47 Ashes - Ragnarokaraoke - CDR - 12 tracks - Self-Production

After releasing a series of five limited (47 copies!) MCDRs, Ragnarokaraoke is the first full-length album from the French project 47 Ashes. I admit that I had never heard of this project before but I couldn't refrain a smile when I read the track titles… Hybrid crossbreeds of neofolk/industrial and pop references such as "Abracadabraxas", Chtonic-O-Matics... Frater Saint Pierre sure has a particular sense of humour...
The album begins with a sugar-sweet girly 60's pop song ("Extra Kitsch-A-Go-Go") that sounds as if it comes strait out of an old Bond movie. But this honey pot is just a bait, as the rest of the album traps the listener in its mesh of abrasive power electronics. The music is based on harsh loops mixed with basic sound samples recorded on a mini-disc. This lo-fi approach is a deliberate choice of the artist, as he wants to 'forge the primal sonic energy'. On a surface level the tracks seem quite similar, but a trained ear will pick out the subtle variety of sounds and samples which have direct reference to the titles.
If you think you would enjoy NON with a French Touch, then this is a record for you...

Ian C.
April 2002

Contact:
Web : http://47ashes.free.fr/
e-mail : saintpierre@minitel.net