gonzalez & steenkiste • a story of rats / hellvete

gonzalez & steenkiste ~ stuffed with the down of the eider (eiderdown, 2012)

"Eiderdown is proud to present the world with the debut release by Belgian duo Gonzalez and Steenkiste. G & S is Glen Steenkiste (Hellvete, Silvester Anfang II) and Ernesto Gonzalez (Bear Bones Lay Low, SA II) in their first ever release in a duo capacity. Introduced with bowed cymbals and bells, “Stuffed…” massages the dear listener with glorious waves of gradual violin, harmonium, banjo, and tampura. The heavy air is temporarily refreshed by a backporch guitar/banjo hoedown, before the cassette finishes with the massive vibe of the 19 minute closer “Paradise” …Even the birds get in on the act at some point and everyone goes home with the satisfaction of “being there”. Belgian (get) high weirdness at it’s finest."

listen ~ buy

a story of rats / hellvete ~ split (eiderdown, 2012) 

"A Story Of Rats is back on Eiderdown after his killer LP from last year. More synth creep wizardy and this time Garek Druss’ synths and vocals are accompanied on the journey by Mr. James Woodhead (Elemental Chrysalis/At The Head OF The Woods) on guitar, voice, and bells. “The Chariot and The Wooden Spear” is an emotional tractor beam of sound, pulling the listener with slight drum pulses along a meandering path thru vales of both beauty and grimnitude. An amazing collaboration by two treasures of the Pacific Northwest’s deep vibes scene.

Hellvete is Glen Steenkiste’s solo gig, principal member of Belgian psych-improv rockers Silvester Anfang II. Hellvete has distilled his psychotropic ur-folk sound into tasty slabs of acoustic/electric drone. Alternately comforting and suffocating, these pieces created with bowed banjo, harmonium, tampura, and Casio leave the listener with the experience of shaking hands with the ghost of Angus MacLise at the crossroads of Annapurna and some nearly-forgotten Flemish forest."

a story of rats ~ hellvete ~ buy

el universo en un harmonium, una tampura y un banjo. 'the chariot and the wooden spear' de A Story of Rats a partir del minuto 7:30... el universo en un sintetizador cósmico y una voz que hace de mantra. en principio, nada muy diferente, pero si te sumerges de verdad te encontrarás, junto a 'florid pagoda' de Von Himmel, con una de las experiencias más psicodélicas y adictivas que puedas imaginar, a la par que condensa como ninguna otra la sensación de estar dentro de una espiral, dejarse hipnotizar por un péndulo, abandonarse del todo. dos cassettes que son una, si las pongo aleatoriamente en mi reproductor, me resulta difícil distinguir cuando empieza una y donde termina otra, pero 'front porch rumbling' de Gonzalez & Steenkiste, a ritmo de banjo algodonoso al calor de una hoguera, da un poco de respiro ante tanta densidad y sintetiza la magia de dos duendes que ya se ganaron el cielo con Bear Bones, Lay Low y Silvester Anfang. decir que tener estas dos cajitas en la mano con los 'crumbianos' dibujos de Max Clotfelter las hace todavía más apetecibles. y decir también que es un regalo que existan personas como Adam Svenson, puro entusiasmo y generosidad. Eiderdown, una mina de oro en el mapa que deberíamos señalar con una cruz... 'new Eiderdown on the horizon…stay tuned: Planets Around the Sun y Datashock.'

sylvester anfang II

sylvester anfang II ~ commune cassetten (blackest rainbow 2010)

"a new slab of tranced out psychotic psychedelia from the occult loving Belgium based clan. This new incarnation being Sylvester Anfang II reached a new level of awesomeness last year with the incredible double LP on Aurora Borealis, on Commume Cassetten they continue their bizarre trip into the darker, but somehow super psychedelic, realm of the occult obsessed mind. There's a real fucked up krautrock boogie vibe throughout but retaining some of the doomed funeral folk qualities of the original Anfang guise, as well as some loose as hell, total stoned out ritualistic baked grooves..." blackest rainbow

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sylvester anfang

sylvester anfang II ~ untitled cdr3'' (luchtrat 2009)

"How high can the Tree of Wisdom grow? If Sylvester Anfang II is the muse of civilization, then Wisdom will incarnate in a small stump. It makes this psychedelic bunch a modern salvation army.What Sylvester Anfang II has in common with half brother Silvester Anfang is that it is symbolically loaded with the sins of the people of Maldegem and that is has been sent to the big city to meet Azazel. Unless members wear the shirt of sheer evilness, they function as the brotherhood of reconciliation. These shaved goats produce their rituals exclusively on first takes. Every rehearsal is a recording session that wears the seductive dust of free folk music, the spiritual enrichment of acid rock and the razorblade-rawness of protopunk." luchtrat

foto: nakedbrunch

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dolphins of east belgium / edgar wappenhalter

dolphins of east belgium /edgar wappenhalter - split (cauliflower dreams 2007)

"very lookalike action.... Dolphins play the new hyms of the ages. duo consisting of Pulsating in the Eye of Vision and Wietske Van Gils. heavy trance. Edgar Wappenhalter sings the message of the future. he is a member of the Funeral Folk / Silvester Anfang troupe of kindred spirits. secret folkballads, sung for the heart. xerox cover, full color inserts."

"...his side of this split is an absolute smash from beginning to enddroning, smokey ragas smelling like musty Sandy Bull bootlegs, particularly when Sandy plays along to tapes because Wappenhalter's got a tabla thing going here that's just totally in tune. There's a couple of other magnificently minimal solo guitar think-overs and even some nice tunes with dazed, murky female vocals. Elsewhere he peppers a dark acoustic number strangely reminiscent of "Stairway to Heaven" with tightly-wound electronic squeaks, drags out a ghostly bummer of a folk song that sounds like it was sourced from twelfth-generation recordings, and contemporary-sounding death chant-ed loner mantras.

...Dolphins of East Belgium, on the other hand, are a duo featuring members known from releases under the names Wietske Van Gils and Pulsating in the Eye of Vision. What you get is another splended side, this one featuring individual-sized portions of gentle looped drones, generated via synthesizers and keyboards and tape players and the like. At first I was in Kathmandu with Angus MacLise but as the tracks came and went I was even picking up more Spacemen 3 feels, don't ask. Another reference point immediately jumping out was Jefre Cantu-Ledesma's Twonicorn tape..." outer space gamelan

davenport, ben reynolds, dolphins into the future, ...un disco bonito descubierto gracias a Clay Ruby

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silvester anfang

silvester anfang - het orkest van scheuten en speugen (sloow tapes cassette 2006)

"Psyched hippie freaks dancing barefoot to stoned chants of untuned guitars, clattering percussion and looped vocals. A strange brew of Flemish medieval traditionals, surreal black metal obsessions and lots of heavy Belgian Trippel beer. Comes in two-sided silkscreened devilish cover in an evil edition of 66 copies"

"Silvester Anfang is the Funeral Folk collective gathered in a free folk droneband. The band started as a three-piece of Per, Edgar and Hellvete, but now the line-up depends on who's available to record/perform. Together with Ignatius Van Kempenhof and PI666 (who now became a vulcanologist in Switserland) Silvester Anfang started searching for a sound that might be something called Pagan Belgopsych. The compositions are mostly non-musical offertories to worship their almighty overlord Brohll, but every now and then things just work out as free psychedelic improvisations."

ahora mismo una de mis ilusiones sería ir a un concierto de Silvester Anfang (& Valerio Cosi + Enzo Franchini para redondear el sueño). puedo imaginar lo que supondría algo así nada más empezar 'het orkest van scheuten en speugen', una sola cara de veintiséis minutos aplastante, descomunal, INTENSA, tribal, de percusiones en primer plano herencia directa de Avarus, Kemialliset Ystavat y No-Neck Blues Band, veintiséis minutos coronados como es habitual de flautas, cuencos, campanillas, cencerros, triángulos, palmas, panderetas, loops vocales y guitarras que desprenden un profundo olor a azufre, a ambiente medieval, a círculo salvaje alrededor de una hoguera. cuatro sátiros belgas danzando y revolcándose en el lodo de las profundidades del kraut-folk pagano, alternando momentos de calma con progresiones turbulentas en una jam que se desmadra y emociona, de verdad de verdad, a partir del minuto nueve. veintiséis minutos y nueve segundos de infarto que han pasado volando, que han hecho más dulce la espera del doble cd Heidense Maagden...o de un nuevo disco de Davenport.

"I am constantly reminded of Davenport's blissed-out stoned jams, which isn't surprising considering Clay Ruby is one of Silvester Anfang and Funeral Folk's biggest supporters." Brad Rose

silvester anfang

silvester anfang - satanische vrede (k-raa-k records vinyl 2006)

recuerdo el impacto que me había causado Free Country de Davenport. en su música hay algo de febril y enfermizo pero al mismo tiempo sonaba (suena) campestre, plácido, dulce, arrebatador. exactamentete igual que los belgas Silvester Anfang, lo más parecido a ese disco que he escuchado nunca. por eso estoy tan emocionada. teniendo en cuenta que hasta ahora sólo habían publicado en cdr's y cassettes (inmenso Raping the Goat) Satanische Vrede es casi su puesta de largo oficial. en la portada se uniforman con capuchas blancas, hacha en mano y el torso desnudo, cual secta oscurantista. pero el contenido sólo tiene algo que ver...rituales paganos, demonios de la agricultura, free folk, post satanic folk, krautfolk, flautas, Kemialliset Ystavat, improvisación, voces extrañas que se cuelan entre las hojas de los árboles, percusiones ultrasugerentes, íntimas, melodías, panderetas ...cada momento es un momento de inspiración y las cinco composiciones tienen algo que las convierte en diferentes e irrepetibles. un disco más redondo si cabe que los últimos de Keijo y sus Free Players...

*Verkracht Door Demonen (mp3 de Satanische Vrede)*

Orkest van Scheuten en Speugen (sample)

gold leaf branches

va - gold leaf branches (digitalis recordings, 2005)

Si alguien quisiera saber cómo una música tan árida y desnuda puede llegar a emocionar y a contar tanto acerca de una época, este recopilatorio de tres discos y cincuenta y nueve artistas contiene las pistas. Todas inéditas excepto una (lily, henry, & the willow trees de Marissa Nadler), y la toma en directo de thousand birds de Six Organs of Admittance, mucho más dulce y cristalina que la incluída en Dark Noontide. Hay tanto y tan variado que es imposible desgranar canción a canción todo el contenido de gold leaf branches.. Destacaría you were on my side (guitar) donde Annelies Monseré cambia la distorión y los ruidos metálicos de la versión original por una sencilla guitarra acústica; rune of the moon and endymionel, raga barroco y embriagador de The Gray Field Recordings; todas las reencarnaciones de Brad Rose: The North Sea, The Golden Oaks o cómo reproducir en delicados cantos de aves, guitarras y flautas el sonido de la tierra; no ghosts del James Blackshaw; la búsqueda incansable de las raíces y el auténtico significado del banjo en friday morning de Timothy, The Revelator; el sabor de la exótica Finlandia en Lau Nau y Kuupuu; la preciosa e hipnótica first steps de Stuart Busby, nana dedicada al mar que envuelve y arropa ayudándose de teclados minimales, drones y una trompetilla de feria ....imposible seguir, todas tienen algo, todos son una rara avis, todos son músicos dotados y al tiempo imaginativos..y por eso la idea de reunirlos a todos es tan bonita. Al final la música vuelve a revelarse como el mejor vehículo para atravesar o romper fronteras.

Six Organs of Admittance, Kuupuu, Annelies Monseré, Courtis, Charalambides, Elephant Micah, Wolfmangler, Visitations, James Blackshaw, Hala Strana, Lamppukello, Claypipe, The North Sea, Kulkija, The Magickal Folk of the Faraway Tree, Hertta Lussu, Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood, Terracid, Agitated Radio Pilot, Pefkin, 6majik9, Anvil Salute, Rameses III, The Lost Domain, Keijo, Hush Arbors, The Gray Field Recordings, Stuart Busby, The Juniper Meadows, Snake Oil, Robert Horton, Master QSH, Braspyreet, Xenis Emputae Travelling Band, Silvester Anfang, Lau Nau, The Does, Maniacs Dream, Wood & Wand featuring the Rose, Jani H, Oxblood Reincarnations, The Golden Oaks, Plat Ypus, Drekka, itdreamedtome, Timothy, Revelator, Dead Raven Choir, Snowfoxx, Wax Ghost, Friendly Keys, The Weird Weeds (The Laudable Pus), M. Jarvis & A. Jarvis, Leighton Craig & Eugene Carchesio, Nick Castro (w/ B'eirth), Alligator Crystal Moth, Keijo & the Free Players, Marissa Nadler, Soarwhole, y Mike Tamburo.

foto: marie ek