Four more albums as the cherry picking goes on (and on and on), this is a non-stop operation and there is no time for an editorial at the top of the page, we have places to be, paint to throw, holes to dig, more music to listen to. Last Friday, an ordinary day around here, saw 176 pieces of music submitted by bands, labels and their PR people. We do listen to everything, we do cherry pick though, and well sometimes question things, we could actually do a lot more of that if there was time and yes I know this was all said last week but who reads the bit of the top? Go explore the music…
Circuit des Yeux – Halo On The Inside (Matador) – Last Autumn, when Circuit des Yeux released the one-off single God Dick, she described the song as a passage leading from the past toward things to come. “It served a chrysalis function,” she wrote of the track, a piece of music that did indeed “morph between orchestral grandeur and shuddering electronic percussion”. Leaning in deeper, Fohr called it, “A love banshee bursting through porcelain skin one hair at a time until, finally, the beast within is fully on display.” Halo On The Inside is the new album from Circuit des Yeux (aka Haley Fohr, aka CdY).
Halo On The Inside is a lush full bodied album, a deliciously dark album in terms of the theatrical sound, a deep bath of warmth, rhapsodic indeed, hedonistic maybe, there’s tales waiting to be discovered, to be explored, to maybe get lost in? A bit of an almost operatic dramatic goth thing, pagan undertones or is that more a reflection? Beautifully sung, deliciously voiced, powerfully so, a warm wall of sound and emotion. Always inviting, never abrasive, nothing that pushes anyone away and if you could wrap you arms around me and well, if all that sounds like your thing then here’s the link for more… Bandcamp
Kali Trio – The Playful Abstract (Ronin Rhythm Records) – Seems like ages ago that we previewed the Swiss band’s new album, it finally came out this week. The band are Nicolas Stocker (drums and electronics), Urs Müller (guitar) and Raphael Loher (piano and electronics). “Kali Trio’s aim is to create a cosmos where the sound of the whole overrides any individual musicianship. Whether working with composed or improvised material, they follow their intuition in a world where minimal, ambient, jazz and electronic music are just variations of a common language”. It is minimal, minimally different though, and if jazz is part of their language, then it is a tranquil, ambient jazz, a lowly moving quietly evolving, gently bubbling, yes, some of it does sound like lava lamp music. The Playful Abstract is a refreshing album, a cleansing thing, transcendent, a state of mind you might say and it does require the listener to be in that right time and space. It does feel Oriental, precise, pointedly clean refreshing rain on a tin roof, cooling, cleansing…
The Below – Immutable Behaviour (Accelerating Blue Fish) – Industrial yes, plenty of industrial clanking and banging, properly industrial, rather different though, darkly dramatic, dare we say theatrical? A Swedish industrial post-punk thing is how they describe it. The Below are about to release Immutable Behaviour at the end of February, the album combines the band’s two seemingly well received 2024 EPs – Immutable Decay and Behaviour in Public Places – one EP featured on each side of the vinyl and available as a limited edition semi-transparent dark smoke vinyl if that’s important? The LP will also be accessible on all digital platforms. Have they got something of a Residents feel in there? It all seems rather bleak, they talk of delivering “a raw and politically charged message”, more observation then message really, basically telling us what we know already, everything is up shit creek. They deliver it with intense percussion and unrelenting energy as they highlight “themes of corruption and environmental degradation, painting a grim portrait of humanity on the brink” and sing of things like “the harrowing reality of living in bomb shelters during the Russian invasion of Ukraine”. The whole thing is driven by the sharp percussive sounds of theatrical scrap metal and well, a bag of laughs it isn’t as The Below juggle the juxtaposing of eerie harmonies and harsh industrial textures. They’re not singing of love and flowers and things that don’t explode and it is almost a relief to turn off their intensity and grab a breath or two. Don’t get the wrong idea though, as global noise attacks go this a good one, this is industrially theatrically good, it’s just that it really is so so damn bleak and do we really need to be reminded just how dark and bleak things are right now?
The Below is actually a solo project by the bass player/sound engineer from the infamous industrial experimentalists Dr. Evil & The Boys From Below, guest vocalists of the two EPs, Aaron Sutcliffe and Jesper Hanning adding slight different shades of darkness.
And on we go….
Children of The Night – Children of The Night (Mannequin Records) – Mexican techno producer Alejandro Barba aka Dellarge, and French documentary and film music producer Pierre Labret are a duo with music rooted in dark, cinematic soundscapes that draws from classic horror and psychological thrillers. We did mention this release a day or so back and promised to dig a little further in. And here we are really rather enjoying what is essentially an album of old school synth driven meaty instrumental pieces that sound like classic horror film soundtrack pieces, you know the thing, John Carpenter, Goblin. Not sure if the duo are bringing anything that new or different to the party, they do their thing rather well though, very well actually, really really well and what more needs to be said?
The Children of The Night debut self-titled album, released 21st February via Mannequin Records, “masterfully combines dark, atmospheric elements with driving electronic rhythms, drawing heavily from the worlds of classic horror and psychological thrillers. The result is a collection of soundscapes that are as eerie as they are captivating, creating an immersive and haunting listening experience. The album stands as an unconventional horror soundtrack for a film that never came to be – a tribute to the legendary Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco, known for his prolific work in the exploitation and horror genres”.
And here’s this month’s evolving playlist fo those who do that kind of thing…
THE ORGAN 
One response to “ORGAN: Albums – The richness of Circuit des Yeux’s Halo On The Inside, Kali Trio’s The Playful Abstract, The Below and some theatrical industrialness, Children of The Night’s dark horror film soundtracks and…”
[…] Circuit Des Yeux and more of that new album that we’ve already reviewed – ORGAN: Albums – The richness of Circuit des Yeux’s Halo On The Inside, Kali Trio’s The Playful… Here’s the link for more on the album that is actually released this Friday March 14th, […]