Current 93 - Crush, Kill, Destroy?

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So, Mssr. Tibet and companions...examinations of the hidden history of the British psyche or pretentious goth twaddle? Which discs should be savored and which should be used as clay skeets?

(I already have "I Have A Special Plan For This World," but I have a feeling its not a very good example of his/their "normal" style.)

Jess, Wednesday, 15 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Both of course!! Search: Crowleymass!!, Falling, Thunder Perfect Mind. I've also enjoyed what I've heard off of All The Pretty Little Horses and Earth Covers Earth. Destroy: Imperium, Gothic Love Song. I haven't listened to Dogs Blood Rising in a while but my gut feeling is that it's best to stay away from it.

James Annett, Wednesday, 15 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

"thunder perfect mind" "some blazing star.." "island" "all the pretty litle horses" "not goth just a cute dropout for next decades collectors .also "lucifer over london" ep is good .

francesco, Thursday, 16 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Love Nurse With Wound, but could never get to grips w/ Tibet's weedy, precious 'singing' voice.

Andrew L, Thursday, 16 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Oh no no no, _Dogs Blood Rising_ is a perfect way to scare the living fuck out of your neighbors, and yourself, at 3 am.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 16 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

oh god. i'm guessing most people have normal friends who have never heard of these buffoons, much less inflict their music upon them and talk about the band incessantly. total total dud, mainly for tibet's voice, which andrew describes well.

sundar subramanian, Thursday, 16 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

generally I find their music unbearable, though 'This Ain't the Summer of Love' and bits of 'Thunder Perfect Mind' are OK. I used to share with a guy who was obsessed with them, so I've heard about 30 of their albums - if you've never heard them you're not missing much.

Jonathan, Thursday, 16 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

they're pretty much a love/hate band, as you might've guessed by now. i personally love them, but there is a certain amount of pretense involved (it's just a bit tougher to swallow for a lot of people than, say, the 'authority sux0r'/teen-angsty pretense of, say, GYBE! and associated bands, probably due to the religious/mystical overtones). tibet's voice is a major sticking point for a lot of people, who prefer the more mellifluous (and frequently dull) death in june. if one wanted to delve further, there are a couple of career-spanning compendiums available. i wouldn't recommend buying "soft black stars"/"a gothic love song" (both piano/voice dominated) first, in any case.

your null fame, Friday, 17 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I love their songs from the "Portable Altamount" comp, which translates into their sound on the "Earth Covers Earth" album.

Elspeth McKee, Saturday, 18 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

two years pass...
Pitchfork: "TPM most important album of the last 10 years" shockah!!!!!

Baaderist (Fabfunk), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:17 (twenty years ago) link

one year passes...
i'm on a current 93 kicks right now and reading the allmusic entry it says david tibet designed the artwork for the Absinthe liqour company. has anyone seen these or have a link to the artwork?

fffnnnsss, Saturday, 5 November 2005 18:56 (eighteen years ago) link

Nature Unveiled - now that's a good 'un. Deeeeeeply satanic and quite silly.

moley, Sunday, 6 November 2005 03:02 (eighteen years ago) link

four months pass...
Bump up to give suggestions from the other thread.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 3 April 2006 16:57 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't think Emblems is still in print but it is a good overview of the first decade, spanning a wide variety of styles. There's another newer comp, let me look...

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.

sleeve (sleeve), Monday, 3 April 2006 20:16 (eighteen years ago) link

calling for vanished faces is the later comp, isn't it?

baby, disco is fuck (yournullfame), Monday, 3 April 2006 20:49 (eighteen years ago) link

"Emblems" and "Calling for..." are out of print.

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

francesco brunetti, Monday, 3 April 2006 21:14 (eighteen years ago) link

His piece for the Horse Hospital exhibition is sublime.

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

S- (sgh), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 04:26 (eighteen years ago) link

deddy deddy deddy deddy deddy deddy YOU'RE DEAD!!!

great voice, great band

badg (badg), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 04:52 (eighteen years ago) link

The best is "Sleep Has His House" by a mile.

twoheadedboy, Tuesday, 4 April 2006 04:58 (eighteen years ago) link

I do like that one a lot.

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.

sleeve (sleeve), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 05:02 (eighteen years ago) link

New album coming out soon feat Anthony, Marc Almond and a few other guests.

Le Baaderonixx de Benedict Canyon (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 05:28 (eighteen years ago) link

one month passes...
So anyone heard the new lp? It got a meh review on stylus which was actually featured on Tibet's website...

Baaderonixx immer wieder (baaderonixx), Saturday, 3 June 2006 08:42 (seventeen years ago) link

by the way... anyone seen the World Serpent/South Park slide show yet?

http://www.myspace.com/wspsp

StanM (StanM), Saturday, 3 June 2006 09:01 (seventeen years ago) link

"come before Christ and murder Kenny" = HAHAHAHA

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.

sleeve (sleeve), Saturday, 3 June 2006 14:34 (seventeen years ago) link

Current 93 - Black Ships Ate The Shy

fandango (fandango), Saturday, 3 June 2006 14:56 (seventeen years ago) link

kinda makes me think of Neil Tennant making a freak folk album...

fandango (fandango), Saturday, 3 June 2006 14:57 (seventeen years ago) link

Did a three hour special with Tibet on the radio worth hearing just for the fact alone I got him to sing a Rush song over the air:

www.wfmu.org/playlists/BT

Brian Turner (btwfmu), Saturday, 3 June 2006 18:52 (seventeen years ago) link

three weeks pass...
OK, so I got the new one and after hearing it once I remembered that I wasn't really interested in hearing this kind of stuff anymore. Not bad per se, but I think he's exhausted the genre. The tones, the instrumentation are a bit too familiar by now. The tracks that work best are the dron-ish, loop-ish stuff.

Baaderonixx immer wieder (baaderonixx), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:18 (seventeen years ago) link

one month passes...
I think this is a revival. Yay.

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?

J.H. Malerman (xada_hgla), Tuesday, 15 August 2006 23:21 (seventeen years ago) link

Hitler as Kalki is untouchable.

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

GOD PUNCH TO HAWKWIND (yournullfame), Tuesday, 15 August 2006 23:34 (seventeen years ago) link

one month passes...
The live albums rarely disappoint, although it is purely subjective whether the studio or live version of "Sleep Has His House" is better.

J.H. Malerman (xada_hgla), Sunday, 1 October 2006 17:48 (seventeen years ago) link

four months pass...
So anyway, David Tibet and crew, yes.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 3 February 2007 22:00 (seventeen years ago) link

also the voice - so great

Rebel.yell.For.Internet.cakes (nordicskilla), Saturday, 3 February 2007 22:43 (seventeen years ago) link

So undeniably fantastic.

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.

John Justen goes to work like an architect (johnjusten), Saturday, 3 February 2007 23:42 (seventeen years ago) link

Classic and important in their own recondite way.

It's Tough to Beat Illious (noodle vague), Saturday, 3 February 2007 23:55 (seventeen years ago) link

I really enjoyed that track on the split with Om.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Saturday, 3 February 2007 23:59 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm amazed that Jess started this thread, but anyway, classic of course.

is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Sunday, 4 February 2007 01:57 (seventeen years ago) link

I've already said Classic, but I wanted to note that I also have enjoyed their split with Om recently.

sleeve (sleeve), Sunday, 4 February 2007 03:35 (seventeen years ago) link

I really enjoyed that track on the split with Om.

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

GOD PUNCH TO HAWKWIND (yournullfame), Sunday, 4 February 2007 03:45 (seventeen years ago) link

how could they hate on the massive distorted bagpipes? for shame.

sleeve (sleeve), Sunday, 4 February 2007 04:35 (seventeen years ago) link

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

sleeve (sleeve), Sunday, 4 February 2007 21:45 (seventeen years ago) link

Amazon sez: New Ed edition (8 Mar 2007)

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

aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 5 February 2007 10:49 (seventeen years ago) link

playing atp vs the fans

www.atpfestival.com

FACEBRACE (FACEBRACE), Monday, 5 February 2007 14:22 (seventeen years ago) link

Amazon sez: New Ed edition (8 Mar 2007)

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

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 5 February 2007 14:28 (seventeen years ago) link

That OM collab is pretty fantastic.

is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 14:02 (seventeen years ago) link

four months pass...

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.

no-nonsense, Friday, 8 June 2007 11:10 (sixteen years ago) link

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.

Jon Lewis, Friday, 8 June 2007 14:33 (sixteen years ago) link

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.

baaderonixx, Friday, 8 June 2007 14:41 (sixteen years ago) link

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

sleeve, Friday, 8 June 2007 16:33 (sixteen years ago) link

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.

Jon Lewis, Friday, 8 June 2007 16:45 (sixteen years ago) link

New c93 album???!!!

ommmmgggggggg

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 14 October 2018 11:42 (five years ago) link

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

Duke, Sunday, 14 October 2018 17:28 (five years ago) link

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

Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Sunday, 14 October 2018 17:49 (five years ago) link

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.

lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 14 October 2018 19:19 (five years ago) link

Well. That's me sold

Duke, Sunday, 14 October 2018 19:54 (five years ago) link

Black Ships one of my favourites

Duke, Sunday, 14 October 2018 19:54 (five years ago) link

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.

ArchCarrier, Sunday, 14 October 2018 20:38 (five years ago) link

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

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

the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Tuesday, 16 October 2018 15:44 (five years ago) link

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

sleeve, Tuesday, 16 October 2018 15:58 (five years ago) link

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

the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Tuesday, 16 October 2018 16:51 (five years ago) link

split with OM was good stuff

Ross, Tuesday, 16 October 2018 16:52 (five years ago) link

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

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 18 October 2018 22:40 (five years ago) link

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

Colonel Poo, Thursday, 18 October 2018 22:58 (five years ago) link

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

StanM, Sunday, 21 October 2018 23:08 (five years ago) link

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

Siegbran, Sunday, 21 October 2018 23:44 (five years ago) link

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

StanM, Monday, 22 October 2018 07:55 (five years ago) link

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.

lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 22 October 2018 08:29 (five years ago) link

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

imago, Monday, 22 October 2018 13:45 (five years ago) link

he has a big beard now and that is the secret

imago, Monday, 22 October 2018 13:45 (five years ago) link

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

Siegbran, Monday, 22 October 2018 14:38 (five years ago) link

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

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Monday, 22 October 2018 15:08 (five years ago) link

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.

portugal. the bland (sleeve), Monday, 22 October 2018 15:11 (five years ago) link

What did people think of Myrninerest?

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Monday, 22 October 2018 15:12 (five years ago) link

have not heard

portugal. the bland (sleeve), Monday, 22 October 2018 15:16 (five years ago) link

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

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Monday, 22 October 2018 15:17 (five years ago) link

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.

the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Wednesday, 24 October 2018 07:25 (five years ago) link

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.

Contra Fibularities, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 02:29 (five years ago) link

great post!

Dan S, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 02:35 (five years ago) link

one month passes...

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.

Siegbran, Monday, 3 December 2018 22:16 (five years ago) link

three months pass...

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

StanM, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 16:17 (five years ago) link

five months pass...

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

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:15 (four years ago) link

nice! I has no idea abt those shows, sorry

sleeve, Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:15 (four years ago) link

has had

sleeve, Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:16 (four years ago) link

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

Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:16 (four years ago) link

sleeve: treat yourself! wkiw

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:19 (four years ago) link

lol so not gonna happen but <3

sleeve, Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:31 (four years ago) link

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

sleeve, Thursday, 5 September 2019 22:32 (four years ago) link

two years pass...

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

StanM, Friday, 17 December 2021 13:03 (two years ago) link

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

Siegbran, Friday, 17 December 2021 13:05 (two years ago) link

His release statements are almost as good as the albums

imago, Friday, 17 December 2021 13:13 (two years ago) link

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

covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Friday, 17 December 2021 15:40 (two years ago) link

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

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Friday, 17 December 2021 17:04 (two years ago) link

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

covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Friday, 17 December 2021 17:07 (two years ago) link

otm

imago, Friday, 17 December 2021 17:25 (two years ago) link

lol yes

chaos goblin line cook (sleeve), Friday, 17 December 2021 18:31 (two years ago) link

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

StanM, Friday, 17 December 2021 20:02 (two years ago) link

three months pass...

and? anyone get the album yet?

StanM, Thursday, 31 March 2022 15:46 (two years ago) link

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

StanM, Thursday, 31 March 2022 15:50 (two years ago) link

Not bad. Has David T. taken singing classes?

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Friday, 1 April 2022 20:31 (two years ago) link

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 :-)

StanM, Saturday, 2 April 2022 08:16 (two years ago) link


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