gorgeous vistas of saturated analog gliss.
imperfect masters - no one knows why - students of decay – cdr – 7$
Hot on the heels of their FANTASTIC "Strike Out" album, released by Foxglove
earlier this year, Robert Horton and Dan Plonsey return with another
brilliant set of dialogues. On "No One Knows Why," Plonsey handles reeds,
brass, and fiddle primarily, while the ever-wiley Horton makes use of his
seemingly limitless bag of soundmaking devices, both musical and non-musical
alike. The sounds here range from zoned, post-ESP Disk jazz to gorgeous,
overtone-laden, intricately textured string/reed drone workouts. Ultimately,
these recordings feel like earnest conversations between two old friends
whose effortless rapport can come only from years and years of dedicated and
impassioned collaboration. We're lucky to have the privilege of eavesdropping.
-students of decay
A jarvis - tectonique du corps - students of decay – cdr – 7$
More simply stellar solo endeavors from UK underground stalwart
Mr. Andy Jarvis - proprieter of the consistenly fantastic First Person
imprint, member ofSculptress, and Phil Todd co-conspirator in Warm
Palindrome. Those familiar with Andy's stunningly evocative acoustic
works are surely in for a surprise here. "Tectonique du Corps" is a blast
of crackling feedback, beautifully wrecked percussion, gorgeous analog
dronefests and hypnotic low-end shuffle. Absolutely essential.
-students of decay
with throats as fine as needles - digitalis / students of decay -cd -12$
Deep inside an abandoned bunker on New Zealand's north island, With Throats as Fine as Needles have perfected their craft. On this, their debut CD release, the group has expanded to a quartet. Birchville Cat Motel's Campell Kneale and Pseudoarcana chief, Antony Milton, have joined forces with James Kirk (Sandoz Lab Technicians, Gate) and Richard Francis (Eso Steel) to create a claustrophobic, organic web of massive drones. Everything on this CD was recorded outdoors with battery-powered instruments. Underneath the ground, the quartet burrows out their own cavern, bouncing sounds off the walls until it becomes a singular, solid mass. Each gently sculpted tone floats in humid air. The music is saturated with the dirt and grime from a million a years of human history, wailing out in unison like an excavation turned exorcism. With Throats as Fine as Needles are your guides through this aural fog.
Co-released with Ohio's Students of Decay imprint. (digitalis)
- past - sold out -
taiga remains -ribbons of dust pt 2- students of decay – 3" cdr – 7$ sold out
delicate morning nebulae drowning in hum and drift.
taiga remains - ribbons of dust pt 3 - students of decay – 3" cdr –7$ sold out
orphan vapor trails for thunderhead dusks.
-students of decay
procer veneficus - the cold gloaming - students of decay – cdr – 8$ sold out
Here at Students of Decay, we have long been fans of the gorgeous,
desolate ambient/metal explorations of Procer Veneficus. It is thus
with great pleasure that we present "The Cold Gloaming," a frozen
journey into lonely twilight. In the words of Derek himself, ""The
Cold Gloaming" is a "late-night effort to capture dusty nocturnal
atmospheres and the presence of ghosts (nightspirits) infringing
upon the realm of light and comfort that humans have attempted
to construct for themselves, and thus it is a link to our primal past.
This recording represents a submission to soporific realms of
darkness, eerie sounds, unknown forms, and psychic uncertainty.
Very earthy guitar-based drones and dark ambience." Sleep deep.
-studentsofdecay
various - creeping dawn volume three - students of decay – 4x 3"cd – 30soldout
Creeping Dawn Volume 3
Volume 3 contains exclusive 3'' material by Nether Dawn
and Little Skull, CJA , Pefkin, and Bjerga/Iversen. All four
3''s are packaged in a customized box with artwork. The
set is limited to 50 copies.
Disc One
SoD-43 Nether Dawn and Little Skull - "A Dog's Hair Reverie"
Disc Two
SoD-44 CJA - "Ich Lieb"
Disc Three
SoD-45 Pefkin - "The Other Room"
Disc Four
SoD-46 Bjerga/Iversen - "Cosmic Recovery"
valerio cosi - freedom meditation music vol 1 - students of decay – cdr –-7$ sold out
"Freedom Meditation Music Vol. 1" is the latest and greatest discharge
from Italy's wildly talented Valerio Cosi. Cosi is truly a first rate player and
composer whose work effortlessly oscillates from traditional, swinging jazz
melodies to soul purging Ayler-esque dirges. Ever-resitant to being pigeon-
holed, Cosi also knows his way in and around a drone, often processing his
circular sax breathing into sublime arcs of pure tone which ground and augment
his busy, colorful rhythms. To make things even more impressive, Valerio
handles all instrumentation himself. This is joyous, wonderful music from a
truly passionate and remarkably gifted young musician. Fantastic!
-sod
jade emperor - telegrams for our council oak - students of decay – cdr – 7$ sold out
Jade Emperor is a long distance collaboration between the uber-productive Brad Rose and
Hong Kong's Wilson Lee. The sounds on the record are unique to both musician's
repertoires, with the folk driven melodies of many of Rose's projects, and the wide-ranging,
polyphonic guitar experimentations of Lee's work in Fathmount fusing and contorting in order
to create something entirely new. "Telegrams for our Council Oak" is a reverent album,
full of bright, echoing picking and deep, billowing drones that sound like they could have been
recorded under the auspices of some ancient clergy from outer space.
-students of decay
taiga remains -ribbons of dust - students of decay – 3" cdr – 7$ sold out
delicate morning nebulae drowning in hum and drift.
flashlights - eckords - students of decay – cdr –8$sold out
"Eckords" is the first release by Flash Lights, the duo of Liz Harris (better known as Grouper) and Bay Area
sound sculptor Jorge Behringer. Here, Liz's spectral vocal transmissions (the ones that blew our collective minds
on last year's superb opus "Way Their Crept") are augmented by disorienting field recordings, bubbling electronics,
meditative guitar lines, and Jorge's angelic, processed viola. Each piece is unique and bursting with vibrant, otherworldly
energy, running the gamut from almost poppy (!) songforms, to distant choral ghost codas, and moving effortlessly
from seering blasts of electronics to calm, glacially evolving, painstakingly wrought towers of dynamic vocal murk.
Beautifully mastered by Pete Swanson, presented in a sleeve adorned with Liz's wonderful black and white artwork.
5'' cdr Edition of 200.
- students of decay
Various artists - Creeping Dawn vol 2
Mike Shiflet "Puritan Heartbreaker"
David Kirby "Shrieks Against the Glass Pt. II"
Robert Horton "Ritual Ingestion of Insect Substance"
Alligator Crystal Moth "Cow's Town Ornamental"
4 x 3"cdrs in box - students of decay - 50 pressed - 32$sold out
sold out
Taiga remains - paper laterns- students of decay-3" cdr -7$sold out
Various artists - Creeping Dawn vol 1.
the north sea - nocturnal birds
seht - new blues for whitey
keijo - fifty parts of me
heavy winged - blacc stork
4 x 3"cdrs in box - students of decay - 50 pressed - 25$
sold out
robert horton - boot 2: the ugly music - students of decay – cdr –sold out
Robert Horton continues his essentially ceaseless streak of releasing
infallibly fantastic sounds with "Boot 2 (The UglyMusic)." This album
is unique in the Horton canon, as unlike most of Robert's records, which
typically feature him seemingly playing every instrument and non-
instrument under the sun, here he relegates himself to his self-made
stringed "boot" and vibrators alone. The result is some of the most
damaged, elegiac and eerily beautiful acoustic Americana to grace
these eardrums in quite some time.
-studentsofdecay
slow listener - enthusiastic pursuit of the pointless - students of decay – cdr –sold out
Following up simply stellar releases on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon
and Ruralfaune, Slow Listener returns with"Enthusiastic Pursuit of
the Pointless." Campbell Kneale's descriptor 'slumberpunk' for the SL
C/PSI/P release proves germane on this album as well, with Slow
Listener spewing forth deep, velvety pools of fractured, yet soothing,
analog sound. Great stuff to play late into the night or early in the
morning while rubbing the sleep out of your weary eyes.
-studentsofdecay
heavy winged - taking the veil - students of decay – cdr –- 12$ sold out
Another slab of sheer, remorseless destruction from Brooklyn's finest
face-melting psych warriors. "Taking the Veil" was originally released
by the band in a micro-edition of around 30 copies for Terrastock '06.
Far too beautifully ugly and perfectly brutal to bless so few, here we
have two 20+ minute tracks brimming with cascading streams of
sick tonal lava, thumping low-end shitstorms, and a barrage of
utterly wrecked, carnivorous bombast that'll have you running,
tail-between-your-legs, back to your PSF and Alchemy collections
to rest your shattered cochlea.
-students of decay
fabio orsi - 2 or 3 moments in 1 day - students of decay – 3" cdr –6$ sold out
With recent releases on Digitalis and A Silent Place, and a Last
Visible Dog album impending, Fabio Orsi has quickly made quite
a name for himself - with good reason. "2 or 3 Moments in 1 Day"
is, appropriately, a three part arrangement, each successive
movement more shimmering and beautiful than the last. In Fabio's
own words, "The base idea was to create three parallel worlds. Like
the thoughts in the mind, some intelligible moments and some
lysergic moments." Wonderful stuff, truly.
meursault - sleeping debris- students of decay – cdr –8$ sold out
Meursault is the solo moniker of Shaun Falconer, a musician based
out of Glasgow. The project first came to my attention by way of
three simply gorgeous self-released cdrs birthed last year by
Falconer's own Eagle + Serpent Recordings imprint. "Sleeping Debris"
follows very much in the trajectory established by those prior releases,
but feels perhaps even more focused. Employing bowed guitars
and piano, Falconer coaxes frail webs of cascading drones and
beautiful swelling timbres into evocative mantras which hang thick
in the air like fog. Cathartic and transportive in the best possible way.
-studentsofdecay
impregnable - deflower - students of decay – 3" cdr –7$ sold out
Two tracks of humming ambient devotion from Jeff Witscher.
Eschewing entirely the brutality of past Impregnable releases,
here Jeff conjures lush yet suffocating drones which loom
large in the room until long after they've faded into absence.
'For headphone listening and distance.'
-sod
emaciator - resentment - students of decay – cdr –8$ sold out
Jon Borges (Pedestrian Deposit/Monorail Trespassing) returns with
another supremely focused installment of his Emaciator project -
focus being the operative word. I can think of few individuals
who imbue their work with such an obsessive vision. Here, Borges
weaves impenetrably dense, corroding waves of sound sourced
from keyboard, tapes, guitar and effects. Constantly exploding
tunnels of wonderfully pure tone. Brilliant and indespensible.
-studentsofdecay
natural snow buildings - laurie bird - students of decay – cdr – 9$ sold out
Hyperbole aside, here there is magic. "Laurie Bird" marks the
first of three planned Natural Snow Buildings releases on
Students of Decay, with a deluxe 2CD reissue of their epic
self-released "Dance of the Moon and Sun" and a double
disc set of new recordings entitled "Snowbringer Cult" both
due out in early 2008. This may well be many listeners' first
exposure to the NSB cosmos, as all previous releases, each
painstakingly handmade and impossibly beautiful, have been
limited to under 50 copies and have long since sold out.
The scope of Mehdi and Solange's artistic vision is staggering,
moving from the cinematic to the plaintive, and from the
rhythmic to the abstruse with preternatural fluidity and inimitable
poise. Utterly spellbinding and entirely essential.
-sod
limited quantity avail
cloaks - serene - students of decay – cdr –8$ sold out
Cloaks is the nom-de-plume of Spencer Doran, a Portland
based musician who also moonlights as a member of RV
Paintings. Doran employs acoustic piano, guitars and various
electronics to sublime effect. Obvious comparisons can be
made to the flurries of overtone piano that Charlemagne
Palestine has pioneered, but Doran truly has crafted an unique
and inspired voice of his own, weaving clouds of piano with
spiralling plumes of FX and warm gushes of plaintive guitar.
Positively magical.
-sod
isengrind/twinsistermoon/natural snow buildings - the snowbringer cult - students of decay –2xcd –19$ sold out
limited stock
Enter the Snowbringer Cult. Lo, behold the great arrival. Over the course of several
private press releases, all of which will see much needed CD reissues later this
year, and the gone-in-the-blink-of-an-eye "Laurie Bird" CDR that we released in
early February '08, the music and artwork of Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte
has become the stuff of legend. Such is the case despite the fact that the amount
of people who have actually been fortunate enough to acquire physical copies of
these wondrous releases numbers in the mere low hundreds. "The Snowbringer Cult"
then, in all of its epic glory, is what you might call an entirely necessary and long
overdue coming out release by France's mighty Natural Snow Buildings.
The album is composed of two jam-packed discs of brand new material recorded
in the final months of 2007, the first being a split between the duo's solo
projects: Isengrind (Gularte) and Twinsistermoon (Ameziane). Here, the pair's
tendency to occupy the full 80 minute capacity of the CD medium proves
ideal, as both solo projects effectively have a full 40 minutes in which to sketch
their respective sonic visions. Disc one begins with the exotic ethnodrones of
Isengrind, with Gularte transporting us to some blasted bazaar where Eastern
strings, haunted vocals and a marvelous universe of shaken and beaten percussion
emanates from every dark corner of the windswept streets. "To Ride With Holle"
could be a merging of the resonant clatter of "Empty Bell"-era Pelt with the enchanted
peaks of the Taj Mahal Travellers' bleary eyed beachside reveries. Elsewhere,
Gularte presents us with tribal landscapes that wouldn't be out of place on the
most captivating of Sublime Frequencies releases, as is the case on "Wooden
False Face." Ever the chameleon, throughout her half of the split Gularte takes
us to deep, dark places, such as the barren netherworld of "SunDusk Wand," as
well as the bright, blue summits found in her magnificent closing piece "Anima Sola."
Emerging from the ashes of Isengrind's lush soundworlds are Mehdi Ameziane's own
solo flights as Twinsistermoon, which begin with the keening, sprawling "Amantsokan,"
a truly mesmerizing dirge. It is with "The Spears of the Wolf" however, that the course
of this split album is wonderfully altered. Here, Ameziane channels the most affecting
qualities of 70's British folk music with wondrous, transportive results. Ameziane's
take on the folk song is reminiscent of the pastoral diddies of Vashti Bunyan or
perhaps some long lost Linda Perhacs or Anne Briggs recording, all plaintive nylon
strings and warm, whispered voices. It is thus that the Twinsistermoon half of the split
oscillates effortlessly between two seemingly disparate styles: that of the nostalgic,
crestfallen folk song ("Spells," Water Barrier," "Kingdom of the Sea") and that of the
slow burning drone epic ("Order of the Dreamt," "Bones Memories," "Understars") -
no small feat indeed.
For the album's colossal third installment, Ameziane and Gularte join forces under the
Natural Snow Buildings moniker for the entirety of disc two. It is here that all of the
diversity and compositional prowess evidenced by the pair's solo recordings coheres
into the remarkably refined and singular NSB sound. "Resurrect Dead on Planet Six"
kicks things off, a horde of screaming, lost specters howling across one thousand
endless starry nights. On "Ongon's Rattle," a doomed mass gathers for a ritual
processional, with Ameziane and Gularte's moss-laden forest chants floating atop a
wistful, rhythmic undertow that is evocative of the best qualities of early Godspeed You!
Black Emperor and the rest of the Constellation Records roster. After the sunlit drift of
"Inuk's Song," Ameziane and Gularte unleash in the title track what is undoubtedly one of
their most compelling compositions to date. A deluge of frenzied woodwind tones gives
rise to a blasted sea shanty lament driven forward by collapsing synth lines, booming
percussion and increasingly urgent, searing blasts of pure bliss drone guitar. The enigmatic
forest dwellers raise their voices again on the shambling, reverent "Gone," and, later,
"Salt Signs" continues the beautiful trajectory established by the title track with its
impossibly towering summits of synth and string drones that are gradually tempered by
kraut-inflected percussion and drifting, rhythmic guitar work. Later still, "The Desert Has
Eyes" finds a tribal raga positively eviscerated by blistering sheets of pure whiteout
feedback and cascading sine waves. The album ostensibly closes with an ocean of
elegiac organ tones woven into a tight coda. However, an emphatic exclamation point
to the monster that is "The Snowbringer Cult" occurs with the album's hidden track,
wherein an utterly levitating torrent of pounding percussion, hummed vocals and
post-Flying Saucer Attack fuzzbox guitar attack scream out into the void.
If this seems like a lot to take in - it surely is, but such is the nature of the Natural
Snow Buildings cosmos. Enter the Snowbringer Cult. Lo, behold the great arrival.
"The Snowbringer Cult" is packaged in a gorgeous 4 panel sleeve printed by
the renowned Stumptown Printers featuring gorgeous artwork by Solange.
-sod
fabio orsi - the psychedelic power of bubbles (you and me) 3- students of decay – 3" cdr –7$ sold out
The second installment in the 3'' trilogy which began with "2 or 3
Moments in 1 Day" and will conclude with "Before Long, Before
Anyone, The Stars Will Be Walls In My Mind," here the inimitable
Orsi melds Eastern sounding drones with suffocating low register
harmonics and field recordings to a sublime effect, flexing both
his superb compositional skills and his mixing prowess. Another
fantastic, captivating offering from this rising star Italian maverick.
-studentsofdecay
taiga remains - xiaguan - students of decay – 3" cdr –7$ sold out
5:45 a.m tone float. conducted by sunlight and aged
puerh and performed with acoustic guitar, electronics,
loops, bows and chopsticks. recorded live at acacia
sound, september 2007. music for early mornings.
-sod