Released
1996
Label
Drone Records
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
Stefan Knappe
Drone Records
Gneisenaustrasse 56
28201 Bremen
Germany
Visit
Last Edit/Update
22 February, 1999
Life Garden
Plutonian Dub/Chaos Lullaby 7"
(first edition: 250 copies)
Track Listing
Side One
Plutonian Dub
Side Two
Chaos Lullaby
After a series of acclaimed CD releases, Life Garden released this
7" on Drone Records in 1996. True to the standards of the label, the
first edition was pressed in 250 copies (on silver-gray vinyl) with a beautiful handmade
cover. Life Garden's sound on this single belongs to the more organic
"drones," with its mixture of exotic acoustic rhythms, electronic atmospheres,
and vocals of celestial beauty.
"Plutonian Dub" takes its
beginning slow. The chimes and wandering rhythms are at first very subdued, and only with
the chanted vocals of the band's female singer, does the music begin to truly soar.
Halfway through the piece, the percussion explodes into dynamic, ritualistic rhythms, and
the finale of the track is best described as a stormy soundtrack composed for a modern
enactment of some primal ceremony.
The other piece -- "Chaos
Lullaby," likewise opens on a subtle note. Initially, the music is dominated by
electronic echoes and effects that combine to create a mystical, disconcerting, harmonious
flow. However, later in the piece, this composition too evolves into a feast of tribal
rhythms that appears to celebrate the fragile order within its own thundering chaos.