(Avant-Garde/Post Rock/Funk/Art Rock/Experimental) Walter & Sabrina - Chioma SuperNormal - The Dark Album (2006) (3 CD) - 2006, MP3, 256 kbps

1 Archaeology Part 1 4:40
2 Archaeology Part 2 6:45
3 From A Distance 4:30
4 Slur Through Hours Of Existence 2:50
5 Play With Lust And Loathing 1:58
6 Tiny Small 5:53
7 Rimble Man 3:14
8 Freak Show Circus 1:43
9 Big Chunks 4:18
10 Zoom 5:19
11 Boys 6:27
12 Sodden Strangler 4:46

1 Mr Pain Part 1 2:56
2 Mr Pain Part 2 3:22
3 I Vibrate 2:11
4 Someone There 3:23
5 Sex Hunter 4:08
6 Thought She Was Special For SuperNormal 3:157
7 Self Harm Part 1 9:40
8 Self Harm Part 2 5:12
9 Susan Cure Part 1 2:30
10 Susan Cure Part 2 6:33

1 Opus 29 For SuperNormal 12:13
2 Zoom 9:14
3 Insert 2 0:21
4 Mr Pain Live 2:40
5 Insert 3 0:49
6 Mr Bone Live 5:07
7 Baby Live 4:07
8 Opus 13 For SuperNormal 7:23
9 Insert 5 0:08
10 Kenny Trim Live 2:23
11 Insert 6 1:15
12 Things Fall Apart Live 3:50
13 Insert 7 0:44
14 Slur Through Hours Of Existence Live 2:36
15 Insert 8 1:09
16 Someone There Live 3:12
17 Insert 9 0:38
18 Mr Bone 5:53
19 Baby 4:43
20 Ironies 2:23
21 Bloody Hot It Is 1:57
22 Crab Emphaty 2:50
23 Death Of The Soul 1:05

WALTER & SABRINA
Chioma SuperNormal - The Dark Album
[Danny Dark Records, www.dannydarkrecords.com]
The 3 CD set that comprises "The Dark Album" is one of the more messed up and chaotic affairs you're bound to hear this year. Composed and arranged by Walter Cardew [Cornelius' son] Stephen Moore and played by Walter & Sabrina Group, this package contains some of the darkest stuff I've heard in a long while. Considerably Artful, these guys go on to spend nearly three hours ranting and raving about decay, death and the human remains. I'm not sure how one is supposed to approach their music. With a grain of salt or is this really sombre stuff? How sombre, you ask? Take "Things Fall Apart Live" for instance:
"Once, I schemed.
My fingers damp, around, behind, inside her knickers.
Why? Drawn together in lust
We find something missing
That fills our souls.
Together, alone,
I cup your breasts.
We fill our mouths
It's hopeless, pointless
We move to death."
This has got to be possibly the saddest description of love gone pointless I've ever heard. Examples such as this one are endless. It's all about depravity, human cravings, emptiness and utter despair. Delivered in an almost operatic fashion, the vocals sound like they're a latter-day Dagmar Krause, while the music is part rock, part opera and all high art. Best thing is, these guys sound like a fully coherent band. Real instrumentation, choruses and everything is rehearsed and properly presented. My only concern is much of this stuff is too dry to withstand repeated servings of this sort of gruelling exercise. Without a doubt, one of the most demanding releases I've heard in a long time. Recommended to those with masochistic tendencies.
- Tom Sekowski

Produced and composed by Walter Cardew and Stephen Moore
Performers:
W. Cardew and S. Moore (various instruments/voices)
Walter & Sabrina Group:
Matthew Dungey (keyboards/voice/oboe)
Mette Bille (mezzo-soprano voice)
Nima Gousheh (voice/guitar/santur & Persian translation)
Dave Baby (Jew's harp/swannee whistle/kazoo/clap)
Celia Lu (soprano voice & Mandarin translation)
Also:
Dai Pritchard (bass clarinet/contra-alto clarinet)
Oren Marshall (tuba)
Sara Pego (violin)
Natalie Spicer (oboe)
Jane Easby (flute/alto flute)
Evva Mizerska ('cello)
Nadia Wilson (clarinet)
James Green (vibraphone)
Ben Davis ('cello)
Julia White (oboe)
Androniki Liokoura (piano/harpsichord)
Sharon Falk-Sheye (violin)
Georgia Ginsberg (soprano voice)
Dwight Pile-Gray (horn)