Released
on February 4th, 1983, the sophomore LP from 23 Skidoo, The Culling Is
Coming, is marking its 40th anniversary today. It’s an album of deeply
ritualistic significance and one of the strangest releases in the
group’s catalogue.
Side one of the album, A Summer Rite, was
recorded live at 11.23 AM on July 17, 1982, during the very first WOMAD
(World of Music, Arts and Dance) festival, organized by Peter Gabriel in
Shepton Mallet, UK. The performance featured David Tibet of Current 93
on Tibetan Trumpet. The original side B material, A Winter Ritual, was
recorded at Dartington Music College, on October 23, 1982. The
original pressing of the LP has a lock groove between the 4th and 5th
tracks on side A, with "Command as fuck" inscribed in the vinyl. The A
side duration is therefore listed as “infinite” (∞). The B-side has a
precise duration of 23 minutes. The later CD edition swapped the order
of the LP sides and added a third section, An Autumn Journey, to fill
out the additional CD capacity.
The music on the album is
heavily influenced by eastern Gamelan percussion & gongs, combining
that sound with more experimental Industrial ambience and sonic
manipulations. With that influence, it is the group’s least rhythmic
release, focusing as it does on ritual ambiences and occult themes.
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