Book of Shadows for Krautrock

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   Formed in 1999, Book of Shadows are the occult North American krautrock project of vocalist Sharon Crutcher and her husband Carlton, the multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of psych-rock band ST 37. Based in Austin, Texas, Carlton departed ST 37 in 2001 during the recording of their album Down On Us in order to focus on Book of Shadows, a vehicle for Sharon's pagan/magickal themes. True to their name, Book of Shadows craft tenebrous soundscapes, concocting haunting textures out of a cauldron mixed with early Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, Popol Vuh, Ash Ra Tempel and Gong. Sharon's mostly-wordless vocals quiver, whisper and chant a la Gilli Smyth over a bed of morphing industrial/space ambient drones sourced from Carlton's keyboards, with further guitar, percussion, and all sorts of electronic strangeness provided by a revolving door of Austin musicians like Aaron Bennack, Eric Archer, Jonathan Horne and Carlton's former ST 37 bandmates.
Book of Shadows' style follows an uncanny (some would say Wyrd) Texan continuum of like-minded artists performing krautrock atmospherics laced with ethereal female vocals, closest in spirit to other native sons Mauve Sideshow, Charalambides and Asianova. Carlton records each studio session, live performance and rehearsal, editing the best of the material into a cohesive album; as of this writing, the duo has nearly forty releases to their name, mostly issued on limited edition CDR and cassette across an array of labels like Reverb Worship, Ikuisuus and Music Your Mind Will Love You. British musician and psych/kraut expert Julian Cope singled out 2008's 777 and 2012's Cosmos-Mother for praise in his now-defunct Address Drudion newsletter.
Book of Shadows are stylistically similar to Expo '70, Mahogany Brain, Double Leopards, My Cat Is an Alien, White Noise, Fursaxa and early Moonwood.

"777" (2008)
https://ikuisuus.bandcamp.com/album/777

"The Ghost We Named Glitter Girl" (2017)
https://fantasiaeternal.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-shadows-the-ghost-we-named-glitter-girl-2

"Inner World" EP (2007)
https://artificialmusicmachine.bandcamp.com/album/the-inner-world

"Cosmos-Mother" (2012)
https://instinctorecords.bandcamp.com/album/cosmos-mother

"The Morphail Effect" (2009)
https://instinctorecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-morphail-effect

"Shadow Lovers" (2020)
https://fantasiaeternal.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-shadows-shadow-lovers

"The Second Attention" (2015)
https://fantasiaeternal.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-shadows-the-second-attention

"The Veil" (2010)
https://fleursfeuillages.bandcamp.com/album/the-veil

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Gordy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Folk/Eclectic/PSIKE/Metal/Post/Math Team Joined: January 25 2007 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 4023	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gordy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Book of Shadows for Krautrock Posted: June 13 2024 at 23:47
	Formed in 1999, Book of Shadows are the occult North American krautrock project of vocalist Sharon Crutcher and her husband Carlton, the multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of psych-rock band ST 37. Based in Austin, Texas, Carlton departed ST 37 in 2001 during the recording of their album Down On Us in order to focus on Book of Shadows, a vehicle for Sharon's pagan/magickal themes. True to their name, Book of Shadows craft tenebrous soundscapes, concocting haunting textures out of a cauldron mixed with early Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, Popol Vuh, Ash Ra Tempel and Gong. Sharon's mostly-wordless vocals quiver, whisper and chant a la Gilli Smyth over a bed of morphing industrial/space ambient drones sourced from Carlton's keyboards, with further guitar, percussion, and all sorts of electronic strangeness provided by a revolving door of Austin musicians like Aaron Bennack, Eric Archer, Jonathan Horne and Carlton's former ST 37 bandmates. Book of Shadows' style follows an uncanny (some would say Wyrd) Texan continuum of like-minded artists performing krautrock atmospherics laced with ethereal female vocals, closest in spirit to other native sons Mauve Sideshow, Charalambides and Asianova. Carlton records each studio session, live performance and rehearsal, editing the best of the material into a cohesive album; as of this writing, the duo has nearly forty releases to their name, mostly issued on limited edition CDR and cassette across an array of labels like Reverb Worship, Ikuisuus and Music Your Mind Will Love You. British musician and psych/kraut expert Julian Cope singled out 2008's 777 and 2012's Cosmos-Mother for praise in his now-defunct Address Drudion newsletter. Book of Shadows are stylistically similar to Expo '70, Mahogany Brain, Double Leopards, My Cat Is an Alien, White Noise, Fursaxa and early Moonwood. "777" (2008) https://ikuisuus.bandcamp.com/album/777 "The Ghost We Named Glitter Girl" (2017) https://fantasiaeternal.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-shadows-the-ghost-we-named-glitter-girl-2 "Inner World" EP (2007) https://artificialmusicmachine.bandcamp.com/album/the-inner-world "Cosmos-Mother" (2012) https://instinctorecords.bandcamp.com/album/cosmos-mother "The Morphail Effect" (2009) https://instinctorecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-morphail-effect "Shadow Lovers" (2020) https://fantasiaeternal.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-shadows-shadow-lovers "The Second Attention" (2015) https://fantasiaeternal.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-shadows-the-second-attention "The Veil" (2010) https://fleursfeuillages.bandcamp.com/album/the-veil

Jacob Schoolcraft Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: December 22 2021 Location: NJ Status: Offline Points: 1071	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jacob Schoolcraft Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: June 14 2024 at 00:10
	Several of the pieces bring back memories of the Menantico Cult. A large group of people that worshipped by the water where we camped. They seemed to follow a manichean belief or way of thinking and they believed in practicing the "One Hundred Year Ritual " They wore masks...chanted and pounded on drums like Native Americans. Several recordings of Book Of Shadows have similarities to how the cult of Menantico sounded. Interesting and thanks for sharing

Gordy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Folk/Eclectic/PSIKE/Metal/Post/Math Team Joined: January 25 2007 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 4023	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gordy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: June 30 2024 at 22:23
	Now added.