As deep and meditative as a long trip through the night. Charlemagne Palestine has been aging gracefully I must say, keeping the creative spirit active through some consistently great collaborative efforts. It doesn't hurt that he has a keen eye for partners which is exemplified in his latest outing with Janek Schaefer on Day of the Demons.
This is some expansive music that bridges some gaps between art and mysticism. This isn't necessarily something new as Palestine's work has often created direct links to spiritual and other worldly matters. His quintessential Strumming Music essentially strips the artist/musician bare in it's marathon performances whose extreme duration and constantly shifting phrases that have no particular rhyme or reason remove almost remove the composers altogether by it's exploration deep into the recesses of Palestine's psyche. As such it's somewhat surprising that he thrives so well in the collaborative environment.
On Days of the Demons Palestine's sustaining & dissonant keyboard work is firmly in place providing the initial sonic foundation of the album. Snippets of what sound like prayer chants and drawn out wails mingle with snippets of foreign languages and anguish howls bring a new depth to the thick drones. The two artists create a pretty harmonious pair with haunting results.
Charlemagne Palestine & Janek Schaefer's Day of the Demons is available May 15th via Desire Path Recordings.
