Drone Records
Your cart (0 item)

CINDYTALK - The Crackle of my Soul

Format: CD
Label & Cat.Number: Editions Mego 097
Release Year: 2009
Note: first full album since "Wappinschaw" (1994) !! NEW material recorded 2001-2009
Price (incl. 19% VAT): €13.50


More Info

"Written and recorded by gordon sharp at belmont shore (ca), mid-levels (hk) & kobe (japan) 2001-2009. mastered at piethopraxis, july 2009. dedicated to matt kinnison (1965-2008).

Cindytalk have been active since 1982, which we won’t go into here (a quick Google search will satisfy that need). During the 80s and 90s their sound was defined by broken down rock structures and abstract piano ambience. A third side to their coin emerged at the dawn of the 21st Century with a turn towards obscure computer usage pushing all resemblance of melody and conventual texture to the outer edges.
‘The Crackle Of My Soul’ is the first full length to come from this new direction, starting in 2001 and now finally ready for release. Its also the first Cindytalk album since the 1995 release of ‘Wappinschaw’. Although very abstract in nature these 10 tracks still echo the vocal brilliance and subtle beauty that they become known for, as well as pushing back the boundaries making this an essential listen regardless if you are aware of the back catalogue or not.
This is the first in a series of already finished releases, which will see the light of day throughout 2010." [label info]

www.editionsmego.com


"Cindytalk on Mego? It was a shock to see that pairing. Cindytalk has been the sporadic project of Gordon Sharp with a shifting ensemble over the past two and half decades. At first, Sharp's abject post-punk took a gritty, almost industrial growling to the ethereally dark tunes of the Cocteau Twins. Sharp's voice in many ways is the masculine equivalent to Liz Fraser's, just as beautiful and haunting; and the two had paired up on a few tracks through This Mortal Coil and the Cocteau Twins. Cindytalk's two releases in the '80s - Camoflage Heart and In This World - have been secret gems to all those who had uncovered that work, with Cindytalk only emerging a few times since. There was the impressionist Ambient piano record The Wind Is Strong and 1994's underwhelming Wappinschaw. Then, a decade of
silence followed by a limited edition single from 2003 and a brilliant one-sided 10" of drone-rock beauty in 2008. So, it was hard to know what to expect with a 2009 full album from Cindytalk, especially from the digi-centric label Mego.
Here, Cindytalk is just the work of Gordon Sharp; and The Crackle Of My Soul certainly sounds like a Mego record on par with the likes of Pita, Kevin Drumm, and BJ Nilsen, as shards of digital noise are looped and phased into building compositions that glow with a very intense high-end piercing. Not quite Whitehouse territory, it's actually far more glacial and icy in tone. Nevertheless, Sharp's electronics have a way of drilling into your skull. Voice and piano occasionally creep into the mix, but not to the extent that you would hear on any of the earlier records, even the aforementioned album The Wind Is Strong. We have to admit that we didn't love this record as much as Camoflage Heart and In This World; but it's sort of a different beast, and there's a lot of very strong electro-acoustic renderings to be found here..." [Aquarius Rec.]