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Current 93

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Current 93
Current 93 in 2006
Current 93 in 2006
Background information
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active1982–present
Labels
Members
Past members

Current 93 are an English experimental music group, founded in 1982 by David Tibet.[1] Much of Current 93's early work was similar to late 1970s and early 1980s industrial music: abrasive tape loops, droning synthesizer noises and Tibet's distorted, excoriating vocals. In the mid-'80s, Current 93's sound shifted to a style Tibet has called "apocalyptic folk", combining folk music with industrial elements. Tibet has been the only constant member of Current 93, with a wide variety of collaborators joining in over the years. They have released over twenty full-length albums, as well as many other recordings.

Background

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Current 93 initially consisted of Tibet, fellow Psychic TV alumnus Jhonn Balance, and 23 Skidoo member Fritz Catlin.[1] Tibet has been the only constant member in the group, though Steven Stapleton (of Nurse with Wound) appeared on nearly every Current 93 release until 2010.[2] Michael Cashmore was also a long-term contributor starting with Thunder Perfect Mind. Douglas P. of Death in June has played on well over a dozen Current 93 releases.

Tibet's lyrics have been fairly consistent, regardless of delivery: The earlier recordings reflect his preoccupation with death, Christ, mysticism, Aleister Crowley (Tibet borrowed the term "93 Current" from Crowley – the 93 Current being the current of Thelema or Agape), Tibetan Buddhism, Gnosticism, runes, swastikas, Noddy, The Wicker Man, and a variety of occult notions. The later to present-day period of Current 93's recordings increasingly reflect Tibet's interest in Christian mysticism and apocalypse. Tibet has stated that he identifies as a Christian.[1]

Literary influences include Lautreamont's Les Chants de Maldoror, the Bible and its apocrypha, The Poetic Eddas, the Child Ballads,[3] Hildegard von Bingen, Yukio Mishima, John Dee's De Heptarchia Mystica, The Thunder, Perfect Mind, William Blake, Louis Wain, writer Thomas Ligotti, occult British author Arthur Machen (originator of the title "The Inmost Light"), M.R. James's various ghost stories, The Cloud of Unknowing, Count Eric Stenbock,[4] and Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker.[5]

Discography

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Primary, full-length, Current 93 studio albums

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Full discography

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Year Title Format and special notes
1983 Mi-Mort cassette split with Nurse with Wound
1984 LAShTAL 12"
1984 Nature Unveiled LP (reissued on CD,1992)
1984 No Hiding from the Blackbird 7" split w/ Nurse With Wound
1984 Dogs Blood Rising LP (reissued on CD, 1988 and 1995)
1985 Live at Bar Maldoror LP (reissued on CD 1990 and 1994)
1985 Nightmare Culture EP split with Sickness of Snakes (Coil/Boyd Rice)
1986 In Menstrual Night LP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1986 NL Centrum-Amsterdam live cassette split w/ Nurse With Wound
1987 Happy Birthday 12"
1987 Dawn LP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1987 Imperium LP (reissued on CD, 2001)
1987 Crowleymass (with HÖH) 12"/CDS (reissued in 1997)
1988 Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow 2xLP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1988 The Red Face of God 12" (reissued on CD with above, 1994)
1988 Swastikas for Noddy LP (reissued on CD as Swastikas for Goddy, 1993)
1988 Faith's Favourites 12" split with Nurse with Wound
1988 Earth Covers Earth LP (reissued on CD, 1992) (limited LP reissue, 2005)
1989 Rome/Hourglass for Diana/Fields of Rape 7" (live)
1989 She Is Dead and All Fall Down limited edition 7"
1989 Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God CD
1990 Looney Runes LP, CD 1992
1990 1888 split EP with Death in June
1990 Horse LP, part of a box set/split with Sol Invictus and Nurse With Wound (reissued on CD as Horsey with extra/reworked tracks, 1997)
1991 Island (with HÖH) LP/CD
1991 As the World Disappears (live) CD
1992 Thunder Perfect Mind 2xLP/CD (reissued, 1994)
1992 Death in June / Current 93 / Sol Invictus (live) Recorded in Frankfurt, Germany, 1991. Originally a bootleg called Day of Dawn, officially reissued on CD.
1993 Emblems: The Menstrual Years LP, issued as 2xCD retrospective
1993 Hitler as Kalki CD
1994 Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre LP/CD
1994 The Fire of the Mind CD/MiniAlbum
1994 Lucifer Over London EP/CD
1994 Tamlin 12"/CDS
1995 Where The Long Shadows Fall 12"/CDS
1996 All The Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light LP/CD
1996 The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home 12"/CDS
1996 Untitled, a.k.a. Seven Seals CD-EP with Tiny Tim, Nurse with Wound and Nature and Organization
1997 In a Foreign Town, in a Foreign Land limited CD, accompanied Thomas Ligotti book of same name
1998 Soft Black Stars LP/CD/sheet music, (reissued on CD in 2005)
1999 Calling for Vanished Faces 2xCD retrospective
1999 An Introduction to Suffering Current 93/Michael Cashmore/Christoph Heemann LP/CD
1999 Misery Farm CDS
1999 All Dolled Up Like Christ 2x Live CD
2000 I Have a Special Plan for This World 12"/CD, Thomas Ligotti prose poem read by Tibet, treated by Current 93
2000 Sleep Has His House LP/CD
2000 Faust LP/CD
2001 The Great in the Small LP/CD
2001 Cats Drunk on Copper CD (Live at the Union Chapel, London, 3 May 1997)
2001 Bright Yellow Moon 2x12"/CD Current 93/Nurse with Wound
2001 Purtle CD Split w/ Nurse with Wound
2001 This Degenerate Little Town CD with Thomas Ligotti
2002 The Seahorse Rears to Oblivion 12"/CD
2002 Music for the Horse Hospital 2xCD Current 93/Nurse with Wound
2003 A Little Menstrual Night Music CD containing remixes of tracks from In Menstrual Night
2003 Calling For Vanished Faces/Virgin Mary 7" split with Antony and the Johnsons; UK PanDurtro 008
2003 Live at St. Olave's CD EP split with Antony and the Johnsons; UK PanDurtro 007
2004 Halo Live CD
2004 SixSixSix: SickSickSick CD compilation of Tamlin, Lucifer over London, Misery Farm, and two pieces from Looney Runes
2005 How I Devoured Apocalypse Balloon 2xCD (Live at St. George The Martyr Anglican Church, Toronto, 18–19 June 2004)
2005 ⲛⲧⲛⲁⲩ ⲛϩⲱⲧⲡ ⲙⲡⲣⲏ ⲁϩⲉⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ ⲉⲩⲕⲏⲙ ⲟⲩⲉⲙ ⲧⲡⲉ CDS (promo for Black Ships Ate the Sky; the Coptic title reads "At Sunset Black Ships Ate The Sky")
2005 Judas as Black Moth (Hallucinatory Patripassianist Song) 2xCD "best of"/introduction to C93's works
2005 How He Loved The Moon 2xCD/2xLP (ltd. 1200)/2xLP+7" (ltd. 200), a remixed version of In Menstrual Night
2005 Hypnagogue/Hypnagogue II CD
2006 Black Ships Ate the Sky CD / 2xLP
2006 Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun Split 10" with Om
2006 Black Ships Eat the Sky CD – Alternate mixes
2007 The Inmost Light 3xCD/2xLP reissue of Where The Long Shadows Fall, All the Pretty Little Horses, and The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home
2007 Birdsong in The Empire Live CD (ltd. 1200) Recorded in Toronto, Canada, 2005
2008 Black Ships Heat the Dancefloor Blue 12" single/DualDisc, remixes by JG Thirlwell and Matmos
2008 Birth Canal Blues CD EP April 2008
2009 Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain CD/LP
2010 Baalstorm, Sing Omega CD/LP
2010 Haunted Waves, Moving Graves Limited-edition CD (999 copies) and 12" picture disc (666 copies). Both editions have different track listings.
2010 When the May Rain Comes 12" purple & white vinyl (200 copies). 12" purple vinyl (300 copies). 12" black vinyl (500 copies). CD EP (Deluxe Digipak 6 panel).
2011 HoneySuckle Æons Released 24 March 2011
2012 When Rome Falls, Falls the World Live CD
2014 I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell: A Channel CD/LP
2015 The Moons at Your Door CD/LP
2018 The Light Is Leaving Us All CD/LP
2019 Invocations of Almost CD/LP (the 12" LP has a slightly shorter version and mix than the 59-minute CD)
2022 If a City Is Set Upon a Hill CD/LP

Compilation appearances

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  • "Black Ships Ate the Sky (Alternate Mix)" on Brainwaves (2006)

Current 93 Presents releases

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Members and collaborators

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Current 93 recordings often involve a wide range of collaborators, from musicians to occultists. Apart from those mentioned earlier, these have included:[4]

Timeline

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Only long-term contributors are included in the chart below.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Interviews: Current 93". Pitchfork. 11 September 2006. Archived from the original on 13 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Current 93". All Music. Rovi Corp. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  3. ^ Thompson, Dave (15 July 2023). "Murderous Ballads". An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music. Essex, Connecticut: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 385–391. ISBN 978-1-4930-6824-1.
  4. ^ a b Young, Rob (10 May 2011). Electric Eden. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 602–603. ISBN 978-1-4299-6589-7.
  5. ^ "Riddley Walker – Related Works". Graphesthesia.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2010.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Current 93.
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