Dances In Defekt Dreams Of The Skull

Sweden noise monks The Skull Defekts and their charismatic necromancer leader Daniel Higgs (this is the third record he has now recorded with the band) are back, with typically verbose and cryptic LP Dances in the Dreams of the Known Unknown (out once more on Thrill Jockey). There have been some backhanded compliments thrown this album's way - and after the excellence of last record Peer Amid, such reservations are warranted. The thing is, I am loving the primordial sworl, the primitive space, the way Higgs' vocals seem to be echoing out of an alternate reality, a vast darkness before life began. The album rides on the darkness, the roiling angularity of guitars, yet on 'Awaking Dream' we are taken into the desert and left to travel on our own, Higgs as spiritual guide, totem, and possible Loki. Because there is always a sense of menace that builds underneath the hypnotic pummelling, the cyclical double helix of noise as catharsis, that epiphany and destruction are forever entwined. The drumming in particular forces things forward with tremulous force, a tenebrous monster from the deep, ensuring that each song feels twice as long and arduous as they actually are, the sweat burning icily through your skin, yet the duress is wished for and desired. So whilst Peer Amid may have been the more overtly ambitious (and successful) album, Dances in the Dreams of the Known Unknown is a feverish, tightly coiled cast back into the fires of the Beginning, the End, the Beginning, the End - eternal flames, pleasure as pain, pain as pleasure, the darkness in the light.

Get the record here.

The Skull Defekts - Awaking Dream from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Zomes Was The Time (Thrill Jockey Update #5)

I can't say I'm a long term observer of the evolution of Lungfish - in fact I haven't really followed them at all. But before you hang me up and burn me life an effigy, I have, however, kept tabs their members. The solo work that Daniel Higgs has done as well as working with The Skull Defekts (which I spoke about here); and on Baltimore's Zomes AKA ex-Lungfishian Asa Osborne. But it's clear on Time Was (another excellent Thrill Jockey issue) that there has been a sizable shift in sonic manipulation, fidelity, scope and vision. There is no tape hiss - these tracks are clean as a whistle. The addition of Hanna Olivegren on vocals (a collaboration allegedly pushed into play by a member of The Skull Defekts) lends a pastoral, almost elemental root to Osborne's minimalist organ flourishes that grounds it, allows a focus and slipstream for his ideas to course more naturally. Olivegren's improvisational beginnings with Zomes have had time to ferment also, and the combination is something to behold - at times ethereal, at times tribal, yet remaining true to a stylistic mantra that Osborne set as a template on 2011's Earth Grid. In fact, Time Was is something of a palimpsest - Osborne's previous incantations and meanderings washed off the page and a new composition takes its place, even though remnants of yore appear like ghostly sign-posts from then to now. So whilst continual plays on repetition and melody rear their head, the amount of improvisation has been pared back, or at least intensely magnified to the point that such a performance is more second-nature than a true exploration of whim. And most importantly, its a beautiful record, with so many gems hidden within that repeated listens are mandatory, and instantly rewarded. Time Was is a pleasant surprise.

Grab Time Was here.

Zomes - Loveful Heights
Zomes - Cave Mountain Stream

Back And Forth With The Skull Defekts

It really is a psych-tastic day, what with the awesome local flavourings of Dreamtime and the incredible, INCREDIBLE Vision Fortune paving the way before us. But Im not finished there, no way Jose! For Ive received an suitably eclectic but altogether radtastic release from the Thrill Jockey stable, for my friends in haze, The Skull Defekts.

The Skull Defekts have a new 12" EP coming out next month. Recorded during their US tour earlier this year, The Skull Defekts for this recording includes Daniel Higgs and Zomes (Asa Osborne). 2013-3012 features three new tracks; the B-side presents those songs played in reverse and reverse-cut, starting from the inner-most groove and playing out toward the edge of the record. United by a common belief in the power of music and sound, The Skull Defekts and Zomes soon found themselves performing together, and when a show was cancelled during the tour, recording together for an explosive and extremely creative one day session. The cover features artwork by Daniel Higgs.


The track below is actually an amalgam of the track 'Children of the Skull Defekts' and its mirror image 'Stkefed Lluks Eth Fo Nerdlihc', which gives you an amazing idea of what this release entails. I love these guys, and Higgs' involvement with them - their album Peer Amid is one of my favourites of the year (check out my thoughts here). The band are joining many of my favourite bands at the inimitable Supersonic Festival in Birmingham tonight for three days - Barn Owl, White Hills, Eternal Tapestry, Part Chimp, Mike Watt, Bardo Pond - fucking incredible, right?

The Skull Defekts - Childrenerdlihc

Skull Defekts Get A Fresh Set Of Lungs

Sweden's The Skull Defekts might finally get the recognition they deserve based on three points. The first is their new signing to perennially ace psych-oriented label Thrill Jockey (Boredoms, Pontiak, White Hills, Barn Owl, etc etc). The second is the addition of former Lungfish frontman Daniel Higgs, his plaintive vocals making a very affirmative imprint across all eight tracks on their latest LP, Peer Amid.

And the third point? That Peer Amid is goddamned amazing.

Which shouldnt be that much of a surprise to be honest, when looking at the pedigree of the band. Putting Higgs aside, The Skull Defekts have been involved in a myriad of Swedish experimental outfits that are all of high pedigree, including Kid Commando, Satan Power, Alvars Orkester, Oceans of Silver & Blood, 8 Days of Nothing and Cortex, plus collaborations with Pan Sonic.

But what might be a surprise is the pure addictiveness Peer Amid offers. The album offers an amalgam of the sounds they have developed over the past half-decade - dark-side-of-the-moon drones, noise-rock, and heavy not-quite-metal sludge - but with the further augmented electronics, cyclical percussive beats and Higgs' croon/incantations, this album beggars belief. At times Higgs moans and chants with a shadow of Layne Staley - random vocalist to envision, but there you go - and the technical mastery here never gets in the way of the effectiveness these songs have. They are still meandering beasts, wandering the sonic planes, shimmering, slinking, stalking - but oh so darkly beautiful. The title track is the most elliptical of giants, as what could be an explosive chugging rock tune implodes into a twitching noise fest, never letting you get your rocks off; 'Gospel Of The Skull' is a shamanistic totem dance as performed by a slowed down, early-era Earth; 'Fragrant Nimbus' is a churning Sonic Youth aping behemoth, before it shatters into a million shards of angular rhetoric and tightly coiled aggression. My favourite track though is 'In Majestic Drag', a tribal drumming masterclass coupled with cyclical sonic swirls, and stuttering guitars before a distorted dirge and Higgs' chants lift everything to another, darker level. Yet that drumming...fantastic. Higgs is barely present in this track to be honest, but his influence is still prevalent in the end result.

Peer Amid is an album that I held a mild interest in before I put it on - afterwards, nothing will ever be the same again. So far - favourite album of the year.

The Skull Defekts are touring the US March and April with likeminded droners Zomes. Whether you like your Lungfish, or experimental rock, or want to have your life's perceptions shifted, get to one of these shows. Europe and other parts of the world will have to wait - but hopefully not for long...

Peer Amid is out February 22nd.

The Skull Defekts - In Majestic Drag
The Skull Defekts - Fragrant Nimbus