Konstantin Raudive - Voices of the Dead (2002) [SAA Album Club discussion thread]

[starrynight]

I only heard the start of it so far. Not that impressed though it certainly sounds weird. If it has long stretches of German through it that might test my patience as I don't understand it. Not sure they are actually voices of the dead either. Not that I don't have some consideration that there might be some form of 'spirit' life but taking that a step further into hearing voices is a bit of a further leap. Not that that should have any consideration in judging the music of course, though it might seem from the title that it is being sensationalist. And ultimately is it just trying to tap into those ghost cliches from horror films and legends by just trying to create a creepy sound instead of something more different? Can people manage to escape that when looking at this kind of subject or are we inevitably shaped by all the baggage that has built up over hundreds of years?

[Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra]

First couple songs, and thought it'd be difficult to get through, and it was for a bit, but it really sort of opened itself up as songs continued. The album itself really did seem to evolve from song to song.

With that said, it takes awhile to get there, and it doesn't get much beyond that. Still, very neat works. Unpredictable, formula breaking, and even with a nice random string piece thrown in as bonus.

[dankrsta]

Originally Posted by starrynight

And ultimately is it just trying to tap into those ghost cliches from horror films and legends by just trying to create a creepy sound instead of something more different?

I don't know, when I was listening to it, it didn't evoke horror films, more like sci-fi. It's actually refreshing that creepiness isn't so in your face, but almost like a byproduct of "scientific" research. The only track, that I can say tries to create some gothic environment by those slow, deep tones, is by Calla, 'Raudive Track'. Most of the others are actually quite cold in their approach, sound collages and experiments working around the founding concept of Raudive's recording of the "voices", injecting them with musicality. There's a sense of some hidden melancholy in some of them, which warms up the record, like in 'Nature Morte'. Some of them are quite mystic like 'Kolade Spirit' by David Toop and to a lesser extent those two electronic tracks: 'Bizz Circuits' (this one is one of my favorites) and 'Palae Fore Memoire' (this one really evokes the sci-fi feel I mentioned).

The best track is definitely 'Intimate Decision for Solo Viola' (I completely agree with OccultHawk here). Without it this would be a really cold record despite those occasional glimpses of warmth in some tracks. But this one makes up for it. It has some mysterious sadness and fatal foreboding perfect for the subject. Brett Dean injects this collection of sound experiments with much needed emotion and puts it in human context, pulls it down from the pseudo-scientific abstractions.

But still, I feel it's not enough to warm up the whole record which is somewhat tiring for listening at once, mainly because of that coldness, the result of experimental approach that tries to emulate to an extent Raudive's "scientific" approach. I must admit though, it's an interesting concept and it gets a solid mark.