TAMLIN

Released for Halloween 1994, this charming EP doesn't quite hit the standards of the preceding EP Lucifer Over London but is still quite excellent. The first side provides a poetic performance with psychedelic neofolk backing of the titular legend, a classic of the British folk music tradition which was also handled in a different form by Fairport Convention. The second side is much more unique, involving David Tibet's strange poetry about his personal mystical ideas and explorations interspersed with a phone call between Tibet and Tiny Tim - yes, the Tiptoe Through the Tulips Tiny Tim - in which Tim discusses his own odd ideas about the Antichrist.

It's a bit of an oddity, but still worth a listen. All the tracks from this, and the (in my view downright classic) Lucifer Over London EP from the same year, plus the studio tracks from 1990's Looney Runes, are compiled on the Six Six Six: SickSickSick compilation.

Tamlin EP

TAMLIN was the third EP released by David Tibet's CURRENT 93 project in 1994 and pretty much followed in the formula of "Lucifer In London" however this time without the collaborative effort of Coil's John Balance the two tracks that add up to about 17 minutes don't quite deliver the same impact as the previous superior offering.

Once again Tibet narrates in poetic prose with Nicholas Saloman sitting in on electric guitar and dulcimer with Michael Cashmore also of CURRENT 93 and Nature And Organization joining on acoustic guitar. Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound is back but only as the mixing engineer but the production is less compelling this time around.

The title track almost has a lullaby quality two it with a repetitive folky strumming session without all the bells and whistles of the previous EP. Likewise the subject matter isn't as compelling neither is the poetic delivery. While "Lucifer Over London" had a certain darkness to it, this one is more straight forward and almost campfire folk only with Tibet's dramatic and passionate enunciations.

"How The Great Satanic Glory" really doesn't deviate at all from the first track in stylistic approach except it adds a melodic guitar lead to the mix however the basic chord progressions of the acoustic guitar sound very similar. The EP was limited to 2000 numbered copies and related for Halloween 1994. It's seen both vinyl as well as CD releases. Personally i find this one to be quite inferior to "Lucifer In London" which was captivating on many levels. This gets the job done but it's a fairly uneventful slice of psychedelic neofolk that doesn't quite get my juices flowing.