SS1535 wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 7:43 pm
It reminds me also that England's Hidden Reverse book for some more in-depth information on these guys. Speaking of it, has anyone read that book? Worth it?
Happiness, forever wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 10:15 pm
It is a great book if you are into David Tibet & Current 93. Coil and Nurse parts cldve brought more joy, imo.
Great, great book. I just got the new edition so I'll be going in for a re-read soon. I don't remember being too let down by any of it, but I'll see how it feels this time around (maybe the expanded parts fill some of that mentioned Coil/NWW void). There are also plenty of good early Whitehouse tidbits from what I remember.
SS1535 wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 7:43 pm
It reminds me also that England's Hidden Reverse book for some more in-depth information on these guys. Speaking of it, has anyone read that book? Worth it?
Happiness, forever wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 10:15 pm
It is a great book if you are into David Tibet & Current 93. Coil and Nurse parts cldve brought more joy, imo.
Great, great book. I just got the new edition so I'll be going in for a re-read soon. I don't remember being too let down by any of it, but I'll see how it feels this time around (maybe the expanded parts fill some of that mentioned Coil/NWW void). There are also plenty of good early Whitehouse tidbits from what I remember.
I didn't realize it was so biased towards C93 (not that that's a bad thing, necessarily). I will have to pick up the expanded edition next year, I think.
Looking now, I realize that there are some sections on C93 in the Assimilate book as well.
SS1535 wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 7:43 pm
It reminds me also that England's Hidden Reverse book for some more in-depth information on these guys. Speaking of it, has anyone read that book? Worth it?
Happiness, forever wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 10:15 pm
It is a great book if you are into David Tibet & Current 93. Coil and Nurse parts cldve brought more joy, imo.
Great, great book. I just got the new edition so I'll be going in for a re-read soon. I don't remember being too let down by any of it, but I'll see how it feels this time around (maybe the expanded parts fill some of that mentioned Coil/NWW void). There are also plenty of good early Whitehouse tidbits from what I remember.
I didn't realize it was so biased towards C93 (not that that's a bad thing, necessarily). I will have to pick up the expanded edition next year, I think.
I'd say it's quite evenly divided between the three groups, at least in terms of chronicling the history. Perhaps there is more C93 content because they have a few more prominent albums and a vast list of collaborators that really extended their reach.
SS1535 wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 7:43 pm
Thank you very much for this! I think Bjork sings on one track in Island as well. It reminds me also that England's Hidden Reverse book for some more in-depth information on these guys. Speaking of it, has anyone read that book? Worth it?
I can't recommend this book enough. I'm almost finished it, I've been totally glued to it. It not only gives interesting stories, insights and facts about Coil, Current 93, and Nurse With Wound, it also contextualizes everything by going into the whole English experimental scene to a certain extent. So much interesting in-depth history and background, so many names, bands, artists from the English scene mentioned. Everyone knew each other and everyone was on each others albums! There's a whole paragraph where Tibet raves about how much he loves Crass, for example. There are also moments where it has some analysis on the ideas and themes of the music, as well as industrial as a whole. My only criticism is that there are very brief moments where the author injects his own opinions on some of the music or artists mentioned which I felt unnecessary and annoying, I felt the author's role should be documentor, it's up to the reader and listener to decide how they feel. But this isn't really a big deal, and didn't take too much from the book for me.
Well damb I’ve been outnumbered hahaha… Maybe i just wanted more Coil content.
… i’m not gonna read the book again tho.
The Coil interviews book looks interesting fo’sho
Great, great book. I just got the new edition so I'll be going in for a re-read soon. I don't remember being too let down by any of it, but I'll see how it feels this time around (maybe the expanded parts fill some of that mentioned Coil/NWW void). There are also plenty of good early Whitehouse tidbits from what I remember.
I didn't realize it was so biased towards C93 (not that that's a bad thing, necessarily). I will have to pick up the expanded edition next year, I think.
I'd say it's quite evenly divided between the three groups, at least in terms of chronicling the history. Perhaps there is more C93 content because they have a few more prominent albums and a vast list of collaborators that really extended their reach.
I had seen that Coil book posted around online a few times in recent weeks, it definitely looks really interesting (Which brings me to also needing to dig further into Coil... haha). I guess it's time for a dedicated Coil thread.
SS1535 wrote: Tue Sep 05, 2023 7:43 pm
Thank you very much for this! I think Bjork sings on one track in Island as well. It reminds me also that England's Hidden Reverse book for some more in-depth information on these guys. Speaking of it, has anyone read that book? Worth it?
I can't recommend this book enough. I'm almost finished it, I've been totally glued to it. It not only gives interesting stories, insights and facts about Coil, Current 93, and Nurse With Wound, it also contextualizes everything by going into the whole English experimental scene to a certain extent. So much interesting in-depth history and background, so many names, bands, artists from the English scene mentioned. Everyone knew each other and everyone was on each others albums! There's a whole paragraph where Tibet raves about how much he loves Crass, for example. There are also moments where it has some analysis on the ideas and themes of the music, as well as industrial as a whole. My only criticism is that there are very brief moments where the author injects his own opinions on some of the music or artists mentioned which I felt unnecessary and annoying, I felt the author's role should be documentor, it's up to the reader and listener to decide how they feel. But this isn't really a big deal, and didn't take too much from the book for me.
That sounds really cool. I take it that the author's opinions are not good ones generally?
SS1535 wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 8:54 pm
That sounds really cool. I take it that the author's opinions are not good ones generally?
That's pretty subjective, they're fine opinions honestly. I agree with him and disagree with him. He just comes off as pretentious at times. It happens infrequently enough to not really detract from the book too much.
SS1535 wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 8:54 pm
That sounds really cool. I take it that the author's opinions are not good ones generally?
That's pretty subjective, they're fine opinions honestly. I agree with him and disagree with him. He just comes off as pretentious at times. It happens infrequently enough to not really detract from the book too much.
I hope i didn’t taint the pool with doubt abt the book. The author is mostly fine, the writing is mostly fine, the info is mostly a lot.
My gripe stems from my perception that there was generally a deeper dive into the life of Tibet at the loss of some time given to Nurse & Coil. I’m being told No Not The Case. I also hadnt read the expanded version, only the original, so maybe changes were made idk.
Either way, anyway, I wld recommend the book to any fan of those three.
I've been spending time with Current 93's The Light is Leaving Us All over the past week or so and I feel like I've finally unlocked it. I think I'd previously always gone to it while deep in a C93 hole where it couldn't stand up to the formidable albums of the 90s, but it's revealed itself to be a quality release when listening to it on its own without certain expectations. "The Postman is Singing" is musically very reminiscent to "Hitler as Kalki".
Scream & Writhe wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2024 7:46 pm
I've been spending time with Current 93's The Light is Leaving Us All over the past week or so and I feel like I've finally unlocked it. I think I'd previously always gone to it while deep in a C93 hole where it couldn't stand up to the formidable albums of the 90s, but it's revealed itself to be a quality release when listening to it on its own without certain expectations. "The Postman is Singing" is musically very reminiscent to "Hitler as Kalki".
I love some of the new art style on these more recent album covers, so I always want to listen to them. But I have to be in just the right state of mind for their almost ambient qualities.
I have to admit that, despite snapping up every test pressing and backsplash tile I can from David, I have spent so little time with the releases I have gotten since "I Am the Last..." that I have difficulty even describing them for purposes of review. And that's not even taking their already muted, monochromatic and amorphous qualities into account.
I think I really want to set aside some time for a deep dive soon.
Releases from the world of Neofolk that I have enjoyed tremendously:
Werkraum – Unsere Feuer Brennen!
Luftwaffe – Solipsistica Nihilisti
Rose McDowall – Our Twisted Love
Sorrow – Let There Be Thorns
Darkwood – Notwendfeuer
Blood Axis – Ultimacy
Ordo Equitum Solis – OES
:Of The Wand & The Moon: – Sonnenheim
Rome - Flowers From Exile
Blood And Sun – White Storms Fall
La Merde – L'Amour Et la Merde
Nebelung – Palingenesis
Sturmpercht – Geister Im Waldgebirg
Von Thronstahl – Sacrificare
Looking For Europe - The Neofolk Compendium
The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud – The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud
Death In June – Take Care And Control
White Chamber – Pale Tears
My strongest recommendation out of any of the titles I mentioned is the massive 53 artist compilation Looking For Europe - The Neofolk Compendium.
Not recent, but the collaborators question got me thinking about general connections and wondering what roundabout ways we ended up "here" at C93, or NWW, Coil, or what have you. I'd heard a little bit of Current 93, very little, and heard mentions of things like NWW, Coil, etc. through my eldest sister who was discovering that music herself by way of stuff like Skinny Puppy, but then she showed me Strawberry Switchblade years later, and they were honestly the group that clicked immediately and were my gateway into hearing Current 93 for myself, with the rest following from that.
Soft Cell (as individuals, I mean) are another great pop(ular) group who often get lost in the shuffle of artists linked with C93, PTV, etc. A personal favorite. Good in their own right and in their contributions, as solo artists (with Dave Ball even tangentially connecting Gavin Friday to the lot by having him sing on his In Strict Tempo album, along with Genesis P-Orridge), etc. Marc and the Mambas were great, too, though really their own thing apart from the rest. I was also big on them before I knew of their later associations.
Seems like I get into this stuff from a pop-oriented angle, which even sort of surprises me. Then again, "pop" is relative. I know Soft Cell weren't doing bubblegum music, even at their campiest, nor were SS at their most purely "Pop".
I've never gotten to read EHR in all these years somehow.
Bubble-Congeries wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2024 12:31 pm
Not recent, but the collaborators question got me thinking about general connections and wondering what roundabout ways we ended up "here" at C93, or NWW, Coil, or what have you. I'd heard a little bit of Current 93, very little, and heard mentions of things like NWW, Coil, etc. through my eldest sister who was discovering that music herself by way of stuff like Skinny Puppy, but then she showed me Strawberry Switchblade years later, and they were honestly the group that clicked immediately and were my gateway into hearing Current 93 for myself, with the rest following from that.
Soft Cell (as individuals, I mean) are another great pop(ular) group who often get lost in the shuffle of artists linked with C93, PTV, etc. A personal favorite. Good in their own right and in their contributions, as solo artists (with Dave Ball even tangentially connecting Gavin Friday to the lot by having him sing on his In Strict Tempo album, along with Genesis P-Orridge), etc. Marc and the Mambas were great, too, though really their own thing apart from the rest. I was also big on them before I knew of their later associations.
Seems like I get into this stuff from a pop-oriented angle, which even sort of surprises me. Then again, "pop" is relative. I know Soft Cell weren't doing bubblegum music, even at their campiest, nor were SS at their most purely "Pop".
I've never gotten to read EHR in all these years somehow.
This is yet another reminder that I need to listen to the live Coil album featuring Marc Almond...
The pop angle is interesting for a lot of reasons here. I feel like C93 manage to be simultaneously one of the most "pop" bands in neofolk, while also producing some of the most esoteric albums in the genre. The same could probably be said of Coil, with their own idiosyncratic approach to post-industrial music.
Bubble-Congeries wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2024 12:31 pm
Soft Cell (as individuals, I mean) are another great pop(ular) group who often get lost in the shuffle of artists linked with C93, PTV, etc. A personal favorite. Good in their own right and in their contributions, as solo artists (with Dave Ball even tangentially connecting Gavin Friday to the lot by having him sing on his In Strict Tempo album, along with Genesis P-Orridge), etc. Marc and the Mambas were great, too, though really their own thing apart from the rest. I was also big on them before I knew of their later associations.
Soft Cell was a life-changing group for me. No joke. It joys me to no end that Marc Almond also used to do weird aktionist stuff with Coil.
I also love his version of The Falconer on the XTG Desertshore album.
"He jämnar no ut se", sa finnin tå an skeit i böxona å peeda heim
