Masaki Batoh of Ghost's new band, the Silence

Debut album in March on Drag City

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Silence/1462181737395695

hey now!

finally he breaks the silence

wonder what the rest of those folks are doing

great news, obv

excited!
sounds like the drummer and keyboardist are both Ghost alums.

They are indeed.

heh heh
Batoh: "The Silence is heavier than any sound pressure and the silence which thunders the ears can only be expressed by the silence in the subconscious mind of consciousness and unconsciousness."

good stuff but the absence of michio makes me a little sad

yeah! i hope he has some solo joints in the works -- he should be doing an album a year imo.

yeah Kurihara + Batoh is like pb&j

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Silent.tif

Man and from earlier today on FB:

The recording session for 2nd album is going right now. It should be out on August 2015 from Drag City.

Like the cover art:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10353175_1510031155944086_8839731305517687460_n.jpg

Bah, trying that again:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10353175_1510031155944086_8839731305517687460_n.jpg?oh=e67fe3ea35a8893e51f2df893778bd4f&oe=55462634&__gda__=1430492772_2c4fdb14a968180e56df541e02713bad

Oh yes, very excited.

that looks very lol 90s

but looking forward to hearing it, Kurihara or no

yeah! i hope he has some solo joints in the works -- he should be doing an album a year imo.

Just one? C'mon. I was just enjoying that Michio mix that some ilxor made a few years back (sorry! I forgot who it was!).

tyler

mix wasn't actually mine, but i definitely spread it around! it is a favorite.
i finally got that whole ha za ma record this year and it is pretty killer.

well it's a great mix - lots of otherwise hard to find stuff on there

I had a suspicion tyler was involved, but I didn't want to stick my foot in my mouth. It's a killer mix.

ysi?

i can hook you up... might have to wait til after the holidays though.
but anyway -- judging solely from the cover Batoh's new one looks like it may be kind of a straightforward rock record? anyone heard it yet?

my man

is that a photoshopped guitar or the sweetest guitar ever?

that's gotta be shopped

the image on it doesn't match the angle of the guitar

thats what makes it so sweet

just discovering ghost's back-catalog, before hypnotic underworld. really special band; their music taps all the classic-rock nerve-endings i'd tried to deaden but are still live-wires.

Okay! Advances went out and I gave it an ear last night. In brief: no big surprises in that it's Batoh and company leading another plunge into a kind of epic serenity via the roots of classic rock and psych recombined. Without Kuihara it may be a hair less spacey as such, but it's still a good listen, and a couple of interesting cover choices. I think it'll grow even more on me over time too, and I'll be interested to see what the second album is like in turn.

And a video premiere...

http://www.secretdecoder.net/blog/2015/02/18/the-silence-video-premiere/

looks great

ned's otm review: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20374-the-silence/
really enjoying this, i think ghost fans will be pleased overall. definitely missing a little bit of the kurihara fireworks, but otherwise A+.

Thanks!

My first listen I remember thinking it was pleasant, but the second really brought it together. It's worth enjoying exactly for what it is.

yeah i actually thought it was a little too straight ahead at first but it quickly grew on me.

As I mention in the review, one of the other members, Jan, has a great separate act worth checking out, Jan and Naomi:

https://soundcloud.com/janandnaomi

looking forward to the Damon and Jan and Naomi and Naomi album

throw a Dean in there for good measure

ha, as if there's not enough name confusion in the ghost universe these days...

Glad to read the positive reviews of this, I'm anxious to hear it. I know I'll still miss Michio, but it is sounding very promising.

great interview by will oldham w/ batoh - http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2015/03/31/will-oldham-interviews-masaki-batoh/

that was good, thanks

just picked this up, 'cause I've always loved the Ghost stuff - super chill and totally digging it.

http://dustedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/116645345460/listed-masaki-batoh

who is dave evans?

only know of him through this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81SWickNBYL._SL1210_.jpg

looks like he had a couple of lps out on village thing as well (also about time i checked out some post-ghost batoh)

damn this is awesome. "trypticon" would be a highlight on any ghost album

And here's the formal word on the second album, Hark the Silence:

http://www.dragcity.com/products/hark-the-silence

Where's the tour tho?

Oddly enough...been in touch with someone who works with the band lately. A tour is planned but nothing yet set in stone.

nice, that first silence album is a grower for sure.
a US tour would be great, though i'm not holding my breath for them making it out to my neck of the woods.

REAL GHOST FOREVER!!
FAKE BLUE OYSTER CULT HALLOWEEN COSTUME WEARIN CHUMP GHOST NEVER!!!

http://www1.pictures.fp.zimbio.com/Protesters+Outside+G20+Summit+London+iH7U0YB9ZWKx.jpg

^^ OTMFM

for real. that false ghost still makes me mad...

Yup

New album about out (it's very good!) and Ben Chasny has interviewed Batoh:

http://bombmagazine.org/article/54601110/masaki-batoh

In autumn 2013, we found our main sound engineer, Mr. Fujii, dead in his room, alone. Most of Ghost’s work had been done by him. He had generously supported us, always. He was my musical brain on recording for many, many years. Although I was not shocked with his sudden death—I’ve become used to facing the death of my patients—I was at a loss with how to act, at my wit’s end. With dry grief, we had to seek a new engineer for a new band, and just after his funeral. I remembered his words, which were: “Visit Mr. Kondo if you’re totally lost on recording.” Mr. Kondo was his elder, since the late ’80s. He’s famous as an analog recording engineer in Tokyo. Without any other hope, I visited him one day. He’s a very professional sound engineer with his own studio, which is close to my home. It was big LUCK to see him, and thanks to Mr. Fujii. Mr. Kondo is a man of granite to keep a beautiful analog recording system in his castle.

great interview. does seem like the ghost crew has had kind of a rough few years... glad that Batoh is back and feeling inspired.

Anyone know what's up with Michio Kurihara seemingly retiring from music? Great interview but also...depressing.

Yeah idk whats up w kurihara. A real loss if we dont hear anymore from him. My favorite living guitarist (well, him or hagerty)

he played a show w/ damon & naomi in japan a few months ago, so he's not completely retired, but obviously he's laying low for the most part -- hopefully he starts recording again! was just listening to his solo record and wishing there were more of them.

https://eu.rymimg.com/lk/o/l/a7be5577525bb31f67e984356a28fd73/5845678.jpg
turned up in the local HMV, slightly surprisingly. Not sure what their buying policy is or if that relates to other things that have sold well in the shop.

I was thinking earlier whether i stumbled upon it or wasactually going through a list of bands whose material i was hoping to find.

Still haven't heard the first lp yet & think that if i was looking for anything it would have been that. Don't think I'd heard there was a 2nd lp out yet. Hdn't looked at this thread prior to buying that cd.

Third album announced!

http://www.dragcity.com/products/nine-suns-one-morning

new batoh album out today

https://masakibatoh.bandcamp.com/album/nowhere

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3593049201_16.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiOcFOut-gc

YESS

New solo Batoh out now, it's pretty good and all over the place. He sings in at least four languages that I've caught so far and features a ton of guests including Ikuro Takahashi from Fushitsusha.