Current 93/David Tibet discussion

[shivering]

Thought there should be a more general Current 93/David Tibet thread (forgive me in advance).

Some news today about the book formerly called Under the Rain and Teeth of Gods:

"Yet another update on the David Tibet lyric book This is hopefully the penultimate update about the lyric book. Most of the contents, both text and scans, have now been collated and I am making final decisions on the order of the texts. I had hoped it would be ready for the London shows but it seems that the deadline for printing is too tight. So it now looks like it will be ready at the end of June. I want to apologise once again for the horrendous delays in the publication of this book. It was in any case difficult to decide to stop adding material, as I am constantly writing texts and also constantly working on new albums, even before the one that was currently in progress is finished. But with the finishing of ‘Baalstorm, Sing Omega’, I feel that another period for C93 has come to an end, with ‘Baalstorm, Sing Omega’ finishing a trilogy that feels to me to have begun with ‘Black Ships Ate the Sky’, had its pivot as ‘Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain’ and now ends with the Storm and Omega. So the volume will finish with the complete text of the BaalStorm album, which is considerably longer than what is used on the forthcoming album. Perhaps a small consolation to all of you who have waited so patiently and so generously for so long for this volume is that the item that you pre-ordered so very long ago is now a much bigger, and – for me at least – a much better book that it would have been if it had been published in 2004. You may have also noticed that I no longer refer to the book by its announced title of ‘Under the Rain and Teeth of Gods’. The book has changed so much in both design and concept and contents since I chose that title that I will be giving it a different name to reflect more accurately where, and who, I see myself and C93 to be at this time."

More C93 news here: Coptic Cat | News

[shivering]

Any thoughts on the new Current 93 album, Baalstorm, Sing Omega?

[sundog]

To my mind David Tibet's shall we say "poetic-apocalyptic" vision of the world has always derived much of its bone-chilling charm from the sheer extremity of its idiosyncrasy. But with Baalstorm the idiosyncrasy has completely undermined the poetry as far as I'm concerned. You could argue that this is also the case with Aleph, but that record does make a very strong impression as a roaring cry for REHABILITATION and ascent of Hallucinatory Mountain. What does Baalstorm make an impression of other than a man caught up in some spiritual struggle that is so entirely his own that he cannot give it an expression that has much significance, neither semantically nor emphatically, to anyone other than himself?

Baalstorm makes me miss the Current 93 of Soft Black Stars for its clarity of vision.

[shivering]

From the newest Coptic Cat update:
"David Tibet's book of 'Collected lyrics' I promised in my last update before the London shows that once they were over I would now be working constantly and consistently on the book that was once titled 'Under the Rain and Teeth of Gods' but whose new title will soon be revealed. I meant what I said. June and July sees my continuing to work on the ordering of the text, in between celebrating my mother's 80th birthday, playing a concert in Padova, and attending a Coptic papyrological study group for translating manuscripts. I am hoping that, by the beginning of August, I will have sent the book to the printers. I will then start working on the 39 paintings which went with the limited edition, large—paper version, though, once again, the nature of the paintings has changed, and will reflect more recent preoccupations of mine. I will be letting all of those who ordered the limited edition know the nature of these paintings. As I feel far more connected to my present work than I do to my past work—and how could that not be so?—my present concept for the book has the order of texts going back in time, with the most recent work ('Baalstorm, Sing Omega') at the beginning and the earliest work ('LAShTAL' and 'Maldoror is Dead') at the back of the book. So the book will start with the more personal, and revert gradually to the beginnings, when I had a voice that was legion, rather than mine."

Well, maybe before Halloween.... ;)

As to Baalstorm, Sing Omega....I have found it a bit limp and uninteresting in comparison with Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain. But then again, perhaps I am too jaded at this point to appreciate it.

[I do adore the new Alcest (Ècailles de Lune) album though....]

[Keith418]

Quote Originally Posted by sundog

To my mind David Tibet's shall we say "poetic-apocalyptic" vision of the world has always derived much of its bone-chilling charm from the sheer extremity of its idiosyncrasy. But with Baalstorm the idiosyncrasy has completely undermined the poetry as far as I'm concerned. You could argue that this is also the case with Aleph, but that record does make a very strong impression as a roaring cry for REHABILITATION and ascent of Hallucinatory Mountain. What does Baalstorm make an impression of other than a man caught up in some spiritual struggle that is so entirely his own that he cannot give it an expression that has much significance, neither semantically nor emphatically, to anyone other than himself? Baalstorm makes me miss the Current 93 of Soft Black Stars for its clarity of vision.

I disagree with this assessment, but, although I enjoyed the album, I also have to say that I greatly appreciate your analysis anyway.

[MadsPLP]

I like Baalstorm, Sing Omega very much, and I prefer it to Aleph... which didn't feel idiosyncratic enough for my taste (though that's probably got more to do with the current musical climate), and sounding too much like a real band (although Aleph... was by far the best album of 2009).

The music has the hallucinatory quality of not really being able to be placed everywhere; a combination of Baby Dee's piano (the picture of her is smashing, by the way, and I don't say that just because it was taken by a friend at another friend's place) being very strange and some ancient-sounding middle eastern music. The addition of Elliot Bates on the oud is quite captivating.

Where Aleph... was an album where I never really 'got' the lyrics, here I think it moves into a personal...confession (though not really) which for me bears much more significance than the doubled Adam/Aleph-shadow of the former album. That being said, I'm not necessarily sure I would have understood much of the lyrics if it weren't for the notes in the back.

Songs like 'December 1971' and 'I Dance Narcoleptic' will continue to haunt me for a long time, and overall, this comes very close to being in my personal Current 93-top 5.

[Viva June]

Quote Originally Posted by sundog

To my mind David Tibet's shall we say "poetic-apocalyptic" vision of the world has always derived much of its bone-chilling charm from the sheer extremity of its idiosyncrasy. But with Baalstorm the idiosyncrasy has completely undermined the poetry as far as I'm concerned. You could argue that this is also the case with Aleph, but that record does make a very strong impression as a roaring cry for REHABILITATION and ascent of Hallucinatory Mountain. What does Baalstorm make an impression of other than a man caught up in some spiritual struggle that is so entirely his own that he cannot give it an expression that has much significance, neither semantically nor emphatically, to anyone other than himself? Baalstorm makes me miss the Current 93 of Soft Black Stars for its clarity of vision.

My thoughts exactly, though I would regard Black Ships as the initial step in this new direction. That album and the terrific Birth Canal Blues EP had a musical intensity that made up for the opaque nature of the lyrics, something which in my experience is missing from later releases.

To speculate wildly and crassly about something I have little to no knowledge about, I think David Tibet has reached a point in his career where he can do more or less what he wants, and what he wants to do happens to involve a lot of cryptic references to things that are beyond my understanding. I do not begrudge him his success—in fact I wish him all the best, as any right-minded fan would do—but I think it may explain why recent C93 records are so unlike Soft Black Stars and Sleep Has His House.

[sundog]

Quote Originally Posted by Viva June

Quote Originally Posted by sundog To my mind David Tibet's shall we say "poetic-apocalyptic" vision of the world has always derived much of its bone-chilling charm from the sheer extremity of its idiosyncrasy. But with Baalstorm the idiosyncrasy has completely undermined the poetry as far as I'm concerned. You could argue that this is also the case with Aleph, but that record does make a very strong impression as a roaring cry for REHABILITATION and ascent of Hallucinatory Mountain. What does Baalstorm make an impression of other than a man caught up in some spiritual struggle that is so entirely his own that he cannot give it an expression that has much significance, neither semantically nor emphatically, to anyone other than himself? Baalstorm makes me miss the Current 93 of Soft Black Stars for its clarity of vision. My thoughts exactly, though I would regard Black Ships as the initial step in this new direction. That album and the terrific Birth Canal Blues EP had a musical intensity that made up for the opaque nature of the lyrics, something which in my experience is missing from later releases. To speculate wildly and crassly about something I have little to no knowledge about, I think David Tibet has reached a point in his career where he can do more or less what he wants, and what he wants to do happens to involve a lot of cryptic references to things that are beyond my understanding. I do not begrudge him his success—in fact I wish him all the best, as any right-minded fan would do—but I think it may explain why recent C93 records are so unlike Soft Black Stars and Sleep Has His House.

I very much agree with you on all points Viva June.

From back when Current 93 were at the top of their game in Gnostic Indignation (a term phrased by Ligotti), no less:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V009qmIoiF8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-oK72RCt_0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YtSwgQWAGc

Those days shall not come again, but C93 in their new, less thrilling, incarnation can still kick ass.. as I think their performance here amply proves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtkvUc_Id2o

[shivering]

Supposedly (according to the latest update), Mr. Tibet is still working on the lyric book. Looking forward to reading it someday....

He's working on a new C93 album as well.

[shivering]

Some news about the Tibet lyric book, now called SING OMEGA....."In Berlin I continue the final revision of my lyric book, SING OMEGA, which is still scheduled for March/April 2012 publication".

More news here:

Coptic Cat news 5 December 2011


Sounds like there are a few music projects with Tibet coming out, besides the new C93. And the entire C93 catalog on vinyl? Wow.