Friday, January 13, 2012

Favorite Albums of 2011 - Mallory

1. Kirlian Camera - Nightglory 

2. VNV Nation - Automatic 

3. The Frozen Autumn - Chirality 

4. Miserylab - Void of Life

5. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake 

6. This Morn' Omina - L'Unifications Des Forces Opposantes 

7. Siva Six - The Twin Moons 

8. Aïboforcen - Dédale

9. IAMX - Volatile Times 

10. Acretongue - Strange Cargo 

11. Mirko Hirsch - Obsession

12. Cold In May - Gone Away With The Memories

"I don't feel like commenting on my choices, but I will still say a few words about Nightglory from Kirlian Camera, as it is my top selection. First of all, this album is thoroughly beautiful. Not innocently, fresh-snow-in-the-sunlight beautiful. Rather, it has to do with a troubling, arcane, thoroughly elegant beauty.

As I was trying to describe this work in a bit more depth, the following lines from Maurice Blanchot came to mind: "While I was still in that state of mind... J. woke up without moving at all - that is, she looked at me. That look was very human: I don't mean affectionate or kind, since it was neither; but it wasn't cold or marked by the forces of this night."

If we understand "human" like Blanchot does, if we agree that "human" just means "not cold or marked by the forces of the night," then the album in question is not particularly human. Indeed, it owes absolutely everything to the forces of the night. It is, however, unmistakably, stunningly passionate. Few ever wander in the strange affective space that this material is gesturing towards, whence its arresting, but also dangerous power.


-Mallory spins Saturdays from 5-7

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