Art Ov Musick - Les Vampires, XENARCH

While we continue furiously scan and catalogue the massive amount of art we're offering this month, the music is still coming. We will be making the music from P. Emerson Williams' score of all ten episodes of the classic French silent film serial Les Vampires available from PANICMACHINE Digital Music, and each digital album will include mp4 files of the (roughly) corresponding episodes.

Les Vampires is a film serial that gave us so much of the aesthetic for iconic gothic imagery its influence can not be overstated. Not a single vampire in sight, but enough mystery, twists and wickedness to fill twenty vampire novels. 

There are 10 episodes, averaging around 40 minutes each, totalling about 6 and a half hours, but much more than ten hours of music was created for this version. 

The fact that this series was shot in post WWI Paris has me pondering the urge to create, even in the midst of turmoil and chaos. the Killer Ring offered me a lot in the way of visual inspiration and coaxed sounds from me that I hadn't anticipated.
-P. Emerson Williams

The first two episodes are combined into one collection because together they are about the length of an album and the sounds of the two flow together quite well. We'll be bringing P. Emerson Williams solo compositional excursions to iTunes etc. as we proceed as well. It's just a matter of reaching that section of our ever growing list...

XENARCH - Devourers Of The Living

In other news, XENARCH have emerged from their blasphemous cloister to give us a look at the cover of their upcoming EP and they sent us rough mixes of the first two trax as well and we can only say we are blown away. This EP may even see the dark of night this month.

New PANICMACHINE DVD! Dead Skull - Das Boot

DEAD SKULL DAS BOOT DVD $12.00 + s&h

We are extremely proud and excited to have the privilege of presenting to you this unique and haunting work of art in sight and sound. Showing what a true artist he is, Vrhovny takes personal experiences and explores the realm of dreams and the subconscious. The scope and depth of Vrhovny's vision is one that stands out in the world of avant-garde video and his execution is matchless.

The track 'The Grand Search' is a composition conceived for the first STRUCTET appearance in 2006, The Hague. I used parts of the 45 minute material and assembled an 18 minute track.

The video itself was shot on a boat while traveling from Dutch shores to the island of Vlieland in the north sea. 

It was shot with an hand-held DV camera and post-produced adding it a 'warmer' tone. initially, I took the camera to record the engine noise (later incorporated into the score), but mainly to overcome my anxiety of boat-travel., something to keep me busy while working out disaster scenarios in my head and find the best spot on the boat if any of them happens at all. -Vrhovny

Below you will get a taste of the audiovisual art contained herein:

P. Emerson Williams - The Hands Of Orlac

This collection of ambient music was created for the love of it and the film uploaded to youtube. Over the last  couple months, repeated requests for the music came in on a regular basis. We are happy to comply and here it is, along with the film itself. The flac option combined with the video is a massive download, but we highly recommend you grab the lossless version.

This atmospheric silent masterpiece was a recent discovery. I was so inspired by this film visually that I set out to compose a score for it the moment I had finished watching it for the first time.

The full dynamic range of these compositions has been kept, making the mixes appropriate for vinyl, though when a nearly two-hour set of my music might be released, I can't say. I do encourage you take advantage of the flac option, though, as this is the closest to a pristine vinyl record a digital file can sound.

Made with love for this film, love for the silent classics and love for the music.
-P. Emerson Williams 2012 

Download includes an iPod-ready mp4 of the film.

The Hands of Orlac (1924)

Directed by the great Robert Wiene (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari).

A concert pianist, Paul Orlac (Conrad Veidt), loses his hands in a railway accident. Replacement hands are transplanted onto him in an experimental procedure, but the hands are those of a recently-executed murderer. From that point forward, the pianist is tortured by panic attacks and irrational fears. He believes that with the hands of the murderer he has also gained the murderer's predisposition to killing. Strange signs and bizarre threatening letters reinforce these fears. When his father is killed, with whom he was on bad terms, the pianist is suspected of the murder. He only finds peace by clearing up the plot.

Conrad Veidt as Paul Orlac
Alexandra Sorina as Yvonne Orlac
Fritz Kortner as Nera
Carmen Cartellieri as Regine
Fritz Strassny as Paul's father
Paul Askonas as Servant
credits
released 03 July 2012
All sounds composed and performed by P. Emerson Williams
Recorded at Abulafia Studio 2012

These tracks are raw and spontaneous, at no point was mastering given the slightest thought.