"Fiends With A Face" is the first collaborative work from James Johnston and Philippe Petit. As the titles suggest it is an hommage to the golden era of horror movies. Our two fiends wanted conjure up blood-curdling and haunting soundscapes, playing with unsettling ambiances in order to create a contemporary soundtrack for those who like to be frightened. They strive to elicit responses of fear and terror from listeners, not however in the style of blood-infested inyour- face grotesque slashers, but rather that kind of presence lying in the dark behind you, a musical voyage to allow this noisy delicacy to slowly make its way into your body instead of violently exploding into your face. The more attention you bestow on this record, the more unsuspected new paths you'll be invited to wander down. Philippe Petit is interested in soundtracks, even if he creates original music he'd rather be introduced as a "musical travel agent" than a composer. His first solo album "Henry: The Iron Man" originated from a dream that Shinya Tsukamoto was working on a blurred remake of "Eraserhead", and he was to soundtrack the grotesque mutation of Henry into an "Iron Man". It is now released on Beta Lactam Ring Records.www.blrrecords.com Aside his solo works, Philippe also runs BiP_HOp/Pandemonium Rdz. And composes for Strings Of Consciousness. He has assembled what people call a dream-team of collaborators, working with: Lydia Lunch, Foetus, Eugene Robinson, Kumo, Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys), Andy Diagram (Spaceheads, Pere Ubu...), Cosey Fanni Tutti, My Brightest Diamond, Sybarite, Pantaleimon, Graham Lewis (Wire), Barry Adamson, Scanner, Mira Calix, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Guapo, Leafcutter John, Simon Fisher Turner, Justin Broadrick and many more... James Johnston is the singer, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of influential UK band Gallon Drunk, the group's last studio album The Rotten Mile being released in 2007.He also plays with Krautrock legends Faust, and has recorded and toured with a variety of other musicians such as Barry Adamson, Dot Allison, 2nd Gen, Ulan Bator, Lydia Lunch, and a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds from 2003-2008, (originally touring with the band in 1994). Along with Gallon Drunk's Terry Edwards, in 1993 Johnston released the ground- breaking spoked-word album "I was Dora Suarez", which married the hardcore noir writing of Derek Raymond to their nightmare soundscapes.
He also composes for film, and has acted in independent movies including Clean (2004) by Olivier Assayas. Johnston is married to the artist Geraldine Swayne (also a member of Faust), who is responsible for the paintings used for the artwork of this album.
Tracklisting: 1. The land of... 2. Night of 1,000 eyes 3. The Unearthly 4. La Maschera del Demonio modern 5. El baron del terror 6. IT came from...7. You walk with the Golem 8. Music from the haunted sea 9. Beginning of the end
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