Tibet/Stapleton Collabs and other Durtro Releases
The Tibet/Stapleton collaborations are pretty weak for the most part. I would recommend skipping The Sadness of Things (the thirty seconds excerpted on Emblems is about all you need of that one), Musical Pumpkin Cottage (the track on CFVF is all you need), Musikalishe Kurbs Hutte and Octopus (kind of entrancing, but ultimately boring).
The only thing you MIGHT want to get is the Current 93/Nurse With Wound collaboration:
Bright Yellow Moon LP/CD (2001)
Which definitely has its moments, but ultimately felt a bit deficient to me. It's good, though, get it.
For other Durtro releases and artists, skip anything by Pantaleimon (it's Tibet's girlfriend doing boring crap...isn't nepotism great?).
Also don't worry about the Icelandic Eddas, the Tibetan chants, the Crystal Music or any of that crap. Also skip the Arthur Doyle free jazz release. The Shirley Collins and Tiny Tim CDs are also not representative of those artists, although the Tiny Tim CD has a cool collab with Stapleton and Tibet.
Get EVERYTHING by Antony and the Johnsons. He's wonderful. He's also good live, so even the couple of tracks he does on the C93/Antony Live at St. Olave's CD are worth checking out. But these are great:
Blue Angel CD (2002)
I Fell In Love With a Dead Boy CDEP (2003)
For United Durtro, both the Xhol Caravan and the Sand krautrock re-issues are worth checking out, but only if you are an enthusiast for rare groove/hairy 70's kraut-prog kind of stuff. The bonus disc included with the Xhol release has a great song by Current93.
As for the Tibet/Stapelton collabs I would agree that they are not worth hunting down.
For Musical Pumpkin, yes the CFVF serves well.
I think Octopus is skippable, for the bits I like on it are done better on Introduction To Suffering tracks 6,8,10. (the only really worthwhile tracks on that release).
Bright Yellow Moon I haven't bothered to listen to that much, it didn't grab me.
As for the C93 Presents albums, they bear no resemblance to C93 so you probably only want to buy if the subject matter interests you.
Tiny Tim I did not like. I have wondered about Shirley Collins though, are you saying some of her other releases are worthwhile?
I didn't like the Antony and the Johnsons on Immortal Bird single, but was quite taken with his tracks on St Olave's Church ep. Unfortunately WSD doesn't seem to have his stuff anymore.
What about Baby Dee? Someone else Tibet quite likes.
Tibet/Stapleton Collabs and other Durtro Releases
I disagree. I think musical pumpkin & the sadness of things are both great. I was very dissapointed with BYM.
NewObject23
Unregistered User
(3/31/04 11:34 pm) Reply
Tibet/Stapleton Collabs and other Durtro Releases
>Tiny Tim I did not like.
Tiny Tim is a terrific artist, especially if you are interested in "outsider music," often called naive music or "real people" music. He is an idiosyncratic performer with a repertoire of literally thousands of old-fashioned songs and a delicate artistic sensibility. However, the Durtro release collects some of his weakest material and seems a little exploitative in general. Although "Just What Do You Mean by Antichrist?" with Tibet and Stapleton is pretty cool.
>I have wondered about Shirley Collins though, are you >saying some of her other releases are worthwhile?
Shirley Collins is a wonderful artist, one of the best of the 60's British folk revival. Should appeal to fans of Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, John Renbourne, Vashti Bunyan, etc. Check out her newly remastered and rereleased album "Love, Death and the Lady" - that's probably the best. Also great is the 4CD box set "Within Sound" but that's a bit more of an investment.
>What about Baby Dee? Someone else Tibet quite likes.
I forgot about Baby Dee. I personally liked her three releases on Durtro, all of which I own. Incredibly fragile and precious delivery with minimal piano backing and recorded bird calls. Lots of songs about childhood akwardness, family incest, naive religious viewpoints. However, I think it is definitely an acquired taste and not as immediately likable as Antony's amazingly skilled jazz vocals and string arrangements.
Re: Tibet/Stapleton Collabs and other Durtro Releases
Regarding Shirley Collins, I second NewObject23's recommendation. She is one of the most traditional-sounding of the poppy English folk revivalists who emerged in the sixties (see also the underrated Anne Briggs), generally sticking to acoustic instrumentation until her latter (and much less interesting) 'folk rock' phase. Her major innovation (actually her sister's) was the decision to use an Early Music consort as accompaniment on the two major albums 'Anthems In Eden' and 'Love, Death & the Lady'. The faux-mediaevalist arrangements for sackbuts, crumhorns, viols, etc are of course completely contrived; these instruments were historically associated with aristocratic Mediaeval/Renaissance courts, while Collins' songs, although traditional, generally date from around the early nineteenth century and were associated with working class popular musical culture. This curious fusion leads to a unique mythical vision of 'Albion' which exists purely in fantasy; i.e. an achievement similar to Tibet's later work. I think 'Of Ruine...' could be compared to 'Love, Death & the Lady' in many ways. Both Collins's and Tibet's voices are extremely haunting, but obviously in different ways.
The Shirley Collins material on Durtro is less important stuff from her later years, and the recent 4CD box set is a mishmash which breaks up the albums, which are perhaps better sought individually. For anyone who has heard Collins's haunting voice and seeks something in similar territory, another relevant name is that of June Tabor, who emerged towards the end of the 70s. She oscillates between traditional and less appealing poppy material, but I highly recommend the recent album 'An Echo of Hooves' (Topic). It is effectively in the same sort of orbit as David Tibet.
I may post some threads about some of Tibet's other influences, since Early English Music is a specialist subject of mine.
Edited by: indarknessletmedwell at: 4/1/04 12:03 am
trees hold time
& "thomas' house in quiet contemplation" is the kind ov songs to be listened in loops, putting your "repeat" function to death - a marvellous piece...
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