Unless there are surprises (and I don't think that Morbid Angel's upcoming cd will be any worth, plus Wu-Tang Clan's new cd is meh, despite claims to the return to that grimy, demonic ruggedness of their first collective and solo albums), this will be the best release of 2017 by far. In the early 1980s, Mark Valentine, writer of weird fiction and researcher of obscure literature, who runs the blog Wormwood Diana, recorded a track "Journey to the West" played on a toy reed organ for a comp tape called Deleted Funtime. After so many years, the great experimental-improvisational group Watch Repair revisited the track and some other reed melodies Valentine had recorded, which were included in a 1981 tape called National Grid 2. The longing, solitary melodies of MV have been extended into three epic music poems all exceeding the ten-minute mark, enriched with synths, guitars, ambient effects and the sounds of birds. Taking on the medieval aspect of the original melodies, the reworked versions oscillate between psychedelic folk and dense ambient, attaining an immense feeling of a ship on a journey through fog.
I can't recommend this highly enough and I strongly urge everyone that they go to the link below and contact the good people who made this possible so that they get the whole deal too (if there are any copies left), with a booklet containing great info, writing and postcards. http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.gr/2017/08/journey-to-west-mystic-umbrellas.html
Also visit the bandcamp site of the amazing Watch Repair and give some of your dosh to help them keep up the awesomeness! I also suggest that you give a listen to the Tidal Path release.
The first cdr is the 2017 version including a pdf of the booklet, the second is a 3" cdr containing the original recordings of the three tracks appearing on National Grid 2 and "Journey to the West" from Deleted Funtime.
Released by Aphasic Ear.
Journey To The West (1979-2017)
CD2 (sound sources)
wow, just the 5 minutes that i listened to on bandcamp is enough to sell me on this group for life- amazing. thanks for posting!
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