Petra Schelm.

February 7, 2011, 4 comments

Of all the tracks of the excellent Clan Destine x Beko DSL compilation that dropped last night, the one that instantly stood out and took over my aural synapses today – apart from that marvelous, otherworldly beautiful tune by our long-time fav Ela Orleans – was Channel the Body, the contribution by a certain Petra Schelm; and though I’m not really sure how to endorse the fact that Columbus, Ohio resident Mollie Wells of Funerals chose the name of a misguided young girl that had joined the predecessor of the infamous, faux-marxist terrorist collective Red Army Fraction, ending up with a bullet in her forehead after speeding through a police roadblock in Hamburg on July 15, 1971, for her solo project (there is some explanation by herself here), at the same time it’s hard not to admit that the choice perfectly fits the music: darkest wave driven by Wells’ guitar play, with lots of empty space that drenches all sounds in an overwhelming, captivating surge of reverb, and her ethereal voice that all in all place the songs neatly between the genre’s all-time classics from the 80s, Zola Jesus and Chelsea Wolfe. Simply put, absolutely incredible stuff all along.

Petra Schelm’s debut, a split tape with Portland, Oregon’s Warm Hands, is out now on Clan Destine Records. Below, listen to the compilation track (and make sure to grab the whole thing) as well as to Buried Deep which you’ll find on the cassette.