Current 93
Encyclopedia
Current 93 is an eclectic British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

 group, working since the early 1980s in folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet
David Tibet
David Tibet is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He had earlier collaborated with Psychic TV and 23 Skidoo...

 (né David Michael Bunting, renamed 'Tibet' by Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...

 sometime prior to forming the group).

Background

Tibet has been the only constant in the group, though Steven Stapleton
Steven Stapleton
Steven Peter Stapleton is a British musician and the only constant member of experimental improv outfit Nurse with Wound...

 (of Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...

) has appeared on nearly every Current 93 release. Michael Cashmore
Michael Cashmore
Michael Cashmore is a British composer and musician who has created music under the name of Nature And Organisation and more recently under his own name.Cashmore has also been a member of the group Current 93 since the late 1980s...

 has also been a constant contributor since Thunder Perfect Mind. Douglas P.
Douglas P.
Douglas P. , is an English folk musician, record label owner, photographer and actor who records under the name Death In June. He was born in Sheerwater in Woking, Surrey, and resides in Australia. Douglas P. is openly gay.-Crisis:Pearce began his musical career in a British punk band called Crisis...

 of Death In June
Death in June
Death in June are a neofolk group led by English folk musician Douglas Pearce, better known as Douglas P. The band was originally formed in Britain in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various...

 has played on well over a dozen Current 93 releases, and Steve Ignorant
Steve Ignorant
Steve Ignorant is a singer and artist. He co-founded the anarcho-punk band Crass with Penny Rimbaud in 1977. After Crass stopped performing in 1984, he has worked with other groups including Conflict, Schwartzeneggar, The Stratford Mercenaries, Current 93 , US punk band Thought Crime, as well as...

 of Crass
Crass
Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...

 (using the name Stephen Intelligent), Boyd Rice
Boyd Rice
Boyd Blake Rice is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s, archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the Partridge Family Temple religious group, co-founder of the UNPOP art movement and current staff writer for Modern Drunkard...

, runologist Freya Aswynn http://www.aswynn.co.uk/, Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...

, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

, Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K. is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, and motivational speaker. He is the host of the television series Destroy Build Destroy.-Early life & career:Andrew Wilkes-Krier was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan...

, Will Oldham
Will Oldham
Will Oldham , better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music...

, Ben Chasny
Ben Chasny
Ben Chasny is an indie rock and psych folk guitarist. His primary projects are Six Organs of Admittance and Comets on Fire . He made his recording debut in 1996 with his heavy, free rock project Plague Lounge on "The Wicker Image", an LP released conjointly between the New World of Sound and Holy...

, Rose McDowall
Rose McDowall
Rose McDowall is a Scottish musician, most notably as a vocalist in the pop band Strawberry Switchblade.-History:...

, Tiny Tim
Tiny Tim (musician)
Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...

, Tony Wakeford
Tony Wakeford
Anthony Charles "Tony" Wakeford is an English folk and neoclassical musician who primarily records under the name Sol Invictus.Wakeford lives in London and is married to Sol Invictus violinist Renée Rosen....

 of Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus (band)
Sol Invictus is an English neofolk and neoclassical group fronted by Tony Wakeford. Wakeford has been the sole constant member of the group since its inception, although numerous musicians have contributed and collaborated with Wakeford under the Sol Invictus moniker over the years.-Overview:For...

, Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...

, John Balance
John Balance
John Balance , born in Mansfield, England, was the founder of the experimental music group Coil, along with his partner Peter Christopherson...

 of Coil
Coil (band)
Coil were an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as "Jhonn Balance"—and his partner Peter Christopherson, aka "Sleazy". The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be...

, Antony Hegarty
Antony Hegarty
Antony Hegarty is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons.-Early life:...

 of Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...

, Baby Dee
Baby Dee
Baby Dee is an American performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter from Cleveland, Ohio.-Early career:In the 1970s, Baby Dee began her musical career as a street performer, but soon decided to take work as an organist at a Catholic church in the Bronx...

 and Ian Read
Ian Read (musician)
Ian Read is an English neofolk and traditional folk musician.-History:Read left school at 16, and at the age of 17, he became an adherent of Germanic neopaganism and began studying Germanic paganism . He was particularly interested in galdor or magical metrical poetry and the runes...

 of Fire + Ice have also lent their talents over the years. Tibet is fond of the works of American writer Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti is a contemporary American horror author and reclusive literary cult figure. His writings are unique in style, have been noted as major continuations of several literary genres – most prominently Lovecraftian horror – and have overall been variously described as works of...

, and invited him to collaborate with Current 93.

Current 93 have released some twenty albums, and many singles, as well as having been a guest on many of the above listed artists' records, and others' such as Nature and Organisation and The Hafler Trio
Hafler Trio
The Hafler Trio is a conceptual and sound art collaborative between Andrew M. McKenzie, the only permanent member, and guest musicians. The project has seen the release of numerous albums and CDs in experimental musical styles ranging from electronica, cut-up, ambient, environmental soundscape,...

.

Much of Current 93's early work was similar to late 1970s and early 1980s industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

: abrasive tape loop
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...

s, droning synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

 noises and Tibet's distorted, excoriating vocals. This early work became influential with the goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

 scene. Later works found Tibet mostly casting off such trappings in favor of a more organic sound, labeled by some as "apocalyptic folk" music, occasionally featuring his sinister nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...

-influenced singing and primarily acoustic folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

-styled music.

Tibet's lyrics have been fairly consistent, regardless of delivery: The earlier recordings reflect his preoccupation with death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

, Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

, mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...

, Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...

 (Tibet borrowed the term "93 Current" from Crowley - the 93 Current http://www.93current.de/ being the current of Thelema
Thelema
Thelema is a religious philosophy that was established, defined and developed by the early 20th century British writer and ceremonial magician, Aleister Crowley. He believed himself to be the prophet of a new age, the Æon of Horus, based upon a religious experience that he had in Egypt in 1904...

 or Agape
Agape
Agape is one of the Greek words translated into English as love, one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for mankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term...

), Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

, Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...

, runes, swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

s, Noddy, The Wicker Man, and a variety of occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...

 notions. The later to present-day period of Current 93's recordings increasingly reflect Tibet's interest in Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions...

. Tibet has stated that he identifies as a Christian.

Literary influences include Lautreamont's Les Chants de Maldoror
Les Chants de Maldoror
Les Chants de Maldoror is a poetic novel consisting of six cantos. It was written between 1868 and 1869 by the Comte de Lautréamont, the pseudonym of Isidore Lucien Ducasse...

, the Bible, The Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...

s, Francis Parker Yockey
Francis Parker Yockey
Francis Parker Yockey was an American political thinker and polemicist best known for his neo-Spenglerian book Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics, published under the pen name Ulick Varange in 1948. This 600-page book argues for a culture-based, totalitarian path for the...

's Imperium, Hildegard von Bingen, John Dee
John Dee (mathematician)
John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....

, Heptarchia Mystica, The Thunder, Perfect Mind
The Thunder, Perfect Mind
"The Thunder, Perfect Mind" is a poem discovered among the Gnostic manuscripts at Nag Hammadi in 1945.Thunder Perfect Mind takes the form of an extended, riddling monologue, in which an immanent saviour speaks a series of paradoxical statements concerning the divine feminine nature...

, William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...

, Louis Wain
Louis Wain
Louis Wain was an English artist best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphised large-eyed cats and kittens. In his later years he suffered from schizophrenia, which, according to some psychologists, can be seen in his works.- Life and work :Louis William Wain was...

, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti is a contemporary American horror author and reclusive literary cult figure. His writings are unique in style, have been noted as major continuations of several literary genres – most prominently Lovecraftian horror – and have overall been variously described as works of...

, occult British author Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...

 (originator of the title "The Inmost Light"), M.R. James's various ghost stories
Ghost story
A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...

, The Cloud of Unknowing
The Cloud of Unknowing
The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer in the late Middle Ages.Manuscripts of the work are today at British Library and Cambridge University Library...

, Count Eric Stenbock
Eric Stenbock
Count Eric Stanislaus Stenbock was a Baltic German poet and writer of macabre fantastic fiction.-Life:Stenbock was the count of Bogesund and the heir to an estate near Kolga in Estonia...

, and Russell Hoban
Russell Hoban
Russell Conwell Hoban is an American writer, now living in England, of fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magic realism, poetry, and children's books-Biography:...

's Riddley Walker
Riddley Walker
Riddley Walker is a science fiction novel by Russell Hoban, first published in 1980. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel in 1982, as well as an Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award in 1983...

.

Musical influences include religious chants, traditional folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, The Tam Lin
Tam Lin
Tam Lin is the hero of a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. The story revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from the Queen of the Fairies...

 ballad, The Incredible String Band
Incredible String Band
The Incredible String Band were a psychedelic folk band formed in Scotland in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially within British counterculture, before splitting up in 1974...

, Sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

, Comus
Comus (band)
Comus is a British progressive rock / folk band which had a brief career in the early 1970s; their first album, First Utterance, gave them a cult following which persists. They have revived in the late 2000s and played several festivals.-History:...

, Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...

, Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

, Love
Love (band)
Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...

, Shirley Collins
Shirley Collins
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s...

, some progressive bands such as Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...

, King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...

, Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...

, and the British composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji was an English composer, music critic, pianist, and writer.-Biography:...

.

David Keenan
David Keenan
David Keenan is a Scottish author, critic and musician. He is the author of England's Hidden Reverse, a biography of Coil, Current 93 and Nurse With Wound, a regular contributor to The Wire since 1995, and proprietor of Volcanic Tongue, a shop, distributor, record label and mailorder business that...

's book England's Hidden Reverse - A Secret History of the Esoteric Underground (SAF Publishing 2003) extensively covers Tibet's musical evolution along with that of Coil, Stephen Stapleton, and others.

Discography

Year Title Format and special notes
1983 Mi-Mort
Mi-Mort
Mi-Mort is the first release by Current 93, and is a split with Nurse With Wound. It contains one track by Current 93 and four tracks by Nurse With Wound...

cassette split with Nurse With Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...

1984 LAShTAL
LAShTAL
LAShTAL is the second release by Current 93, the first Mi-Mort was a split-album. The album features musicians Fritz Häaman and John Balance in addition to the primary Current 93 member David Tibet...

12"
1984 Nature Unveiled
Nature Unveiled
-Pressing:*1984 12" 1000 black vinyl in regular sleeve *1984 12" 1000 black vinyl in regular sleeve -Pressing:*1984 12" 1000 black vinyl in regular sleeve (L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords LAY4)*1984 12" 1000 black vinyl in regular sleeve (2nd pressing) -Pressing:*1984 12" 1000 black vinyl in regular...

LP (reissued on CD,1992)
1984 No Hiding from the Blackbird
No Hiding from the Blackbird
No Hiding from the Blackbird is the fourth release by Current 93, and is a 7" split record with Nurse With Wound. The full title is actually "No Hiding from the Blackbird / The Burial of the Stoned Sardine".-Track listing:Side A...

7" split w/ Nurse With Wound
1984 Dogs Blood Rising
Dogs Blood Rising
-Pressings:*1984 12" black vinyl in regular sleeve *1985 cassette in regular cassette box *1988 12" black vinyl in regular sleeve...

LP (reissued on CD, 1988 and 1995)
1985 Live at Bar Maldoror LP (reissued on CD 1990 and 1994)
1985 Nightmare Culture
Nightmare Culture
Nightmare Culture was a 12" split vinyl by Current 93 and Sickness Of Snakes. This was the only release for "Sickness Of Snakes" as members John Balance and Peter Christopherson formed Coil by the time this record was originally pressed...

EP split with Sickness of Snakes (Coil
Coil (band)
Coil were an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as "Jhonn Balance"—and his partner Peter Christopherson, aka "Sleazy". The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be...

/Boyd Rice
Boyd Rice
Boyd Blake Rice is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s, archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the Partridge Family Temple religious group, co-founder of the UNPOP art movement and current staff writer for Modern Drunkard...

)
1986 In Menstrual Night LP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1986 NL Centrum-Amsterdam live cassette split w/ Nurse With Wound
1987 Happy Birthday 12"
1987 Dawn
Dawn (Current 93 album)
Dawn is an album by the English group Current 93. It is among the earlier releases of Current 93 and has a more industrial sound, compared to the band's current apocalyptic folk sound. Originally released in 1987 as an LP on the Maldoror label, it was reissued in 1989 on CD by Durtro. This reissue...

LP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1987 Imperium
Imperium (album)
Imperium is an album by the English group Current 93. It was made during a musical style shift between the earlier industrial sound of Current 93 and the current more neofolk inspired. It was originally released as an LP in 1987 on the Maldoror label, but in 1992 it was also released as a CD on...

LP (reissued on CD, 2001)
1987 Crowleymass
Crowleymass
Crowleymass was an EP released in 1987 by the English group Current 93, led by David Tibet. Crowleymass originally appeared on a 12” vinyl record through Maldoror and was later reissued in 1997 on CD format through Durtro, the record company owned by David Tibet...

 (with HÖH
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson , also known as HÖH , is a musician, an art director, and allsherjargoði of Ásatrúarfélagið ....

)
12"/CDS (reissued in 1997)
1988 Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow
Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow
Christ And The Pale Queens Mighty In Sorrow is an album by the English group Current 93. Like Imperium it was made during a musical style shift between the earlier industrial sound of Current 93 and the current more neofolk inspired...

2xLP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1988 The Red Face of God 12" (reissued on CD with above, 1994)
1988 Swastikas for Noddy
Swastikas For Noddy
Swastikas for Noddy is a 1988 album by English music group Current 93.The lineup for the recording was: David Tibet, Steven Stapleton, Jhon Balance, Rose McDowall, Boyd Rice, HÖH, Ian Read, Freya Aswynn, and Douglas P., Gary Carey and Bee....

LP (reissued on CD as Swastikas for Goddy, 1993)
1988 Faith's Favourites 12" split with Nurse With Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...

1988 Earth Covers Earth LP (reissued on CD, 1992) (limited LP reissue, 2005)
1989 Rome/Hourglass for Diana/Fields of Rape 7" (live)
1989 She Is Dead and All Fall Down limited edition 7"
1989 Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God
Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God
Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God is an album by the English group Current 93. The album contains music reworked and rerecorded from their 1988 album Swastikas for Noddy.-Track listing:# "He Is Everywhere Nowhere" - 2:55# "Northforth" - 0:38...

CD
1990 Looney Runes LP, CD 1992
1990 1888
1888 (Death In June/Current 93 split release)
1888 is a split 12" vinyl between Death In June and Current 93.-Pressings:*1990 12" UK New European Recordings BAD VC 693: Black vinyl copies in embossed sleeve*1991 12" UK New European Recordings BAD VC 693: 1000 Red vinyl copies in embossed sleeve...

split EP with Death In June
Death in June
Death in June are a neofolk group led by English folk musician Douglas Pearce, better known as Douglas P. The band was originally formed in Britain in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various...

1990 Horse LP, part of a box set/split with Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus was the official sun god of the later Roman empire. In 274 Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. Scholars disagree whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol, a revival of the cult of Elagabalus or completely new...

 and Nurse With Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...

 (reissued on CD as Horsey with extra/reworked tracks, 1997)
1991 Island (with HÖH) LP/CD
1991 As the World Disappears (live) CD
1992 Thunder Perfect Mind 2xLP/CD (reissued, 1994)
1992 Current 93/Death In June/Sol Invictus (live) Recorded in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, 1991. Originally a bootleg called Day of Dawn, officially reissued on CD.
1993 Emblems: The Menstrual Years LP, issued as 2xCD retrospective
1993 Hitler as Kalki CD
1994 Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre
Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre
Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre - The Broken Heart of Man is an album by English band Current 93. Although musically one of Current 93's gentlest albums it is also lyrically very dark, prominently featuring the motif of blood, menstrual and otherwise...

LP/CD
1994 Lucifer Over London EP/CD
1994 The Fire of the Mind CD
1994 Tamlin 12"/CDS
1995 Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight)
Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight)
Where The Long Shadows Fall is an EP by English band Current 93. It forms the first part of the Inmost Light trilogy; the second being 1996's All The Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home ...

12"/CDS
1996 All The Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light
All the Pretty Little Horses
All the Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light is an album by English band Current 93. It forms the second part of the Inmost Light trilogy; the first being 1995's Where the Long Shadows Fall and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home ...

LP/CD
1996 The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal) 12"/CDS
1996 Untitled, a.k.a. Seven Seals CD-EP with Tiny Tim
Tiny Tim (musician)
Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...

, Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...

 and Nature and Organization
1997 In a Foreign Town, in a Foreign Land limited CD, accompanied Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti is a contemporary American horror author and reclusive literary cult figure. His writings are unique in style, have been noted as major continuations of several literary genres – most prominently Lovecraftian horror – and have overall been variously described as works of...

 book of same name
1998 Soft Black Stars
Soft Black Stars
Soft Black Stars is an album by Current 93. All of the music on the album was written and adapted by Michael Cashmore, David Tibet and Maja Elliott with the exception of "Judas as Black Moth", "A Gothic Love Song" and "Whilst The Night Rejoices Profound And Still" the music for which was written by...

LP/CD, (reissued on CD in 2005)
1999 Calling for Vanished Faces 2xCD retrospective
1999 An Introduction to Suffering Current 93/Michael Cashmore/Christoph Heemann LP/CD
1999 Misery Farm CDS
1999 All Dolled Up Like Christ 2x Live CD
2000 I Have a Special Plan for This World
I Have a Special Plan for This World
"I Have A Special Plan For This World" is a longform single by the English band Current 93. The lyrics are taken from a poem of the same name by the author Thomas Ligotti and spoken by David Tibet. Additional sound treatments are credited to Current 93. The single was released on limited edition...

12"/CD, Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti is a contemporary American horror author and reclusive literary cult figure. His writings are unique in style, have been noted as major continuations of several literary genres – most prominently Lovecraftian horror – and have overall been variously described as works of...

 prose poem read by Tibet, treated by Current 93
2000 Sleep Has His House
Sleep Has His House
Sleep Has His House is an album released in 2000 by English apocalyptic folk group Current 93. The album was written and recorded as a reaction to the death of David Tibet's father and prominently features harmonium. The lyrics were mostly written by David Tibet and the music composed by Michael...

LP/CD
2000 Faust LP/CD
2001 The Great in the Small LP/CD
2001 Cats Drunk on Copper
Cats Drunk on Copper
Cats Drunk on Copper is a live CD album by Current 93. David Tibet is the only official member of Current 93; he was accompanied by the following performers during the Current 93 act: John Balance, Joolie Wood, Karl Blake, Michael Cashmore, Rose McDowall....

CD (Live at the Union Chapel, London, May 3, 1997)
2001 Bright Yellow Moon 2x12"/CD Current 93/Nurse with Wound
2001 Purtle CD Split w/ Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...

2001 This Degenerate Little Town CD with Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti is a contemporary American horror author and reclusive literary cult figure. His writings are unique in style, have been noted as major continuations of several literary genres – most prominently Lovecraftian horror – and have overall been variously described as works of...

2002 The Seahorse Rears to Oblivion 12"/CD
2002 Music for the Horse Hospital 2xCD Current 93/Nurse with Wound
2003 A Little Menstrual Night Music CD containing remixes of tracks from In Menstrual Night
2003 Calling For Vanished Faces/Virgin Mary 7" split with Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...

; UK PanDurtro 008
2003 Live at St. Olave's
Live at St. Olave's
Live At Saint Olave's Church was released in 2003 on the branch label PanDurtro of David Tibet's of Current 93's label Durtro.-Track listing:# Antony and the Johnsons - "You Stand Above Me" – 1:36# Antony and the Johnsons - "The Lake" – 4:48...

CD EP split with Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...

; UK PanDurtro 007
2004 Halo
Halo (album)
Halo is a live album, released in 2004, by Current 93. The front cover is a drawing by the same David Tibet which reproduces the cover of a Moody Blues album of 1971 Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.-Track listing:# "Halo"# "Alone"# "Mary Waits in Silence"...

CD
2004 SixSixSix: SickSickSick CD compilation of Tamlin, Lucifer over London, Misery Farm, and two pieces from Looney Runes
2005 How I Devoured Apocalypse Balloon 2xCD (Live at St. George The Martyr Anglican Church, Toronto, June 18–19, 2004)
2005 ⲛⲧⲛⲁⲩ ⲛϩⲱⲧⲡ ⲙⲡⲣⲏ ⲁϩⲉⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ ⲉⲩⲕⲏⲙ ⲟⲩⲉⲙ ⲧⲡⲉ CDS (promo for Black Ships Ate the Sky
Black Ships Ate the Sky
Black Ships Ate the Sky is a 2006 album by Current 93. The album features numerous guest vocalists, such as Antony Hegarty, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Marc Almond, and Shirley Collins. It features nine versions of the 1763 Methodist hymn "Idumæa", with lyrics by Charles Wesley, each featuring vocals by...

; the Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...

 title reads "At Sunset Black Ships Ate The Sky")
2005 Judas as Black Moth
Judas as Black Moth
Judas as Black Moth is a 2005 compilation of previously released tracks by the English group, Current 93.-Disc one:# "The Long Shadow Falls"# "Good Morning, Great Moloch"# "Mockingbird"# "Mary Waits in Silence"# "Sunset"# "Alone"...

 (Hallucinatory Patripassianist Song)
2xCD "best of"/introduction to C93's works
2005 How He Loved The Moon (Moonsongs For Jhonn Balance)
How He Loved the Moon (Moonsongs for Jhonn Balance)
How He Loved The Moon is a 2005 tribute album to John Balance by the English group, Current 93.-2X12":Limited edition of 1200 copies pressed on black vinyl. Packaged in a full-color gatefold sleeve and printed inner sleeves....

2xCD/2xLP (ltd. 1200)/2xLP+7" (ltd. 200), a remixed version of In Menstrual Night
2005 Hypnagogue/Hypnagogue II CD
2006 Black Ships Ate the Sky
Black Ships Ate the Sky
Black Ships Ate the Sky is a 2006 album by Current 93. The album features numerous guest vocalists, such as Antony Hegarty, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Marc Almond, and Shirley Collins. It features nine versions of the 1763 Methodist hymn "Idumæa", with lyrics by Charles Wesley, each featuring vocals by...

CD / 2xLP
2006 Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun (Blackship Shrinebuilder)
Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun (Blackship Shrinebuilder)
Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun is a split EP by the bands Om and Current 93. It was released in 2006 on the Neurot record label.The US pressing was limited to 1500 copies on 10" clear green vinyl...

Split 10" with Om
Om (band)
Om is a duo formed in 2003 by the rhythm section of the disbanded Stoner doom metal band Sleep. The band's first three albums feature Al Cisneros on vocals and bass and Chris Hakius on drums. Their music is similar in structure to Tibetan chanting....

2006 Black Ships Eat the Sky CD - Alternate mixes
2007 The Inmost Light 3xCD/2xLP reissue of Where The Long Shadows Fall
Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight)
Where The Long Shadows Fall is an EP by English band Current 93. It forms the first part of the Inmost Light trilogy; the second being 1996's All The Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home ...

, All the Pretty Little Horses
All the Pretty Little Horses
All the Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light is an album by English band Current 93. It forms the second part of the Inmost Light trilogy; the first being 1995's Where the Long Shadows Fall and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home ...

, and The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home
2007 Birdsong in The Empire
Birdsong in The Empire
Birdsong in The Empire is a 2007 album by Current 93. The album is a live recording from 4 June 2005 and was recorded at St George the Martyr Church in Toronto, Canada...

Live CD (ltd. 1200) Recorded in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, 2005
2008 Black Ships Heat the Dancefloor Blue 12" single/DualDisc
DualDisc
DualDisc was a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and later under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America...

, remixes by JG Thirlwell
J. G. Thirlwell
James George Thirlwell , aka Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka Foetus, is an Australian vocalist, composer and record producer...

 and Matmos
Matmos
Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore signed to the Matador Records label. M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including...

2008 Birth Canal Blues CD EP April 2008
2009 Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain
Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain
Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain is a studio album by British experimental band Current 93, released in May 2009 on Coptic Cat Records.After collaborating with Om on a split EP, there is a notably heavy sound on this record, citing doom metal and stoner rock as an influence...

CD/LP
2010 Baalstorm, Sing Omega (December 1971) CD/LP
2010 Haunted Waves, Moving Graves Limited-edition CD (999 copies) and 12" picture disc (666 copies). Both editions have different track listings.
2011 HoneySuckle Æons Released 24 March 2011

Compilation appearances

  • "Black Ships Ate The Sky (Alternate Mix)" on Brainwaves
    Brainwaves (compilation)
    Brainwaves is a compilation album put together by Brainwashed.com to commemorate the Brainwaves festival. The album is a 3 CD set, limited to 500 copies and comes with a Brainwaves logo badge...

     (2006)

Current 93 Presents releases

  • 1986 Aleister Crowley
    Aleister Crowley
    Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...

     - The Hastings Archives/The World As Power LP
  • 1988 The Venerable 'Chi.med Rig. 'dzin Lama, Rinpoche - Tantric rNying.ma Chant of Tibet LP/CD
  • 1990 Harry Oldfield - Crystal LP/CD
  • 1990 Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson
    Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson
    Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson , a native of Iceland, was instrumental in helping to gain recognition by the Icelandic government for the pre-Christian Norse religion...

     - Edda LP/CD
  • 1992 Shirley Collins
    Shirley Collins
    Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s...

     - Fountain of Snow CD
  • 1995 Tiny Tim
    Tiny Tim (musician)
    Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...

     - Songs of an Impotent Troubadour CD
  • 1997 The Aryan Aquarians - Meet Their Waterloo LP/CD

External links

  • Coptic Cat homepage Official Coptic Cat homepage
  • Durtro Records homepage Official Durtro
    Durtro
    Durtro was a British independent record label, established by the British poet, singer, songwriter, and visual artist David Tibet in 1988, to publish his own work, and that of fellow friends and musicians. It was replaced by one of Tibet's earlier labels, Coptic Cat, in 2010.Nearly every release...

    and Current 93 homepage
  • Official archive, extensive discography, live information archive, related literary sources.

Reviews

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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