Arum Lilies - Subsurface Aquifers
Behind this enigmatic project/act hides Mark Groves. Who is someone who is in a lot of different bands, with band names like Collapsed Toilet Vietnam to George W. Bush! On top of that, he has several solo projects and he releases under his own name as well. Arum Lilies is one of his solo projects; this is the second album out. Both albums have been released by the same label called Death Continues. A prolific cult label with acts like Sutcliffe Jugend and Autopsia (just to name a few). This one is the latest from both the act and the label.
The album has been released as a limited (120 copies) Compact Disc inside a nifty-looking digipack. Love the kind of sun-bleached colors on the photo/artwork, strange kind of nostalgic feel to it. The track listing is on the front, and the back (and inside) has some interesting poetry u can examine while listening. Inside there is also a photo showing the shoulders and half of the face of some man in a suit, probably a sleazy politician! 8 tracks, about 32 minutes in total.
The first track A Belated Arrival to Its Own Party... is a quiet party. Reverbed ceramic sounds, otherworldly radio noise, creepy TG´ish bass guitar sounds. I like it. An effective ear-opener if you ask me. A bit short though, really liked what I heard.
The second track is called 27° 03' 36" S 150° 26' 18" E. And I have heard some rumors regarding the name of this track! It's a geographic coordinate when using google it will present an event! Try it out yourself! There is a strange and highly filtered voice speaking, about something being dissolved in water. Presence of the desert heat and the bussing of insects. A chaotic (yet controlled) wall of noise hits the listener like the rain on a hot day... and then the track ends.
The third track Parallel Passages offers looped (and slowed down) piano and strings. Kind of makes me think of some of the looped ambient tracks by Boyd Rice. This ends, and it goes back to that TG bass sound with some excellent and atmospheric windy sounds in the background. The looped strings and pianos slowly creep back into the recordings. Kind of like Boards of Canada without the rhythms.
The fourth track Intrinsically Perverse Crystallum Orbis has the sound of dust on an old record player, looped drone´ish strings, and some cool reverbed sounds of someone touching a sensitive string. Elements of harsh noise are suddenly added and end when some looped violins and spoken vocals creep in. It all sounds and feels like being in a place where time has stopped. I get the feeling of old gramophones and dust.
The fifth track The Tissue-Culture King goes further into the strange mixture of noise and organic ambient/drone. I really like the whole thing so far, mixing noise with pleasant ambient can be a tricky thing... but so far Arum Lilies has proved that it can be done. Strangely disturbing and strangely pleasant.
The sixth track Strawman Oracle, has elements that we have already heard in the first track. But, it makes sense for some reason. The album runs totally like a movie, it´s basic story-telling using sound only. Lovely minimalistic approach here, and a creepy and intense Twin Peaks mood going on here.
The seventh track The Late Great Planet Earth, is where it all gets... really weird. Starts with a rumbling explosion, and then it goes straight into some sort of religious cowboy muzack. Remember the Hank & Slim album (work between Nocturnal Emissions and Zoviet France) doing country drone-ambient?. Excellent contrast which (luckily) works with what we have heard so far!
The eighth (and last) track is simply called Mirrors. We kind of return to the bussing desert, with a hypnotic and filtered looped tune/melody... which for some strange reason makes me think of Blue Monday with New Order. Layers of orchestral recordings in there as well. Lovely outro if you ask me.
I would so that it is a very good album. Although short, but surprisingly effective! It creates questions and heightens the curiosity of the listener, the enigmatic soundscapes are so thick but, nonetheless light as a feather in the wind. The album works, in a way as when u are looking at a huge painting, but you are only allowed to watch in through various tiny holes on a wall. You get the big picture when you combine all these small impressions together. A worthy album to seek out for sure!.
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