various / 14 tracks

14 tracks: Strange Angels

Inspired by the near ineffable beauty of new albums by Grouper and Motion Sickness of Time Travel, we've induced a séance (of sorts) with similarly suggestive music by a (nearly) all-female cast of artists working a tangled web of electronic folk, shoegaze, techno and drone pop. We've honed in on the ghostly vocal tones which thread through these 14 pieces - from Grouper's shadowy soul to the more visceral yet undeniably affecting Motion Sickness Of Time Travel's 'Telepathy', conducting an experiment in transcendental communication that taps into a history of EVP and a fascination with ghostly electronic voices stretching back to Thomas Edison. On a grander scale, Chelsea Wolfe channels the dilapidated elegance of 'Benjamin', while Tara Burke's Fursaxa summons music box spirits on 'Birds Inspire Epic Bards' and the irrepressible Maja S.K. Ratkje joins Lasse Marhaug for an uncomfortable episode of impossible to contain cat-cries. Zola Jesus and Skirt, meanwhile, view machine driven emotions from alternately ambiguous angles - finishing off a bewitching, mystical set.