Current 93: Invocations of Almost Album Discussion

I was first turned on to the music of David Tibet and Current 93 around 2015 with the double reissue of Swastikas for Noddy and Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God. I was blown away by those albums, but since Tibet had been releasing projects since the early to mid '80s, I had a lot to catch up on. As a new convert to the church of Current 93, there's still a lot to learn in Tibet's incredibly cryptic and esoteric world building, revolving around Gnosticism, Aleister Crowley, ancient manuscripts, and dead languages, but he has been making it a little easier in the past few years. Along with releasing 3 (!) new albums last year, The Stars on Their Horsies, The Light is Leaving us All, and the collaboration with Zu, Mirror Emperor, David Tibet has also been slowly trickling out vinyl reissues of his past work for new and old fans alike (still waiting on that All the Pretty Little Horses vinyl, though). So, it is in this maelstrom of prolific activity that Tibet has graced us with Invocations of Almost, an art installation of his paintings, along with an accompanying soundtrack (he also has a fashion line coming out with a Russian apparel company, but I digress). As much as I'd love to zip over to the West coast to see his art, I'll be stuck in Pennsylvania for now, but I'll still share my opinions on its deeply unsettling backdrop.

This installation art reminds me a lot of earlier Current 93 such as Nature Unveiled, what with its chanting samples, ghostly singing, drones, and sonic nightmares. The majority of the album is pretty unsettling, though quite ambient, as you are meant to be focusing a lot on the paintings, though David Tibet does recite some deadpan esoteric prose that borders on ASMR at points. I really have to give props to Andrew Liles (or who I am to assume is Andrew Liles, since this album has no credits) for the soundscapes that are created during the hour runtime. I feel like he comes close to rivaling Steven Stapleton in the creepy electronic soundscape department, as he even manages to inject some dread back into Chopin's funeral march, which has been a cartoon staple since cartoons had sound. While on the subject of Stapleton, I get some Nurse with Wound vibes from this project as well, and while he contributed heavily to Current 93 in the past, I don't feel like Steven Stapleton ever painted with a more horrifying sonic palette when he was left to his own devices. 

While being pretty weird and unsettling, I also feel like this album goes through a decent amount of moods. It can also be soothing, meditative, and thought provoking. Upon the first few listens, I have yet to fully digest Tibet's poetry, though to be honest, his poetry is a lot like William Blake's to me; highly coded and borderline indecipherable, but evocative and beautiful nonetheless.

Though Davit Tibet treats this, among other albums like the aforementioned The Stars on Their Horsies as somewhat of stop gap albums, I feel like these efforts are almost just as essential since it displays Current 93 at their most unfiltered and experimental. As for the future, David Tibet and Andre Liles have formed a new group, Nodding God, and plan to release their debut, Play Wooden Child, in the spring via House of Mythology. This record, inspired by the duo's shared interest in cuneiform and and the occult, will feature lyrics sung entirely in Akkadian, the oldest known Semitic language and language of Mesopotamia. They are reaching into ancient territory for this release, and I am quite looking forward to it, though I will now have an excuse when I have no idea what Tibet is talking about.

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Swans: What is This? Album Discussion

In preparation for the new Swans album, and to help finance it, Michael Gira recently released this collection of demos, titled What is This? He has released fundraising albums for the last four Swans studio albums, as well as a collection of acoustic cuts, I am Not This, and the live album Deliquesence, which I'm sure helped cover the cost of reissuing and remastering the gargantuan Soundtracks for the Blind on vinyl. Going into it, having purchased the last few fundraiser albums, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. These tracks are bare bones, so I won't really be doing a formal review until they show up in an album proper, but I figured I might share my thoughts on the ten tracks and give my predictions on how Michael Gira and company will build on these demos in the studio.

'Leaving Meaning'- Initially turning up in their live set as the end of their track, 'The Knot', this song builds on some repetitive phrasing that's become pretty common in Swans lyrics. The lines this time consist on variations of, "I can ___ it, but not ___ it". The song is softly sung over some simple strummed guitar chords. As for my predictions for the album, I see the group really stretching this track out,which given the list scheme wouldn't be difficult, creating a very hypnotic and instrumentally dense song along the lines of one of their lengthier tracks from their last three records.

'The Hanging Man'- The track begins with the acoustic guitar letting out some fast and methodical, almost locomotive emulating, strumming, followed by some sudden upward bending blasts of chords. This song is definitely a showcase for Michael Gira's vocal eccentricities. For my predictions, I feel like this song could be a more methodical version or 'Oxygen', with Gira's vocals reaching almost freakish levels. The delivery was already pretty strange on the demo, so the studio version could go even further.

'Amnesia'- This is a reworking and new arrangement of the song first heard on Love of Life, though there are some other versions floating around as b-sides or compilation tracks. This version takes a more contemplative and mournful approach than those versions, and I predict it'll stay pretty stripped back when taken into the studio, albeit with some upped sound quality and maybe a few added bells and whistles to help accentuate the mood.

'The Nub'- Jennifer Gira sings this haunting tune, backed by some sour and creepy chords. She sings about floating, nursing and feeding, among other weird imagery. I liked her contribution, and I feel like this will be this album's 'When Will I Return?'; stripped back, but eerie and powerful.

'Cathedrals of Heaven'- This song spews forth a lot of strange imagery (drinking from skulls, peeling of skin, lyming fields, etc.) over a repeating guitar figure. It also repeats a line a lot. "Who (or what) made us like this?" I feel like this will be made a lot more instrumentally dense, plodding, and there's probably a lot of depth to be mined out of this repeating and hypnotic tune.

'Sunfucker'- This song has some weirdly upbeat instrumentation, with its guitar strumming and bursts of chords taking place in some vaguely major keys. The lyrics about surrender, strange leaders, and the repetition of "why am I on this earth?" tell a different story. This song is pretty weird and surreal even in demo form, and I feel like it could have a pretty demented psychedelic feel when brought into the studio.

'What is This?'- The title of this song is pretty fitting, since I really can't get a reading on this song at all. Dark abstract lyrics are laid over some more hopeful guitar, repeating a quick, almost rolling figure. There's an instrumental swell near the end that could get pretty cacophonous in the studio version, but it's hard for me to tell where Gira and company might take this piece.

'My Phantom Limb'- When Michael Gira said the new Swans album would focus a lot more on words, my first thought went to something like this. A lot of this track borders on spoken word, like something from his story collections like The Egg or The Somniloquist. I also get some Jim Morrison vibes from his delivery here. I feel like this will probably stay pretty bare bones, just to allow the words to work their magic.

'Annaline'- This demo has actually been rattling around for a while, as it turned up on an earlier acoustic compilation, I am Not This. This track consists of a simple and pretty 4 note repeated guitar phrase. Gira's voice on this is weirdly soothing, but also makes you a little uncomfortable. I predict that this will stay a pretty laid back little ballad, maybe with some pretty orchestral arrangements or something to maintain the same aesthetic.

'It's Coming and It's Real'- This is another song with some pretty, slow strumming, calm and poetic vocals, and a mixture of beauty and ugliness that is unmistakably Swans. I feel like this could definitely be expanded with tons of more players, leading to the transcendental sound they've become known for in their later years.


I'll definitely be waiting for the new Swans album, and this demos collection did a lot to stoke my anticipation. It'll definitely keep me guessing, and I'll try to avoid Michael Gira's studio updates until the record drops, just to be surprised at what the band has done to these skeletal arrangements. I'll just bury myself in other things until then. Maybe the Marco Porsia documentary on the band will be out by then.



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Albums in My Life: 2004

At the end of 2004, I would start my freshman year of high school. I wasn't the hugest fan of high school. That probably isn't a feeling exclusive to me.


Arcade Fire- Funeral
I feel like this really blown out indie rock sound is the better of the two Arcade Fire eras. Every time I hear one of their newer songs, I always go back to the old stuff and realize how awesome they were. Tracks like 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)' and 'Wake Up' are still very powerful songs and I still love their wordless chorus on the latter, even though that sound really got co-opted. People killed the millenial whoop, but it was pretty cool in the beginning.




The Killers- Hot Fuss
There is not a single bad track on this album. If I ever listen to it, it's usually front to back. For a long time, I thought the Killers were a British band, just by the way Brandon Flowers sang. By the time Sam's Town came out, I was like "wait, they're from where?" I really enjoy their band of indie rock and some more dance and post punk elements. I really need to pick up a vinyl reissue of this record. I got one a while ago, but I got the British pressing, which swaps out one of my favorite Killers songs, 'Change Your Mind' for 'Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll'.



Morrissey- You are the Quarry
I definitely discovered Morrissey and the Smiths late, but when I did, I became pretty obsessed. I'd say this record is tied with Vauxhall and I as my favorite Morrissey solo record. I just love his song topics and his irreverence for the British monarchy, and for Christianity. 'I Have Forgiven Jesus' is a great song, and the title alone is enough to get under a lot of peoples' skin. I feel like Morrissey is the king of making interesting and provocative song titles.




My Chemical Romance- Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
This was the first My Chemical Romance record I ever heard, and it definitely got me into the whole pop punk/ emo thing. When I was in high school, I really only listened to older music (the Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd etc.) MCR and Linkin Park were the two bands that really got me to notice that good music was coming out in the present, too. Having not gotten into metal or any heavy stuff yet, I thought this was pretty hard. Listening back, it's still pretty chaotic in spots, but it's a lot more poppy than I remember, not that that's the worst thing in the world. It probably would have been to 13 or 14 year old me.



of Montreal- Satanic Panic in the Attic
I feel like this was a pretty significant turning point for of Montreal. They started using a lot more electronics and getting a little more dancey. Before they were doing a lot of twee pop or blown out vaudeville tributes, but this was going in a more keyboard influenced direction. This was also the point where Kevin Barnes starting recording most of the albums himself, with the band becoming more of a touring vehicle. Watching him talk about recording every drum separately on The Past is a Grotesque Animal was super interesting, and really showed that he wanted his vision to be translated to the listener exactly how he heard it in his head.



So, that's it for 2004. Before tackling the albums in my life of 2005, I'm probably going to share my thoughts on the new Swans fundraiser album, What is This? I'm not going to do an in depth review or anything, since it's a collection of demos and all, but I thought I might share my feelings on the tracks, and maybe make some predictions on what they might sound like when the full album drops.


"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."