Current 93

Early Period Current 93

1982-1985

In 1982, members of Psychic TV David Tibet , John Balance (also from Psychic TV ), John Murphy of SPK and Fritz Haaman of 23 Skidoo founded the industrial project Dogs Blood Order . Imbued with occult ideas and the philosophy of Alistair Crowley, they give a number of concerts in 82 and 83 years and record “LAShTAL”. The music of the project reflected the worldview of the participants, who were then active adherents of Crowlianism and members of the OTO. The sound of the project, which appeared at the time of the heyday of industrial music, was saturated with then lotions. In 1983, influenced by the ideas of Aleister Crowley Tibet , inspired by the ideas, they renamed the project Current 93 and released their debut album “Mi-Mort” with Nurse With Wound . After that, Stephen Stapleton , the leader of Nurse With Wound , joins the group forever. In January 1984 , recorded in the 82nd year, “LAShTAL” was finally released, “this is an especially occult record. She is kyphotic and based on the call of Malkunofat on the Dark side of Eden , the back of the Tree of Life . None of my other notes are connected with occultism in a special, " occult " sense. " From a musical point of view, this is a ritual percussion , hardly breaking through the veil of distant muttering voices, and groaning samples of wind instruments . In the same year, the project recorded the album “Nature Unveiled”, their first full-fledged album (with a circulation of 2000 copies), which included recordings from “LAShTAL”. According to Tibet itself, this is a very dark record (describing his music, he says that according to his presentation the trumpets of angels announcing the beginning of the Last Judgment should sound), but the best in this period. Soon, the project leaves Haaman . C93 records the album “Dogs Blood Rising”, which incorporates all the ideas of Tibet that existed at that time. He says that “Dog's Blood Rising” is different from the rest, as it reflects several different periods. “Christus Christus” and “Jesus Wept” were the heirs to the “Nature Unveiled” sensations. In "Falling Back In Fields Of Rape" my interests and mood began to change slightly - I was more and more imbued with the idea of ​​a modern apocalypse . "

1985-1987

In 1985, the project was joined by Annie Enksity of Strawberry Switchblade and Psychic TV , Rose MacDowell , Douglas Pearce of Death In June, and another former PTV member, Hilmar Jorn Hilmarsson , also known as HOH. Also in 1985 , C93 released the live "Live At Bar Maldoror" with a more raw sound based on material from the previous album. And also the result of the joint work of С93 with Coil and NON - “Nightmare Culture”, more similar to the collection of compositions of these projects. In 1986, they recorded still imbued with the spirit of the early C93 “In Menstrual Night” and “Dawn”, and the writing of the latter took C93 only a few days. The musicians realized that they were starting to repeat themselves.

Average Period

1987-1988

Then, in 1987, a logical change in concept followed. Leaving Crowlianism behind, Tibet finally comes to the idea of apocalyptic folk , or, in the words of Tibet , "puppet theology." The sound of the project becomes more acoustic, the elements of noise disappear, the vocals of Tibet become more insinuating. The first album of this period can be called “Happy Birthday Pigface Christus”. The transitional album is Imperium, which, according to Tibet, expresses the ideas of aging: “The West is decreasing, the East is not changing. We live in Kali Yuga . ” The texts “Imperium I” and “Imperium III” are taken from Ecclesiastes , the texts of “Imperium II” are from the Dhammapada . The single “Crowleymass”, recorded together with NON , Tibet writes a fun, almost Christmas song of the same name, dedicated to Crowley’s birthday. The following year, the project records its first full-length apocalyptic folk album, “Swastikas for Noddy,” recorded without John Balance , but with Boyd Rice ( NON ).

1988-1991

A little later, “Earth Covers Earth” was recorded, the title track of which was the composition of Tibet on the poem “Sic Vita” by the poet of the 16th century Henry King , a close friend of John Donne , who recorded more than 15 musicians. There are also two live shows with concerts in Japan - “Looney Runes” and “Horsey”, one of the songs of which, “Diana”, is a cover of the song of the old psychedelic band Comus, very beloved by Tibet . After this there is a lull, interrupted by concerts and the release of their recordings. In 1990, the composition of the group changed again, only Tibet , James Mannox from Death In June and Spasm , the founder of Nature And Organization Michael Cashmore , Julie Wood and James Malindine-Lafayette , who greatly influenced the project and largely determined its future, remain from the old one. development. In the 90s, a vinyl split appeared with Death In June “1888”, which again featured Rose MacDowell , Tony Wakeford , Douglas Pearce , as well as Andrea James from Somewhere In Europe . The following year, C93, together with HOH, releases one of the most melodic and gentle albums, “Island”. In addition to the Icelander Hillmar participated in the recording, unknown at that time, his compatriot Bjork .

1991-1993

In 1992, an album appeared, which many consider to be the pinnacle of Current 93 - Thunder Perfect Mind . This mysterious, at first glance, name is taken from the name of the Gnostic apocrypha from the Nag Hammadi library - "Thunder, the perfect mind." The hypnotic voice of Tibet tells of sin and atonement, love and the end of the world . Tibet's religious fabrications continue in the following albums: Lucifer Over London, officially considered the sequel to Coil 's Gold Is The Metal album, telling of the Apocalypse ; the single "The Fire Of The Mind", distributed along with the reprinted on Durtro "Tibetan Book of the Dead"; "Tamlin," where Tibet describes the fall of Lucifer shown to him by the angels; the sad, semi- ambient EP “The Fire Of Mind”, released with James Low's “Simply Being” Tibetan book and, like the final chord, the album “Of Ruine Or Some Blazing Starre”. In 1993 , the hitler As Kalki appeared and the strange CDEP Apocalyptic Folk: The Nodding God Unveiled accompanied the comic book, which tells about Tibet 's beloved Noddy , his adventures, as well as the history of Current 93.

Modern Current 93

1995-1997

In 1995, you can draw a conditional divide that separates the old C93 from the new, and the border of the new C93 will be the trilogy “The Inmost Light”, dedicated to the favorite artist of Tibet - Louis Wayne ( 1860 - 1939 ), famous for his schizophrenic cats ( Tibet collected works until 2005 artist). The proceeds from the sales will be spent on updating the grave of the artist Louis Wayne and his family, as well as on serving the Mass for the repose of their souls. The first part of the Where The Long Shadows Fall trilogy, consisting of one 19-minute track, returns to the atmosphere of the earlier C93 with enveloping noise, voice loops and the voice of Tibet itself. The second part of the series was released in 96 - this is the full-length album “All The Pretty Little Horses”, featuring Nick Cave as a vocalist on one of the tracks, the first full-length album after “Of Ruine Or Some Blazing Starre”, dedicated to the death of an English folk singer Rose Collins and the birth of David Tibet's son, named Seth . The title track, performed first by Tibet and then by Cave, is a lullaby for the son of Tibet . The third album of the trilogy is “The Starres Are Marching Saddly Home”, the last track on which is “All The Pretty Little Horses” performed by Shirley Collins .

1997-1998

In 1997 , under the influence of writer Thomas Ligotti , Tibet, along with Stapleton and Christoph Himan, recorded In In Foreign Town, In And Foreign Land, which was attached to the collection of the writer, which contains four stories. Each story is dedicated to the corresponding composition on the album, and all the texts are read by Thomas Ligotti personally. The following year, the single for the album “Gothic Love Song” is released, the first track of which, “A Gothic Love Song”, was performed in a rather strange way for C93 - a “romance” performed by Tibet ’s voice to the piano of Michael Cashmore . This song caused much talk and debate among the haters and apologists of the Gothic subculture , thanks to its ambiguous text, but many felt that Tibet is above the banal banter and it is necessary to look for deeper motives. It should be noted that on this album Tibet changes the traditional name Current 93 to Current Ninety Three.

1998-2000

The next album, which marked the beginning of the tradition of Current Ninety Three to design albums with Tibetan drawings, “Soft Black Stars” marks a gradual departure from a clear apocalyptic theme. The album is no longer a revelation or a description of the falling London bridge, now these are romances , love songs, albeit in the traditional design for Tibet . The next album, dedicated to the concert in honor of the birthday of Tibet , does not have its own name, it is usually called by the name of the first track, "An Introduction to Suffering", this is a joint disc of Current Ninety Three, Michael Cashmore and Christoph Himan , consisting of unreleased songs of the past years old. Continuing collaboration with Thomas Ligotti Current Ninety Three, releases an album consisting of one 20-minute track, based on the writer's texts - “I Have a Special Plan For The World”.

2000-2002

Following him comes a rather unoriginal "Sleep Has His House", continuing the previous endeavors. The next album, Faust, is also associated with the writer, but not alive, but already dead - Count Eric Stenbock ( 1860 - 1895 ), a decadent writer, forgotten shortly after his death and found by David Tibet , who later reissued it on his label Durtro . Actually, the album is a musical accompaniment to Stanbock ’s story “Faust”. In 2001, Tibet decided to summarize its work - he had a dream in which he was told that he should create an album that would include all the music created by C93 and Current Ninety Three, he was also told how to do this - by superimposing all the tracks one on one. Thus appears “The Great in the Small”.

2002-2006

The first album of 2002 “Some Soft Black Stars Seen Over London” is based on the material “Soft Black Stars” and again continues the traditions of recent years. In 2003, Current Ninety Three continued to work with old material and released The Seahorse Rears to Oblivion, an album in which four versions of the song of the same name with Soft Black Stars were presented. The following year, live Halo is released, recorded at a concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2003 . The record is notable for the fact that it presents mixed material: both modern things and songs of the Imperium era. Due to the growing amount of unreleased and simply out of print material in 2004, the group decides to release the album SixSixSix: SickSickSick, which included material from Looney Runes, Lucifer Over London and Tamlin. In 2005, Current Ninety Three released a memorial album dedicated to the deceased John Balance, “How He Loved the Moon (Moonsongs for Jhonn Balance),” which included a poem written by David for John . Musically, the album is a remake of the old “In Menstrual Night”, recorded with the participation of John Balance . The album of the same year, “How I Devoured Apocalypse Balloon”, is a mix of recordings of recent performances with the reissue of old rarities and their remixes, already familiar to late Current Ninety Three.

2006—2011

In 2006, Tibet’s album “ Black Ships Ate the Sky ” was released, which launched a new apocalyptic trilogy. Musically, the album returns to the sound of the mid -90s , and the Coptic inscription on the cover refers to the apocrypha “Thunder Perfect Mind”. The second in the trilogy was Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain. "Baalstorm; Sing Omega ”completed the trilogy in 2010, again softening the sound to the level of“ Black Ships Ate the Sky ”. In March 2011, Tibet released the Honeysuckle Æons, in which theremin , oud and organ create a melancholy atmosphere. The album's compositions bear the names of exotic plants: honeysuckle , persimmon , pomegranate , etc.

According to Tibet itself, since the age of 15 he has been a member of UTO, the Crowleyan order. In Crowley's philosophy , the number 93 occupies an important place. The Book of the Law, adopted by Crowley from the supernatural being Ayvaz, states that 93 is the number of aeons . Accordingly, Current (current) 93 is the figurative name for all Crowlanism. In the future, in connection with an ever greater departure from Crowley's ideas , Tibet changes its name to Current Ninety Three, thereby abstracting from Crowley .

Throughout the entire period of Tibet’s creative work, and with it c93, he was influenced by various ideas and concepts.

Alistair Crowley

Tibet since childhood was interested in Crowley , according to him, for the first time Crowley’s book fell into his hands as early as 10 years old, when he lived in Malaysia . In London , where Tibet came to learn Tibetan language and Tibetan philosophy, Crowlianism was then widespread among the underground , so that he found like-minded people - John Balance , Genesis P-Orridge , etc. Crowlianism then permeated through the works of Tibet and Current 93.

Maldoror's songs

The only work of the mysterious Count Lothreamon "Songs of Maldor" so influenced Tibet that he wanted to call his son Maldoror. However, tragic circumstances prevented him and Maldoror Rising transformed into Maldoror is Dead.

Apocalypse

Another topic that interested Tibet since childhood was the Apocalypse . Moreover, initially it was not only a Christian apocalypse , but also Buddhist and Hindu .

Noddy

Once, when Tibet was sitting on the roof of the house of Rose MacDowell , using LSD , he received the image of Noddy crucified on the cross. Noddy is a small funny toy man, the character of the very popular fairy tales "for the smallest" in England by writer Enid Blyton . The next day, Tibet begins to collect everything related to a wooden toy. Slippers, rugs, mugs, T-shirts and other junk. Subsequently, the image of Noddy is combined with the idea of ​​the apocalypse, giving rise to the syncretic nonsense of The Nodding Apocalypse. Soon Tibet is releasing several albums on this subject and a comic book .

Gnosticism

For the first time, Tibet touches on the idea of Gnosticism at Thunder Perfect Mind. One of the compositions of which is a literal reading of the famous Gnostic apocrypha “Thunder, a perfect mind”. In the future, Tibet more than once turns to the ideas of Gnosticism .

Louis Wayne

Louis Wayne (1860-1939) is an English artist known for painting cats. Having married against the will of the family and forced to spend all his time at the bedside of his sick wife, which he soon lost, he finds the only outlet - a small kitten, whom he draws in many ways. Gradually losing his mind, he gives cats more and more features of people. Tibet , which deviates from the idea of ​​a global apocalypse to the idea of ​​the personal, is attracted to the life story of the artist. He begins to collect Wayne’s works, devotes his trilogy The Inmost Light to him, all the money from the sales of which goes to Wayne’s gravestone. In 2005, Tibet begins to sell its collection.

Thomas Ligotti

American horror writer. Tibet releases several albums related to the works of the writer.

Eric Stenbock

Tibet finds and publishes on its label the forgotten decadent writer Count Stanislas Eric Stenbock, most of whose work was destroyed by his relatives after death. The 40-minute Faust album, accompanied by the eponymous story, is actually a soundtrack to the work of the writer and a tribute to Tibet . Recently, Kolonna publications, together with Tibet, released Stenbock's storybook for the first time in Russian.

• September 2006 , Moscow , IKRA Club
• April 11 and April 12, 2008 , Moscow , IKRA Club
• March 4, 2010 , Moscow , IKRA Club

• Industrial
• Gnosticism

in English

• Official site
• Sheet music for piano (Russian-English edition of the album "Soft Black Stars")
• Former official website at brainwashed.com

Tibet Interview

• http://seidr.woods.ru/tibetintrv.htm Interview with David Tibet
• Interview with David Tibet (Current 93) for Zillo Magazine (1994)

articles about Current 93

• Biography Current 93 from the book "Neofolk und Hintergruende"