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Rating:
Attending a concert by Current 93 is always a unique experience. The esoteric charm and the cult status that David Tibet has managed to build over the years is something unique. Personally, I had the opportunity to see the Current twice in Turin and Bologna in 2009 and 2010 during the tour promoting the album "Aleph At The Hallucinatory Mountains." Unfortunately, in Bologna, the atmosphere was ruined by a drunken individual who repeatedly insulted Tibet, causing him to temporarily suspend the concert. In any case, seeing Current 93 live is an experience I would recommend to everyone. Numerous live albums have been released by the Current: one of the best, in my opinion, remains the splendid "As The World Disappears," a record that captures the group in a moment of grace, featuring excellent recording and practically perfect performances filled with pathos. The material mainly comes from "Thunder Perfect Mind" and consecrates Current 93 as a sort of apocalyptic Incredible String Band. Among the various "live" albums I've listened to, I was particularly struck by "Halo" from 2005, a testimony of a fiery recording at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on October 9, 2003. The lineup for the occasion included some of the best musicians who have been part of Current 93, namely the brilliant Michael Cashmore on guitar, John Contreras on cello, Joolie Wood on violin, Graham Jeffery and Maja Elliott on piano, with David Tibet on vocals. One of the strengths of Tibet, unlike Douglas P., has always been his ability to surround himself with very talented collaborators. The cover borrows from the Moody Blues' "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour." On the other hand, Tibet has never hidden his interest in progressive rock music and the dark, acid folk of the '70s. In the past, he has declared his love for Comus, C.O.B., the Incredible String Band, the kraut Sand (of which he reintroduced "Golem"), Amon Duul II, and the Groundhogs.
The concert features 16 tracks that span the entire production of the Current, even revisiting a legendary album like "Imperium." The intro is entrusted to "Halo," characterized by the same vocal loop present in "Where The Long Shadows Fall." Then comes "Alone," which differs from the studio version present on "Imperium": Tibet's voice is spectral and dramatic, accompanied by the piano, succeeding in creating a palpable tension. The following "Mary Waits In Silence" is a classic ballad from "Thunder Perfect Mind": it is introduced by a Gregorian choir that gives the music a sulfurous setting, making it unique. "Calling For Vanished Faces II" always features the melancholic acoustic guitar of Michael Cashmore, another little gem that testifies to the golden period of "All The Pretty Little Horses." Then space is given to Maja Elliott with "The Sign In The Stars" from the minimal and refined "Soft Black Stars." Everything seems enveloped in a magical aura, Tibet and the group are in splendid form. "All This World Makes Blood" is another masterpiece from "Of Ruine Or Some Blazing Starre" while "Good Morning Great Moloch" is moving, introduced by the beautiful and sad cello of John Contreras. I love this track, one of the most beautiful from "Sleep has His House." With "Whilst The Night Rejoices Profound And Still," tender piano sounds are once again given space. "5 Hypnagogue 5" is haunted and intense, with Tibet increasingly the protagonist as a black minstrel. Then there's more space for a track from the masterpiece "Thunder Perfect Mind," namely "A Silence Song."
"Sleep Has His House" instead has a minimal structure, a testimony of a dark period and dedicated to the death of Tibet's father. After "4 Hypnagogue 4," the ritual continues with the classic, delicate, and mystical ballad "Fields Of Rape," accompanied by vocal loops. "So: This Empire Is Nothing" is another rediscovery from "All The Pretty Little Horses." The conclusion is entrusted to "Locust," a beautiful track that comes directly from "Imperium," played live here for the first time. The performance is spine-tingling and is accompanied by the satanic loops of "Nature Unveiled!"
"Halo" is a splendid album, the repertoire is fantastic and well-chosen. Everything is enveloped in an esoteric and quasi-religious atmosphere that gives the concert a particularly dark aura. A highly recommended album for the followers of the Current.
Tracklist and Lyrics
02 Alone (06:27)
whilst i thought i was climbing
i found myself descending
having lost my way let me go up
having lost my way let me go down
i have no other work to do
it would have been better
no to be the mother
it is sorrowful
when a son goes away
let alone
and when he dies
i watched quietly
when the grave was being dug
knowing that he won't come back
and i shall not be here
for much longer
even if i become
like a king or like the wind
never
never will death
stay away
but when he called me from above
neither voice nor word to say yes
we just quietly say yes to him
it is a debt
which must be paid
here is your flesh
take it from me
it seems to me
that you can't destroy it
having spent the day with pain
am i going to spend the night with pain?
this living to eat
is so tiring for me
i am feeling cold inside
let me go on seeking fire
even death is better
than this useless life
the mast of a ship
a nakedness
the leader of whores
sheds the female breast
he tramples down
the vast furnace
Godlike and piercing
binding and bitter
and cleaving asunder
bones bound together
and paleness breaking
and rending
abiding in a place
tending into nothingness
dampness tending onto corruption
corruption
corruption
corruption
and merchants in trembling
dragged down into horror
terrible and whirling
the dust in the palm
sublime circumcision
solitude and desolation
a goatherd unto lost
all destruction
grinding thin powder
withering and fading
the reaping-hook of dullness
earth thrown up
all flesh turn
the mountains are cast out
lions trembling with fury
thy braking in my barrenness
the destroyer of days
the silent lion
we know him fury
the death of flesh
he moves with a creeping motion
they destroy by the sky flame
of their smoky breath
the painbringers
they shriek with a
long
drawn
cry
03 Mary Waits in Silence (03:10)
I shall return no more
The sea covers me
To pick gold from the skies
I shall wait beneath the spaces
I shall return no more
Imperium et nihil
The silence has folded
Inside and out
And Mary waits in silence
Imperium nihil est
In the gap between
His thought and his word
Something is finished
And something is born
In the place where words cease
In the moment when
Actions no longer matter
Oh the sky may darken
The curtain tear
She shall wait
Silver dust falls from her hair
Waits a span or a time
Sketches of her life swirl
Around her silence silent
The sounds of her silence
The forms that they take
They cover me still
My fingers twist in pain
Words are finished
And I come swiftly
And with a vengeance
And Mary waits in silence
04 Calling for Vanished Faces II (05:05)
If only I could take all of you at once
I would take you for ever and ever and only so
Lose myself in you
And so I smile and skip green god like there
The picture of allrage all lust and wanton
The inmost night
And lay waste to the playgrounds
The concrete covers all
The grass sleeps and waits to rise again
It listens for the final trumpet of
The inmost light
And I clench my left hand
Then I open it
The Gods I loved
Are all dead pages metal signs all gone
Edward Alexander in some sadhome falls alone
And sees clearly now the inmost light
The sadness of the inmost light
The growl the grip an final sigh
Paint by numbers of the inmost light
The plastic form illusion
We just have time to swallow
Before the doorknock of the inmost light
He waits at the door he waits at the door
And if you see me try to grin and then I hide
Myself behind a ball
A sign I wish to play and run hideandseek
The sound is gay and full of joy
It masks the binding of our eyes
The scourge of all the bone fire burns
We hop and skip and trick and treat
Just watch your heart and soul and all
And watch your back
It's waiting there and smiling there
The inmost light
Unforgiving there the inmost night
So broken there the inmost light
Howling
The inmost light
Bad bad bad bad inmost night
05 The Signs in the Stars (03:11)
I had gathered some flowers
To lay upon your face
Though you were not gone
From the realm of the quick
I saw all the rainclouds
Being driven on forward
By horses long numbered
And featureless and free
And i wanted to call you a wife
Though I couldn't stop glancing at the signs
And the four heads of men
And all that they carried
And the four wombs of women
And all that they promised
And I wanted to write for you
Songs poems and bibles
Your face spotted with pearls
And hand-cuffed to Christ
But I couldn't stop watching the signs
I had seen the news
That the Trojan beast
Already and not yet
No longer near
Nor close at hand
Nor at the door
Is finally here
The great in the small
And I couldn't stop watching the signs in the stars
08 Whilst the Night Rejoices Profound and Still (04:27)
As we stared beyond the windows there
Over all the gardens
That have never been
And will never grow again
How long
How long
The shining winking stars
The clouds too high
So high
Pointing to some final star
The dull face of the sky
And the sound of the calling
Of the distant village bell
And all that
The sun is not enough for us
Any longer
And her smile
Though she wears her hat
And her cheery rays
Do not blanket with their glorious glare
The burning body
With distorted nimbus
I see too well
Just beyond my neighbour's house
It does not blank out
The last sigh of the soul
Whilst the night rejoices profound and still
At the edge of your street
Both shadow and destroyer
But not alas
The comforter
09 5 Hypnagogue 5 (02:40)
I was awake, dreaming
Of new dystopias to run to and hide within
And new faces to wear
And new bodies to inhabit
And new lies to guzzle
And how I loved
The moon, and its sheets of seeds
The moon tiding in your body
The smell of your blood breathing
And its taste in the sea in the south shining my feet
Till it seemed as if they were made of dew
And pearls of huge beauty
Whilst your mouse-like breath was
The hand upon my clock
And one each breath I came nearer
To my silly and shining end
11 Sleep Has His House (03:33)
This is in memory of my father.
All of your pain
All of your pleasure
All of your gain
All of your losses
All of your pastures
All of your fields
All of your plains
All of your bodies
All of your joys
All of your countries
All of your flags
All of your waters
All of your tunnels
All of your worlds
All of your seahorses
All of your breasts
All of your beasts
All of your distances
All of your colours
And all of your troubles
All of your rains
All of your comets
All of your moons
All of your birds
All of your rents
All of your marvels
All of your winds
And all of your nothings
All of your everythings
All of your gods
All of your angels
All of your masters
All of your slaves
All of your islands
And all of your waves
All your machines
And all of your dreams
And all of your laws
And all of your loves
And all of the dead
Have pity on the dead
All of the dead
Have pity on the dead
Have pity on the dead
Sleep has his house
Have pity on the dead
Sleep has his house
All your machines
And all of your dreams
All of your comets
And all of your moons
And all of your birds
And all of your rents
And all of your marvels
All of your winds
And all of your nothings
All of your everythings
All your machines
And all of your dreams
Have pity on the dead
Sleep has his house
Have pity on the dead
Sleep has his house
Overwhelm me
Overwhelm me
Sleep has his house
14 So: This Empire Is Nothing (03:30)
So: this Empire is nothing
Before me the green fields are stretched out
The broken body of a cat glows there
And the shimmering flies fall
This Empire is nothing
I said "I guess this isn't real"
This Empire is not real
I cannot hang words on the Silence
Everywhere God's goldenlight
S. said "You have appeared to me for a reason"
And I said to Her:
"Who do You say I am?"
Like One better before
15 The Death of the Corn (04:12)
Through the marshes
And through the filtering glades
Through the corn
And through the scything fields
The summer sun
Dances and rages
The summer sun
Flies burning into the light
And who shall die
At the death of the corn?
Rise, rise, rise
The sleeping giant awakes
He circles into circling
The wild Wild Hunt
Dawn dies at dusk
And Dolly banners are raised
For the death of the corn
They're sealed and shining
With the True Love Knot
And who shall lie
At the death of the corn?
Rise, rise, rise
Shifting the shapes
That bleed the mountains
You tear apart my body
The Corn King dies
Has died, he dies
And is dying still
He shall rise again
And sink back into earth
And who will cry
At the death of the corn?
Rise, rise, rise
And who will cry?
(The summer sun dances)
And who shall die?
(The summer sun dances)
The death of the corn
Rebirth and reborn
And the True Love Knot is found
In the death of the corn
And the True Love Knot is bound
In the death of the corn
And the True Love Knot is crowned
In the death of the corn
16 Locust (05:43)
what is all this love for
if we have to go out in the dark
lalalalalala
what joy we had
in the locust summer
what fires we lit
in the locust years
black hundreds
black thousands
lalalalalala
what joy we had
in the locust summers
what fires we lit
in the locust years
black hundreds
black thousands
rivers that run
rippled with red
ravaged and raped
with our roar roar roaring
lalalalalala
what joy we had
in the locust summer
what fire we lit
in the locust years
for only the strong survive
all of the weak are trampled under
all of the weak are trampled under
lalalalalala
this is only here in this place
and with these parting tears pour of the flesh
a freaking and falling
a crying and calling
foreign words crawling rivers
beaches moment's ebbing
broken watches
launch cathar
mama in my room
you left me burning
you left me burning
you left me burning
lalalalalala
animals melting servants screaming
crouched in corners coughing crying
renting scalding masts of walls
chanting scalding baby dying
and life force ebbing
lalalalalala
what joy we had
in the locust summers
what fires we lit
in the locust years
bloody tower of hysteria
a bloody vase of rape
he calls the living
he calls the dying
he breaks the thunder
and then it seemed as if
the whole world was burning
for only the strong survive
all of the week get trampled under
lalalalalala
what joy we had
in the locust summers
what fires we lit
in the locust years
black hundreds
black thousands
rivers that run run rippled with red
ravaged and raped
with our roar roar roaring
what screaming joy
in the locust years
nick my life away
lick my life away
lalalalalala
what joy we had
in the locust summers
what fires we lit
in the locust years
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