Christoph de Babalon’s new album conjures up the spirits of melancholy and romanticism in a cold and shallow world. It’s a powerful opus deserving of its own movie about sad love and the wish to give life sense in the absence of a better future. We all are filled with hope and dreams of love before realizing the futility of life, and it is at this point that de Babalon stands on razors edge. This album harnesses the energy of heartbreak and despair as fuel to create dramatically beautiful music that finds its power inside darkness. “Is it possible that existence is our exile and nothingness our home?” (Emile M. Cioran) A mastery of his tools and over two decades of esoteric knowledge of electronic music is applied throughout the album, managing to implement the best aspects of the ever evolving jungle, breakbeat ambient, and modern bass scenes. Standout tracks like “Into The Shadows”, “Traumspiel” and “A Little Less” seem both familiar and futuristic at the same time. The beatless “Mist Of Life” and “Hunger” are so deep and well executed they could be performed by a full orchestra and will stay fresh for years to come like classic David Cronenberg. Most artists live in their own self created world of indulgence and delusion, hoping that the audience will be enticed to hop on board for a fun ride until the next distraction comes along, but very few artists are willing to come face to face with emptiness to transcend...
MP3 $7.99
04/23/2012
Longtime Tigerbeat6 brother Christoph de Babalon (he appeared on our first AND third release over a decade ago!!) graces us with this haunting single from his upcoming album A Bond with Sorrow. CDB is a peerless musician able to effortlessly combine the high art worlds of his sound installations, dance and film soundtracks, with the low end dark realms of his more sinister work on labels like Alec Empire’s Digital Hardcore Recordings (DHR), Fatcat, Zhark, Lowres and his own [CFET]. It’s no question why he has been championed by tastemakers as diverse as John Peel, Thom Yorke, and Alec Empire. The title track “Traumspiel” opens like a classic Dario Argento soundtrack with spine tingling strings and a romantic arpeggiating bass line. Things seem almost peaceful until the drop of the timeless shuffling Jungle breakbeats CDB has made a signature part of his sound. “Hell’s Harps” is a dark juxtaposition of chaotic live instrumentation and discordant drum programming like a soundclash between Sonic Youth and Aphex Twin at their scariest. “Black Moon Rising” is am ominous percussive meditation on tension and release which rewards the listener with a powerful sonic resolution. The cover artwork just as on Christoph’s previous releases Scylla & Charybdis and A World of My Own is by British visual artist Ian Liddle.
MP3 $2.97
03/19/2012