POST-ISOLATIONIST - Investigating a new form via 'MURDER BALLADS (DRIFT)' by M.J. HARRIS/MARTYN BATES. A few brief words on ISOLATIONISM - (a definition: 'Isolationism is the sound of an innate respect for silences....a symbiosis between Rapidly Advancing Technology, the Sampler, and the Alchemical Isolation of the recording studio environment ...'whereas New Ambient looks to sidestep the uncomfortable, Isolationism functions as a hermit-like Self-Confrontation'.....). September 1994, and Virgin Records issue 'Isolationism: A Brief History of Ambient Vol. 4', a release tantamount to a 'coming out' for this strangest of musics. Definitelypost-noise/post-rock, ISOLATIONISM has taken at least three years (taking care to overlook the many important and varied signposts along the way) to reach the point where this pivotal compilation is released, signaling tacit approval for the genre to experience an emerge of sorts, from twilight underground to an inquisitive overground. M.J. HARRIS continues to be at the centre of all this activity, innovating and iconoclastically instigating. Working with collaborator MARTYN BATES, Harris has evolved 'MURDER BALLADS (Drift)', a subtle yet forward moving development. Essentially the birth of a new form, it is clearly a 'POST ISOLATIONIST' music, dealing with the unique concept of mixing archaic folk-song with isolationism strategems. The POST-ISOLATIONIST position is one where the solipsism of Isolationist music is trascended beyond the parameters of the purely INSTRUMENTAL: i.e. it is the marriage of MUSIC and WORDS in the context of digital abstarction, dizzily spiraling sampling technology, and NON-BEATS. A long time fascination for MARTYN BATES, the english folk song form of 'Murder Ballads' provides an ideal vehicle for post POST -ISOLATIONIST tenets. Redolent with universal and ancestral arcana, these traditional forms have acted and still continue to act as both repository and mirror for what Jung termed the 'Collective unconsciosness', deeply and uniquely poetic, sometimes mysteriously obscure - often with their true meanings buried by the folk-process of oral tradition, the Murder ballads are a poignant, almost perfect platform for POST-ISOLATIONIST experimentation. Words and sound mix in a filmic way, disturbing yet richly beautiful....Bates voice quietly emanating primordial texts that resonate.....these are 'modern' interpretation of an unique idiom, dealing with the Darker Archetypes of the human psyche, reflecting malleable obsessions and objections, desires and repulsions, where words are keys to unearthing both pleasure and neuroses. The Isolationist positions, born of '20 Century advances in psycology and technology that have already filtered through into the mainstream' is one that is both asocial and solipsistic, understandably so. The POST-ISOLATIONIST position seeks to navigate a course beyond the silences, to find a way to break through the isolation; - mining the rich vein of labyrinth-like psychic arcana inherent in the Murder Ballads is but one way to seek such reward and reaffirmation.
		M.J. HARRIS/MARTYN BATES Murder Ballads (Drift)' format: CD catalogue number: eee 26
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