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Under the Water
Here's a gorgeous one-sided single. 'Under
The Water' is an alternate version of a song scheduled for release
on an upcoming solo LP, and it's a brilliant, mystical breath of
air of pure longing. The lyrics are simply structured and circular,
the music is a mix of accoustic plucks and drones, and the mood
is wonderfully doleful. Nice package too.
- BYRON COLEY, WIRE MAGAZINE, April 2007
Be careful : this is a one sided
shine-thru single ; -I didn‚t see it at first and was also
playing the drawing on the other side-. The only track is a beautiful
meditation expressed by a droning harmonium, a minor key bouzouki,
and voice, singing and playing as if showing the energy of a shining
treasure under water, showing a glimpse of eternity, beautiful and
eternal, with a nature that would disappear and becomes an illusion
once you would bring the object out of the water. Beautiful.
- GERALD VAN WAES, PSYCHEDELICFOLK.COM
‘Under the Water’ is a
rather dark song, with a contemplative, sad melody played on bouzouki.
This accompanies Andria's frail voice, singing about what lies hidden
under the water. Treasure, light… This track, though simple,
is very good, and it promises much good for the upcoming album.
There’s also a reason why there's only one track on this
7". This is the first in a special series by BlueSanct, consisting
of 7" singles with an art print on the B-side. ‘Under
the Water’ has a stylised sun drawing by Andria herself, who
also drew the picture for the front cover. Combined with the clear
vinyl, this makes the 7" very attractive, but the downside
is of course that it’s rather short in terms of listening
pleasure.
Nevertheless, this release isn’t expensive, and definitely
worth it for fans of Pantaleimon or Current 93, and dark folk lovers.
O.S – Evening of Light
www.eveningoflight.nl/en/reviews/panta_utw.htm
(Review translated
from Danish)
Pantaleimon is in reality a solo project for Andria Degens, named
after a russian-orthodox saint with curing abilities. Degens has
worked as Pantaleimon for quite a few years, but the releases have
been few: one album, one ep and appearing on the soundtrack for
the movie "Wild Tigers I Have Known" by Cam Archer, as well as appearing
on Current 93's masterpiece, "Black Ships Ate the Sky".
Even though Pantaleimon are probably unknown to most, Degens is
something of a veteran on the alternative music scene: she has appeared
on the artist Susan Stenger's "Soundtrack for an Exhibition", and
has collaborated and played live with artists such as Nurse With
Wound, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Matt Sweeney, Antony & the Johnsons,
Six Organs of Admittance, Sixteen Horsepower and Baby Dee. Before
Pantaleimon she's worked with Dirty Three and Wire, so even though
she may not be well-known, she's quite respected by other artists.
All I've heard of Pantaleimon's work has been of a remarkably high
quality, and I've therefore been quite irritated by the long wait
for new material. Now, however, this is about to change, since 2007
will see both a new ep ("Cloudburst", which was, in fact released
late 2006 in an extremely limited print) and a full lenght. Meanwhile,
one can spend the long wait with this single, which was recorded
late 2005, but has not been released until now.
"Under the Water" is a one-sided single, released in Bluesanct's
7"-series, where the likes of, among others, Mount Eerie have contributed.
The concept is that the artist provides one track, while there is
what the record company calls "a picture of the song" on the b-side.
The artwork of the single is unusually beautiful. It's on transparent
vinyl with painted patterns in silver and blue on the empty side,
and silver on the label on the side which contains "Under the Water".
The cover is deliciously printed on high-quality paper.
The song itself is relatively short (3 1/2 minute), but manages,
in spite of the short playing time to create a trance-like effect
created by a minimalistic bouzouki melody and a harmonica drone.
Degens' vocal take alternates between clear pregnancy [not as in
having a child inside one's stomach, but as significance] and ghost
like transparency in the both introvert and nursery rhyme-like lyric,
which, like Pantaleimon's music itself, utilizes repetition of simple
and clear motives to great effect. The song touches eternity while
it lasts.
I doubt that "Under the Water" will sell much outside of people
who are already fans of Pantaleimon, or who are vinyl collectors.
However, I strongly encourage you to give it a chance. In spite
of short playing time, it's well worth the money, both the music
and the artwork, and gives great promise for the forthcoming Pantaleimon
releases. I won't grade it though, since one short song isn't quite
enough to grade it. But if I had tt would have been a high one.
- Mads
Pedersen, Transmission, Denmark, 16/01/07
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