Browse by Artist: VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA

Artist:	VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
Title:	Tuning to the Rooster
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 061CD

So far the first and only record ever made by The Vibracathedral Orchestra using a 24-track mixing board. Typically the group records on 2 tracks despite the fact that their eccentric and complexly arranged sound practically requires 24 tracks. "This is music as a shamanic aid, made as much for the players themselves as for the listeners. But as I'm writing from the listening perspective, I have to inform y'all that this is music to get you there. Every track sounds as though it has always just 'been there,' it's just you ain't quite tuned into its peculiar frequency until now. The 12-and-a-half minute 'Wearing Clothes of Ash' is like a piano-led 'Paradieswarts Duul-period drone-a-thon with John Cale and Terry Riley guesting on viola and keys. Following this, the sublime 'Baptism Bar Blues' is proof positive that they can rock the riot house with pure adrenaline rush when the decision is made. Indeed, this track is magnificent and should be available to the masses free or in pill form." -- Julian Cope.

Artist:	VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
Title:	My Gate's Open, Tremble By My Side
Label:	LEXICON DEVIL (AUSTRALIA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.50
Catalog #:	LEXDEV 012CD

Originally released on the Lexicon Devil label in 2004; a reissue of their obscenely rare 1999 LP on the Roaratorio label, with three bonus tracks. Vibracathedral Orchestra started in 1998 with the core 5-piece line-up of Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Michael Flower, Adam Davenport and Julian Bradley. Between the five of them, a musical CV would read like a history of UK underground experimental music from the last decade or so, with members having been involved with the likes of Richard Youngs, Simon Wickham-Smith, Sunroof, Skullflower, and others. The sound and aesthetic of VO is based heavily on percussive, improvised, minimalist drones that occasionally bear heavy resemblance to everything from very early Velvet Underground (and proto-/post-Velvets projects with John Cale, Angus MacLise and La Monte Young) to Popol Vuh and Amon Düül to essential UK cult artists like Third Ear Band and AMM. With a massive array of percussive, stringed and toy instruments (bells, recorders, flutes, mandolins, violins, whistles, organs, etc.), the band soon began wowing people over with their limited self-released CD-Rs and occasional live shows. So, in the intervening years, with a smattering of "real" releases on VHF under their belt, and various limited vinyl releases elsewhere, comes this Lexicon Devil CD. My Gate's Open... was originally released on the Roaratorio label in 1999 in an addition of only 250 copies. Not only is the album considered by many fans to be their finest work, but the CD contains a bonus three tracks from the same recording session that until now have remained unissued. Musically, it all scorches in that patented Vibracathedral style: monolithic sheets of organic, repetitive drones that arch into quieter, more subtle territory, rhythms and grooves. This expanded edition is certainly an excellent place to start in exploring the world of Vibracathedral Orchestra.

Artist:	VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
Title:	Versatile Arab Chord Chart
Label:	VHF
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	VHF 048CD

"Versatile Arab Chord Chart is the second full-length outing by the quintet of Neil Campbell, Michael Flower, Julian Bradley, Bridget Hayden, and Adam Davenport. They cut the drones in their life with extremely effective bursts of near rock, in a style reminiscent of the pre-Nico Velvet Underground (circa 1966 or so). The band's combination of clattering percussion, droning strings, and considerable sense of where to put the 'groove' on tracks like 'Catching Lovers With Blank Arms' makes them unique among their peers."

Artist:	VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
Title:	Dabbling With Gravity And Who You Are
Label:	VHF
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	VHF 066CD

"The latest and current pinnacle from the quintet of Neil Campbell, Bridgit Riley, Julian Bradley, Michael Flower, and Adam Davenport was assembled from recordings of their weekly sessions in Flower's kitchen. The tracks here represent the joyous, celebratory side of VCO -- all forward motion, massed strings, percussion, horns, and little instruments rocketing forward in a swirl of sound. Compared to the more austere sounds of recent CDs like Lino Hi and Versatile Arab Chord Chart, the tracks here take off from the spot where the loose hippie-chant-and-drum action of collectives like Amon Düül intersects with the polyglot instrumental approach of mid-'60s Sun Ra."

Artist:	VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
Title:	The Queen of Guess
Label:	VHF
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	VHF 077CD

"While certainly VCO's most upbeat and percussive music, the nine tracks on this immense, visceral slab of rackety action run through a wide range of styles. 'Ramshackle Sunrise' has a gamelan-like, five-note melody overlaid with a hovering drone. 'The Silent Socket' rocks with 'Sister Ray'-style guitar careening along side actual drums. The two 20-minute epics that bookend the record are a study in contrasts: 'Your Head Shone Like A Stone' has a heavy, excited buzz, while the closing 'Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air' is a gentler acoustic epilogue, gliding into the rosy future."

Artist:	VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
Title:	Wisdom Thunderbolt
Label:	VHF
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	VHF 102CD

"Wisdom Thunderbolt marks the triumphant return of Vibracathedral Orchestra after more than three years in the wilderness of intermittent performance, tangential projects, and unfindable limited editions. The seven tracks on Wisdom are the VCO's most rocking dispatch ever, neatly combining the Ra-like collage of tracks like Wisdom Thunderbolt with the insistent pulsing jams of 'A Natural Fact' and 'Order of the Broad Eraser.' 'Ochre Dust' and 'Rainbow Whirlwind' are more in the old-school VCO thick-blanket of sound, with tuned-percussion melody peeking out from the fog. After a surprise opening, 'Sway-Sage' heaves with raucous drumming (courtesy of Magik Marker Pete Nolan) under the swells of sound. Hard to imagine, but this is the first widely available music (except for the Tuning to the Rooster comp) from the VCO since 2003's acclaimed The Queen of Guess."

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