All the Pretty Little Horses
Encyclopedia
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 (Beforetheinmostlight)
and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal). Unlike its bookends, All the Pretty Little Horses is a full-length album. Like the earlier Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre
, All the Pretty Little Horses contains several songs based on repeating melodic themes. Lyrically, the album revolves around the ideas of pain and death, specifically as reflected in Patripassianist
philosophy, along with the overarching concept of the "inmost light", or soul. In contrast, the music itself is some of Current 93's most traditional, relying heavily on acoustic guitar. Exceptions appear in the form of two spoken-word tracks: the ominous, drone-based round "Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil", and "Patripassian", backed mainly by a heavily treated loop of a Gregorian chant
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
band Current 93
Current 93
Current 93 is an eclectic British experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet .-Background:Tibet has been the only constant in the group, though Steven Stapleton has appeared on...
. It forms the second part of the Inmost Light trilogy; the first being 1995's 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 ...
and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal). Unlike its bookends, All the Pretty Little Horses is a full-length album. Like the earlier 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...
, All the Pretty Little Horses contains several songs based on repeating melodic themes. Lyrically, the album revolves around the ideas of pain and death, specifically as reflected in Patripassianist
Patripassianism
In Christian theology, patripassianism is the view that God the Father suffers . Its adherents believe that God the Father was incarnate and suffered on the cross and that whatever happened to the Son happened to the Father and so the Father co-suffered with the human Jesus on the cross...
philosophy, along with the overarching concept of the "inmost light", or soul. In contrast, the music itself is some of Current 93's most traditional, relying heavily on acoustic guitar. Exceptions appear in the form of two spoken-word tracks: the ominous, drone-based round "Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil", and "Patripassian", backed mainly by a heavily treated loop of a Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
.
Track listing
- "The Long Shadow Falls" – 2:15
- "All the Pretty Little HorsiesAll the Pretty Horses (lullaby)"All the Pretty Little Horses" is a traditional African American lullaby from the southern United States.-Meaning:...
" (traditional) – 2:35 - "Calling for Vanished Faces I" – 1:50
- "The Inmost Night" – 2:16
- "The Carnival Is Dead And Gone" – 3:11
- "The Blood Bells Chime" – 3:00
- "Calling for Vanished Faces II" – 4:10
- "The Frolic" – 8:11
- "The Inmost Light" – 1:45
- "Twilight Twilight, Nihil Nihil" – 8:22
- "The Inmost Light Itself" – 9:29
- "All the Pretty Little Horses" (traditional) – 2:34
- "Patripassian" – 5:49
- (hidden track – a reading by Thomas LigottiThomas LigottiThomas 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...
)
Participants
- David TibetDavid TibetDavid 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...
: vocals, drones, strings and bells - John BalanceJohn BalanceJohn Balance , born in Mansfield, England, was the founder of the experimental music group Coil, along with his partner Peter Christopherson...
: vocals on 1, 10 & 11 - Michael CashmoreMichael CashmoreMichael 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...
: guitar, bass, glockenspiel and piano - Steven StapletonSteven StapletonSteven Peter Stapleton is a British musician and the only constant member of experimental improv outfit Nurse with Wound...
: strings 'n' stones, devices 'n' drones - Timothy d'Arch Smith: vocals on 10
- Lilith: vocals on 5, 7, 8, 9 & 11
- Geoff Cox-Doreé: vocals on 10
- Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas 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...
: vocals on 12 & 13 - Joolie Wood: violin, whistle and piano
- David Kenny: guitar and bass
- Salamah binti Isa: vocals on 10
- David Rowlnads: steel guitar
Additional information
- Photographs of all participants from their childhoods are included in the CD booklet.
- The album is dedicated by Tibet as follows: A death and a birth: Dorothy Ann Collins (1933 - 1995) and Seth Joseph Burgess Cox-Doreé (born 1995). I dedicate this album to one past and one future, and to that place where both shall meet. The former is better known as Dolly CollinsDolly CollinsDorothy Ann Collins, known as Dolly Collins , was an English folk musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of Shirley Collins....
, sister of Shirley CollinsShirley CollinsShirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s...
. - The credits advise that the title "The Frolic" is borrowed, with permission, from Thomas LigottiThomas LigottiThomas 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...
. "Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil" is dedicated to him. - Lilith is Lilith Stapleton, eldest daughter of Steven StapletonSteven StapletonSteven Peter Stapleton is a British musician and the only constant member of experimental improv outfit Nurse with Wound...
and Diana Rogerson. She contributed the artwork to Current 93's Horsey (album) CD and inspired Nurse With WoundNurse with WoundNurse 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...
's Soliloquy For LilithSoliloquy for LilithSoliloquy For Lilith is an album by Nurse With Wound.The album was recorded by Steven Stapleton and his wife Diana Rogerson in May 1988. The only sound source was a number of effects units which he had set up to operate in a feedback loop - there was no original input signal being processed, simply...
. - An alternative version of "The Frolic", entitled "Frolicking", was issued on the compilation album Terra Serpentes, released by World Serpent in 1997.