microphones in the trees: sister irene o´connor

Friday, July 01, 2011

sister irene o´connor


sister irene o´connor - fire of god´s love / songs to ignite the spirit (alba house, 1976)

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"among the sea of sound-a-like private-pressed catholic lps that came out in the 1960's and 1970's, sister irene o'connor's 1976 album stands out with its primitive drum machine and spooky, echo-laden vocals. released in 1976 on the 'alba house' label, the dual-titled fire of god's love/songs to ignite the spirit lp features several haunting and remarkable songs. in particular, the title track "fire of god's love" strikes me as so otherwordly and uniquely eerie that i wonder how far sister irene's o'connor's seeming solipsism extended beyond music." wfmu
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fotola: lauren treece

3 comments:

dfbm said...

wow, thanks. I never thought it would completely surfaced. awesome!

ana said...

bienvenico :*

this is so very special, i loved 'fire' but the whole album is amazing! i can hear vashti bunyan and virginia astley, and don't ask me why but sometimes it makes me think about open-air festivals in thailand :) my new favorite song: 'nature is a song'

kosmikino said...

I have been listening to a lot of Father Yod/Ya Ho Wah and the Trees Community lately and it made me wonder about what other strange and beautiful music emerged in the seventies made by those wacky Christians.

A short, hop, skip and jump later and here I land after reading Sister Irene O'Conner's album is the "dope shit" of Christian outsider music as I believe the young people used to say.

And 23 listens later I still can't believe how wonderful it is: the missing link between the psychedelic folk of artists like Susan Christie and Pentangle and 4AD Records (as the previous comment notes, definitely reminds me of Virginia Astley who I used to devour as a teenager back in the 80s).

Interestingly I also found an Australian podcast which features an interview with the two nuns, who are still kicking heretical ass!

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/09/05/3583425.htm

You got this on actual vinyl? I am envious beyond belief while eternally grateful for sharing this cosmic gem!