Terrors: “Lagan Qord”.
August 23, 2011, 0 comments
Over the course of a couple of months last year, I had an extended yet sadly unfinished e-mail conversation with Elijah Forrest that revolved around his vagabond-esque life of wandering around the US, future plans for artistic endeavors and of course his musical existence as Terrors, the project he’s been pursuing since the age of 14 that had resulted in a few tapes on his own imprint Cavelife as well as on Monorail Trespassing and Bathetic.
Elijah told me about a new single that was planned to be released last December, and a new full-length on Bridgetown Records early this year. Though I don’t exactly know what happened (after all, it appeared to me that his chosen life of peregrination and restlessness wasn’t the simplest fate), I guess both releases never came about eventually. However, about a month ago at least there finally was another “official” Terrors release when Weird Forest dropped Lagan Qord, though in a way it might just as well be deemed a reissue, as the LP is a collection of Elijah’s songs from the last four years that had been scattered across his various, mostly out-of-print cassettes.
The record itself is one of immaculate, most fragile magic, with songs that in every single painfully uncovered note reveal a profound sadness, a sorrowfulness so bleak and honest that the music occasionally becomes an uneasy listen, despite every song’s seamless beauty. More than once the listener is left spellbound, hoping that the artist nevertheless is doing alright. Lagan Qord is without any doubt one of the most breathtaking and moving records I’ve come across in a while.
Lagan Qord can still be ordered via Boomkat.
Apart from that, fortunately it seems like life indeed has been going on for Elijah Forrest this year, as we’ve stumbled across a project named Lolly Gesserit recently, which turned out to be his new and current recording moniker. It’s nothing like Terrors, all fuzzed-out, mostly atonal tape manipulation, but in no way less stunning and in fact apparently also born out of resignation, as in Elijah’s own words it’s the “byproduct of a demoralizing visit to the Golden State”.
Lolly Gesserit – Reinstall Windows (Side B):
Reinstall Windows has been released on San Francisco imprint Beach House.
