LABEL: Rocket Recordings
CAT NO: LAUNCH220
BARCODE: 5056321641052

Tracklisting:

1. Djrlen / Union of Sun and Moon
2. I Sing in Silence
3. Temple Rhythms
4. Alarms
5. Trouble in the Streets
6. Psychedelic Lover
7. Goatband
8. Try My Robe
9. Its Not Me
10. All-Seeing Eye
11. Goatfuzz
12. Goodbye
13. Ubuntu

GOAT Requiem

LP Limited Red Flame Vinyl (Special reworked tracklist for a Refined single LP Listening Experience)

In a culture obsessed with content, saturation, and continual exposure, its rare to find artists who prefer to lurk outside of the public eye. Thomas Pynchon is perhaps the most notable contemporary recluse a virtually faceless figure who occasionally creeps out of hiding to offer up an elaborate novel steeped in history and warped by imaginationbut for crate diggers and guitar mystics, Swedens enigmatic Goat may qualify as the greatest modern pop-culture mystery. Who are these masked musicians? Are they truly members of the Arctic community of Korpilombolo? Are their songs part of their isolated communal heritage? Their third studio album, Requiem, offers more questions than answers, but much like any of Pynchons knotty yarns, the reward is not in the untangling but in the journey through the labyrinth. Western exports may have dominated the consciousness of international rock fans for the entirety of the 20th century, but our increasing global awareness has unearthed a treasure trove of transcendental grooves and spellbinding riffage from exotic and remote corners of the planet. Goats previous albums World Music and Commune were perfect testaments to this heightened awareness, with Silk Road psychedelia, desert blues, and Third World pop all serving as governing forces within the bands sound. But Goats strange amalgam isnt some cheap game of cultural appropriation its nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact origins of the elusive groups sound. The fact that they pledge allegiance to a spot on the periphery of our maps bolsters the nomadic quality of their sonic explorations. With Requiem, Goat continue to rock and writhe to a beat beholden to no nation, no state. Goats only outright declaration for Requiem is that it is their folk album, and the album is focused more on their subdued bucolic ritualism than psilocybin freakouts. But Goat hasnt completely foregone their fiery charms tracks like All-Seeing Eye and Goatfuzz conjure the sultry heathen pulsations that ensnared us on their previous albums. Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of Requiem comes with the closing track Ubuntu. The song is little more than a melodic delay-driven electric piano line, until we hear the refrain from Diarabi the first song on their first album sneak into the mix. It creates a kind of musical ouroboros an infinite cycle of reflection and rejuvenation, death and rebirth. Much like fellow recluse Pynchon, rather than offering explanations for their strange trajectories, Goat create a world where the line between truth and fiction is so obscured that all you can do is bask in their cryptic genius.