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LP
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KRAYON 021LP
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The A-side drops straight into one of those time-evaporating sleights-of-hand from a simple stack of loops. A tidal guitar figure wraps around sparse ricocheting foundations of moiré percussion as harmonic resonances flow in and around the space, segueing into one of the most beautiful pieces Vibracathedral Orchestra have ever caught on tape. A truly glorious cascade of pentatonic feedback augmented by circling horn ascensions and the ever-present hand drum and shaker, rattle and oomph. The B-side was recorded on the same binaural bonce as the A but instead is a fully blown-out NO-FI blast documenting a performance at Cafe OTO and features trap-star Chris Corsano. A wild, snow-blind, open-cranium trip. Corsano's drums flatten to a blur of metallic clatter, spiky overtones, and room-levitating bass drum punctuation. Ideas rise and fall from within the maelstrom of their ritual; a two-finger tonebank solo teeters on the brink of its own crisis, the occasional astral whizz-bang floats around the ear-space drawing out your mind's focus, a bloated, head-nodding bass riff appears, everyone gets involved. The shred goes seriously out, taking every head and item of furniture not nailed down with it. Art by John Godbert; design by Michael Flower. Mastered and cut by Lewis Hopkin.
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LP
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VHF 139LP
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"The mighty 'classic' lineup of the Vibracathedral Orchestra returns with their first new music in many years. Here the quintet of Michael Flower, Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport and Julian Bradley (joined by raconteur John Godbert) feature in a set of upbeat tracks that put the group's radical instrumental strategies into a package of full-on rock action. Recorded live using a binaural head system, the sound is nicely ragged in a you-are-there way, with scouring guitars and bleeping electronics riding atop the band's signature grooves. As with some of the band's other records, there's more than a hint of the early Velvet Underground spirit in these ten tracks. If you wish that Cale and Reed would have been more of an instrumental band, here it is."
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LP
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VHF 120LP
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"The Secret Base starts up at full throttle, straight into a raw-sounding live outing, with Flower's overdriven guitar occupying the same sonic space that gives his Japan banjo / shaahi baaja workouts with Chris Corsano their urgency. The sound is dark and rough, almost Xpressway-like in its claustrophobic atmosphere. The percolating Krautrock stylings of 'If You Can't Smoke 'Em' chugs along hypnotically for over 13 minutes to close out the side. The entire B-side's 20+ minutes are devoted to the clanging free sound of 'Eyes of Wood,' where gamelan-like metal percussion dominates the proceedings."
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CD
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LEXDEV 012CD
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Originally released on the Lexicon Devil label in 2004; a reissue of their obscenely rare 1999 LP on the Roaratorio label, with three bonus tracks. Vibracathedral Orchestra started in 1998 with the core 5-piece line-up of Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Michael Flower, Adam Davenport and Julian Bradley. Between the five of them, a musical CV would read like a history of UK underground experimental music from the last decade or so, with members having been involved with the likes of Richard Youngs, Simon Wickham-Smith, Sunroof, Skullflower, and others. The sound and aesthetic of VO is based heavily on percussive, improvised, minimalist drones that occasionally bear heavy resemblance to everything from very early Velvet Underground (and proto-/post-Velvets projects with John Cale, Angus MacLise and La Monte Young) to Popol Vuh and Amon Düül to essential UK cult artists like Third Ear Band and AMM. With a massive array of percussive, stringed and toy instruments (bells, recorders, flutes, mandolins, violins, whistles, organs, etc.), the band soon began wowing people over with their limited self-released CD-Rs and occasional live shows. So, in the intervening years, with a smattering of "real" releases on VHF under their belt, and various limited vinyl releases elsewhere, comes this Lexicon Devil CD. My Gate's Open... was originally released on the Roaratorio label in 1999 in an addition of only 250 copies. Not only is the album considered by many fans to be their finest work, but the CD contains a bonus three tracks from the same recording session that until now have remained unissued. Musically, it all scorches in that patented Vibracathedral style: monolithic sheets of organic, repetitive drones that arch into quieter, more subtle territory, rhythms and grooves. This expanded edition is certainly an excellent place to start in exploring the world of Vibracathedral Orchestra.
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CD
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VHF 102CD
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"Wisdom Thunderbolt marks the triumphant return of Vibracathedral Orchestra after more than three years in the wilderness of intermittent performance, tangential projects, and unfindable limited editions. The seven tracks on Wisdom are the VCO's most rocking dispatch ever, neatly combining the Ra-like collage of tracks like Wisdom Thunderbolt with the insistent pulsing jams of 'A Natural Fact' and 'Order of the Broad Eraser.' 'Ochre Dust' and 'Rainbow Whirlwind' are more in the old-school VCO thick-blanket of sound, with tuned-percussion melody peeking out from the fog. After a surprise opening, 'Sway-Sage' heaves with raucous drumming (courtesy of Magik Marker Pete Nolan) under the swells of sound. Hard to imagine, but this is the first widely available music (except for the Tuning to the Rooster comp) from the VCO since 2003's acclaimed The Queen of Guess."
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CD
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IMPREC 061CD
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So far the first and only record ever made by The Vibracathedral Orchestra using a 24-track mixing board. Typically the group records on 2 tracks despite the fact that their eccentric and complexly arranged sound practically requires 24 tracks. "This is music as a shamanic aid, made as much for the players themselves as for the listeners. But as I'm writing from the listening perspective, I have to inform y'all that this is music to get you there. Every track sounds as though it has always just 'been there,' it's just you ain't quite tuned into its peculiar frequency until now. The 12-and-a-half minute 'Wearing Clothes of Ash' is like a piano-led 'Paradieswarts Duul-period drone-a-thon with John Cale and Terry Riley guesting on viola and keys. Following this, the sublime 'Baptism Bar Blues' is proof positive that they can rock the riot house with pure adrenaline rush when the decision is made. Indeed, this track is magnificent and should be available to the masses free or in pill form." -- Julian Cope.
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