Gothic gravity

As immense as the 16th-century Gothic church in which it was recorded (St. Catherine's, Krakow, since you ask), it's no exaggeration to say that Ben Frost at Untold 2008 is one of the most stunning (& demanding) things I've heard all year -huge slabs of trembling, brooding, intensely physical sound, manipulated with great deftness into something monumental, beautiful &, at times, pretty fearful.

A number of people report it as the highlight of last year's festival. There's also a wry story around that it triggered a queue of priests complaining to Unsound's organisers...

Find a 10-minute LMYE hack below. The full thing is here. Note that the recording "was made from the audience seating area, rather than via the mixing desk, to capture a sense of the church's massive interior and acoustics."

Unsound have Biosphere & Stars of the Lid performing in the same space this year, making these ears wish they were trekking out to Krakow this time round. So too do the tribe of other tasty performers captured in Philip Sherburne's round-up mix of 2009's cast of thousands (fascinating background here, by the way) & in bshosa's crisp, urgent 08/09 package.

Frost's new By The Throat is out imminently. I've not heard it yet (apart from the The Carpathians giveaway featured below), but those who have rate it - no surprise, given the savage excellence of the earlier Theory of Machines. It & other fine Frost output (though not Steinbruechel's amazing, ultra-subtle Theory reworkings on Basis, regrettably...) can be streamed here.

Ben Frost > Unsound 08 (LMYE hack) > The Carpathians (from By The Throat, Bedroom Community)


Oh, & Unsound & ~scape finally unveiled the Connections free download album previewed here previously today. As reported & rehosted, its east/west collaborations feature both Pole & Pinch (will re-up separately)...

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.