1 | September 1999 (i) | 22:02 |
2 | Just Before Christmas (i) | 3:30 |
2 | Just Before Christmas (ii) | 5:43 |
4 | Just Before Christmas (iii) | 10:54 |
5 | September 1999 (ii) | 3:30 |
6 | Just Before Christmas (iv) | 4:34 |
7 | Just Before Christmas (v) | 16:33 |
First digital version of long sold out first full-length vinyl outing from this British free music collective, featuring Neil Campbell (A-Band, Total, Sunroof!, numerous solo releases), Julian Bradley (Negative Kite), Bridget Hayden, Michael Flowers, and Adam Davenport.
“…two sides of gloriously ethereal ambient-drone epiphanies that reveal an ensemble remarkably adept at building melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic intensity without ever prompting the listener to think that they are repeating themselves.” – Kevin Lian-Anderson, One Final Note
“…the triumphant glee of turning a Glenn Branca E chord-only symphony into an Eastern psychedelic free for all.” – Jim Haynes, The Wire
“…one of the finest organic ebb ‘n’ flo moments I’ve EVER heard.” – Steve Hanson,Ptolemaic Terrascope
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Tracklisting:
1. September 1999 (i)
2. Just Before Christmas 1999 (i)
3. Just Before Christmas 1999 (ii)
4. Just Before Christmas 1999 (iii)
5. September 1999 (iv)
6. Just Before Christmas 1999 (iv)
7. Just Before Christmas 1999 (v)
Available as a 320k MP3 or 16bit FLAC download
Vibracathedral Orchestra are one of the cornerstones of contemporary British outsider music, their sonic palette drawing equally from rock, folk and experimental music. They have forged a reputation over the past 20 years playing long intense sets of free-riffing kaleidoscopic instant composition, heavy on transcendental string drones and wild percussive clatter. Their membership and elastic supporting cast over the years has been an unrivalled whoís-who of the UK audio underground, currently solidified as the stable quintet of Adam Davenport, John Godbert, Julian Bradley, Michael Flower and Neil Campbell.
"Slowly, the scattered surfaces of insistent, intricate noises in implacably revolving plateaus give way to strange, imaginary vistas ... the abandoned roof of a crumbling tower block overrun with climbing creepers affords a view over a forgotten city, submerged in jungly tendrils ... in a becalmed haze, turn to descend the tower beneath the surface of the green ... at first down worn corroded concrete stairs that become ever more thickly choked with vegetation ... until the easiest path is to step out through the twentieth-floor windows, long since absent of glass, supported by branches, stalks, thick leaves, a slow tumble through ever denser foliage until a headfirst, steady scramble downwards, suspended by forgiving green layers." - Owen Coggins