Ever hear a record that reminds you of another artist, only different on enough levels to keep things from sounding truly derivative? Here’s one:
The Artist/Album: The Haxan Cloak, The Haxan Cloak (Aurora Borealis, 2011)
The Story Behind the Songs: It’s easy to understand why Tri Angle recently signed Bobby Krlic’s solo project to his first worldwide deal, what with the way the Haxan Cloak’s self-titled debut presents dark ambient music and neo-classical movements in a manner that’s familiar yet altogether alien. In many ways, this is what we wish the next Sunn O))) album would sound like–charred around the edges, and warmer than spilled blood in the middle, driven by bowed strings, frazzled frequencies, low-lying bass lines, and broadcasts from the great beyond.
If you’re a sucker for anything that’s filed under the phrase “bleak but beautiful,” definitely place this one near the top of your Artists To Watch in 2012 list.
The Record It Reminds Us Of: Ben Frost, By the Throat (Bedroom Community, 2009)
Further Listening
The Haxan Cloak, FACT mix 273:
1. The Locust – Moth-Eaten Deer Head (Haxan Cloak edit)
2.Ed Lawes – Actually Real
3. Health – Severin
4. Mika Vanio – Roma A.D. 2727
5. GNOD – Unreleased Track
6. Church of Synth – Der Fall von Leviathan (Haxan Cloak remix)
7. Prurient – Custer Claims HIs Arrow
8. Alvin Lucier – I Am Sitting In A Room
9. Emeralds – Candy Shoppe (Haxan Cloak edit)
10. Greg Kowlasky – Invocation
11. Aaron Dilloway – Lucifer Rising
12. Thomas Bangalter – Rectum
13. Liars – Drum and the Uncomfortable Can (Haxan Cloak edit)
14. Sunn O))) and Boris – N.L.T.
15. Krzysztof Penderecki – Polymorphia
16. Sadistic Intent – Conflict Within
17. Fennesz – Traxdata (Haxan Cloak edit)
18. Wolf Eyes – Stabbed in the face
19. The Haxan Cloak – Burning Torches of Despair
