Released
1998
Label
Musica Maxima
Magnetica
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
Musica Maxima
Magnetica
C. P. 2280
50100 Firenze
Italy
Visit
Last Edit/Update
09 august, 1998
M.J. Harris/Martyn Bates
MURDER BALLADS (INCEST SONGS)
Track Listing
1. The Bonny Hind
2. Sheath And Knife
3. The Two Brothers
4. Edward
The third and final installment in Mick Harris' and Martyn Bates'
trilogy of Murder Ballads CDs has just been released by Musica Maxima
Magnetica. Unlike the first two volumes in the series, this album has been
thematically restricted to songs of incest, a decision that Bates has explained
as resulting from the vocal aesthetic of layering and overlapping his own voice on these
recordings. It is also a CD that is strongly minimalist both in terms of the
instrumentation employed, and the nature of the musical compositions -- which are little
more than monotone, droning backdrops for Bates' vocals. Yet, the moods
accomplished by these stationary, lingering tapestries of sound are stunningly precise in
accentuating the emotions stirred by the slowly unfolding narratives that Bates
gives voice to.
Four extended pieces constitute the
album; each one a tale of incest, murder and loss in the classically ironic tradition, and
presented in a language that evokes 18th. century British prose/poetry. The moral universe
and settings of the tales are likewise of the past, and conjure up images from the works
of such novelists as Thomas Hardy and Emily Bronte. Martyn Bates
performs these tales in his characteristically beautiful and pure voice -- carrying an
immediacy that is at times frightening in itself. Additionally, his vocals have been
treated with great care in the mixing of the songs; often the last word(s) of a line of
lyrics will linger in the air several seconds after its utterance, like the after-image on
the retina caused by looking too intensely at the sun. At other times, several recordings
of his vocals have been layered and delayed, so as to create the impression of a chorus
repeating the words of the story back to him. In short, the effect arrived at is one where
the vocals at once appear sealed inside a chamber -- perhaps the minds of the different
songs' protagonists, but at the same time also drifts near and far in the soundpicture --
a vocal embodiment of fate, or perhaps nemesis.
Together, the disconcerting
presence of Harris' sound designs and the strange, elusive nature of Bates'
vocals, create a sensation of being trapped. Once the CD plays, the enticing quality of
the vocals, and the sweet taste of taboo draws the listener in, while the flow of
saturated ambiance invades the room, and banishes all other sounds. Murder Ballads
(Incest Songs) reminds that the true horrors do not come heralded by blaring trumpets
and stomping steeds, but rather silently seeps into the safest shelter through minute
cracks and faults.
