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After an EP called ‘EP’ in 2022, Rare Spam now gives the world a full album of minimal post-punk songs and weirdo pop hits. Its bubbly bass lines and wobbly guitars making it the perfect soundtrack to walk back home to after having one too much at your favorite bar – or the worst! As it initially was intended as two EPs you actually save a buck ordering this tape as it’s not two tapes… Cassette / Digital Album [free download]
The main thread that weaves through this album is the idea of the physical, of being present and being embodied, of culture as experienced through physical objects like photographs, books, clothing, and through physical activity like dancing. We are all bodies in motion, expressive, attracted, compelled, seduced, and sometimes, betrayed. Meanwhile the digital realm, once seductive, is now degrading into something that feels like a betrayal, a casualty of financial interests and individual egos. The album takes its name from a collection of essays by Elizabeth Hardwick looking at women and literature, and the effects their personal relationships have on them as authors, as characters, or as literary inspirations. Also, one track, ‘George Eliot’s Husband,’ takes its name from a separate essay by Hardwick where she somewhat idealises a literary romantic relationship, in contrast to those in Seduction and Betrayal and to her own marriage to Robert Lowell. The sleeve image is of Georgia O’Keeffe’s hands as photographed by Alfred Stieglitz, who, had they been a literary couple rather than in the visual arts, could easily have featured in one of Hardwick’s essays. The other element of the sleeve design is a solid violet field, which is a nod to Robert Mapplethorpe’s diptych Mercury, 1987, also referenced in a song title.
Solo Ansamblis combines dance and emotion shattering moods, electronic sounds with live instruments, analog synthesizers and digitally processed sound. It invites for a trip within yourself, your mind and heart. The ever-growing audience named their style as ‘sad dance’.
Crush of Souls is the musical endeavour of Charles Rowell (Crocodiles, Flowers of Evil, Issue). One foot in early Industrial and the other in 80’s Synth-Pop, Crush Of Souls hold the whip and demand that you submit your soul. Returning once again to Catacomb Soul studios where he had recently finished recording “(A)Void Love”, Charles Rowell mapped out the next chapter for Crush of Souls, limitations were set in place while new faces appeared to lend a fresh coat of black magic to the album. The album is a love letter to Paris; all of its beauty and decay. “Lézire” which is a slang mixture of the French words for Lizard and Desire provides a sinister title to an album full of hard hitting, romantic songs. Harry Howard (These Immortal Souls) provides his signature snarl and profound lyrics to the haunting ballad “You Rose Up”. Long time sax player Stanislas de Miscault colors the dark corners of the record with his unhinged personality and one half of new look COS, Stevan Dinet bangs both the martial beats and the Fairlight sample pads. An album cover full of chains and S&M can provide enough of an explanation as to the new direction of Crush of Souls. Cronenberg’s “Crash”, David Lynch’s “Lost Highway”, Psychic TV and Sisters Of Mercy are constantly mentioned. |
