Silence: Hark the Silence
Silence: Hark the Silence
Format: VINYL LP
Wanting to order from us over the holiday period but need some more information. We are here to help! Please see our Christmas Shipping page for more information.
On average, orders containing available-to-ship items are processed and dispatched within 1-2 business days, although this is not guaranteed.
Orders containing preorder items will ship as 1 fulfillment once all items in the order are available to ship.
Please note, Tower Records Merchandise and Exclusives are dispatched separately. On average, these items take 3-4 business days to dispatch, although this is not guaranteed.
The estimated shipping times that are displayed at checkout are from the point of dispatch.
See our shipping policy for more information.
We have a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item(s) to make a return.
For orders created between November 20th 2024 and December 31st 2024, we have extended our normal return period. For orders made between this period, customers have up to 60 days from the receipt of goods to return an item. Please see our Christmas Returns page for more information.
To be eligible for a return of an unwanted item, your item must be in the same condition that you received it and in its original packaging.
In the unfortunate situation that a product is damaged/faulty/incorrect, let us know and we will endeavor to correct any issue as soon as possible.
Please see our refund policy for more information.
Artist: Silence
Label: Drag City
Product Type: VINYL LP
UPC: 781484061915
Genre: Rock
The Silence are a storm that has been brewing across Japan for over a year-and now that system is breaking into the skies of the rest of the world! Their self-titled debut of this past spring was simply a preamble to the fluid and formidable electro-acoustic interplay that has quickly evolved since then. The first record is of a song-based nature, rendered with careful beauty familiar to long-time listeners of Masaki Batoh and Ghost; a sound that turned on occasion into greater journeys. Hark The Silence takes that notion and runs with it in a powerfully jamming album containing all the musical elements that define The Silence in flowing and transcendent performance, all of it recorded on 24-track analogue tape, a process which brings their musical and spatial qualities into dynamic balance. Everything in the universe accessible to The Silence may be found in the "Ancient Wind" trilogy that fills side one of Hark The Silence. From the depths of space rolls washes of gong, through which a terse, minimal bassline comes marching. Rattles of prepared piano spark and pass through the frame, blown over with the celestial omnipotence of a flute. The now-sensuous groove is underscored with luxuriant stereophonic drums rolling across the speakers. Representing the state of nature from which all music as well as The Silence has to come, "Ancient Wind" Part 1 ceases to exist, and explodes into a furious Bo-Diddley beat for Part 2, a chant replete with acid-rock guitar solos, an encompassing saxophone testament and an echo-unit driven drum breakdown. Part 3 of "Ancient Wind" resumes the chant in the mode of "Gangamanag" (from Ghost's Hypnotic Underworld opus) and extends the fury of the progression in 7/8 to include a dazzling organ solo over unending volcanic eruption. As the swirling mass subsides, a few rusty blue notes from an acoustic guitar are sounded over the encroaching Silence. Showing in one side that The Silence are capable of EVERYTHING. But there are three more sides during which The Silence continue to travel through the universe that "Ancient Wind" has blown open. Side two features two jams of a different color. Recorded completely live, "Ornament" continues with resonant guitar acoustics from the fading embers of side one, starting with a gentle mode, and sung by Batoh in their native tongue, before the song ascends to explorations in space with music. "DEX #1" continues the ride, a heavy jam in 4/4 dedicated to Dexter Gordon with loads of texture from keyboards and saxophone that make for very compelling physical listening. Do you now realize that Hark The Silence is truly an experience and a trip that you have to take yourself? We can't describe it ALL for you, but we will that the second half of the album contains an exquisite and intense rock arrangement of Damon and Naomi with Batoh's tremendous singing atop the pile-driving power of The Silence in full swing, plus several other awe-inspiring encounters in live performance, minimal jamming, poetry, baritone-sax breath and group-think at it's best. As the album closes with the clarion call of "Fireball," the graveyard of all history traversed by The Silence is illuminated by the dead's spirit burning in the air-a great and profoundly jarring moment. Hark The Silence is a composite of such moments, an album that travels enormous distances and captures live energies in astonishing studio sounds. The Silence are clearly one of the most powerful groups playing today ANYWHERE in the world-Hark The Silence should provoke audiences everywhere to demand The Silence for themselves!
Tracks:
1.1 Ancient Wind Parts 1 and 2
1.2 Ancient Wind Part 3
1.3 Ornament
1.4 Little Red Record Company
1.5 Galasdama
1.6 Breath Figure
1.7 Dex #1
1.8 Fireball
1.9 Ancient Wind Part 2
