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Saturday, August 15th, 2009
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12:13 pm - Updated website
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It's been online for a week or two now, but the Gydja website has been overhauled. When i can find the time, i'll probably do the same with everything else sitting on the server.
Now with added shopping cart features and an automated news page so things will, extremeties crossed, not go out of date so frequently.
current music: Novalis Deux - Ghosts Over Europe
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| Saturday, July 25th, 2009
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6:12 pm - AtmoWorks Presents: Compiled
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I'm very proud to announce a compilation just released on the AtmoWorks label features a new track by Gydja. The track, Noaide, is joined by contributions from Vir Unis, Bunk_Data, MJ Dawn, dreamState, Igneous Flame, Galactic Anthems, The Elf Machine, Interstitial, Steve Brand, Dr. Victor and Apne Sinn.
Available from http://store.atmoworks.com/ as both a download and as pro-pressed CDR.
Label's Press Release:
AtmoWorks is proud to bring you a first in our label's history; a compilation of AW and other highly respected ambient and electronic artists into one cohesive release that we like to call 'AtmoWorks Presents: Compiled'. AtmoWorks owner Matt McDonough (MjDawn) had this to say about this new and exciting venue for the label.
"We at AtmoWorks are very excited to bring together a collaboration that speaks about our label, artists and vision. This compilation is the first in what will be a series of "AtmoWorks Presents:" albums. Our hope is that we will be able to showcase our established artists, but also bring light to new talents we are exploring. You can look forward to future releases involving these great artists."
A seamless blend of styles and influences carefully mastered and molded together by the tag-team of Vir Unis and MjDawn, 'AtmoWorks Presents: Compiled' is a wide-ranging set sure to please the most discerning electo-heads. From the deep drones, guttural drones of Gydja and Bunk_Data, to the minimal beats of Interstitial and the organized chaos of MjDawn, this collaborative effort has something for everyone.
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| Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
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1:30 pm - Reviews of Helchemy
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Just came across a couple of reviews of Gydja's Helchemy collected on Afe Records site.
From Gothronic, reviewed by Bauke Vanderval of The Law-Rah Collective (not sure about the Wiccan reference):
Before me is a whole stash of releases by the Italian label Afe Records. An independent label run by Andrea Marutti for the incrowd of the ambient, experimental drone scene better known as Amon or Never Known.
One of the new releases is from his hand, but at this moment the CD "Helchemy" by New Zealand artist Gydja is playing. Gydja is a one-woman project from Abby Helasdottir. An Icelandic name hailing from New Zealand, that can only mean extreme isolationism and that is exactly what fits the release - albeit with loads of ritual aspects. Next to that Abby is also active as Clear Stream Temple who released the CD "XVI" on Cold Spring Records.
The two tracks which are both around 25 minutes bear the illustrous titles "The Spirit of the Earth With Venom Intoxicate" and "The Black Sea, the Black Lune, the Black Soll". Hearing these titles you already know there will be poetic, magickal and ritualistic sounds. And that turns out to be quite fitting: ambient soundscapes with sudden moments of harmony, disharmonic atonal miniatures and meditative structures for inner peace.
This album is a perfect auditive guidance for rituals of witchcraft or magick. Limited to 100 copies and as there are way more Wiccans and Thelemites in this world, it would be wise not to wait too long with your purchase.
From Chain DLK (psychedelic crepuscular trips are us):
In a scene mostly crowded of male artists, Abby Helasdottir shows the basic idea that dark ambient/experimental music is exclusively male oriented is a bullshit, and this release also demonstrates the concept female musicians may have this or that characteristics is false.
As we've already said, this musician from New Zeland deals with dark ambient from the music to the layout and if you're looking for some supplementary hints I'd say this doesn't belong to the category of "I'll scare the shit out of you" dark-ambient releases, it's an heave trip for sure but it's a psychedelic crepuscular trip that presents some really melodic interventions that change the whole atmosphere of the two long tracks here included.
It looks like some sound source of this release comes from some old tape experiment she did during the late nineties and someway the global feel of the most obscure passages could suggest it, but if that puts forward the equation: "old sounds equals retro music"... forget it.
The interesting game of heavy passages and melancholic quasi-sacral movements is mainteined also in the second track of this work, here you've more outspoken keyboards sounds that twist the shape of the scenario but the style is really similar to the music of the opening suite.
I know you may not agree with me but I think Gydja's music fits really well with definitions such as "ecstatic", yes, "dark and esthetic" and considering she's far from those mono-drone recordings where you feel like bored to death after a few minutes, I'm sure you'll appreciate the way she maintained her composition dynamical by moving different elements and atmospheres during the length of every track.
current music: Current 93 - How I Devoured Apocalypse Balloon
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| Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
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2:32 pm - Book Review: The History of British Magick After Crowley - Dave Evans
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The History of British Magick After Crowley - Dave Evans
I was really looking forward to reading this book. If i recall correctly, it was one of those "spoil myself with one expensive item" items in an Amazon order of more modestly priced books and CDs. I mean, 435 pages of post-Crowley magickal history, what wonders it must explore, what depth it must go to in what must surely be the definitive work on modern occultism. Sadly, this turned out to be wishful thinking that led to my hopes being dashed more thoroughly than they perhaps should have been. Perhaps my biggest mistake was not paying close enough attention to the publishers, who i now see are the print-on-demand Lightning Source. I had assumed that the higher than average price was because it had been released via some academic publishing house, rather than being the result of the over-pricing that occurs in some POD; and must surely make a mockery of that supposedly frugal financial model. This lack of a real publisher now makes sense of some of the annoying elements in the content that surely any proof-reader would have pointed out; more about those in scurulous detail later.
Dave Evans is apparently a practising magician as well as a "professional academic researcher", whose supervisor at Bristol University is Ronald Hutton. I can't imagine that Hutton supervised much of the final work, though, at least not with a red pen in hand, ready to make suggestions. This is Evans' PhD thesis turned into a book, and it suffers many of the problems associated with turning an academic paper into a book; though Hutton has shown that you can write about magick academically without it being tiresome or losing any of the thrill of the subject. The biggest of the academic problems that the book has is attempts at providing wider context and marking out process. In his Triumph of the Moon, Hutton does this in the early chapters, extensively setting the birth of Wicca in the colonial and post-colonial milieu in which ideas central to Wicca, such as Pan as a catch-all god of a personified spirit of Nature, had their origins. But where Hutton is effective in authoritatively setting the context upon which his later chapters will be based, Evans seems to have cribbed stuff he may have written for other papers and inserted it to give the appearance of ponderous academic digression or scene setting. There's a particularly tedious and lengthy section on blasphemy and morality which really has very little relevance to the subject of modern magick of any stripe; with even Satanism, one of the paths mentioned in the book, tending to stray away from it once the thrill of a Black Mass has worn off. I mean, what's the point of this extensive survey of blasphemy when Evans himself mentions that despite his litigious nature, it was never a charge of blasphemy that saw Crowley in court. Genesis P-Orridge is also mentioned in this section, but is ridiculously prefaced with the self-defeating caveat "Although not prosecuted for actual blasphemy", before going on to talk about the bottom-feeding Channel 4 documentary that saw hir exiled from the UK. So no modern magickian has been charged with blasphemy, probably because one, prosecutors don't really care what some loonies get up to own their own (unless it's safe, sane and consensual sex, amirite?) and two, because blasphemy plays such a minuscule role in magickal practise.
Along with this wank about blasphemy and morality, there's 200 pages of scene-setting twaddle that concludes with some equally pointless blather about the meaning of "the left hand path". I mean, who really cares anymore? Does anyone really define themselves like that still? There's an extensive survey of magickal practitioner's definition of the left hand path, but the only thing that the thoroughness of it does is highlight the failing this book has of wasting time on useless information. But you ain't seen nothing yet, folks, no siree.
Although the previous 200 pages have occassionally mentioned aspects of post-Crowley magick, they are but a preamble to what occurs now which is a concentrated study of particular magickal practitioners and movements. Who could be the first choice? What shining dark light from modern occultism could be going under the microscope? Yes, you guessed it, come on down Armado fucking Crowley. Yes, the man who claims to be Uncle Al's biological son and sole magickal heir (sorry Caliphate, and apparently he wasn't actually all that into Thelema anyway), but who no one takes seriously. You just have to read one of Armado's books to know it's all a rather pointless charade and that the Crowley in them bears little relationship to all other records of him (including his own). And it's not as if Evans doesn't know this. In fact, he spends page after page showing how Armado has lied about this, or falsified that. Again, it's pointless. While it's somewhat fun to see each of Armado's falsehoods scandalously documented, why bother? We know he's a liar, so should we really be surprised to find that, omg, he's not a novelist or playright anymore than he's a magician! Evans seems to have spent far too much time playing detective, trying to track Armado down from various leads about his legal name, before finally scoring the jackpot himself from the Properties window of a Microsoft Word doc that Armado himself had sent. Score! But a score of 0, because nobody cares. Armado gets 50 pages and then as he has done before, Evans shoots himself in his irony-oblivious foot by quoting Armado himself as a final jab: "there is not the least value in trying to use writers of 'fiction' as witnesses." Well, 50 pages worth of value say differently, Mr Evans.
Evans then turns to Kenneth Grant (finally) and uses him to also talk about Austin Spare and the use of Lovecraft's mythos in contemporary magick. There's not much in the way of revelations about Grant here, and nothing that familiarity with Typhonian documents online won't have already introduced someone to. But it's good to have it all in one place and Evans seems quite proud of having the most pages in print about Grant; though he's probably equally proud of the Armado word count too. From there, it's a brief discussion about Chaos magick which made me realise just how old hat and ridiculously last century it now seems. Somehow i had imagined that the history of British Magick after Crowley was a much richer field than what Evans covers. Obviously he's looking at magick in a ceremonial-Crowleyesque vein, so there's little in the way of Druidism or Wicca/Witchcraft here, and equally obviously, Ronald Hutton has covered that area so well already. But even so, what about rune/Norse based magick, such as the Rune Gild UK, with both Freya Aswynn and Ian Read (as well as the whole neo/apocalyptic folk scene) having elements of Crowleyan influence in addition to the runic stuff. For that matter, why not look at Current 93, or a proper, rather than cursory, look at Gen and TOPY, or a consideration of Coil that goes deeper than referring to them as, i kid you not, a "magically-inspired rock band". Yeah, i totally remember that time Jhonn Balance like totally shredded this mind-blowing guitar solo. Dude. I would think the fact that Caliphate OTO head William Breeze/Hymenaeus Beta has worked and performed with both Coil and Current 93 would suggest they deserve more than passing mentions as rock bands. Also totally absent is Shri Gurudev Mahendranath's International Nath Order, which is a bit ridiculous considering Mahendranath (or Lawrence Miles, as his parents knew him) met Crowley, and the Nath system could be said to be informed by elements of Thelema. And despite having a brief section on Satanism, in which he's far too kind on Anton La Vey, Evans doesn't look at specifically British Satanism at all. No mention of Magda Graham, or the presence that the Temple of Set had in the UK. There's one mention of the Order of Nine Angles, but only in a caveat stating that they and the TOS are "worthy of an entire PhD thesis rather than this tiny overview". Well, maybe if there wasn't 50 pages of Armado fucking Crowley and the same amount about blasphemy, then he could have done some proper research for at least a page or two instead of that cop out. In total, there's a feeling of Evans not being quite as involved in British occulture as he tries to appear, with the focus strictly on the Typhonian OTO, Chaos, and out of left left left field, Armado Crowley.
But in all fairness, it's not the content (or lack thereof) that bothers me the most about this book. It's the writing. The lack of a proofreader is really obvious, and we're not talking spelling or gramatical mistakes, but more the kind of things where another set of eyes would have said "maybe you don't want to keep on doing that on every fucking page, you knob." The real kicker is a Dan Brown-like(1) need to introduce everyone as if they were appearing in an obituary: "Acclaimed wank artist, Freddy McFingers", "Retarded author and annoyingly pseudonym-happy bullshit merchant, Ramsey Dukes" (not real quotes, but the last one is the opinion the reader will eventually develop thanks to Evans' constant references to him). But it's not the sentence phrasing itself that's all that annoying, it's that Evans seems to think his readers have poor short term memories and reintroduces the same people again and again. Phil Hine seems to suffer worst of all and i began to dread references to him, as they would each time be prefaced by "Magician and author Phil Hine" or variations thereupon. I mean, i think the reader should be quite capable of remembering who Phil Hine is, and not needing a little job description in case they think Evans actually means international film star and surrealist painter Phil Hine, or the 35th president of the United States Phil Hine. I don't know why magician and author Phil Hine seems to suffer this repeated prefacing more than anyone else, but it's so bad that in one instance it actually happens on the same page to magician and author Phil Hine. Mercifully Crowley and Kenneth Grant are, apparently, big enough fish in this book that the reader doesn't need to be reminded who they are. Poor Andrew Chumbley, though. Despite being mentioned several times already, by page 222, Evans feels we've forgotten who he might be, so he is introduced as "The late academic, author and modern magical practitioner of the 'Sabbatic Craft' Andrew Chumbley (1967-2004)" Thank goodness he didn't collect stamps or own a cat or we'd be here all night.
And then there's Lionel Snell, aka Ramsey Dukes and a bunch of other tedious pseudonyms, who is apparently Evans' magickal guru. These are guru feet that Evans must spend a particularly long time sitting at because Snell is quoted extensively throughout the book to the point of annoyance. Even when it's not something that really needed to be quoted to prove a self-evident principle, there he is; and often with the usual job description variations, sprinkled with various adjectives of praise.
So yes, not the successful exploration of post-Crowley magick that i had hoped for. Maybe Ronald Hutton will read his student's work and realise he needs to do the subject justice. I'm looking forward to receiving Hutton's Druids book in a week or two which will be a nice literary and academic salve. At the moment, for what it's worth, i'm reading Simon Reynold's book on Post-Punk, having enjoyed the latest edition of Energy Flash, his book on "rave" . I tell you what, i love almost all the music in Energy Flash, but while it's fun to read about post-punk, i don't really get the music and, as the old saying goes, it all sounds the same to me. The wonders of YouTube means you can sample as you read, but i don't know, Wire sounded like a regular punk band, rather than someone deserving of the acolades they receive in the book. Thus far into the book, the music that has most attracted me is the No Wave stuff because it really does sound genuinely inept and unlistenable, whereas UK punk was so often about people who could play pretending that they couldn't.
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1. I have never read a Dan Brown "novel" but gained this understanding of his inimical style from some lovely entries on Language Log, where his hamfisted writing is deliciously dissected.
The Dan Brown code and
Renowned author Dan Brown staggered through his formulaic opening sentence
current mood: literary
current music: Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows - Es Reiten Die Toten So Schnell
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| Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
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10:07 pm - Gydja: Helchemy
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Today i received copies of a new full length Gydja release on AFE Records, the label of Andrea Marutti (Amon, Never Known). Called Helchemy, it features two 25 minute tracks: The Spirit of the Earth With Venom Intoxicate and The Black Sea, the Black Lune, the Black Soll. Helchemy is a title i've used and intended to use for work on and off over the last decade; initially recording a full, but unreleased, cassette-based work with that title way back in the late-nineties. I still have that cassette in the archives, but haven't listened to it in years, and suffice to say, none of it made its way into this new Helchemy. Instead, this incarnation uses pieces of sound i've recorded over the last couple of years, some for other concepts that moved on without them, and then brought together in 2007 and 2008. Since i first thought of using the portmanteau as the title for a piece i've been interested in the way in which the alchemical process resembles shamanic initiation, especially how distillation mirrors dismemberment. While the title might suggest a survey of the entire alchemical journey, the album primarily concerns itself with just a few specifically Helish themes. Most obvious of these is the venomous black toad that is found in alchemical tracts such as the Ripley Scroll (a version of which is used in the album artwork), Norton's Mercurius Redivivus, and Michael Maier's marvellous book Atalanta Fugiens (the album includes melodies taken from Maier's illustrations in Atalanta Fugiens). In alchemy, the toad may have represented the prima materia, the matter with which an alchemist would begin, but it was also seen as the symbol of the final product: the Elixir, the Philosophers’ Stone, or gold itself. In his Camp of Philosophy, Bloomfield, one of the early English alchemists, lists the Toad as one of the names for the Philosophers’ Stone, along with other alchemical euphemism like our Azoth, our Basilisk, our Cocatrice, Mercury of metalline essence, and the Eagle flying fro' the north with violence. In other instances, the toad represented the fifth alchemical phase of putrefaction. This transformational stage was otherwise symbolised by yet more Helish imagery, such as the black sun, the death’s head, and the raven; indeed, another name for this stage is Caput Corvi.
Helchemy is limited to 100 copies and comes in a pro-printed cardboard sleeve with artwork by yours truly. The cover features the design below, while the inside spread is a full colour elaboration of the album's bufonial themes. The Gydja page at Myspace has an excerpt from the second track and there are very short samples from both tracks on the album page at Last.FM.
Copies are available for €13.00 at AFE Records. I also have copies of Helchemy, and of the Machina Mundi album, if anyone is interested in buying directly from me. 13€/US$ each, postage free anywhere in the world. Payment via paypal: rokkrx (at) ezysurf.co.nz
current mood: accomplished
current music: Cisfinitum- Nevmenosis
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| Saturday, May 10th, 2008
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11:22 am - Gydja: Machina Mundi
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Out now from the Gears of Sand label is a new full length release from Gydja. Machina Mundi deals with clockwork universes and other deterministic cosmologies and what happens to those world views when they fall out of favour. The label describes it as a listening experience that "brings to mind vast images of an entire floating planet-- translucent like a post-industrial snowglobe--revealing intricate machines, plant life, and weather systems moving apart, together, in a strange otherworldly ballet." The Gydja page at Myspace has an excerpt from the title track and more samples are available at the CD Baby page
Tracklisting:
1. Mécanique Céleste
2. Laplace's Demon
3. Machina Mundi
4. Spherically Symmetric Spacetime
Buy Machina Mundi at CD Baby
I also have copies available if anyone is interested in purchasing directly from me.
current mood: accomplished
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| Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
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1:05 pm - Calls For Submissions
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Most of my northern trad friends will have come across this via our usual routes of information, but for those few who haven't, plus those "regular" friends who may be hiding secret talents or proclivities under a bushel, i post it here. Given the amount of devotional Calls For Submissions that have been made in the last couple of years, i thought it would be good to have them listed all in one place, with easily-updatable and publicly-accessible entries. I love that people are so dedicated that they want to produce these examples of a dynamic and active spiritual path, but i always find myself forgetting when deadlines are and which devotional is which. So i've created a WordPress-powered news/CFS blog off the Shadowlight website.
http://shadowlight.gydja.com/news/
It's not just for northern tradition works, for example, the CFS for Galina Krasskova's Inanna and Erishkigal devotional is listed there too. I seem to recall someone doing a Sekhmet one too, but can't remember where i put the details and whether that call is still open. See, that's why i needed this page :D
current mood:  inspired
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| Thursday, October 4th, 2007
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11:02 am - A Ghostly Thing Of Fluttering Wings And Knives And Shadows
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Just received my copy of Elizabeth Vongvisith's second book of lovely devotional poetry. I'm rather pleased with how the cover art came out. Available from Asphodel Press.
No love is free of its shadows. The important thing is not to let the shadows scare you away from it. This collection of devotional and sometimes very personal poetry touches on a few of the many aspects of love, from the joy of divine love to the remembered pain of thwarted hopes.
current music: Birchville Cat Motel - I Am But Dust
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| Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
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9:49 am - John Barleycorn Reborn
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Out now from Cold Spring Records is a double-CD compilation John Barleycorn Reborn, with artwork by yours truly. It is described as exploring "the darker side of British folk music, evoking the mystery of our ancient past and peoples, the strangeness of their beliefs, arcane traditions and the remnants of this carried down the centuries as folklore. The set has an extended booklet with articles, essays and explorations of the album's concept." The artists include The Horses of the Gods : The Owl Service : The Story : Damh The Bard : Mary Jane : Andrew King : The Triple Tree : Sol Invictus : Sieben : Sharron Kraus : Charlotte Greig & Johan Ashterton : Pumajaw : Peter Ulrich : Alphane Moon : English Heretic : Far Black Furlong : The Anvil : Tinkerscuss : The Straw Bear Band : Quickthorn : Electronic Voice Phenomena : The Purple Minds of Lazeron : Sand Snowman : The A Lords : The Kitchen Cynics : Drohne : Venereum Arvum : Stormcrow : Doug Peters : While Angels Watch : Clive Powell : Xenis Emputae Travelling Band : Martyn Bates.
John Barleycorn Reborn website
John Barleycorn Reborn Myspace
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| Friday, January 26th, 2007
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5:23 pm - Umbilicus Maris
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Not very far from this shore of which we have spoken, towards the western side, on which the ocean main lies open without end, is that very deep abyss of waters which we call 'the navel of the sea'. It is said twice a day to suck the waves into itself and spew them out again." - Paulus Diaconus (Historia gentis Langobardorum)
Umbilicus Maris
We are happy to announce the release on Belgium label Mystery Sea of Gydja's Umbilicus Maris. This release is limited to 100 individually numbered copies with the usual impressive artwork that Mystery Sea has become known for; and i have to say, it's great to not have to do your own artwork... though it kinda looks like what i would have done, am i right, kids?
01. Beyond The Earth's Edge
02. The Wave, With Red Stain Running
03. Snakestone
04. A Siren Stood Hymning Upon Each Circle
05. Cold Water Flowing Forth
Their press release states: On "umbilicus maris", Gydja drags us along a quest for a lost mythic world beyond frontier...
After a dazed drift in a foggy mangrove,
we reach an unmapped region of concentric superimposing circles
& endless ripples
preparing us for a sheer descent into murky waters...
adorning the dive,
huge, drowned thousand years stones
seem to betray an ancient ceremony,
a passage through Time
to a supreme Essence...
Small lights flicker in the cold current,
and thoughts snake along the moss walls
whispering lunar tales...
immersed in this strange universe, we grow
in constant mutation
at the mercy of the waves
towards a better Self...
And who are we to argue with that? Personal interpretations aside (and it doesn't seem that far off), the album, in some ways, reiterates a theme that i've been exploring in my music for years: the division between this world and Hela's. In this instance, though, the journey is a complete one, not simply dancing on the boundaries, and takes that trip through the aquatic route of Hvergelmir and other instances of the gurges mirabilis or horrenda caribdis. The titles are a mixture of Norse kennings and excerpts from Platonist hymns; being somewhat indebted to the work of Giorgio De Santillana and Hertha Von Dechend.
Sound samples and ordering infomation is available from Mystery Sea
***
Interbreeding IX: Kuru
Also out now is the latest installment of BLC Production's Interbreeding compilation series, this time based around the theme of the Kuru disease found amongst the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea. Gydja have contributed six tracks to this release, along with artwork on the same themes (but not the cover art i must add). Not since Skinny Puppy has their been such strong vegetarian music on an industrial compilation, as i took the opportunity to look at the way in which prion diseases (such as the Kuru-like CJD) and the subsequent rise of alzheimers are almost karmic retribution for the mass methods of beef production, particularly in North America, and its attendant religion of meat eating. So, amongst the spooky samples talking about cannibals is a message, or something. Other acts on the two disc set include: Kubix, Viscera Drip, Boundless, Xentrifuge, Werstahl, Prototype, Dvation, Statik Sky, Alien Produkt, Function13, Zauber, The Panic Lift, Stark, Homicide Division, Stigmata, Frightdoll, Cyanide Regime, Run Level Zero, XP8, Asseptic Room, Engelmacher, and Slayv Axis. No, i don't know who half those bands are either.
Available from BLC and sure to sell out as quickly as the previous installment did.
Oh, and Gydja, now with myspace powers: http://www.myspace.com/gydjaa
(The extra A is for "ahhh, fuck, some Christian from Iceland has nicked me name already.")
current mood: accomplished
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| Thursday, September 28th, 2006
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3:54 pm - The Jotunbok
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Raven Kaldera's recently released Jotunbok is now available from Amazon. Subtitled Working With The Giants of the Northern Tradtion, it features written contributions from yours truly, as well as cover art.
Book Description: The Gods of the Northern Tradition - the religion of the ancient Norse/Germanic/Anglo-Saxon peoples - have been rediscovered in growing numbers in the past years, as have the elves and dwarves that inhabit the Nine Worlds of the Cosmic Tree along with them. However, few have written about the Giants of those worlds and the Gods who number among them Loki, Hela, Fenris, the World Serpent, and others -until now. The Jotunbok, the first book in the Northern-Tradition Shamanism series, is a collection of the wisdom, ways and tales of the Giants and their Gods, told by those who revere and work with them.
Direct link to the Jotunbok at Amazon UK
Direct link to the Jotunbok at Amazon.com
Paperback: 556 pages
Publisher: Lulu.com (August 25, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 1847287298
Product Dimensions: 9.0 x 6.0 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.78 pounds
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| Monday, July 3rd, 2006
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10:02 pm - Swarm
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I have copies of the double-CD Swarm compilation from Cold Spring Records for sale. Features the Clear Stream Temple track Division (City of Mosques) as well as exclusive contributions from Zos Kia, Andrew Liles, Shinjuku Thief, John Watermann, Kreuzweg Ost, Merzbow Vs Nordvargr, Fredrik Klingwall, Bleiburg, Necropolis, Deadwood, Sistrenatus, Sleep Research Facility, Von Thronstahl, Goatvargr, Kriegsfall-U, Tenhornedbeast, A Challenge of Honour, Band of Pain, Werkraum, Schloss Tegal, H.E.R.R. Presented in a double gatefold pack with sumptuous artwork by O. Lomer. Available for $15US/$25NZ; Paypal details on request.
A review from Lunar Hypnosis:
I first stumbled upon Cold Spring Records when I was trying to find more music by the band Puissance. A search engine lead me to Cold Spring, and my eyes went wide. The Cold Spring catalog is a treasure trove. This label is a gift to anyone who loves bleak, ravishing music. The sampler begins with a track called "Ein Neuer Krieg" by Kreuzweg Ost. It's a dark, dynamic boom of militaria. The second track by the inimitable Andrew Liles is haunted, clanking; a real ghost ship of a song. Shinjuku Thief contribute "Sacred Fury (Live)" an exercise in demented war drums. Merzbow/Nordvargr's "Partikel MN2" is a pure grade of psychotic electronica.
Clear Stream Temple triumph with "Division (City Of Mosques)". Bryn Jones would be so proud. Fredrik Klingwall's "Come Inside" is a brief ethereal interlude, followed by Watermann's "Whispering Walls (Si_Comm Remix)"; a black, brooding slab of electro-industrial, reminiscent of the most experimental of the Nettwerk bands back in the day. The eighth track, "Herdfeuer (Reburned)" reminds me of bands such as Blutharsch and Scorpion Wind; simple, elegant, extremely powerful. Zos Kia's "10 Miles High (Alternative Mix)" follows. This song is as one would expect from Zos Kia. An electrical storm of the mind. Something to turn one's brain inside out. "Eudaimonia" by Necropolis is a thunderous gothic epic. A true beauty. The first disc ends furiously with Deadwood's "The Serpent Spiral". This is not so much a song as a study on psychosis. Think of MZ412 or Daniel Menche. There will be blood left in your headphones.
The second disc opens with "IV" from Sistrenatus; cold, apocalyptic, resounding. The next track, from the infamous "Sleep Research Facility" called "82ºS 45ºE", is a gorgeous song; definitely what we've come to expect from SRF. The absolute finest in ambient trajectories through endless space. Out of curiosity I pulled up a global map with latitude and longitude. I believe the specified location would be in Antarctica. The next song, "Adoration, To Europa" is by Von Thronstahl. If you've never heard them or heard of them but you like irreverently exotic Industrial music, do check them out. Maybe it could be argued that they're a high fashion version of Death In June. Redundant in a way, but nevertheless true! Always a good time, Von Thronstahl deliver this ode to Europa in a way that'd make both Ostara and Morrissey proud.
Goatvargr's "Lycanthropic" is an invigorating attack on the senses. Pleasantly unpleasant in every way. Very Whitehouse! Kriegsfall-U's "Crisis And Catharsis" is for me the high point of both discs. Profoundly unique in its ability to be both harmonic and atonal, the song raises both my consciousness and my blood pressure! Tenhornedbeast contribute a song called "Archangel" which is about as ominous as a song can get. Really, you can smell the sulpher on this one. This song is followed, ironically, by A Challenge of Honour's "At Dawn We Meet Our Maker", a serendipitous, shimmering melody which sounds like watching sunrise over water.
Band of Pain's "Swelled And Spent" is a strange, intoxicating collection of sounds. Part church organ, part field recordings of tribal ceremony, part whispers from Yog Sothoth. Track 7 is another gem from Werkraum; regal and proletariat as ever. Scloss Tegal's "Coital Affirmation (Artificial Coital Equipment Remix)" is sunless and surgical. Of course, humorously, my own inner voice echoes, "Ends with 'Is that all there is'?" H.E.R.R.'s "Stalingrad" is melancholy beautiful. The aching reality of annihilation and aftermath. A fitting, sombre end to a wholly enjoyable sampler of songs and sounds. Definitely a true representation of the class and quality that is Cold Spring Records. This disc may be purchased on its own (a double gatefold CD containing 22 exclusive tracks recorded specifically for this collection!) or, get Swarm free when you purchase 3 other titles from the Cold Spring label. An excellent deal, all the way 'round.
April 15, 2006
By Ginnie Moon
10 of 10
current music: Basic Channel - q1.1 (1A)
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| Sunday, January 8th, 2006
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10:32 pm - The Cursing and Spell Casting Associated with the Witch Goddesses
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Out now on Chmafu Nocords
Gydja/Maru: Ma-mo Rbad Gtong
1. Kerimas (9:55)
2. Htamenmas (16:14)
3. Doorkeepers (9:02)
4. Herukas (15:48)
The Bardo Thödol, or Tibetan Book of the Dead, describes the experiences of the soul after death, punctuated by three intervals known as bardo. Over a period of forty-nine days, the text would be chanted to provide the deceased with a guide to the Chikhaia Bardo (the time immediately following death), the Chonyid Bardo (where archetypal visions and karmic illusions are experienced), and the Sidpa Bardo (where the process of seeking rebirth occurs). As part of this otherworld progression, on the thirteenth day within the Chonyid Bardo, the soul encounters four orders of Wrathful Goddesses: Eight Kerimas, Eight Htamenmas, Four Female Door-keepers, and Twenty-eight Herukas. The Bardo Thödol describes each of these Mamo, or witch goddesses, in graphic detail, with a variety of animal heads and bearing numerous magickal objects, and instructs the deceased not to be afraid, as these entities are, in fact, emanations of their own being.
All source audio was provided by maru. Sound processing, concept, and visual design by Gydja.
Sound sample: Doorkeepers (excerpt)
Available from Chmafu Nocords
current music: Muslimgauze- Azzazin
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| Monday, November 28th, 2005
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10:47 am - Just friendly crustaceans
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Loneliest Link In A Very Strange Chain: In Memory Of Jhonn Balance And Coil
Begun in July of 2004, this release was originally intended to pay homage to the enigma of Coil and explore some of the untapped themes Coil had created. It was due to be a collaborative collection of music gathered by Justin of elseproduct and Robert from Ford Proco. The original title was due to be called "never" and musicians were encouraged to create expansions on ideas Coil brought up, but then never brought to light. Almost all tracks were collected by November of 2004, when Coil suddenly and harshly came to an end. Elseproduct put the entire project on hold for two months debating the next move. Various individuals encouraged the release along and it was finally agreed the tracks needed rearranging and the title would be changed. Robert and the production staff at At At Records decided to follow the original theme, so a split occurred with the artwork and theme being different, but we decided the tracks would still be the same. Many delays later and the elseproduct version is finally seeing the light of day with completely exclusive material.
01. black sun production - johnny over the sea
02. 3z13 - guidance casualty
03. everroad - coiled and vulpine
04. blackcell - teenage lightning
05. ford proco - boy in a suitcase
06. wang inc - decadent & symmetrical
07. point loma - snow
08. bagual - augas negras
09. not - the dark age of love
10. drubh - are you shivering?
11. secret killer of names - spastiche
12. informational terror transmissions - bkeaelsptoin
13. mort douce - halliwell hammers remix
14. tactile - the boy who loved trees
15. kobe - i am liquified
16. ezra nye - solar lodge
Bonus limited cdr disc:
01. gydja - into the sea
02. kuxaan sum - snow [sick serpent]
03. moron aura - radial rectum i
04. harvest - sewn happiness
05. the insektys isotope - wounded galaxy [amethyst shift]
06. infinity transmitter - beautiful catastrophe
07. the slavestate sound system - copal [full fist]
08. dropstar - prometus
09. jowonio productions - moonbow
10. informational terror transmissions - lseunmtmiecr
11. moron aura - radial rectum ii
12. pentalith - boy in a suitcase [one-hour travel mix]
13. ovmujyo - transmarginal paraphiliac
14. kilgore trout - la laurie in new orleans
15. eugene escutcheon - crumb time
http://www.soleilmoon.com/mp3/06963.mp3
The edition with the limited bonus cdr is now sold out from elseproduct but is still available at some distributors, including Soleilmoon
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Breaking down the Barriers 1995-2005: Ten Years of AFE
To celebrate tens years of existence, Italian label AFE presents an online compilation with submissions from more than 200 sound artists and musicians. Just some of the members of this illustrious line-up include Iszoloscope, Andrew Liles, Francisco López, Lasse Marhaug, Sshe Retina Stimulants, Svartsinn, Telepherique, Cock ESP, John Hudak, Maurizio Bianchi, and Amir Baghiri. Gydja have contributed the track Alchemia.
http://www.aferecords.com/afe080mp3/afe080mp3.htm
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| Sunday, October 30th, 2005
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7:42 pm - Guilty Guilty Guilty
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| Tuesday, July 19th, 2005
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4:59 pm - Liber AL 100th Anniversary Compilation
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Liber AL vel Legis 100th Anniversary
A compilation of exclusive and unreleased tracks dedicated to Aiwass & New Aeon & The Book Of The Law technically called Liber AL vel Legis sub figura CCXX as delivered by XCIII = 418 to DCLXVI that was dictated in Cairo on April 8th-10th in the year 1904.
Released by Czech label HORUS CyclicDaemon, the compilation features the track By a Secret Name by Gydja and The Magdalene, as well as contributions from Ah Cama-Sotz, This Morn Omina, Atrium Carceri, Unto Ashes, Cotton Ferox & Genesis P-Orridge, Belborn, Hexentanz, Musterion, Duparc, Encryption, Abnocto, While Angels Watch, Transfagula, Za Frumi, Hadit, Psychonaut 75, Exceed, 4th Sign of the Apocalypse, The Circus of Scars, Satorii, Artefactum, Chaos As Shelter, 3LCF, and Ossaserpia.
A double disc set in a strictly limited edition of 418 hand-numbered copies with an 8-pages A5 booklet on high quality stock and A3 poster. Packed in stunning black-box with printed cover designed by John Coulthart.
For reviews and ordering details, visit the label HORUS CyclicDaemon
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| Thursday, July 7th, 2005
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11:13 am - anotherGIZYA Compilation
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anotherGIZYA: ten artists colonise Liquid Sphere's Gizya
At the end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004, ten artists were sent a copy of liquid sphere's Liquid Sphere's GIZYA and/or the sounds and field recordings used in the creation of that album. During the following months, each of these artists sent back one or more remixes or new tracks created using the source material they had been provided with. The result is anotherGIZYA, a collection of tracks demonstrating how original and dedicated to their craft their creators are.
The artists:
a.k.a_bondage. aidan baker. cdrik croll & friends. final cut. j.frede. goose. gydja. cordell klier. liquid sphere. planetaldol. wilt.
The disc is packaged in a 4-page A5 cardboard cover tied by a brass fastener.
For more info and ordering details, see Liquid Sphere Industries.
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| Saturday, April 23rd, 2005
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1:07 pm - Last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world.
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Two recent reviews of the Sonic Visions of Middle Earth compilation. Proof positive that you shouldn't get people who don't like dark ambient to review the form. Still, there's props to Gydja (and that's what counts), and some of the criticisms are valid.
Also, the track in question, Torech Ungol, is playing on Aural Pressure Radio http://www.auralpressure.com/radio.html and can be voted for. Previous big vote winners have included Clear Stream Temple's Buried in Concrete remix of Pentagonium.
Review from Royce Icon (Industrial.org):
I've never been a big J.R.R. Tolkien fan. I've attempted to read some of his stuff, but i didn't like the style of writing and couldn't get into it. The most I've experienced of his work I guess would be the Lord Of The Rings films which I didn't much like either (Peter Jackson should still be making splatter films, not that trite hollywood shit, goddamnit!), So I'm pretty clueless to the references on this Tolkien themed ambient compilation. But I don't need that info to write this review, so lets stop talking about the old dead author and let's get on with the review.
With 6 tracks spread over 70+ minutes, I think it's pretty obvious to state that all the songs on "Sonic Visions Of Middle Earth" are rather long. The genre and tone of the audio here is all ambient in nature, some happy and some darker, a lot of it of the droning variety. I can get into some of it, but the majority of the material stays in the same place for way too long to get my tongue wagging. I enjoy a lot of the choir pads and sweeps that are used throughout this compilation, but I would really like to hear some different sounds in occasionally, especially if it's a 8 or 16 minute long track. There are some exceptions to the boring status quo of this cd, mainly the Gydja track "Torech Ungol", which sounds really nice and manages to keep up a lot of momentum, and the Jaaportitt track that, while not as cool as the previously mentioned track, still moves around a lot and sounds good. But as stated before, most of this stuff gets pretty old after the first few minutes.
Aside from the tedious nature of most of the songs, one of the other things that irks me a bit about this is the mastering. it seems that this was taken to an actual studio for mastering , but there are a lot of sound jumps on this disc, points when the volume gets way too loud, and it can be pretty irritating. Also at times there is a lot of static amongst the pads, not that static is a horrible thing, but it doesn't seem to be intended.
I feel like a bit of an asshole, but I just can't get into the majority of the tracks here. If you like droning ambient music that stays in the same place for 10 minutes, then you'll love this compilation. But I personally just can't get into it.
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Review from Fjordi (Tartarean Desire):
It's quite hard to make a review of a pure ambient album if there's not a particular interest on this music, so it's very easy to fall into tendencies of oblivion and depict this album as a collection of background noises that resound through the speakers and tell nothing to the listener. Anyway, this style is able to provide a lot of peculiar sensations to the listener and it's quite extreme in a certain way. Yours truly is going to try to do his best and analyse each song separately, despite bestowing a rating for the album as a whole. “Sonic Visions of Middle Earth” includes six tracks in 76 minutes of music. Yes, they are very long tracks... Maybe because each artist was eager to tell as many things as possible through his/her song. This could end in a lengthy fruit for the taste of our ears if the song was boring –something that has effectively happened in some cases. As the album title suggest, each band has tried to describe their own visions of Tolkien's world with different results, in my humble opinion. Let's see...
Leviathan's track is about landscapes in their extreme side. Not much variety can be contemplated in their music, but the steady slow crescendo in this song and the later fall into meditative sounds is effective. Too bad the sound is not clean enough, though. Ambient music is a style demanding a great clarity of sound, but that's something we miss in some songs of the compilation, too.
The second track here is Aidan Baker's contribution, and it's similar in performing to Leviathan's. A bit fuzzy, monotone sound as well, but less interesting ideas.
Then comes the mighty Jääportit from Suomi to break barriers with their unique sound. The combination of medieval tunes and ambient in this song is fantastic. One could expect nothing less than that, since this is a great ambient act with a wise songmaking and use of resources. The title of the song is hard to decipher if you´re not Finnish –just like the music, varied in its strong structure. Galactic landscapes like an astral sleep taking off Fangorn... Jääportit beat every challenger in the dark wave ambient scene and demonstrates again it's a band away from the rest. The best song in this album, as you may think.
As All Die is another act in the vein of classic ambient monsters as Mortiis and Burzum's synth tracks. Simple notes, not many different layers of music, and subsequent repetitions of two or three patterns of notes, easily structured. It´s not bad but it has been already done many times in the past.
Gydja's “Torech Ungol” is an excellent recording, showing the abilities needed to perform good ambient music, and without a doubt the highlight of this album after Jääportit. This New Zealand based act –a quite exotic location, really- is also in the good path and possess a consistent mixture of feeling and vision to make good music. The 15 minutes this song last are worthwhile, due to the clever use of layers juxtaposing each other and the dreamy atmosphere achieved, consisting of long resounding echoes instead of repeating short notes as other uninteresting bands do. The good sound helps a lot in this course.
And last, the closing song “Fires Of Mount Doom” is a very boring track consisting of a monotone background fuzz. The sound isn´t anything clean, so the sensation of dullness is accentuated.
A good approach and insight to the nowadays occult ambient scene: underground, extreme, her(m)etical music.
current mood: ecstatic
current music: Hecate- The Magick of Female Ejaculation
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| Saturday, March 26th, 2005
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12:00 am - Easter means never having to say "I've got nothing to listen to."
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The usual postal ghost town that is long weekends and public holidays failed to eventuate this Easter, and i was blessed with a big CD order being dropped off by the unmarked NZ Post van. So far today i've listened to Camanecroszcope (collaboration betwixt Ah-Cama-Sotz and Iszoloscope), Wappenbund, Wolkskin, Raquel de Grimstone, Turbund Sturmwerk, a double CD compilation from Old Europa Cafe, and for some reason, Unto Ashes. Tonight and tomorrow will be even more listening as i see how long it takes me to get sick of dark ambient reverb and industrial klanging.
Wappenbund and Turbund Sturmwerk are the highlight so far, with the Turbund Sturmwerk being much better than everything else of theirs that i've got. The Raquel de Grimstone is pretty cool too, even though i already knew about half the songs. And the OEC compilation, Avdacia Imperat (which i'm listening to as we squeak), is an interesting mix of Euro-centric neo-folk and martial industrial, though a bit hit and miss in places with rubbish like Cadaverous Condition muddying the waters.
I'm still baffled as to why i bought the Unto Ashes.
current mood: neofolkish
current music: Inner Glory- War is Forever
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| Saturday, March 5th, 2005
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3:17 pm - Pay your respects to the Vultures
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This week, the latest issue of Fiend turned up,with my Jhonn Balance tribute in it, across all of two whole pages. The accompanying image was this one i created based on the Scatology photo session.
Serendipity:
My current guilty pleasure is Frasier, which i have never otherwise been a big fan of; too often the farce that it would descend into as the major plot element was tiresome. But this, presumably, twilight period that's screening in the early evenings on One seems a lot cleverer and sharper, with Niles in particular being very sharp and dry. Anyway, the anecdote of note is that, having been writing about early modern dance, and searching for images of Loie Fuller, i was watching yesterday's episode and wondering why the bottom corner of the poster just behind Frasier looked so familiar, and then, rather slowly, realised it was a huge A0 Loie Fuller skirt dancer poster. Not an earth shaking cowinkydinks, and certainly not as great as it would have been had the poster been for Fuller's La tragedie de Salome, but it gave me a thrill.
current mood: artistic
current music: Novalis- Paradise...?
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