Kallabris - 81° n.B., 178° ö.L 7"

Some of you may laugh at the fact that I hadn't heard of Kallabris until recently. Despite being active since the 80's, and using Runes in their logo(Kallabris used Runes, before Runes became popular), this 7", with the most unpronounceable title on record (pun intended), was released in 1998, on the wonderful Drone label. Sadly, Drone also only release on Vinyl.

Limited to 250 copies, for this first pressing, and 350 copies for the re-release, Kallabris' offering here is one of the best they've offered.

Inlay contains strange Explorer stories, and there's a secret and subtle theme of Navigation, and being lost.

Thankfully, never content to settle with one sound, Kallabris takes us into a reign of dark and betraying ambient music here, and for those of you who want to use the package to shape the music, imagine walking through a Snow Desert, with desperation in your mind, and a refuge on the Horizon, never getting any closer. The beautiful Accordion here (a Kallabris trademark) plays a real beauty of a Minuet, and the album doesn't take long to take us down a much colder, darker Road. Suddenly it becomes night, and the sounds become as unsettling as trying to sleep in the centre of a battlefield.

Kallabris will never offer anything totally new and era-defining, but who cares about that, when the music here is so intriguing? Vinyls may be fading out, but for those who still collect them, they reap the rewards. Such a powerful medium.

I'm happy, you're probably happy. Result. Dec 01 2006