Strawberry Switchblade / Current 93

Confession time: i loved Strawberry Switchblade well before I knew anything about any of the groups the girls have been associated with. I hadn't even heard of Psychic TV, Current 93, Boyd Rice, Sorrow, Coil, Spell, Julian Cope or anything remotely 'alternative' (surely the most meaningless adjective ever unless you specifically associate it with people wearing parachute boots, army jackets with neatly stitched - by their mums - Entombed patches, black NIN t-shirts and sub-Michael Bolton circa 1990 dyed-black hair showing mousy brown roots).

I loved Since Yesterday, obviously, and was more than a bit smitten with their cover of Jolene even after i found out it was a Dolly Parton tune.

Of course, now I can say that I always knew they had a darker, deeper, danker side. And now I can say that I always knew that in that riot of lace and polk dots they were secrety transmitting sigils of old-Icelandic magic.

But really, I just liked the tunes.

Strawberry Switchblade

More tunes can be found HERE

Sunday Morning (Velvet Underground cover)

By the Sea (b side of Since yesterday)

Trees and Flowers (Original 7" mix)

Dance (live - early version of Since yesterday?)




I got into Current 93 when I bought the 12" of Happy Birthday (Pigface Christus) from a junk store for about 30p and then found out they were associated with Psychic TV and Coil. I started buying all the stuff I could find, from the blasted dronescapes and chanting of Live at Bar Maldoror (although I was disappointed when i got in a cab at Paddington and asked to be taken there) and Nature Unveiled, to the apocaplyptic folk of Swastikas For Goddy through to the bleak beauty of recent(ish) releases like All The Pretty Little Horses.

David Tibet's spoken words / singing can get a little wearisome at times and they do occasionally ask the listener for a degree of seriousness and back-brain alpha wavery that I'm often unwilling to engage but mostly they are beautiful, poetic and scary.

And if you like the words 'rusty' and 'breath' then these should be your favourite band.

Current 93

Holy Holy Holy (for Dusa) - spotlights their take on Holy Hymnals and Cartoon sampling.

Valediction/ Since Yesterday - their version of the SS classic

Since Yesterday (live) - from a 1997 gig.

All the Pretty Horsies - with Nick Cave on vocals, one of my favourite songs ever.

A Lament for my Suzanne - from Thunder Perfect Mind.

You can buy their music from Durtro (or anywhere else)