This LP, with a happy floral cover, contains ‘rest material’: outtakes from the Current 93 album Soft Black Stars and All the Pretty Little Horses, plus other material that never made it to regular releases. The tracks by Michael Casmore (Nature and Organisation) and Cristoph Heemann are also connected to the Soft Black Stars recording sessions. According to the liner notes by David Tibet, the tracks from Current 93 were versions that he liked a great deal, but which didn’t fit in with the overall atmosphere of the albums.
Of course an album such as this is mostly interesting for fans, who already own the normal albums. Which is not to say that this LP is not interesting, on the contrary, it contains a few real gems. Especially the alternative version of ‘All the Pretty Little Horses’ is’ splendid, with different vocals than on the original. David Tibet is singing here instead of whispering, very nice. It is followed by another highlight, the passionate ‘Calling for Vanished Faces’, very intensely sung by Tibet, who almost screams at the end. ‘The Cat is Dead’ is a charming short song, with nice piano and guitar and a feel-good atmosphere. It did not make it to the “All the Pretty Little Horses” album, but I’m glad it is made available here now. One of my favourite C93 songs is ‘Moonlight, or other dreams, or other fields’, here present in a slightly different, more modest version.
Though a loose collection of songs, this album still has sort of a coherent feel. Most songs are quite tranquil and melancholic. The acoustic Current 93 songs with vocals are nicely alternated with som espoken word bits and the instrumental tracks from Michael Cashmore, with his beautiful and melancholic guitar work. The album ends with two more experimental pieces by Christoph Heemann, less easy to digest but still interesting.
Sometimes I have the feeling that Current 93 is releasing a little too much material. But if they have more songs gathering dust on their shelves like the ones on this album, they may release them tomorrow…
