In case you hadn’t heard, Pillars of Tiamat – the fifth release to grace the Astral Noize Records catalogue – will be released on the 26th of October. The result of cosmic jams spanning aeons between science-fiction auteur Memnon Sa and noisy freeform experimentalists Miser, the release – limited to a run of 100 cassettes – synergises droning post/doom with spacey, krautrock brilliance amongst its meditative ritual soundscapes.
Misha Hering, the dynastic overlord of Memnon Sa, has most graciously recorded a mix of spacey oddities for the first in Astral Noize’s mix series. Spanning jazz, traditional ritual music and krautrock – the mix lays bare the myriad of influences behind one half of Pillars Of Tiamat. Below are a few of Misha’s top picks from the mix (follow the SoundCloud link for full tracklisting).
Astral Noize
Popol Vuh – Engel Der Luft
Popol Vuh have consistently been one of my favourite bands since I discovered them in my late teens. Their mixture of ritualistic and religious is has deeply influenced the tone of most Memnon Sa recording. Their best moments are usually when the band are at their most stripped back, as is the case with ‘Engel Der Luft’.
Astral Noize
Niagara – Gibli
Klaus Weiss is one of my all time favourite drummers and his percussive supergroup Niagara is an amazing introduction to him. Again, the fusing of traditional western and world music traditions works wonderfully here, maybe the moodiest and most ominous track the band ever recorded.
Astral Noize
Via Lactea − El Jardin De La Presencia Divina
A deeply mysterious and unique album from Mexico. Pre-hispanic traditional ritual music mixed with more ambient kraut influence synthesizer TG worship. A beautiful and extremely rare oddity.
Astral Noize
Suzuki, Isao Trio − Aqua Marine
Isao Suzuki is one of the most famous jazz musicians in Japan, having played with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers for a few years in the early 70s. This track is off his first album for legendary Japanese jazz imprint Three Blind Mice. The entire record features some of the most spiritual and ecstatic music I have come across, as Aqua Marine demonstrates.
Astral Noize
Pillars of Tiamat will be released digitally and on cassette through Astral Noize Records on the 26th of October. Pre-order here.
Words: Richard Lowe
