The Wardrobe - Cups In Cupboard -Limited Edition- (c) 2005 Tursa
Artist....: The Wardrobe
Album.....: Cups In Cupboard
Type......: Album
Source....: CDDA
Tracks....: 11
Genre.....: Ambient
Label.....: Tursa
Catalogue#: TURSA 033 CD
Encoder...: LAME 3.97
Quality...: VBR kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint-Stereo
URL.......: http://www.discogs.com/release/561385
Tracklist:
----------
01 Mothballs 03:57
02 The Unopened Brown Envelope 02:45
03 A Mercurial Character With A Spice Of Idiocy 04:57
04 Lost 01:36
05 The Smell Of Paddling Pool 08:47
06 Swishing Stick 03:11
07 Arcade 05:52
08 Lake And Tree 02:50
09 Wind In The Willows 07:23
10 Windows 02:59
11 Cups In Cupboard 02:18
Total:53,2 MB / 46:35 min
Release Notes:
--------------
Limited edition CD of 500 signed copies
A project of Andrew Liles and Tony Wakeford.
To me what this album is is a welcome and unexpected meeting of two
divergent camps of the experimental post-industrial music world.
Tony Wakeford is of course one of the main players in what has become
the dark neofolk scene, or whatever you like to call it. It's a
post-industrial music scene in origin that has gone back and
appropriated elements of tradition, to the point where the industrial
roots become more and more obscured. Sol Invictus for instance haven't
released an easily identifiable "industrial" album since Lex Talionis
in 1990.
On the other hand, coming from a similar background you have
experimentalists such as Nurse with Wound, Hafler Trio, and HNAS who
rather than seeking authenticity, choose to take their music to ever
newer and weirder realms. On this side one might include current drone
artists such as Mirror and William Basinski. I'm not so familiar with
Andrew Liles's solo work in particular but by all accounts he fits in
over here somewhere.
Personally I'm an enthusiast of both music scenes, especially when they
mix, as in some of the early to mid-period Current 93 albums.
Now after years of these scenes drifting apart I was curious whether
such a meeting could work any longer. Happily this album has come along
and the answer turns out to be a resounding, dazzling affirmative.
It's a magical mystical listen all the way through. The well-composed
acoustic basis of the album shines like Sol Invictus or l'Orchestre
Noir at its most majestic. It has the depth of a full ensemble yet
going by the credits, there is no supporting band, it's just Wakeford
and Liles, which suggests to me a level of genuine technical musical
ability I hadn't quite realized.
The electronic enhancement, mostly down to Liles one might guess, takes
the results to an even higher level. It serves as a perfect musical
counterpoint, adding new and unexpected sonic facets to every passage,
keeping my interest high. The clarity of these fluid, ever-moving
electronic tones and the haunting, chime-like quality seems to share
some spirit and sonic common ground with Tor Lundvall.
The downsides? None really. This is an all instrumental album, no
vocals, limiting its commercial appeal somewhat, as does the
un-intriguing album name _Cups in Cupboard_ and project name
(officially this duo is called "The Wardrobe"(!)). Not too much here as
far as liner notes or artwork, although it's attractive enough, and
personally signed by both artists.
Overall what we have is a brilliantly refreshing recording required for
connoisseurs who demand the most musically interesting of what the
post-industrial neofolk scene has to offer. It's the most
avant-electronic release of Tony Wakeford since his collaboration with
Stephen Stapleton in 1992. That album is now impossible to find, and so
I would recommend not missing out on this limited edition offering of
just 500.
-Review From http://strangefortune.com/cd.php?id=2657