Demdike Stare stand at the crossroads of dub, minimal techno, ambient electronica and abstract expressionism. At midnight under a full moon. Performing ritual musik magick. The duo of Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker, from the greater Manchester area and part of the Pendel Coven family of acts, have been slowly and subtly carving out their own niche over the last few years. They are very witchey, and slightly housey, but this is not witch house. This is something else.
Tending to keep a low profile, their vinyl releases on the Modern Love label have come in beautifully packaged limited editions (with artwork by renowned DJ and designer Andy Votel) and have seen them gain a dedicated following among future music heads. Now all three of their previous vinyl albums have been gathered into one deluxe CD set called Tryptych, which also features 40 minutes of bonus material. Tryptych is available from Boomkat in the UK, on both CD and digital formats. This is real headphone music - listen closely to hear the subtle psychedelic details, and to feel the ebb and flow of these seemingly free form tracks. Beautiful, haunting pianos and strings rub up against layers of found sound, treated heavily but subtly, and all underpinned by some seriously heavy bass.
The Demdike Stare live show is worth catching if you can, as they are accompanied by some beautiful visuals made up of obscure vintage horror films,worked live to correspond to the music. There are a few of these audio/visual clips on YouTube, like this one for “Forest Of Evil” (which contains both male and female nudity).
Demdike Stare “Forest Of Evil” (most likely NSFW)
Demdike Stare “Hashashin Chant”
Demdike Stare “Haxan”
Demdike Stare “Haxan (Dub)”
Dedike Stare sleeve artwork by Andy Votel:
Demdike Stare Tryptych CD packaging:
