Catalog
Ornate Shroud
Mrtyu
Hopefully Mrtyu requires little introduction, because the project evades easy description. An odd compound of Vedic imagery, metal misanthropy, and violin agony, this music moves away from any particular fan base in pursuit of its distant, darkened idols. Ornate Shroud is Mrtyu's most potent spawn to date. Hewing closer to song form than previous releases, the album conceals Antony Milton's violent guitar and violin work behind Mrtyu's characteristic murk. Its pieces transition from jagged riffs to eerie ambient scrapes through wooly feedback, approaching the uncanny. Although the year is yet young, 2009 will likely not produce a bleaker aggraga record.
Edition of 350 180 gm. LPs in heavy-stock linen-paper sleeves hand-screened, -cut, and -glued by Reuben Little of 43rd Parallel Press.
Available from Tipped Bowler in the US and Faunasabbatha in France.
Lovers with Cloissone Bracelet
Li Jianhong
Hangzhou's Li Jianhong has been performing alone and in the duo D!O!D!O!D! for several years, but he only caught Western ears last year with the monumental San Sheng Shi, released by Philadelphia's Archive CD. Oceanic and desolate, Lovers with Cloisonne Bracelet cements Li as a distinctive voice in modern noise. The two halves of this record are an ideal introduction to Li's music: "Lovers in Misery" offers a restrained, electric swell; "Time in the Mirror" wallows in Hototogisu-an guitar hell. Without sacrificing pacing for density, Li has crafted an album that decimates the retrograde psychedelic guitar landscape and trivializes the petty violence of much harsh noise.
Edition of 350 180 gm. LPs in heavy-stock linen-paper sleeves hand-screened, -cut, and glued by Reuben Little of 43rd Parallel Press.
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