Soft Black Stars | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1998 | |||
Length | 54:00 | |||
Label | Durtro | |||
Producer | Michael Cashmore, Andria Degens, Christoph Heemann, Steven Stapleton, David Tibet | |||
Current 93 chronology | ||||
|
Soft Black Stars is an album by Current 93. The title refers to an image found in "Teatro Grottesco", a story by Thomas Ligotti. Virtually all of the music on this album was written and adapted by Michael Cashmore, David Tibet and Maja Elliott[ citation needed ] with the exception of "Judas as Black Moth", "A Gothic Love Song" and "Whilst The Night Rejoices Profound And Still"; the music for these songs was written by Michael Cashmore. Almost all of the songs feature only David Tibet's lyrics accompanied by minimalistic piano music: with the exception of "Judas as Black Moth" which is solo piano and "Chewing on Shadows" consist of drones, piano, guitar and David Tibet's singing. The artwork was made by David Tibet. "Chewing on Shadows" was released in a different form on vinyl and it was included in the album's CD re-issue in 2005. In 2003, a live album was released called Some Soft Black Stars Seen Over London which contained live versions for seven of the album's songs. In 2017 a sheet-music version was released, including all the piano and vocal parts from the original recording.
A five-minute pause was placed between the original and vinyl versions of "Chewing on Shadows" on the reissued album.
All listings are given as per the accompanying booklet.
Later editions featured a slightly different list of participants. Most notably being the fact that Christoph Heemann was no longer credited for swirl. Violin was now also referred to as ghost violin.
Printed music for piano and voice was released in 2017 by Terentyev Music Publishing Company. The digital version is the complete music transcription of the album, including all the piano and vocal parts. The printed version contains piano notation and the lyrics (but not the vocal lines) and provides a complete overview of which melodies and harmonies each song from Soft Black Stars should be improvised around, “to make your own stars” as David Tibet writes. The press-release says “It was, indeed, in this way that the Soft Black Stars were created during the recording sessions and in concerts. [1] ”
The copies were hand-numbered on the last page under an illustration which David Tibet made for the piano book.
"Soft Black Stars" has been covered by Antony and the Johnsons.
The Offspring is the debut studio album by American rock band the Offspring, released on June 15, 1989, by Nemesis Records. After being out of print for years, the album was re-released by Nitro and Epitaph Records in 1995 with a different album cover. Both the re-releases on the two respective labels are nearly identical. The Offspring has rarely played any songs from this album live since the Ignition tour finished in 1994.
Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member.
David Tibet is an English poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member.
Weasels Ripped My Flesh is the seventh studio album by the American rock group the Mothers of Invention, and the tenth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. It is the second album released after the Mothers disbanded in 1969, preceded by Burnt Weeny Sandwich. In contrast to its predecessor, which almost entirely focused on studio recordings of arranged compositions, Weasels Ripped My Flesh consists of a combination of live and studio recordings and features more improvisation.
Moody Blue is the twenty-fourth and final studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on July 19, 1977 by RCA Records, four weeks before his death. The album was a mixture of live and studio work, and included the four tracks from Presley's final studio recording sessions in October 1976 and two tracks left over from the previous Graceland session in February 1976. "Moody Blue" was a previously published hit song recorded at the earlier Graceland session and held over for this album. Also recorded at the February session was "She Thinks I Still Care". "Way Down" became a hit after Presley's death less than one month after this album's release. The album was certified Gold and Platinum on September 12, 1977, and 2× Platinum on March 27, 1992, by the RIAA.
Black and White is the third studio album by English new wave band the Stranglers. It was released on 12 May 1978, through record label United Artists in most of the world and A&M in America.
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse is the fifth studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released on 5 November 1982 by Polydor Records. The record marked a change of musical direction, as the group used strings for the first time and experimented in the studio. Guitarist John McGeoch played more instruments, including recorder and piano. For Julian Marszalek of The Quietus, the release proved the Banshees to be "one of the great British psychedelic bands."
Through the Looking Glass is the eighth studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. The album is a collection of cover versions. It was co-produced with Mike Hedges and released in March 1987 on Polydor. Through the Looking Glass was preceded by the single "This Wheel's on Fire". It was the second and final album recorded with guitarist John Valentine Carruthers. Some of their cover songs were praised by the original artists themselves.
Thunder Perfect Mind is an album by the English experimental group Current 93, released on 28 July 1992. It contains two tracks based on the Gnostic poem The Thunder, Perfect Mind, which also gave the album its name. Thunder Perfect Mind has a companion album by the same name recorded by Nurse With Wound, released at the same time, though the two albums have little in common with each other musically.
Stage is the second live album by English musician David Bowie, recorded on the Isolar II Tour, and released through RCA Records in 1978. Stage has been reissued numerous times, each with expanded track listings.
Michael Cashmore is an English composer and musician currently living in Berlin. He has created music under the name of Nature and Organisation since the early 1980s and more recently (2006) under his own name.
All the Pretty Little Horses (TheInmostLightItself) is an album by English band Current 93. It forms the second part of the Inmost Light trilogy; the first being 1995's Where the Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight) and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal). Unlike its bookends, All the Pretty Little Horses is a full-length album. Like the earlier Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre, All the Pretty Little Horses contains several songs based on repeating melodic themes. Lyrically, the album revolves around the ideas of pain and death, specifically as reflected in Patripassianist philosophy, along with the overarching concept of the "inmost light", or soul. In contrast, the music itself is some of Current 93's most traditional, relying heavily on acoustic guitar. Exceptions appear in the form of two spoken-word tracks: the ominous, drone-based round "Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil", and "Patripassian", backed mainly by a heavily treated loop of Carlo Gesualdo's Miserere.
Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight) is an EP by English band Current 93. It forms the first part of the Inmost Light trilogy; the second being 1996's All The Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal). The piece consists of David Tibet's spoken and whispered vocals over eerie noises and the "long shadows" loop, which is a sample of Alessandro Moreschi, the only castrato who made recordings, singing "Domine, Domine". Barely audible at the end of the piece is John Balance speaking the improvised phrase, "Why can't we all just walk away?" A 17-second excerpt of "The Frolic", from All the Pretty Little Horses, appears as a hidden track.
The Starres are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal) is an EP by the experimental music collective Current 93. It is the final part in the Inmost Light Trilogy, a cycle of three thematically related recordings released in 1995 and 1996. The Starres are Marching Sadly Home is the most experimental of the three, serving as an epilogue to the centerpiece album All the Pretty Little Horses and the introductory EP Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight). Like Long Shadows, The Starres is a lengthy, minimal piece with eerie loops and layered vocals; unlike Long Shadows, this piece features full, continuous lyrics. An a capella performance of the traditional song "All the Pretty Little Horses" is performed by Shirley Collins at the finale.
2nd Wind is the thirteenth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in 1991 on Warner Bros. Records. It reached number 118 on the Billboard 200 album chart. 2nd Wind includes the single "Change Myself" and was Rundgren's final album on a major label until 2004's Liars.
Halo is a live album by Current 93, released in 2004. The cover is a drawing by David Tibet, which reproduces the cover of The Moody Blues' 1971 album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.
Live At Saint Olave's Church was released in 2003 on the branch label PanDurtro of David Tibet's of Current 93's label Durtro.
"Feelin' Alright?", also known as "Feeling Alright", is a song written by Dave Mason of the English rock band Traffic for their eponymous 1968 album Traffic. It was also released as a single, and failed to chart in both the UK and the US, but it did reach a bubbling under position of #123 on the Billboard Hot 100. Joe Cocker performed a more popular rendition of the song that did chart in the U.S. Both Traffic's and Cocker's versions appear in the 2012 movie Flight. The song had also been featured in the 2000 film Duets, sung by Huey Lewis.
Banana Moon is the debut solo album by Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist and Gong leader Daevid Allen, released in July 1971 on the French BYG Actuel label. The album is sometimes referred to as Bananamoon and it was also reissued as a Gong album.
Island is a studio album by HÖH and Current 93, released in November 1991 through Durtro. It differs from much of Current 93's output due to its prominent use of synthesizers and ambient music. Some of the compositions also appear on HÖH's soundtrack for the film Children of Nature. The CD release of Island includes humorous bonus tracks.