Current 93 - Crush, Kill, Destroy?

Nope, I was getting it mixed up with some of those new live discs.

Well, Thunder Perfect Mind is pretty classic and it is in print in a new edition with extra disc on Jnana.

If you can't find them there is also the recent compilation "Judas as a Black Moth" 2cd, albeit there is nothing there from the esoteric noise albums from their first decade, it's a good introduction to second decade apocalictic gnostic folk c93.

for a detailed discography: www.brainwashed.com/c93

I'll agree with other though that his voice is a major sticking point.

great voice, great band

I must briefly use this thread to rant about the dreaded "World Serpent disc rot" which has ruined my copy of "Live At Bar Maldoror", at least the first two tracks. YOU FUCKERS! YOUR VINYL SUCKED AND SO DID YOUR CDs! HOW DARE YOU RUIN GOOD MUSIC! sigh...

OK, I feel better now. Anyway, buyer beware for older WS releases.

http://www.myspace.com/wspsp

Haven't heard the new album, honestly having seven different versions of the same trad song doesn't appeal to me. Maybe they're short.

www.wfmu.org/playlists/BT

Black Ships is not your "play it in the car" album. As for the person who got bad vibes from what s/he'd heard from Dogs Blood Rising, it's *supposed* to give bad vibes. It's Tibet in his "evil" period, and probably the best album from that one.

Personally, I think the B-side of Looney Runes, Lucifer Over London, and the Inmost Light series are quite excellent.

Now, destroy... Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God is a tad weak. Not bad, but not half the caliber of, say, All the Pretty Little Horses, or Nature Unveiled.

Oh, and Hitler as Kalki is untouchable.

And the title track is not a Nazi anthem! It's an *anti*-Hitler song! Tibet's father fought in WWII, for heaven's sake! Why do people not get that?

absolutely. probably second only to as the world disappears among their live albums.

I meandered into Current 93 records via NWW, and I've reached the point where I certainly enjoy Current 93 more, although Stapleton still out-weirds Tibet, which is saying something.

I expect that the release of "Stapletone" will swing me in the other direction. Some time in 2055.

yeah! me too, but alot of other people seemed to hate it.

I was just looking at this yesterday, thinking I should read it again.

www.atpfestival.com

How handy! I'll pick it up while I'm over there.

Just got the Inmost Light trilogy reissue and it's fantastic. I knew some of the pieces from the "Calling for Vanished Faces" comp, but it's a stunning listen from start to end. This is some of the darkest material of their folk era. The background drones and ghostly chants are really unsettling.

The 1st and 3rd parts are 20 minute long but each one gets its own CD to preserve the listening order. Me lieks this.

I need to get that. But the new reissue of Of Ruine Or Some Blazing Starre is first in the queue for me. Sometimes I think it's the essential C93 album.

Yes, that one is by far my fave. Great great album.

Inmost Light 1 and 3 always left me pretty indifferent. Maybe I should give them a new spin.

try the first one when you're in a meditative mood. I really really like that one a lot.

I'm pretty sure when I get the Inmost Light reissue I'll seldom listen to chapters 1 and 3. I'm just excited to have All The Pretty... possibly sounding even better than it did. The remaster of Thunder Perfect Mind had luscious sound, so I expect goodness.

also: when the hell is the "England's Hidden Reverse" book gonna be repressed? $200 on eBay just won't do.

-- sleeve

Amazon sez: New Ed edition (8 Mar 2007)

I was just looking at this yesterday, thinking I should read it again.

-- aldo_cowpat

HELLO DAVID KEENAN I AM STILL WAITING FOR YOUR BOOK

Yeah, why hasn't this been reprinted? Isn't there supposed to be something about supply and demand? I'm not even a serious fan of the bands, but I'd be happy to shell out for a budget paperback, just out of curiosity. Same for the Krautrocksampler, warts'n'all.

Amazon claims it's being released in the US on October 30, 2007.

Why is all this shit always so fucking expensive? Even the tertiary crap like books about the expensive fucking records. Fuck you, collectors.

fuck you, labels.

OH YOU GUYS Lucifer Over London yes yes yes

It begins with a sampled "Paranoid" riff and trundles through "six six six it makes us a sick" and the bells, the bells, and it disappears with a chime bar and a soft guitar and it is something that you need to have.

the last track on that is seriously great great great

yeah that's a good one. I think Jnana actually has this in print right now on the Sixsixsix/Sicksicksick CD (which is a singles collection). Pretty sure Bevis Frond dude does guitar on this as well.

the matmos remix of "the beautiful dancing dust" = swoon!

Never my favorites, but hats off to'em anyway.

tell me more about this remix

HELLO DAVID KEENAN I AM STILL WAITING FOR YOUR BOOK

"They Return to Their Earth" is one of the most amazingly lovely songs I've ever heard.

I bought something from Tibet's Durto distribution once, and get regular email updates from the man. I'm not a C93 fan, but they're always highly entertaining reading. He's playing in Europe soon with avant-metal dudes Om, Aethenor and . . Rickie Lee Jones.

yeah, so, uh, Rickie Lee Jones...

As many of you will have seen, Rickie Lee Jones has been unable to appear at the C93 shows. Both I and Rickie Lee want to point out this happened due to bad luck and unforeseen problems. We remain good friends and, although sadly this time the energy was against us, we are both determined to reschedule our working together as soon as we can.

I haven't really kept up on this band lately but I would love to hear whatever they do together.

??????????

I just found and picked up Imperium and Earth Covers Earth -- a quick Allmusic search says these are late '80s recordings. Any good?

imperium is great! one of their better pre-thunder perfect mind releases. ECE i don't remember as well, i think it's alright though.

new album is pretty cool

Imperium is awesome but also their bleakest. Quite hard to sit through i find

I really want the new album to be great.

the new stuff they played in london last year sounded very nice. what an amazing night that was...david tibet, andrew w.k., baby dee, matt sweeney, antony, marc almond, alex nielsen, andrew lilles and some crazy italian soprano guy singing too. bill fay was there but sadly didn't sing anything, slightly irritating considering he gave into Wilco's demands and sang a song at one of their shows a year or so before. anyway, looking forward to the new one too.

For those who've ordered C93 stuff online -- what's the difference between ordering the same albums (say, Dogs Blood Rising or The Inmost Light) from the Durtro store or the Jnana store??? Anything?

what's the new album?

I'm in doubt about the new one (Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain). It sounds so 'harsh', in comparison to his last albums. I can't get used to the distorted sound, would've much more preferred a 'Pretty Horses' or 'Thunder Perfect Mind' sound. On the other hand it is intruiging. I just haven't found a mood yet to appreciate it. It's lacks eerieness, to my liking.

i re-listened to imperium for the first time in a while because of the revive - man there's some tasty-weird stuff on there. it's like miserabilist cosmic music.

"as real as rainbows" isn't harsh at all, gerard, and might be an entry point

but i hear what you're saying. stuff like "invocation of almost" is way up there among their heaviest songs

Just blasting Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain. Really is heavy.

I feel it's taking me a long time to get to know this album well. So I've been in this 'like it, but don't really love it' limbo for the past few weeks, but I'm beginning to come round to it.

yeah one of the highlights of the year for me, its intensity was not something I was expecting from DT at this point in his life.

Anyone got the new album yet? "Baalstorm, Sing Omega": http://copticcat.greedbag.com/buy/baalstorm-sing-omega/

It's being presented as the final piece of a trilogy that begun with "Black Ships...". I'm only a few songs in, but it sounds lighter, less dense than the preceding "Aleph.." (not difficult, that), with strings, piano and light percussion -- sometimes a little eastern in touch.

I've given it a couple of listens and it hasn't grabbed me yet, I am more interested in the pic disc LP that came out at the same time which apparently has two sidelong pieces. That tends to be the kind of C93 stuff I prefer.

also waiting waiting waiting for the VOD box set, but there really isn't THAT much new stuff on it.

Yes, that picture disc looks interesting. It's also available in CD format -- which is not half as interesting, I realise but maybe more easily available.

oh, and the VOD set is now available, I think. Or you probably mean you've ordered it and are awaiting delivery

Those two album length pieces (both 35 minutes each) are kinda boring, actually. It's mainly cello and violin music against a background of waves at the beach.

Actually, you just sold me with that description.

Despite not being impressed with the samples I heard I bought the 2-track cello/violin/waves CD (longer version(s) on the CD), along with Baalstorm, anyway, & I actually like it a lot more than I expected.

I received the 2-track disc before I received Baalstorm. It didn't impress me. But as it is claimed to be a meditation piece based on the melodies of Baalstorm, I hoped that getting to know Baalstorm would improve my listening experience, that it would click afterwards. That has yet to happen...

Luckily I like Baalstorm a lot, though that took a while too and it is a bit C93 by numbers.

all the pretty little horses is hitting the spot right about now. vocal-wise, i'm still more of a ka-spel kinda guy. maybe its the lisp.

Phew -- you want Current 93 you got it. ALL up on Bandcamp, it seems.

https://current931.bandcamp.com/

I think some stuff's missing there

never could dig their stuff as much as that of their peer group (NWW, Coil, et al)

Seems to have (intentionally?) left out the earliest stuff like Dogs Blood Rising.

xp yeah swastikas for noddy eg, the 1st thing I looked for. And the split with OM, the 2nd thing I looked for! I owned both at some point.

I'm seeing these guys next month, the same day I see Beckett's Not I/Footfalls/Rockaby :-D

Why won't they playyyyyy heeeere

in the US? because when you book a tour the clubs ask "what did they make last time they played here and how big a room did they sell out." Current 93 would most likely only be able to bank on door deals over here

i keep assuming this thread title is a variation on fuck/marry/kill

def remember tibet saying he didn't like touring because he didn't like to be away from his cats for too long

They also have very specific and inflexible requirements for their engagements and there are a large number of musicians involved, I mean I get it, but ever since they announced then deleted a show at santos party house a few years ago I have lived in hope.

Too bad he took down his old Twitter photo showing him sitting in his garden with a hat on, he essentially looked like Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who.

yeah don't they insist on the promoters flying all the current band members in individually from wherever they live?

Yes

Also lolol Ned otm

yeah don't they insist on the promoters flying all the current band members in individually from wherever they live?

this is perfectly standard practice, every promoter in the world has to do this where band members live in different cities/countries

there are like 20 of C93 though & they all live in different countries

except tibet lives in the same town as james blackshaw iirc. shirley collins too!

you can prove anything with facts

def remember tibet saying he didn't like touring because he didn't like to be away from his cats for too long

Which for me would probably be the sole endearing aspect of Mr. Tibet.

this is perfectly standard practice, every promoter in the world has to do this where band members live in different cities/countries

only if the band has enough draw to cover the costs. it isn't really standard practice for promoters to buy plane tickets. promoters make offers to artists through booking agents who relay the offer to the artist and offer their opinion on a) whether it's a good offer and b) whether they feel like the promoter will offer more to cover travel costs. if an artist had four sidemen flying from four different countries to NY and all those costs needed to be covered in addition to a guarantee he'd need to be able to fill a pretty big room for it to be worth the promoter's while.

Just seems kind of depressing that not a single booker in New York can put together a Current 93 show that won't lost money? Hopefully a museum or foundation will step up and make it happen.

I saw them play at a synagogue in NYC in the late 90s... It's got to be possible to do something similar again. Place was packed.

England's Hidden Reverse is finally being re-published, for the benefit of those who believe that David Keenan "refuses" to put it out in paperback:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1907222170

lol, thanks for the heads up, about fucking time

Someone who loves me please buy me that for my birthday, kthx.

it's really good except for when Keenan tells us which records he thinks are the best ones

(I finally read a pdf, but will buy this for sure)

England's Hidden Reverse: A Secret History of the Esoteric Underground
Nov 20, 2014
by David Keenan
Currently unavailable

sell all you have, give it to the kittens

PDF all you have, email it to the kittens

So, EHR may finally be reappearing:

http://strangeattractor.co.uk/further/englands-hidden-reverse/

I just got a note from a courier that Mark Pilkington has sent me a package - can't think what it would be if not the hardback of the reprint.

tt has been getting me into this lot

it's incredible music. lucifer over london stopped my life for 8 minutes

Most important new obsession of my entire 30s, in hindsight

That's interesting, for me too. In my 20s I dipped into the waters a couple of times but didn't get much out of it but the whole Coil-NWW-DIJ-C93 axis fully clicked with me in my mid-30s.

partial to the Rotting Christ cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoOCKBLN21Y

I'm in my 30s now and I've never really connected with that branch though I've always been deeply into related stuff. My time might be soon...

The Rotting Christ cover skips the 'sick of 666' part, of course.

Avoid the recent vinyl reissue of Thunder Perfect Mind, it sounds fucking terrible.

I thought it might just because I needed a new needle, but I've bought one, and it still sounds like shit.

^ this was the purple vinyl one, apparently they've repressed it again in black and that one is meant to be an improvement

Got the black one, sounds good to my ears

long after tt's raptures i've come to Of Ruine... at last

it is Vision and Light

Might still be my favorite c93 album

it's perfect

and i can't think of a better-sequenced album, it just keeps twisting indirect routes to new and more intense heights, culminating in 'dormition and dominion' which is the high-point of all music

the sound-art elements are incorporated SO well into the folk, it's such an incredible synthesis. everything feels right

I love it, but it's hard for me to pick a favorite Current 93 album - Thunder Perfect Mind, Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre, The Inmost Light Trilogy (The Long Shadow Falls EP / All the Pretty Horses LP / The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home EP), Faust, and Sleep Has His House are all great I think

you've got me wanting to go back to this one in particular again!

TPM is great but it's an album even I would describe as maybe slightly overlong (although its longest tracks are its best)

OROSBS is...perfect, as I say

black ships ate the sky is my favorite one lyrically still. probably favorite overall tbh

that's pretty great too

I love the sound of Michael Cashmore's guitar

the whole baroque renaissance faire thing

Yeah « Of Ruine... » clearly his best. Always felt it was somewhat overlooked in C93 circles (where TPM is generally considered the undisputed classic)

I’m probably most partial to Sleep Has His House and some of the EP’s (Special Plan, Lucifer Over London). I’ve never really given the live albums much time tho, is it worth diving in?

Keenan goes on and on in England's Hidden Reverse abt how Ruine is the peak, fwiw

In Menstrual Night is still my favorite, I think, I prefer the longer abstract pieces. love Where The Long Shadow Falls as well.

All the Pretty Little Horses is my favorite, but Of Ruine and TPM are tied for second. I do agree that Black Ships is really good and underrated.

Xpost Halo is a very very good live album from the period just before Black Ships.

Honeysuckle Aeons is my favorite of the newer ones.

Otm about the EPs. The singles comp could vie for beat C93 purchase.

Beat = best

The new album with Zu is a bit of a letdown, as a fan of both.

Haven’t heard that yet

I liked it well enough, but it wasn’t strong as either band’s previous release, nor was there enough wild sax in there.

Steven and I in the Field of Stars and Dormition and Dominion are my very favourites of Of Ruine.

Definitely going to try and see them in London this October. We saw Tibet as Hypnopazuzu, but feel C93 proper will be a treat.

only listened to the Zu93 album once so far, but really enjoyed it

I really really really want to see them live at some damn point.

Saw them in stockholm in april. Amazing.

Liking this new single (although it'll surely sound better on a cold winter evening)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjs0TRG9p68&frags=pl%2Cwn

the new album gets off to a terrifyingly good start

Playing in London right about now.

yeah we chickened out when we saw the ticket prices. celebrating crowleymas at home instead, with some cantillon

this album is absolutely incredible

Yeah, was gonna post. Back to the Ruine medievo-folk sound. Sounds amazing

we are debating if it's the best one after ruine, it might be. nb we have heard less than half of them. but still

Sounds about right

No credits or other information are given on the sleeve aside from artist and title on spine.

oh for fuck's sake

wait y'all are talking about "The Light Is Leaving Us All"? listening now.

yeah we are. hope you're enjoying

impressive

still no damn personnel credits! agreed that this sounds a lot like the early 90's era

New c93 album???!!!

ommmmgggggggg

I lost interest around Baalstorm sing omega. But tempted by this new one

played the entire new album last night with really great visuals, plus encore of 4/5 oldies. good show!

The moon is drunk
And the nightness is sick

Right return to form, this. Best since Black Ships imo, but basically better than that one already. Can't express how happy I am with the new one.

I never thought I'd live to see the day.

Well. That's me sold

Black Ships one of my favourites

Fucking birdsounds on 'Bright Dead Star' made me think that one of our chicks had escaped from the coop and was sitting outside underneath my window.

http://thequietus.com/articles/25479-current-93-review-biography

A pretty solid list, but the inclusion of Black Ships Heat The Dancefloor is wtf.

yeah I def would have put In Menstrual Night at that #10 spot

Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow would've been my pick, but yeah IMN is great too.

split with OM was good stuff

You don’t put in black ships heat the dancefloor at the expense of honeysuckle aions wtf. Also the sic six singles EPs collection is obligatory

occasionally see David Tibet around town. one time he was carrying one of those massive stripey laundry bags. presumably been to get his gnostic robes washed

there's tons of great stuff all over his discography but the new album is a masterpiece.

It’s a solid record and I really like it (definitely better than the Zu collab) but I don’t get the hyperbole - yet?

I don't know, it just clicked suddenly for me

Yeah. I think the "hyperbole" comes from being very pleasantly surprised by such a return to form. Idk that's what it is for me.

it's a return to top form, is the thing

he has a big beard now and that is the secret

Was the consensus that he fell off? I feel it’s a pretty logical continuation from Aleph-Baalstorm-IATLOATFTF, all of which are excellent.

I don’t see that he fell off at all. Honeysuckle is a great album than black ships, f.e.

personally speaking, it's more that I'm over Andrew Liles and his predictable production style, and this new one sounds more like the work Stapleton used to do. I like the blown-out excess of the "rock" trilogy (Aleph, Baalstorm, whatever the other one was) and I def dig Honeysuckle (much more of a chamber music Soft Black Stars sound w/minimal weirdness). But I did not dig The Moons At Your Door at all and it is now in my sell pile.

What did people think of Myrninerest?

have not heard

His '00s output left me cold, while the new one seems like it's picking up where the Inmost Light cycle left off

yeah this is great and a return to form, I have to say I didn't think he had it in him to produce another masterpiece à la Of Ruine or Pretty Little Horses but this one is def doing it for me.

Chiming in on the praises for The Light Is Leaving...

Masterpiece a la Of Ruine? Not sure I'm quite ready to take the name of the Holy Tibet-Stapleton-Cashmore Trinity in vain. But it is durn spanking master-ly. Closest comparison, soundwise, has got to be Baalstorm Sing Omega. Except a lot tighter. Pastoral drone meets plinkety folk plucking, subdued storm alert percolating beneath the surface. For the first time Liles seems to have got the Stapletonisms a little more on point. eg the Ligotti cameos at the alpha and omega of the album imbued with quietly glowing shades of darkened light. On Baalstorm, the children's voices take away from the whole, whereas in almost all other (Stapleton-addled) Current the voices suggest wonderfully subtle shades of unsettling "innocence". (The last such, and much missed, shade was the opening of Aleph... "Almost in the beginning was the murderer".)

My biggest criticism of The Light Is Leaving... Tibet's vocals on The Postman Is Singing. Nothing wrong with them, but the loud 'n honking sound would I think have been better enlivened by a full-on Tibet-in-unhinged-glory string of ranting-cum-panting. But perhaps that would have undercut the lyrics in play, so less criticism more a statement of personal preference.

Of recent un-Current Current,

I really like Zu93, which I feel is even more Current-like than a lot of the more recent Current. Darkly gorgeous cello swells feeding Tibet's starkly mirrored musings. Hypnopazuzu is like a return to the most dramatic sweeps of Island, tipping hats also at the Tibet mix of DIJ's "Rule Again". And Myrninerest, simply brilliant. The Blackshaw-backed full-length dedicated to Jhonn is a delicate Balance of sweet acoustic lilt and unutterably raw heart-rending psycho Babel. And the soundtrack to the Jarman film, with Cashmore on piano(!) (Journey To Avebury) is a haze and sweetly affecting ambiance par excellence.

All to say that even when Tibet is not Current it seems there is always something over which the one-time obsessive may obsess anew.

But yeah, the new one is seriously rocking the bum bum.

great post!

I'm thoroughly enjoying The Stars On Their Horsies. Three worthwhile Current 93 albums in one year, what a time to be alive.

Meanwhile, there's also a new Death In June record (first in 5 years apparently), and so far it's complete crap. Incredible how their careers have diverged, really.

unsettling new ambient piece : https://www.davidtibet.com/products/invocations-of-almost-cd

A pox upon all habitues of this thread for not bumping it when C93 announced two Brooklyn shows! I told you I was hopeless at knowing about things! Shows are April 2020 and were announced at the end of July. Both sold out but they have added a third night which just went on sale and someone DID clue me in about that one and I managed to get tickets. If I missed this opportunity I would have fucking died. Instead I am OverMoon at prospect of finally seeing C93.

Warsaw Brooklyn 4/25 is the show that just went up

nice! I has no idea abt those shows, sorry

has had

Nice! The anxiety of missing C93 is palpable, trust me. Glad you get to go!

sleeve: treat yourself! wkiw

lol so not gonna happen but <3

(also, I think it's sold out now!)

New album in March 2022 : https://www.davidtibet.com/blogs/news/c93-if-a-city-is-set-upon-a-hill

Wasn't there supposed to be a Thomas Ligotti collabo album as well sometime this year? Pushed back?

His release statements are almost as good as the albums

Yayyyy something to look forward to

I finally read England’s Hidden Reverse a few months ago so I am extra psyched

Praying that the Brooklyn show (postponed to Halloween 2022) is able to happen

Xp yeah he keeps getting better and funnier on the PR/comm front. Reads like an apocalyptic Hipster Runoff at this point. Psyched.

through my endless readings within the Akkadian Omen series šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin (“If A City Is Set Upon A Height”), my endless obsession with the story of Cain Killing Abel (Genesis IV: 8), and my endless rewatching of the same ten supernatural films.

I feel like we could probably guess half of these but come on david michael give us yr list

otm

lol yes

I'd buy some of the photographs or paintings if they weren't so expensive :(

oh and the book downloads are free (including a 561 page lyrics book) : https://www.davidtibet.com/collections/books

and? anyone get the album yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4RzoH32Lso

Not bad. Has David T. taken singing classes?

the CD is on its way because I thought it wasn't going to be on bandcamp - it's not on current931.bandcamp.com ,
but now I find it at current93hom.bandcamp.com - anyway, a physical copy doesn't hurt :-)

if together we fall into forever

great revive

i ate the graveyard whole

Just saw them in Oslo. Absolutely glorious. Magnificent setlist, picked from their whole career. Tibet is such a sweet guy at this point. Finished off with an anecdote on being a little kid watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, before they did a beautiful Hushabye Mountain (which they did the last time I saw them as well. Alasdair Roberts has been in the band for a good while now.

Have been immersed in the "The Long Shadows Fall" boxset for the past few weeks - really the greatest thing they've done in years... endless burrowing/floating obsessive atmospheres, truly haunting... for a long time I felt that Liles was a poor substitute for Stapleton but he's really doing stellar work on the recent C93 things. The latest one "Sketches of My Nightmares and Dreams Occurring" just arrived yesterday, waiting until the weekend to dive in.