New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee Bette Smith returns with her 3rd studio album – ‘Goodthing’ – a triumphant injection of soul music and gospel into rock & roll. Produced by Grammy-winning producer Jimmy Hogarth (Amy Winehouse, James Bay, Paulo Nutini, Sia), the album showcases Bette Smith’s penchant for anthemic, feel-good Soul Rock carried by her signature raspy, soulful vocals inspired by legends Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin and Etta James.
Tracing elements of her sound to her childhood in rough Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bette connects the soul music she heard on the corners with the gospel music she heard in church and around the house every weekend - “My mother listened to nothing but gospel,” she recalls, citing Mahalia Jackson and Reverend James Cleveland as other influences.
The album sees her sound scale new heights, and build on the accolades she received on 2017’s debut ‘Jetlagger’ and 2020’s ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Bette’, and her tremendous range and power combined with ‘Goodthing’’s infectious energy, solidify her position as an authentic and dynamic rising soul artist, an iconic force in music.
New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee Bette Smith returns with her 3rd studio album – ‘Goodthing’ – a triumphant injection of soul music and gospel into rock & roll. Produced by Grammy-winning producer Jimmy Hogarth (Amy Winehouse, James Bay, Paulo Nutini, Sia), the album showcases Bette Smith’s penchant for anthemic, feel-good Soul Rock carried by her signature raspy, soulful vocals inspired by legends Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin and Etta James.
Tracing elements of her sound to her childhood in rough Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bette connects the soul music she heard on the corners with the gospel music she heard in church and around the house every weekend - “My mother listened to nothing but gospel,” she recalls, citing Mahalia Jackson and Reverend James Cleveland as other influences.
The album sees her sound scale new heights, and build on the accolades she received on 2017’s debut ‘Jetlagger’ and 2020’s ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Bette’, and her tremendous range and power combined with ‘Goodthing’’s infectious energy, solidify her position as an authentic and dynamic rising soul artist, an iconic force in music.
As a composer Martijn Comes has a special interest in timbral music and various musical traditions, with an emphasis on the electro-acoustic history. His works for the carillon were performed live at festivals like Le Guess Who and Rewire. He also released several solo-albums and collaborated with a wide range of contemporary artists like Frans de Waard, Lukas Simonis, Nicoleta Chatzopoulou and Hessel Veldman, with whom he co-produced the album EPoX, published by Bedouin Records in 2020.
Veldman is a veteran of the Dutch musical avant-garde and published several legendary cassettes on his label EXART in the early 80’s. His experimental soundscapes are laced with industrial elements, creating a hypnotic, dark undercurrent of sounds. Besides operating under his moniker Y Create, he was a member of the improvisation group Gorgonzola Legs and kept working intensively with Fluxus artist and Dutch underground cult-figure Willem de Ridder. The home-taping era shaped his free approach to music. His diverse musical practices have been traversing several decades by now and he continues to play music according to his own insights and intuitions.
Because of the emotional and poetic weight of the pieces, reverend Tom de Haan was consulted for this collaborative album. It was the start of a musical exploration and a search for peace, balance and above all freedom. Reaching out to a distant world, a place to come to terms with ourselves. A journey full of obstacles and setbacks. Sometimes persistently moving forward, sometimes doubtful. 'Are there Gods among us or inside us?' The music as a manifest, the expression of an inner struggle.
Throughout the chapters of this album layers of sound and distant voices arise and seem to float on the surface before they disappear again. Swaying on the gentle waves, running ashore, we find ourselves in unknown places. Manifest Exodus is an album for deep listening in the vein of Lustmord, Lawrence English or Rafael Anton Irisarri. It contains 4 rich, immersive pieces with austere drones, ambience, intense sonic textures and an incredible sense of detail to create a multi-layered escape to a better world.
High Roller Records, reissue 2024, yellow/ red splatter vinyl, ltd 300, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, yellow vinyl bonus 7" in p/s (Can`t Get Enough (EP 2010) + Until Death Do You Part (EP 2010), new vinyl mastering by Patrick W. Engel in July 2023
High Roller Records, reissue 2024, black vinyl, ltd 200, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, black vinyl bonus 7" in p/s (Can`t Get Enough (EP 2010) + Until Death Do You Part (EP 2010), new vinyl mastering by Patrick W. Engel in July 2023
One year after his surprising debut, Agosta, the Catania musician-non-musician and Space Echo Records return to the point with “Reworks and Remixes”. Which from the very title disengages itself from the industrial 'album+remix album' chain and on listening reveals itself to be a record capable of moving, in total autonomy from its antecedent, on three different levels of reading. For, at its base, we would say, there is a much more stimulating idea than the simple compulsion from alternative versions, b-sides and so on.
Point 1, transfiguration. Because, contrary to the genre stereotype, the remix mode allows songs to express themselves in creative and experimental ways.
Point 2, the Rorschach Test. Because, on those songs, there is the personality, that is, the result of the cross-vision with experience, of the individual producers being measured against itself.
Point 3, the stage backdrop. That is, its ability to show a cross-section of the current electronic scene in Etna.
Agosta wanted some of the pillars of Catania's black-minded electronic scene with him and, together with them, reinterpreted songs from his first album. The result is a work that is as multifaceted, in terms of the specific weight of the artistic individualities involved, as it is homogeneous, in their idea of a sound that is as physical as it is mental and, above all, in terms of a totally Mediterranean underlying taste with which every single track is imbued.
Whether it is the pensive house of “Apple 65” or “Lady G” (Butterfly Agosta's Rework) as much as AN-AN's dub on “Varanni”, between Grace Jones and Adrian Sherwood, or Galathea's more psychedelic and twilight Trip-Hop on “Three Chestnuts”. The Shaft-esque swagger of Salvo Borrelli and Reverend James, the donwnbeat pop of “Cellars” by Go.Soul.Map. and the caress of “Hearing The Call” (Lady G In A Rainy Day Version) by The Invisible Session, in which spoken and what they once called nu jazz flirt.
Don’t Miss It!!!!
Green Vinyl[22,65 €]
Bob Balch from FU MANCHU here. The idea for the SLOWER project started around four years ago. I was teaching a student how to play "South Of Heaven" by SLAYER but she was a beginner so we slowed it down. I thought that sounded cool so I tuned down to B standard and tried it. I added some drums and thought "someone in the doom community should do this and name it SLOWER." A few years later I befriended Steven "Thee Slayer Hippy" Hanford, best known for his work as the drummer in the influential Oregon punk band Poison Idea. He was backstage at a FU MANCHU show. Oddly enough I was wearing a POISON IDEA shirt and he told me that my shirt sucks. I asked who he was and why he was in our backstage. He told me and I felt stupid. We started drinking whiskey and talking about music. We stayed in touch over the next year or so and during Covid I told him about my SLOWER idea. He asked me to send him tracks. I waited too long because the day I sent the tracks he passed away. Totally tragic. I'm glad I got to know him even for a few years. He was a monster musician with a giant heart. He will be greatly missed. I shelved the project for a while after that. One day Esben from MONOLORD posted about musical collaborations. I love MONOLORD so I thought what the hell. I sent him some tracks and he killed it on drums. So I sent more. Then more. Shortly after that we started reaching out other musicians to get them involved. That's how we ended up with this lineup. Everyone that contributed completely knocked it out of the park and I can't thank them enough. This project has been a long time coming and I'm beyond stoked on how it turned out. Without all of the players involved, Steven Hanford and my baritone Reverend guitar it wouldn't have happened. Thanks to everyone involved and I hope you dig it! I'm a giant SLAYER fan so it's been a treat to dig into these classic songs. Hopefully we can do another record in the near future. Look out for shows because they will happen! Esben Willems - When Bob first approached me with the idea and I heard his scratch guitars, my first thought was "This is genius". Those iconic tracks we all know by heart suddenly unveiled an unexpected dimension. I'm really proud of how this turned out. Peder Bergstrand - "This might be blasphemous considering the circumstances, but when Bob reached out and asked if I'd want to play bass on sludged-out Slayer covers, I had to admit some of these tracks were brand new to me. That made the experience even more special though, hearing and playing on the Slower version first, and then comparing to the original. Bob has really transformed these songs into something totally their own, and on a personal level I feel the rest of the band's insane performances pushed me to my most inspired playing to date. So incredibly stoked for people to hear this album."
Black Vinyl[19,96 €]
Neon Green Vinyl, limited to 500 copies. Bob Balch from FU MANCHU here. The idea for the SLOWER project started around four years ago. I was teaching a student how to play "South Of Heaven" by SLAYER but she was a beginner so we slowed it down. I thought that sounded cool so I tuned down to B standard and tried it. I added some drums and thought "someone in the doom community should do this and name it SLOWER." A few years later I befriended Steven "Thee Slayer Hippy" Hanford, best known for his work as the drummer in the influential Oregon punk band Poison Idea. He was backstage at a FU MANCHU show. Oddly enough I was wearing a POISON IDEA shirt and he told me that my shirt sucks. I asked who he was and why he was in our backstage. He told me and I felt stupid. We started drinking whiskey and talking about music. We stayed in touch over the next year or so and during Covid I told him about my SLOWER idea. He asked me to send him tracks. I waited too long because the day I sent the tracks he passed away. Totally tragic. I'm glad I got to know him even for a few years. He was a monster musician with a giant heart. He will be greatly missed. I shelved the project for a while after that. One day Esben from MONOLORD posted about musical collaborations. I love MONOLORD so I thought what the hell. I sent him some tracks and he killed it on drums. So I sent more. Then more. Shortly after that we started reaching out other musicians to get them involved. That's how we ended up with this lineup. Everyone that contributed completely knocked it out of the park and I can't thank them enough. This project has been a long time coming and I'm beyond stoked on how it turned out. Without all of the players involved, Steven Hanford and my baritone Reverend guitar it wouldn't have happened. Thanks to everyone involved and I hope you dig it! I'm a giant SLAYER fan so it's been a treat to dig into these classic songs. Hopefully we can do another record in the near future. Look out for shows because they will happen! Esben Willems - When Bob first approached me with the idea and I heard his scratch guitars, my first thought was "This is genius". Those iconic tracks we all know by heart suddenly unveiled an unexpected dimension. I'm really proud of how this turned out. Peder Bergstrand - "This might be blasphemous considering the circumstances, but when Bob reached out and asked if I'd want to play bass on sludged-out Slayer covers, I had to admit some of these tracks were brand new to me. That made the experience even more special though, hearing and playing on the Slower version first, and then comparing to the original. Bob has really transformed these songs into something totally their own, and on a personal level I feel the rest of the band's insane performances pushed me to my most inspired playing to date. So incredibly stoked for people to hear this album."
Shed Seven will return with their first album in more than six years. For "A Matter of Time", Shed Seven"s core members - vocalist Rick Witter, guitarist Paul Banks and bassist Tom Gladwin - reconnected with the classic albums that first inspired them to form a band. The resulting record sparkles with the liberated exuberance and full-throttle rock "n" roll attitude of a group who are making music for the sheer joy of expressing themselves and performing together. While the album broadens the Shed Seven sonic palette a touch, it"s full of the towering, arms-in-the-air anthems and yearning melancholia that fans have come to love them for. The trio enlisted a new line-up for the album, calling upon drummer Rob "Maxi" Maxfield (Audioweb) and keyboardist Tim Willis (Ian Brown). The album was produced by the Grammy Award-winning Youth (The Verve, Pink Floyd) at El Mirador Studios in Andalucia, Spain, before being completed by leading mixer Cenzo Townshend (Florence + The Machine, Inhaler). "A Matter of Time" flows from adrenalised punky power-pop right through to epic slow-burners, complete with some special guests: Happy Mondays" legend Rowetta contributing fervent gospel vocals to "In Ecstasy", Laura McClure of Reverend & The Makers on the folky-pop of "Tripping With You" and Peter Doherty, who duets with Witter on the dramatic closer "Throwaways". Shed Seven emerged as one of the big hitters during the heyday of Britpop, their catalogue of classic singles leading to seven Top 20 hits including "Going For Gold", "Chasing Rainbows", "Disco Down" and "On Standby" as well as four Top 10 albums. Their popularity has continued since reforming in 2007, with 2017"s "Instant Pleasures" album debuting at #8 - their highest-charting record in eighteen years. 2024 will mark 30 years since Shed Seven"s debut, Change Giver, and A Matter Of Time demonstrates that the band are at the very top of their game and the journey is far from nearing its end.
The Debut album from Finnish band Graven Sin is a modern classic of godly, Doom-laden Heavy Metal. Veil of The Gods is etched in granite via Svart Records on November 2023 Pristine new Finnish band Graven Sin stomp proudly on the shoulders of giants with their ravishing debut album, Veil of The Gods. Immaculate Heavy Metal, expertly delivered with stunning finesse and elegant Doom perfection, Veil of The Gods is a classic in the making. Rarely has a new band sounded so timeless, serving up a godly platter of first-class Heavy Metal, that Graven Sin seem chiselled in granite to sit side by side at a table with the greats from the very get go. From the galloping charge of opening barn-stormer Morrigan, with jaw dropping solo guitars courtesy of riff master Ville Pystynen, the epic and anthemic She Who Rules Niflheim with soaring vocals from Greek vocalist Nicholas Leptos to the formidable double bass canter of Ville Markkanen’s drums on songs like Beyond Mesopotamia, Graven Sin knows the true riddle of steel. Throughout Veil of The Gods’ eleven cast-iron tracks, we can trace veins of recent Finnish greats such as Sentenced, Amorphis, Reverend Bizarre or their nordic counterparts Grand Magus from Sweden, but there is much more at play here. Graven Sin offers up heavy, doom laden orthodox Heavy Metal in the true, chugging, monumental sense of the term. The knowledge and prowess of Heavy Metal craft on display in Veil of The Gods is second to none, from the Maidenesque command of melody to the swarthy Manowar rhythms, herculean Deep Purple keys and Messiah like Candlemass-rich voice of astonishing vocalist Leptos, these are songs to be inscribed into stone tablets. Where pitch dark mythical themes and occult leanings of the lyrics bring to mind the Heavy Metal running through Black Metal bands like Dissection, the song arrangements swing from gallop to thundering, head-banging mid-sections with such magnificence, you would think you were in the hands of a band with decades of heritage behind their backs. A “where have you been all my life moment” awaits Heavy Metal fans of all shades when Graven Sin hits the speakers, delivering a sound that cuts glass and steel. A refreshing tour–de-force through everything Heavy Metal is loved for, not shrinking from the dark but embracing it with gusto and fierce bravado. Veil of The Gods shows us that real metal lives forever, if crafted with true spirit and belief. Hear the cry of the seer of doom, by heeding Morrigan’s call now: Ville Pystynen - guitar, bass Nicholas Leptos - vocals Ville Markkanen - drums
The Debut album from Finnish band Graven Sin is a modern classic of godly, Doom-laden Heavy Metal. Veil of The Gods is etched in granite via Svart Records on November 2023 Pristine new Finnish band Graven Sin stomp proudly on the shoulders of giants with their ravishing debut album, Veil of The Gods. Immaculate Heavy Metal, expertly delivered with stunning finesse and elegant Doom perfection, Veil of The Gods is a classic in the making. Rarely has a new band sounded so timeless, serving up a godly platter of first-class Heavy Metal, that Graven Sin seem chiselled in granite to sit side by side at a table with the greats from the very get go. From the galloping charge of opening barn-stormer Morrigan, with jaw dropping solo guitars courtesy of riff master Ville Pystynen, the epic and anthemic She Who Rules Niflheim with soaring vocals from Greek vocalist Nicholas Leptos to the formidable double bass canter of Ville Markkanen’s drums on songs like Beyond Mesopotamia, Graven Sin knows the true riddle of steel. Throughout Veil of The Gods’ eleven cast-iron tracks, we can trace veins of recent Finnish greats such as Sentenced, Amorphis, Reverend Bizarre or their nordic counterparts Grand Magus from Sweden, but there is much more at play here. Graven Sin offers up heavy, doom laden orthodox Heavy Metal in the true, chugging, monumental sense of the term. The knowledge and prowess of Heavy Metal craft on display in Veil of The Gods is second to none, from the Maidenesque command of melody to the swarthy Manowar rhythms, herculean Deep Purple keys and Messiah like Candlemass-rich voice of astonishing vocalist Leptos, these are songs to be inscribed into stone tablets. Where pitch dark mythical themes and occult leanings of the lyrics bring to mind the Heavy Metal running through Black Metal bands like Dissection, the song arrangements swing from gallop to thundering, head-banging mid-sections with such magnificence, you would think you were in the hands of a band with decades of heritage behind their backs. A “where have you been all my life moment” awaits Heavy Metal fans of all shades when Graven Sin hits the speakers, delivering a sound that cuts glass and steel. A refreshing tour–de-force through everything Heavy Metal is loved for, not shrinking from the dark but embracing it with gusto and fierce bravado. Veil of The Gods shows us that real metal lives forever, if crafted with true spirit and belief. Hear the cry of the seer of doom, by heeding Morrigan’s call now: Ville Pystynen - guitar, bass Nicholas Leptos - vocals Ville Markkanen - drums
This is the first official reissue of The Candles Burning Blue’s highly appraised cult album Pearls Given To The Swine. For two decades the original CD pressing has been sought after but nearly impossible to find. Known for their violent and chaotic gigs, The Candles Burning Blue were an unconventional Gothic Rock band. Instead of romantic beauty they dealt with the harsher aspects of the darkness oozing from their own troubled lives. Even though they only released two CD-r, a split 7” and one full album, their impact on the Finnish Goth underground was a lasting one. Pearls Given To The Swine was recorded in 2000 and released in 2001 on CD, with only 500 official copies pressed. Some years later new copies appeared from shady sources, but basically the album disappeared from the face of the Earth. In 2001 the band started to work on the second album Pleasure Dome and also had some material recorded for the projected third album Abhorrence, but ceased to exist before any of this material was released. Until now. This reissue has a full length bonus disc consisting of these songs. The Candles Burning Blue had its roots firmly in Gothic Rock as performed by bands like Bauhaus, Christian Death, Virgin Prunes and The Cure, but they mixed in elements of experimentalism and art rock. Pearls Given To The Swine is a lost and found classic of Finnish Gothic Rock, and a fine example of Finnish dark culture around the turn of the millennium. Members went on to play in bands like Reverend Bizarre, The Puritan, Werwolf Lodge and Opium Warlords, but never reunited.
Joel Paterson has been a mainstay of the Chicago roots music scene for
over twenty years, playing with many bands and showcasing his unique
blend jazz, blues, rockabilly, country and western swing
'Wheelhouse Rag' is a 14- track collection of original rags and country blues on
solo, finger picking acoustic guitar.
The all- acoustic, 1920's- tinged 'Wheelhouse Rag' may at first seem like a
departure in genre for the guitarist - he is predominantly known for his
instrumental multitracked recordings reminiscent of Les Paul and Chet Atkins -
Joel learned to play guitar by ear from the records of acoustic legends such as
Blind Blake, Robert Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, and Big Bill Broonzy. He later
expanded his repertoire to include techniques of the thumb-picking giants Merle
Travis and Chet Atkins. These influences can be heard throughout the album,
mixed in with many more twists and turns from the mind of the artist, to bring
you, 'Wheelhouse Rag:' the original fingerstyle guitar instrumentals of Joel
Paterson.
Original fingerstyle guitar rag and country blues instrumentals by in-demand
Chicago roots guitarist Joel Paterson, who has played with Cactus Blossoms, JD
McPherson, Kelley Hogan, and more, bringing his unique blend of jazz, blues,
rockabilly, and country & western style to the mix.
RIYL: Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Reverend Gary Davis, Cactus Blossoms, Pokey
LaFarge, Merle Travis
"Guitarist Paterson's free-ranging music defies easy categorization. He addresses
classic country, blues and Tin Pan Alley tunes as timeless works that reward
repeated listening." - Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune"Of all the "vintage" artists
injecting new life into bygone styles with originality and a sense of humor, Joel
Paterson just might top the list." - Dan Forte, Vintage Guitar Magazine
Für Sorcery hat sich DeJohnette mit einer Riege virtuoser Bandkollegen zusammengetan, darunter Veteranen der Bitches Brew-Sessions von Miles Davis (Bassist Dave Holland) und der Headhunters-Band von Herbie Hancock (Bennie Maupin).
Diskursiv, meditativ, trippig, aber geerdet in geschmackvollen Grooves (der Deep-Digger-Drum-Break ”Epilog”) und durchzogen von Hendrix-auf-Jazz-Steroiden-Gitarren von den 6-Saiten-Helden John Abercrombie und Mick Goodrick sowie der seiner Zeit vorausgehenden elektronischen Verarbeitung von DeJohnette.
Die erste umfassende Neuauflage seit der Veröffentlichung des Albums im Jahr 1974 ab dem 14.07.2023 als Ltd. 1LP verfügbar.
Das 1972 veröffentlichte Album ”Swaddling Songs” ist das einzige Studioalbum der irischen ProgressiveFolk-Band ”Mellow Candle” und ist bekannt für seine vielschichtigen Gesangsharmonien und komplexen Arrangements. Im Laufe der Zeit wurde das Album zu einem Klassiker der Progressive-Folk-Szene.
Ab dem 23.06.2023 als limitierte 1LP über verfügbar.
Red Vinyl
"Platinum Scatter is a trip along the fringes of music that could still be classified as drum and bass but without the obvious markings of the genre while meeting and merging with forms of techno or music from the wider bass spectrum. I designed this album to be something of a focused journey that should work equally as a cerebral listening experience as much as it should function in clubs. I consider this to be my most conceptual body of work to date, and I hope that you will enjoy its approach to multi-layered rhythms and minimal but striking forms."
- Current Value
In four short years of existence, Green Lung have risen from the murk of the UK heavy underground to become a true cult band with a devoted following. Debut album Woodland Rites, released independently in early 2019, quickly garnered attention, resulting in a single being named ‘Track of the Week’ in the Guardian, plays on Daniel P. Carter’s Radio One Rock Show, a tour with fellow UK heavies Puppy and festival appearances across Europe. This brought the band to the attention of the wider music industry, and after multiple offers (including one from a major label) the band decided to stay true to their roots and sign with the Finnish audio wizards at Svart Records, home to several of their doomy inspirations including Reverend Bizarre and Warning. Svart’s deluxe reissue of the album, and the preceding EP Free the Witch,sold out several runs. Two years later, the folk horror-obsessed fivesome have re-emerged from their mulchy catacombs armed with dozens of freshly-whittled riffs. Black Harvest, the sequel to Woodland Rites, is a more colourful, widescreen reimagining of the band’s sound - Dawn of the Dead to its predecessor’s Night of the Living. Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in rural mid-Wales over the course of two weeks with longtime producer Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad), it’s a more expansive and textured record than anything the band have done before, boasting a cinematic quality and more attention to detail.
Greetings from Buddhist synth pop hell - Sami "Albert Witchfinder" Hynninen joins forces with Finnish hip hop maverick Olli Hänninen A chance meeting in Hell? No! It was destined to happen: Hip hop maverick Olli Hänninen (Ronskibiitti, Hammaspeikko) teaming up with Doom Metal eccentric Sami Hynninen (Opium Warlords, Reverend Bizarre) to create alternative rhythm music unlike anything that has existed before. Hänninen and Hynninen take a trip to eighteen chambers of Buddhist Hell to reflect on the cold and violent world that surrounds us every day. The music stretches from experimental drones through jazz and marching music to bona fide synth pop, but do not try to label this album. It is impossible. It follows only its own laws. It can caress you or hit you in the head, but it never loses its intensity. Imagine a sober but psychotic COIL, or DAF with a shotgun, and you are not even close. The ambient elements and rhythm tracks defining the tone of each chamber morph together everything from weird crackle boxes, self-made anti-instruments and field recordings of a malfunctioning supermarket wicket or unorthodox paving block structures under a luggage trolley, to noisiest distortion and analogue delay effects on a mindlessly abused electric guitar. It is NOT Rock, it is NOT Metal it is just Alternative
WRWTFWW Records and MEG Museum (Geneva) are ecstatic to announce a new full length album by celebrated Japanese percussionist Midori Takada (Through The Looking Glass), in collaboration with Buddhist monks belonging to the Samgha group of the Shingon school of Koya-san, led by Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa. You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana is available on half speed mastered vinyl LP, housed in a 350gsm sleeve, with OBI, and liner notes, as well as on digipack CD.
Recorded at The Premises Studio (London) and in Tokyo in 2019,You Who are Leaving to Nirvana is a majestic work combining a suite of six Buddhist liturgical chants and a musical creation by Midori Takada. The Buddhist chants come from three types of repertoires: shomyo ("Teisan", "Unga-Bai", "Sange", "Taiyo"), but also goeika ("Kannon-Daiji") and mantra ("Hannya-Singyo").
After supervising the recording of the Buddhist chants, Midori Takada added her own compositions, with subtle layers of percussion and the melodies of her beloved marimba, giving full life to the sacred texts.
Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa explains: "Shomyo is a form of declamation of sacred esoteric texts, inherited over many generations. The power of words goes far beyond their mere pronunciation. I think there is something that words alone cannot really convey. If I recite prayers in a musical way, the feeling transmitted will be even stronger than if I say it normally, in everyday language. I think that the musicality of a work carries a hidden power that cannot be expressed in words alone. The setting of the music has an additional power for you and for those around you who listen to it. The words of a song are not just words set to music. They carry an additional hidden power that cannot be expressed in any other way. Listening to Midori Takada's musical performance, the words truly seem to come alive."
Original recordings of the Buddhist chants are held in the International Archives of Folk Music (IAFM) at the MEG Museum in Geneva.
The album sleeve features an artwork by famed Japanese sculptor Katsura Funakoshi selected by Midori Takada.
You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana is released in conjunction with Midori Takada's Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter, also available on LP and CD on WRWTFWW Records.
