Monday, October 27, 2008

Jack Rose/Silvester Anfang Split

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Funeral Folk, 7"
2007, VBR, 20MB

...the all-out creepfest 'Geen Vlaemsch, Geen Senzen' on the Anfang side, one of the group's more concise statements to date, held together by creaky string drones and out of step drumming. Jack Rose supplies two solo pieces, the first being a rendition of John Fahey's 'How Green Was My Valley', immaculately plucked out on lapsteel, the second a more blues-oriented fingerpicking of Sam McGee's 'Buckdancer's Choice'. Superb.
- Boomkat


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Sunday, October 26, 2008

Silvester Anfang - Damnation On Tweede Kerstdag

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Funeral Folk, one-sided cassette
2004, 224 kbps, 13MB

Can't find a review. Read the other ones.


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Silvester Anfang - Funeral Folk

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Funeral Folk, one-sided cassette
2004, 192 kbps, 27MB

Can't find a review. Read the other ones.


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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Sir Richard Bishop - All Strung Out

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Self-released, CD-R
2006, 192 kbps, 57MB

A collection of mostly acoustic guitar improvisations plus two longer pieces, one played on an Oriental Harp, the other is a noise piece with electric and lapsteel guitars.
- Sir Richard Bishop


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Sunday, October 12, 2008

Silvester Anfang - Spontane Opnames 1: Anti-Metal Politie-Interventie

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Meudiamorte, C-90
2007, 320 kbps, 68MB

Dark, post-krautrock, heavy jam mode: guitars, bass, keys, flute and percussion combine with vocals to create a doomy Funeral-Psych rich in the textures of ritual and worship. Starts off in a drugged Satanic ritual and ends in a cosmic slaughterhouse.


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Friday, October 10, 2008

Silvester Anfang - Satanische Vrede

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KRAAK, 12"
2006, 192 kbps, 59MB

Satanische Vrede is the debut lp of the Maldegem-based free psych collective Silvester Anfang. After loads of cdr and cassette releases that show an evolution from drones to folk and psych - the band have found a sound that floats somewhere in between Davenport, German Oak and Träd, Gräs Och Stenar. Every track comes to life while playing and searching, and that's exactly what you hear on the biggest part of this record. Small coincidences push the musicians in a certain direction, and because of this the outcome never sounds artificial or far-fetched. Most of the times Silvester Anfang is joined by self-declared non-musicians, which results in long sessions with a maximum of openness and freedom. A warm and organic sound and lo-fi recording quality have been priorities since day one. Some people see this as an attitude, other people blame it on the fact that they only have a 4-track and one recording mic. You can call it a crap addiction; the Silvester Anfang horde rather call it 'post-satanic krautfolk'.
- KRAAK


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Silvester Anfang - Raping The Goat

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Foxglove, CD-R
2005, VBR, 32MB

from the funerary across the sea comes the mighty silvester anfang. these lynchpins of the burgeoning funeral folk empire from belgian know how to romp and stomp their way into the hearts of all. like finnish compatriots, avarus, this group is about having fun and getting retarded. claustrophobic explorations in the world of acoustic, airy drones cross the t's and dot the i's in a whirlwind of beer-induced bliss. you can feel the stickiness on the floor. but like all things underneath the overcast belgian skies, there's an existential plane to be found. or maybe that's just intoxication.
- Foxglove


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Thursday, October 9, 2008

Silvester Anfang - Levend Ov De Brandstapel

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Skulls Of Heaven, CD-R
2007, 224 kbps, 40MB

Silvester Anfang are Belgium's premier house-band of the post-apocalyptic hellfire club known as Funeral Folk. This particular installment in their ongoing macabre musico-theatre finds Silvester Anfang tripping over the bloated corpse of Acid Rock. Conjuring the zombie spirits of Jimi Hendrix, Phil Lynott, Pigpen and John Bonham, Silvester Anfang transform into a supergroup acid hex, pumping out murky clouds murky cloud of fuzz-wah and terribly damaged atmosphere. In some ways this is the most heavy and sickening manifestation of SA yet.. Bitter and short, simple and sick, is this the new means to an end for our favorite Funeral Folks?
- Skulls Of Heaven


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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Hush Arbors - Hush Arbors

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Digitalis Recordings, CD
2006, 128 kbps, 38MB

Over these 43 minutes of blissed out forest folk also finds itself knee-deep in organic drones. Wood's high-pitched voice is the focal point which the music swirls around, and these songs emanate from the cosmos like a cathartic release from the sky. But don't be fooled, despite these cosmic aspirations this is music straight from the earth, covered in bark and soaked in soil.
- Digitalis Recordings


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Silvester Anfang - Kosmies Slachtafval

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Aurora Borealis, CD
2007, 320 kbps, 70MB

Silvester Anfang hail from Flanders, channeling an ancient spirit of blasphemous anarchy, transposing the nameless fiends of yore as free-flowing ritual psych occultic Flemish rock. Kosmies Slachtafval (trans. "kosmic slaughterhouse sweepings/debris") sees Silvester Anfang in dark, post-krautrock, heavy jam mode: guitars, bass, keys, flute and percussion combine with vocals to create a doomy funeral psych rich in the textures of ritual and worship. Through a series of cassette tapes and CD-r's released in micro editions, the arcane Belgians have garnered a fearsome and mysterious reputation for dark intense musical outpouring and idolatry.
- Aurora Borealis


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Silvester Anfang - Heidense Maagen

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Funeral Folk, 2xCD-R
2007, VBR, Disc 1: 48MB, Disc 2: 50MB

ritual-esque goings-on... Backwoods folk with thumping percussion, snake-charmer melodica / flute and backwards vocals, perfect for those subliminal messages
- Boa Melody Bar


Disc 1: DOWNLOAD
Disc 2: DOWNLOAD

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Silvester Anfang - Echte Vlaamse Geiten

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Eclipse, 12"
2007, 320 kbps, 81MB

Normally, this pagan mass was going to be the first official Silvester Anfang release, but somehow, fate got in the way. It took us a long time to pick out the best musical pieces from a large amount of recordings we did in 2005 and 2006, but finally, we made it. The result is the usual improvised orgy of crappy instruments, drugged and wailing chants, psychedelic guitars, cosmic droning and unplugged jamborees. You can hear long jams being screwed up by drunken musicians. A spontaneous mongoloid werewolf freak-out to sacrifice your local blonde virgins to that doesn't need backward satanic messages to incite murder and debauchery. Recorded in the misty moors of Maldegem (Belgium), it will summon images of naked soldiers worshipping goats, Flemish knights courting ugly women, satanic snakes destroying the earth and demonic agriculture. It's warm, lo fi, amateur, monotonous and genuine funeral folk. And in the end, this is what we're supposed to sound and look like: true Flemish goats.
- Silvester Anfang


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Silvester Anfang - De Vrije Beyaerdiers

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Funeral Folk, CD-R
2006, VBR, 40MB

When I first heard the phrase "Funeral Folk," I imagined something along the lines of Dead Raven Choir. It turns out the Funeralk Folk guys are big fan's of Smolken's hellish project, and one can hear a very slight influence on "De Vrije Beyaerdiers." That influence is more in spirit, however. There is a loose, archaic feeling the underlies this entire album, weaving a metallic thread throughout the proceedings. Once you get in deep, you find that it truly lives up to the aural sounds promised by a name like Funeral Folk.

The centerpiece of "De Vrije Beyaerdiers" is unquestionably the 11-minute somber epic "Lange Verneukte Drone pt 1." It pulsates with gloom and doom, all the while keeping a ritualistic seance quality to it that stops the insular walls from falling in on itself. There is a lot of space between the cathartic outbursts on this piece - it is handled with care. This brings up another comparison that is apt: Davenport. Shambolic junkets of percussion and organic instrumentation bring this, and other tracks, to life. "Anfang Ritueel," for example, is highlithed with sparse cymbal splashes and flute exercises. The minimal rhythm and overall feel of the percussion is reminiscent of Keijo's best work. While I don't speak Dutch, ritueel is an obvious word. And that is just what this track is: a ritual, from another world or time entirely. I am constantly reminded of Davenport's blissed-out stoned jams, which isn't surprising considering Clay Ruby is one of Funeral Folk's biggest supporters.

For me, Silvester Anfang is the flagship of the budding Funeral Folk empire. These primitive explorations are a near-perfect dichotomy of gloom and fun. And that is how it should be. That is what the phrase "Funeral Folk" implies. It's death, with a sense of humor. In the end, Silvester Anfang are more interested in drinking beers and having fun than they are in mourning some lost souls. Be that as it may, this is serious music in that it is dense and it is damn good. Silvester Anfang are proof that Funeral Folk is a label to stay aware of. 8/10
- Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis


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Friday, October 3, 2008

Hush Arbors - Under Bent Limb Trees

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Digitalis Recordings, 2xCD
2004, VBR, Disc 1: 62MB, Disc 2: 75MB

Keith Wood concocts massive emotional releases in his head and transfers them to tape using the most organic means possible. Bowed dulcimer, singing bowl, banjo, and a his trademark falsetto dot the horizon of this majestic album. This graceful and subdued music has been extracted from the earth and laden with golden spirits.
- Digitalis Recordings


Disc 1: DOWNLOAD
Disc 2: DOWNLOAD

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Hush Arbors - Row Life

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Fuck It Tapes, C-36
2007, 320 kbps, 62MB

I’m no expert on his discog (it’s fairly broad and deep and hard to keep track of), but this strikes me as a bit more varied and electric than some of his stuff I’ve heard (like the “Under Bent Limbs” 2xCD for example). The first song, “Poppi On My Mind,” intertwines fingerpicking daydreams with really eloquent amplifier gestures, sweeping melodic feedback, and subconscious pulsing sub-beats…near the end everything coheres into a beautifully focused war of hypnotic tension and elemental desperation. One of the most powerful Hush Arbors pieces I’ve heard. The B side tracks don’t let up on the intensity much either…”Rowed On Home” devolves from an acoustic reverie into a blown-out sludge-noise dirge that sprawls on for surprisingly long. And the tape closer, “Ripped Raw,” unfurls a poppy electric guitar melody against melancholy moaning and some tonal emoting that totally tugs at the heartstrings in a blissed, bummer soundtrack sort of way. A near-flawless tape by one of the post-folk realm’s most visionary gatekeepers.
- Cassette Gods


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Hush Arbors - Live, Heeley Institute, Sheffield, England

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Blackest Rainbow, CD-R
2007, 320 kbps, 59MB

Sorry, couldn't find a review, only this:
"This is a live solo outing from Keith Wood recorded in October 2006 in Sheffield, UK."


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Hush Arbors - Landscape Of Bone

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Three Lobed Recordings, CD
2006, VBR, 42MB

released mid-june, 2006, as one of the installments in the modern containment series. landscape of bone is the new album by hush arbors AKA keith wood - age unknown, no fixed address - and is a major leap forward for a dude who's probably best known so far for his auxiliary membership in such bands as six organs of admittance, sunburned hand of the man, and wooden wand and the vanishing voice. but wood's solo work may challenge what you might expect from a man with friends in such high, low and in between places. his perfectly moniker-ed band name may rightfully suggest tunes that often sound like a peaceful sort of secret, but with landscape of bone, the secret is about to get out in a big way. sweet and delicate songs featuring wood's unmistakable voice - equal parts neil young and al wilson - and adept fingerpicking occasionally give way to monstrous 'where-the-f***-did-that-come-from' moments of visceral psychedelic damage. just as comfortable wringing deadly screaming leads from his guitar as he is coaxing gentle modern day country hymns to catatonia from it, wood is, first and foremost, a songwriter in the traditional sense. his songs will feel right at home during nights of quiet debauchery, as well as during those shame-filled mo(u)rnings after. landscape of bone is the latest and greatest from an increasingly vital artist who is sure to continue defying expectations and carving out a well-deserved place among the psych folk elite as long as he chooses to run.
- Three Lobed


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Hush Arbors - Cleaning The Bone

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267 Lattajjaa, 3" CD-R
2005, 320 kbps, 41MB

One-man folk/psych/drone ensemble Hush Arbors AKA Keith Wood was unquestionably my favorite sonic discovery of 2004, so it’s with great pleasure that I announce the arrival of Cleaning the Bone, a brand new 3” CD-R on the Finnish 267 Lattajjaa imprint. It’s quite different from his two most recent Digitalis releases since this highly organic, folk-tinged drone affair is allowed to spread out over a little more than twenty minutes. But despite the fact that we get music rather than songs this time out, it’s still very much gentle free folk bristling with rare invention and spirit. The beautiful improvisations hold the regenerative powers of the Appalachians; somehow hosting the energy that has been hiding under logs and rocks for decades just waiting for the right man to come along and pick it up.

This strangely beautiful document takes as much from the rich history of American folk as it does from ancient drones and psychedelic primitivism. But most of all it’s an unhurried and slowly unfolding wave of folk/drone bliss that evoke a pastoral atmosphere so strong that it’s perfectly suited for inner mind expansion or as the cheapest way to transport you to the most beautiful parts of the Appalachians.
- Mats Gustafsson


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Prurient & Pedestrian Deposit - Red Head
2004, 320 kbps, 52MB
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Sickness/Prurient - Mundane
2000, 256 kbps, 34MB
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Sickness - Fuck Your Punk Rock
2004, VBR, 42MB
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Yellow Swans/Grey Daturas - Australian Tour EP
2005, 320 kbps, 58MB
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