Presented as the first act of a musical triptych, 'Praha' is the new 10" of the French industrial ambient project Land.
For the purpose of this release, Land continues the collaboration with the French label Divine Comedy begun last autumn with the release of the brilliant CD 'Opuscule'… 500 copies of this new 10" have just been released on classic black vinyl. At first view, one can say that both parties united their efforts to offer a mysterious record that should rivet the listeners' attention, especially those who like themes shrouded in mysteries and nicely released artworks...

To enlighten a bit the concept of this work, it is interesting to have in mind how the band described this future release in an interview realised this winter ("Praha" will be the first halt of a voyage comprised of three major stages") and on the Land website ( ... "the Célestine Orlac serial... 3 episodes")... Words that seemed to hide a lot of mysteries about the enigmatic identity of Célestine Orlac that the music and the different clues present on the record will hopefully unveil...

Four tracks are supposed to compose this 10" but they are so imbricated together that finally all the compositions form a whole... And this is certainly the best way to apprehend 'Praha'...

The first seconds of the record, with the perceptible additionnal vinyl cracklings, immediately create a decorum, an intriguing atmosphere... One seems to hear imperceptible little noises of a public place in the evening (the Narodni Cafe?) as the title lets suggest...
A brilliant first ambient piece, where strong percussions are progressively present, mixed with waves of synths and a perceptible sample of a female voice (in Czech? The voice of Célestine Orlac?).
A sort of interlude makes the connection with the second track titled 'Pantomima'... a dark and slow composition where a recurrent sample of a male voice speaking in Czech, mixed with dark ambient drones, noises and sad waves of synths bring gravity to this magistral part!

The second side opens with the noise of a sheet of paper inserted in a typewriter that quickly leaves place to a rhythmic based on sampled typewriter noises... alternatively mixed with ambient compositions and noises similar to a scratched record loop ... This is definitely my favourite moment of the record... a very evocative and cinematic track, full of mystery (again!), sadness, anxiety...
The side ends with a classical Land composition, in the vein of 'Idi i Smotri', with loud percussions, drones, a strong choir in the background and... a discrete sampled female scream full of fear that just thickens the mystery.... excellent!

But, do we have any clear replies to our question concerning Célestine Orlac's identity, her correlation with Praha in the 1920's after listening and observing this record? The answer is no! Is she a theatre actress, a journalist, a dramaturge...? There is still as much mystery surrounding Célestine Orlac as before the listening of this first act... and this is where the charm of this record undoubtedly resides and what makes the listener wait, impatiently, for the second act!