Akira Rabelais – CXVI

“a 1000 Laws of Æthelred iii. c. 13 §1 (Schmid) And þar þeᴁen aᴁe tweᴁen costas lufe oþþe laᴁe and he þonne lufe ᴁeceose. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 99 Oreb‥the mownte of fere and of luffe [L. mons terroris et fœderis]. Ibid. II. 347, IV. 123. a 1500 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 90 Yf ther bee ony persone wythin the warde that is not vnder francpledge that is to saye under loue and lawe.”

Akira Rabelais – CXVI

Stephan Mathieu/Akira Rabelais/Kassel Jaeger; Kevin Verwijmeren; Tobias Hellkvist; Tomonari Nozaki

Zauberberg is a fascinating ambient symphony by Kassel Jaeger, Stephan Mathieu and Akira Rabelais, inspired by Thomas Mann’s book and Debussy’s music.
Stephan Mathieu also mastered Kevin Verwijmeren’s new album, ‘Those Glorious Heights’.
Also: Tobias Hellkvist’s full length album Vesterhavet, and an EP-trilogy from Tomoro Nozaki.

Akira Rabelais – The Little Glass (+Spelle… reissue)

And suddenly, without any warning, there’s good news from the ever-enigmaticAkira Rabelais:
His entire back-catalogue is now available on Bandcamp – which is good news because most of these title were unavailable for a long time now.

And at the same time a new album is released: The Little Glass (available in digital as well as in physical format).

A good opportunity to re-visit the 2006 Spelle Special Radio Show, featuring music from Spelle…, some remixes, ánd exclusive unreleased material especially submitted by Akira Rabelais for this occasion!

Akira Rabelais – Spellewauerynsherde

Maybe it’s because of this unpronounceable title, but I have completely missed this (2004!) release. I never have heard about it until recently. Better late than never, because this is easily one of the strangest and the most compelling albums I ever heard!

Upon hearing only the first track of this haunting album I realised that this is a sound completely different from all I heard before.
It’s as if a voice coming from the middle ages haunts you in your deepest sleep. It’s beautiful, heavenlike. But at the same time it’s distorted and confusing, scary even.

“Spellewauerynsherde” is built up from found sounds, field recordings of traditional Icelandic accapella lament songs recorded in the late 1960s or early 1970s on Ampex tapes and then forgotten about. After discovering the neglected tapes, cleaning them up and digitizing them for a library, Rabelais became fascinated with the heartbreaking sadness of the voices and began to think of them as source material for a series of compositions.

As the title (Spelle, Wavering, Sharde) suggests, you will not understand a word of what is sung. But somehow the message will come through.

This incredible record is available through samadhisound (David Sylvian’s label)

A Boomkat (recommended online store specialised in recordings like this) quote: “Not many album’s will move you in quite the way that this album does. Believe. “
Believe, indeed!