[AB-OC-05] VARIOUS - For the Dead in Space, Volumes II & III
(tribute to Tom Rapp + Pearls Before Swine)



2xCD only
$16 USA; $20 World

Volume II (disc 1)
1. Marissa Nadler - Ballad To An Amber Lady     [MP3]
2. Kemialliset Ystavat - Suojelusenkeli
(Guardian Angels in Finnish)
3. the Olive Tree (Jewelled Antler) - Blind River
4. Bardo Pond - Uncle John     [MP3]
5. Aquarium Poppers - From The Movie Of The Same Name
6. Gentle Tasaday (of Salamander) - Snow Queen
7. Noxagt - Regions Of May
8. Kawabata Makoto (of Acid Mothers Temple) - When I Was A Child
9. Oren Ambarchi - Sail Away
10. Prydwyn - Prayers Of Action
11. Fursaxa - Epitaph
12. Black Forest / Black Sea - Wizard Of Is
13. Kitchen Cynics - Les Ans
14. James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand + The Vanishing Voice) - City Of Gold

Volume III (disc 2)
1. David Rapp - Frog In The Window
2. Aspera - These Things Too
3. Bevel - Look Into Her Eyes
4. Monster Island - Riegal
5. Ron Chelsvig - Rocket Man
6. Adrian Shaw (of Bevis Frond) - Mars
7. Thurston Moore and Mike Watt - Fourth Day Of July
8. Alastair Galbraith - Everybody's Got Pain     [MP3]
9. Green Crown - Raindrops
10. Dead Raven Choir - Song About A Rose
11. Stone Breath - Ring Thing
12. Cauldron (of Spacious Mind) - Man In The Tree
13. Mutter - Forbidden City
14. Pearls Before Swine - Translucent Carriages (unreleased 1967 alternate version)

The new double CD set FOR THE DEAD IN SPACE is a continuing tribute to TOM RAPP and PEARLS BEFORE SWINE. This is a follow-up to the first volume that we released in 1997. This new 2CD volume features all different tracks and more than 25 different artists than the 1997 CD. Both sets represent simply the finest artists in the folk, experimental and noise undergrounds paying tribute to an acid folk legend. Liner notes by Phil McMullen (editor of Ptolemaic Terrascope) with additional notes by Jeffrey Alexander.
Copies of Volume I are also available on CD and vinyl LP.
Get the complete set of volumes 1, 2 & 3 on CD for $25 USA; $30 World.

Volume I
1. Tono Bungay - Morning Song / Footnote (medley)
2. Flying Saucer Attack - Space (the man who fell to earth)
3. Metronome - Green And Blue
4. Fit & Limo - Surrealist Waltz
5. Carl Edwards - There Was A Man
6. Masaki Batoh (of Ghost) - Images Of April
7. Alchemysts - Drop Out!
8. Damon & Naomi - Translucent Carriages
9. Bevis Frond - Lepers And Roses
10. Kitchen Cynics - Stardancer
11. Tower Recordings - I Saw The World
12. Shy Camp - Love/Sex
13. Mourning Cloak - I Shall Not Care
14. Tom Rapp - Hopelessly Romantic (unreleased PBS track)
15. Half Calf - For The Dead In Space
16. Shy Camp - Another Time

REVIEWS
"Lets just say that some equations are easier than others. You won't need a civil engineering degree to figure out that a double CD tribute compilation to Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine including 22 artists that have been covered in these pages, plus a few others, is a true winner. As a matter of fact Marissa Nadler's (one of the new names) rendition of "Ballad to an Amber Lady" is worth the price of admission alone with its seductive soft fem vocals and lingering folk structures. Kemialliset Ystavat's damaged folkscapes are a whole lot more experimental but somehow equally beautiful and don't even get me started on Glenn Donaldson (of Thuja, Birdtree and a myriad of other Jewelled Antler-related projects) who under the Olivetree moniker crawls along an isolated path of fractured folk music, and when he leaves us, the gate to his soul stands wide-open and it's a beautiful sight, I can tell you that much. Bardo Pond shakes "Uncle John" to its foundations while Aquarium Poppers create a dark, loop-infused version of "From the Movie of the Same Name". I could easily dive deep into detailed descriptions of every track on this first disc, but I'll settle with saying that the contributions from Gentle Tasaday, Noxagt, Kawabata Makoto, Oren Ambarchi, Prydwyn, Fursaxa, Black Forest/Black Sea, Kitchen Cynics and James Jackson Toth (doesn't this line-up sound like a wet dream? It is, believe me!) are all original enough to display new aspects of already fantastic songs. But how could I possibly shut up about Fursaxa's organ-laced, tinkling folkscapes? I can't, it's really as simple as that and while I am at it I might as well mention Noxagt's surprisingly "quiet", yet apocalyptic "Regions of May..."" - Broken Face

"...As remarkable and essential as the first For the Dead in Space (1997) album was, this set of volumes II and III may be even more stunning. With literally too many highlights to cover them all, I'll mention a few. Marissa Nadler does a delicate and reverently dreamy rendition of Balled to an Amber Lady. The Olivetree do a translucent and ghostly interpretation of Blind River. Bardo Pond begin small but soon explode into the stratosphere as they ably cover Uncle John. It seems a shame that another war monger in the White House has made so many of these Viet Nam era songs so timely once again. Oren Ambarchi does an amazing drifting mix of Tom Rapp's original guitar and vocals for Sail Away. Prydwyn's voice and guitar are subtly layered into a beautiful reading of Prayers of action. Black Forest/Black Sea do a delicate duet on Wizard of Is, while spinning mysterious ions into the ether. Kitchen cynics do a dreamy lo-fi lovely rendition of Les Ans. Son David Rapp does a goofy punky cover of Frog in the Window. Aspera do a discophonic mellow cover of These Things Too. Bevel treat Look Into Her Eyes like the precious jewel that it is, and thereby capture some real magic. The somewhat nightmarish Riegal is given a folkishly chilling interpretation by Monster Island. Thurston Moore and Mike Watt do a throbbing undulating scary rendition of Fourth Day of July. Alastair Galbraith was born to sing Everybody's Got Pain. Green Crown could almost be Pearls Before Swine on their interpretation of Raindrops. Stone Breath do a beautifully dark rendition of Ring Thing. Cauldron do a stunningly psychedelic mystical eight minute cover of Man in the Tree. Mutter do a lofty dream-laden version of Forbidden City. This ends with a previously unreleased version of Pearls Before Swine's Translucent Carriages recorded in 1967 or '68..." - Dream Magazine

"This is a follow up to the first volume of tributes to Pearls Before Swine and Tom Rapp released in 1997. That first volume included tributes by such luminaries as Masaki Batoh, Flying Saucer Attack, Damon & Naomi, Bevis Frond, Tower Recordings, and more. As this is two volumes, there are two discs. The first has great contributions from Kemialliset Ystavat, The Olivetree (Glenn Donaldson of Jewelled Antler), Bardo Pond, Noxagt, Kawabata Makoto, Oren Ambarchi, Fursaxa, and Black Forest/Black Sea (to name only some). The Olivetree song sounds like the type of songs that occasionally peek through on The Blithe Sons records, or a stripped down version of a song from The Birdtree's album. Bardo Pond's song, "Uncle John," starts out quiet and explodes halfway through, giving the Gibbons brothers ample room to stretch their distorted-guitar wings. Kawabata's track is pretty weird, with Kawabata singing his throaty baritone while a guitar solo wails along to the chord progression buried beneath. Black Forest/Black Sea's version of "Wizard of Is" provides one of the more straight ahead and enjoyable tracks, with its weird muted phrasing and layered guitar lines. Disc Two has Aspera, Adrian Shaw (of Bevis Frond), Thurston Moore with Mike Watt, Alastair Galbraith, Dead Raven Choir, Cauldron (a Spacious Mind side project), and most importantly, Pearls Before Swine themselves. The Aspera song is a bizarre song bordering on synth pop, but decidedly stuck in a few 70's cliches. Ron Chelsvig's "Rocket Man" is largely acoustic with a cello and trumpet occasionally fleshing out the textures. Adrian Shaw follows a similar route, but with more of a full band approach on "Mars." Thurston Moore and Mike Watt's track, "Fourth Day of July," is an odd combination of a Daydream Nation-era vibe (why can't Thurston sing like this on the new Sonic Youth songs?), with Mike Watt's bubbly bass playing. Alastair Galbraith offers a beautiful and delicately treated "Everybody's Got Pain." The last track is a previously unreleased Pearls Before Swine track from 1967, "Translucent Carriages," which is a great cap on this collection of music intended to pay tribute to this legendary group." (10/12) - Fake Jazz