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CD
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LUMB 011CD
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This is the third release from the UK's finest exponents of melancholic experimentalism, Human Greed. In addition to the band's core membership of founder Michael Begg and his main collaborator Deryk Thomas, Black Hill: Midnight At The Blighted Star features well-poised contributions from special guests Julia Kent (Antony & the Johnsons, Blind Cave Salamander), Fabrizio Palumbo (Larsen, Blind Cave Salamander), David Tibet (Current 93) and Clodagh Simonds (Fovea Hex, Mellow Candle). Although in many ways far gentler than previous Human Greed albums, Black Hill packs a significant punch. Part nightmare train journey to a bruised and foreboding underworld, part voyage beyond the alluring tails of shooting stars to an aching void of longing, this album may prove to be the band's sullen masterpiece. Processed electronics, treated acoustic and electric instruments and numerous field recordings are eloquently arranged to present a composition as satisfying in its formal arrangement as it is breathtaking in its emotional impact. Although possessed with a very individual sound, Human Greed's sounding notes may draw comparisons to the timeless, stretched melancholia of Stars Of The Lid, Black Light District-era Coil, Nurse With Wound's less whimsical moments, William Basinski's evocations of lost time and romantic despair and even Brian Eno's ambient work. None of this, of course, accounts for the ever-present, unsettling air of cruelty and, occasionally, latent violence, that adds a singularly dark note to their work.
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