オリジナルは1988年にNurse With WoundのUnited Dairiesからリリースされた、MetgumbnerboneのメンバーでもあるSean Breadin、Mike WatsonとRichard Rupenus (The New Blockaders)の三人によるMasstishaddhuの唯一の作品 ‘Shekinah’ (神の臨在の中で見える光を意味する）をカセット再発いたします。チェロ、ハーディガーディ、フルート、様々なパーカッションによる演奏が時折、強烈な違和感や、暗がりに蛇がいて恐れていたら近づいてみると実際は単なるロープだったような不可思議な感覚を伴いつつ、全編に渡って非常に精密な構成によって形づくられ、言語化される以前の思考を音に表したようなチャントが、より秘教的な雰囲気を演出しています。再発に際してリマスタリングを行い、ダビングは録音ヘッドアジマス、イコライジング、録音レベル、バイアスレベルを完璧に調整し、テープの性能を最大限に引きだすNakamichi ZX-9で一つ一つハンドメイドで製造されました。- advaita records 'Shekinah’ comprises two side-long slabs of highly experimental music in the early Coil / Current 93 / Organum vein with touches of Eastern (or is it North American?) mysticism thrown in for good measure. ‘For The Dead & Unborn’ is a wild, chilling and uninhibited chant-cum-invocation featuring wordless vocals set against a hypnotic backdrop of percussion and bowed instruments. ‘Angels Gather Here Between Purity Of Heart and Hopeless Despair’ is taken at a much slower pace with far less accent on the chanting and more emphasis on the bowed strings and singing / ringing percussion and at times had me glancing nervously over my shoulder! Audion'Shekinah’ could be described as very dark Gothic Ritual Folk with a sprinkling of occult allure. The title, cover and music all suggest bloodied altars, unfathomable rituals and mystical learning. The low and buzzing drone underscores a lava flow of chants, cellos and percussion. Whatever words are spoken during this procession of yearning melodies and utterly ethereal voices is perhaps best left for the Gods. Whatever secrets the music holds, they are simultaneously a fountain of spiritual beauty and unknowable terror. It's as if its character changed with my dispositions: if I was feeling fear then fear is what I heard. If I was feeling joyous, then the joy of the Gods shone down upon me and relaxed every fibre of my being. BrainwashedIn the ‘80s underground, Ritual Ambient and Tribal Ambient were both coming to fruition and although they had a rough framework there wasn't yet a concrete basis for how the genres were set to develop. Masstishaddhu exploited this potential to create a music that sounds like a well-executed modern Free Folk album - in 1988, a good decade before the New Weird America scene (spearheaded by the likes of Sun City Girls) began revolutionizing the idea of Folk music operating under rhythmic constraints. In this sense ‘Shekinah’ is undoubtedly unique, perpetuating the 'ritual' side of ambient through disconcerting vocalizations and chants. It is deeply embedded within the Folk influence that uses atmosphere to sculpt instrumental improvisations, again, much like well-executed modern Free Folk does. A Tertiary Source
