The Dawn Coming Up: Rare Treasures and Tributes to The KLF
(orig. pub. 2013/08/20)
I’ve loved the first two LPs by minimal drone artist, Black Swan since their release in 2010 and ’11. Black Swan composes what are perhaps the finest modern classical works I’ve ever heard. Quite sadly, the Wikipedia, allmusic, rateyourmusic, and discogs offer absolutely no information about the artist. And the Black Swan official homepage presents little more than snapshots of their minimal but breathtaking album covers.
Fortunately, a user review from Discogs sums it up nicely:
The anonymity of this New York-based artist has an effect on the listening experience. The music is given the right to exist on its own, as if it had always existed. It stakes its claim in the mind, making the listener a collaborator in a seductive narrative-noire that travels through a hall of horrors and memories, an escort to a final resting place. One might encounter spirit animals, forgotten lovers, faceless apparitions, leviathan rifts, or a cozy blanket of stars. It is easy to become comfortable in the soothing darkness, and when it seems like eternity has arrived, Black Swan pulls the plug.
And so I was absolutely floored when the artist posted a first-ever listen to a pre-Black Swan double album he produced back in 2001. The previously-unreleased album is called Alone Again With the Dawn Coming Up: A Tribute to the KLF.
It took a moment for the sheer awesomeness to fire across my synapses.
BLACK SWAN… POSTED A 12-YEAR OLD TRIBUTE RECORD… TO THE KLF. In its entirety. For free. Complete with album art (a la Chill Out.)
Once you’ve scooped your cerebral matter off the back wall of your room, head over to
swanplague.com and download it NOW before it disappears.
Thankfully, I’ve had the good fortune of meeting the mysterious artists in my travels since discovering the mix, and the moment Black Swan decides to release this gem on vinyl, I will be the first in line to claim a copy for my library.
It’s that good.
And as a final highlight of rare KLF material, no amount of praise will do justice to privately released KLF 006 RE (Live From the Lost Continent). Expertly mixed with cheering crowds and all of the KLF’s fire and energy, this mix transports you to the concert that never was. Some rabid fans have convinced themselves this was an actual show… and that they were there.
So turn off all the lights. Put on you finest circumaural studio monitors. And turn it up to eleven.
“This is what the KLF is about.”
Cheers to Mr. Ward for your magnificent work keeping the KLF alive into the new millennium.
Tune in to the entire Live From the Lost Continent Mix below.
