Alabaster Deplume - A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The Silos - Apocalips [COMPACT DISCS] date 04/25/2025

When we are boldly and sincerely requested as ourselves, as whoever we may be, we can, in response to one-another, create naturally, things that no-one could have ever specifically demanded we deliver. In order to record the compositions in his critically acclaimed 2022 GOLD, Alabaster instilled a culture of creativity by leading his ensembles in spontaneous composition and development. To allow them to be present, he kept them constantly creating. This resulted in an abundance of material that he has since produced and arranged, resulting in this collection. It is a piece made entirely of authentic, un-stipulated - yet welcomed - human interaction. It is similar to how elements in nature contribute to shared work and beauty without conscious motive - a bee's own motives result in the delivery of pollen. As Alabaster says himself, InchThe great thing wants to happen, let us allow it to happenInch On his first trip to the US Alabaster collected messages from individuals, to be delivered to the hearts of his audiences. One, who preferred to remain anonymous, encourages us to Inchcome with fierce graceInch Composed in the act of performance by and with Alabaster Deplume - tenor sax, guitar, synths and voice Falle Nioke - voice, percussion Rozi Plain - guitar Sarathy Korwar - drums, tabla Tom Skinner - drums Kenichi Iwasa - percussion James Howard - guitar Tom Herbert - double bass Natalie Pela - voice Rosa Slade - voice Elly Condron - voice Luisa Gerstein - voice Matt Webb - double bass Michael Chestnutt - synths Ursula Russell - drums Conrad Singh - guitar Hannah Miller - cello and voice Donna Thompson - voice Matthew Bourne - piano Momoko Gill - lead vocal Ruth Goller - bass

In 1974, Jeremiah Sand and his nascent cult The Children Of The New Dawn decamp LA for the Shasta Mountain region and Redding, CA. They set up shop, begin printing leaflets, hold gatherings and start growing their ranks through recruitment. Jeremiah and the Children are not necessarily an odd addition to Redding in 1974. Since the 1930s, psychonauts and spiritual seekers have been drawn to this area in Northern California under the shadow of the dormant volcanic cone of Shasta. By 1974, urban California hippies worn down by direct political engagement with state security forces have started drifting North and the towns along the border with Oregon state are filled with ad-hoc spiritual organizations, commune builders and lost souls. Jeremiah and the Children fit right in. A few years prior to assembling his flock, Sand had self produced and released an album of psych-folk that was unremarkable in almost every way, save for the unrelenting vanity and egoism on display in the lyrics. This early album is one of the only existing documents of Sand. The commercial failure of the album became the catalyst for Sand to leave Southern California and settle in a place where his InchtruthInch would be Inchreceived by pure and open heartsInch. By mid 1974, the Children have grown in rank and Jeremiah becomes obsessed with recording Inchhis masterpieceInch... a musical message to the world, communicating a InchTruthInch that only he has been given spiritual access to. This project becomes the central focus of the Children. His lieutenant Brother Swann overhears that there is a small recording studio just North of the city. He arrives one day at the reception with a large gym bag full of cash and instructs the owner to cancel all sessions on the books. The studio will now focus on one thing and one thing only helping Jeremiah realize his vision. Tents and rough structures appear o