Majdanek Waltz * Hamlet’s Childhood (cd 2007 the eastern front)
The Eastern Front has quite some (ex-)Russian artists on their list, the same goes for Majdanek Waltz. In a very nice package comes a 40 minute cd with a tranquil and minimalistic form of neofolk with lots of moody violins and which because of the spoken text in a strange language reminds a bit of Scivias. I think that this album will appeal to people who like the more atmospheric kind of neofolk.
Links: Majdanek Waltz, MW @ Myspace, The Eastern Front
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Actually I had the impression that besides the “neofolk scene” which is part of the industrial scene or the gothic scene to use a ‘larger tag’, there was also some kind of “folk music scene” or maybe two, but with a variety of styles, etc. According to the booklet of this “dark folk” compilation, this is not the case. There were many bands making some kind of folk music, but not before the internet brought them together, all worked separately. This compilation is meant to give an idea of what is available and indeed, what you get is a varried compilation with all kinds of folk(y) music, from the traditional 60’ies sound so more rock, “psychedelic” and some neofolk. Of the two cds (a third one can be downloaded), there are only four bands from the neofolk scene, the rest is new to me. The compilation is a cooperation from a folklabel and Cold Spring and the first in a series to come. I have never really listened to folk music, neither is it really my thing, but “John Barleycorn Reborn” gives a nice overview of what the compilers call “dark folk”. There are very nice songs on the cds and also not too appealing. Both words in the term “dark folk” are used somewhat differently from what you may expect. “Dark” is more like “obscure” as in “outside the large audience” (including the ‘normal folk audience’) and “folk” does not really refer to a musical style, but to a certain background of the music. Andrew King has written a nice text about the modern attitude to folk music. “JBR” overall is an interesting project and music-wise the compilation is a nice cd to have on the shelve in case you want to play something different.
Some seven years ago, before Myspace or even cd-demos, I read about this new American band (on a website). The demo contains both neofolk and more electronic experiments and was alright (my review of 24/8/00 is still up here somewhere). The band was signed by Eis & Licht, usually not the most innovating neofolk label and my interest in the genre went down, so I didn’t really follow Lux Interna anymore. Last Wave Gotik Treffen I saw their nice show in the Anker, a more mature and poppy approach with nice songs containing cello and violin too, so I looked their cds on the internet and downloaded them. “Absence And Plenum” (2002) is a rather typical neofolk album and not very good, “Ignis Mutat Res” (2004) also starts in this vein, but becomes much better in the second half, so I guessed I might just order the new album and see if the progress continued. The new album seems to leave behind the neofolk origins a bit and didn’t follow the more poppy sound that most neofolk bands have turned to, but more focus is put on the cello and violin and the sound reminds me often of the German band Chamber (or l’Orchestre De Chambre Noire, see reviews), especially also because of the vocals. Whereas Chamber gives even more room to the classical influences, so much that I have described their music as “chamber music”, Lux Interna keeps holding the acoustic guitar and vocals (male and female) on the forefront, but the musical structure and atmosphere can no longer be really described as “neofolk”. Another difference between the two bands is that Lux Interna has left the music modest and melancholic, while Chamber also had some light-footed songs. “God Is Not Dead For The Birds” has become a nice album, not really groundbreaking, but also not slavely following the path that the scene sets out. Furthermore it is well-contructed and well-recorded so all in all a nice listening experience.
“Iznutri” is a Russian compilation “dedicated to the happy end of times”. It contains 16 bands in a variety of styles. Most tracks are ambient soundscapes, though, and too monotous too. For the rest you will hear some neofolk, industrial and more experimental things. However there are some ‘big names’ here (Cisfinitum, Allerseelen, Reutoff, Sal Solaris, Troum, Cyclotimia and O Paradis), the compilation is not good at all. There are only two alright tracks (O Paradis and Neutral, bands that I am usually not too fond of). For the rest, not for me…
Steinklang again offers a cheap compilation with tracks of their own and befriended releases. III is not as II a double cd. The first half of the cd is filled with industrial, dark ambient and a violent noise track of Dissecting Table, the second cd with neofolk and other folky sounds. Just as with the previous two issues of the compilation there are some very good tracks here and especially bands that were new to me, so that is always nice.
Here we have already the fourth online compilation by Neo-folk.it. Like with the previous editions you mostly get new bands with some smaller established bands and mostly a sound that does not fall under the term “neofolk”; however, the second ‘cd’ definately has a few neofolk songs. Also as with the previous compilations most tracks are nice, not groundbreaking, but nice to listen to and to discover some new bands. What I have always liked most about these series is that the sound usually is quite uncommon, not the easy copying kind of making music. Of course it is free, so I can say: click on the cover and happy downloading!
Here we have a cd full of “a small collection of old postcards” of Rose Rovine e Amanti. The tracks vary from silly experiments, to more ‘dance’ track, nice poppy (and bluesy?) neofolk songs and a not-too-good Von Thronstahl-like collection of sounds and samples. I particularly like the neofolky songs which have a nice atmosphere and an atypical sound. The cd is 42 minutes and as the title says, contains old and unreleased material (either completely new, or in an alternative version). There are some references to my own country. Two tracks are called “Holland Sea” and Theo van Gogh is on the cover.
A cd with “early works” released by Uwe Nolte himself. It seems that there is also a limited (150 copies) special edition with one more track, but since I didn’t know that, I just got the digipack cd on which are four tracks that I didn’t have yet, two songs from “Heimkehr” (1997) and two songs of which I haven’t been able to find the origin. The rest comes from compilations (and the debut cd rerelease with extra tracks), “Das Schicksal” (1998) and “Barbarossa” (2000). A great album, but again I already had most of the material.
Of this strange, German band I earlier reviewed a cd on Cold Spring from the UK. This new cd is released by this much smaller label The Eastern Front from Israel, but the band surely fits on this label. Way Of Crosses opens with a nice martial neofolky track and continues with a two minimalistic tracks with dance rhythms with are either a bit dull or interesting as sounding new (and with a very amusing variation on the “Woher stammst du?” scene from Triumph Des Willens). Also there are of course the traditional (Russian?) songs, strange experimental soundscapes, some poppy and industrial tracks… You read it, this cd does not contain a single and predictable style of music, but an interesting collection of ideas and tracks of which most are interesting enough to get a copy of this nicely packages (but limited to 1000 copies) album.
Rome from Luxembourg has delighted us with a magnificent mcd and a brilliant full-length and only months later there is a new album, again on CMI. I hope this tempo will not continue and lead to overkill. “Confessions” is again a masterpiece. It is slightly different in style, but still ‘very much Rome’. The bombastic and orchestral opener may appeal to the lovers of the popular martial industrial style, but again the cd is very tranquil and melancholic. Just on a few occasions you will get something more industrial. Actually, this new cd is more tranquil with accoustic guitar and singing than on the previous releases. Besides this you will hear ambient, wave-like sounds, industrial, orchestrations and here and there a martial tone (especially in the background samples). Rome as a concept is carefully put together with a great ear and eye for details. The music is multi-layered with a lot of things happening on the background. This care also shows during live-performances where a beautiful film is projected on the background which goes perfectly with the songs and the lyrics. If you like the previous releases, you will also like “Confessions”. As a personal note I have to add that the previous releases (which I have put on one disc and always play as one thing) have more songs that really give me gooseflesh and work on my emotion, so in this regard “Confessions” may be a little less good than “Berlin” and “Nera”. Maybe this is because the novelty is gone, I cannot tell. In any case, do not expect popular martial and orchestral industrial, but a very personal, intimate and melancholic release with brilliantly built-up songs.