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SKULLFLOWER - Kino III: Xaman

Format: CD Label & Cat.Number: Dirter Promotions DPROMCD97 Release Year: 2013 Note: re-issue of the very rare "Xaman" CD from 1990 (most copies of this were destroyed through disc rot), which had three bonus-tracks compared to the vinyl version Price (incl. 19% VAT): €15.00 Warning: Currently we do not have this album in stock! More Info "The most requested early Skullflower release, Xaman (1990) the original CD rendered unplayable by disc rot for 20 years and the subject of endless drivelsome internet speculation. Finally remastered, with new cover art from Matthew Bower's archive. "Finally available, after almost two years of driving Dirter & Shock to the brink of insanity -- a massive 4CD retrospective of Skullflower's early works from 1986-1990, featuring all the material previously released on Broken Flag, Shock, Majora and Forced Exposure, plus around two hours of previously-unheard music -- 14 tracks spread across the series. And this is not "out-take" dross used to fill up CDs, this is essential early Skullflower providing further insight into their uniquely twisted musical world. All material has been digitally mastered by Richard Whittaker at FX, and each CD comes in a deluxe gatefold card cover and inner sleeve with newly-unearthed artwork by Matthew. Booklets feature extensive notes and previously-unseen flyers, posters and photos." [label info] www.dirter.co.uk "Of all the early records by UK noise rockers Skullflower, 1990's Xaman is probably the most discussed, and yet least actually heard, at least in its proper form, as almost all of the copies suffered from a manufacturing defect, a sort of "disc rot", that caused the discs to oxidize, and thus be rendered to some degree unplayable. The Skullflower nerds at aQ purchased multiple copies over the years, looking for the one that against all odds would actually play properly all the way through (though Allan, it should be noted, LIKES the way the "disc rot" noise meshes with Skullflower's own noise on his copy, but we digress). So we were thrilled that Xaman was one of the 4 releases in this new Skullflower reissue program, which also includes the first 12" BirthDeath, the debut album Form Destroyer (both reviewed on last week's New Arrivals list) and a kick ass singles collection called Black Sun Rising, which we made this week's Record Of The Week. Xaman fits pretty perfectly alongside BirthDeath and Form Destroyer, Matthew Bower and crew laying down a sort of Swans / krautrock hybrid, most songs sprawling tranced out caveman dirges, all big booming echo drenched drumming super blown out psychedelic riffage, clouds of feedback, thick wolly mammoth basslines, everything hazy and droney and druggy, just give a listen to opener "Slaves", it's not hard to imagine a Michael Gira bellowing along, but instead, it just unwinds as an epic 11+ minute hypnorock pummel. There could be vocals, but if there are, they're buried deep, it's the sort of Teutonic psychedelic space jam that the new breed of space rockers aspire to, but few can math Skullflower's feral ferocity. And while that track positions the record sonically right between Form Destroyer and 1992's IIIrd Gatekeeper, it's also a bit of an anomaly, there are some seriously surprising moments, the downright lovely "Sunset", with its lilting, keening melody, but even the, the song builds momentum, the drums whipped up into a Crash Worship like fury, wild gouts of tangled psych shred over a smeared blur of beautiful washed out noise. Or the strangely blissed out Butthole Surfers style psychedelic drift of the title track, the sky filled with arcs of soaring buzzing skree, while loose drumming lopes through fields of thrum and rumble, some seriously trance out heavy (yet dreamy) psych, that wouldn't have been out of place on Alchemy or PSF back in the day. The second half of the records gets seriously blissed out on the droned out "What Did You Expect?", which drapes sheets of undulating guitar shimmer and Oxbow-like vocal howls, over splattered tribal drumming, never fully coming together in proper song form, instead remaining loose and gloriously free. Again, the sort of UK post industrial crush that Japanese psych nerds would do well to check out. From there on out, the band lay down some bass heavy chug and noise-blooz swagger in "The Shit Hits The Fan", which again sorta sounds like Butthole Surfers crossed with the Swans by way of Hawkwind, which bleeds right into "Barbed Wire Animal", which adds some wah guitar, and heaps of feedback, not to mention some muscly minimal drumming, before finishing off with the epic 26 minute "Wave", which is about as space-y and psychedelic as Skullflower get, loose, wild, free, noisy, tripped out, pounding, swirling head-trip heaviness that KILLS. Like the rest of the reissues, Xaman comes in a slightly oversized mini-lp gatefold, with new Matthew Bower artwork, includes a booklet, with the original Savage Pencil cover art, some hilarious liner notes, as well as old reviews and other ephemera, the cd comes in a printed inner sleeve as well with still more Bower artwork!" [Aquarius Records]