David Thrussell is perhaps a poet trapped in the body of a hillbilly or maybe he is a hopeless romantic hidden in the twisted frame of a dark electronic musician. Late at night Thrussell fantasizes that he actually lives next door to Hieronymus Bosch in medieval Europe and has hallucinated the whole dreadful modern era - hallucinations due to acute ergot poisoning. We are not entirely convinced that this is not the case.

The world knows him (if it knows him at all), as the creator of a seemingly multitude of obscure recordings (Snog, Black Lung and Soma amongst others) and film scores (The Hard Word, Thunderstruck, etc). The world may (or may not) know him soon as an author of unhinged children's tales for a particularly depraved kind of adult. An adult that lives on the dark slope of a forgotten mountain and was last seen having an animated conversation with some rocks and a shrub. He is, to be frank, an odd little man.

He is also the proprietor and head curator of the Omni Recording Corporation. Thrussell cites no great burning desire to be a recording industry mogul (in fact just the opposite) but nobody else seemed to be digging up these aural treasures - so he stepped up to the plate. For our sake, if for no other reason, please humor him.

The Fetid Fungi is Thrussell's second spoken word album. Like The Voices Of Reason, released six years ago, it can not be seen as an 'audio book'. Thrussell with a dark haunting voice speaks about mushrooms, diseases of civilization, the impact of machines on man, fear, and harassments. These illuminations are accompanied by soundscapes which are also used to introduce and to mesmerize the listener. "Ringtone", which can also be watched as a short film, is a modern adaptation of E.A.Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart". In this version, technology has replaced the function of the human organ.

The book features many astounding full page and full colour illustrations (drawings, etchings and prints - none ever seen before) drawn from the dark recesses of Thrussell's nightmare world. The images are chilling yet strangely mirthful.

Enjoy this release if you can - and watch out for the boiled flying saucers on your dinner plate!

Brian Evenson: text and voice
Tamarin: sounds, electronics, and processing
Xingu Hill: sounds, electronics, processing, and mixing

Upon the circulation of his first short story collection, Altmann's Tongue (Knopf, 1994), author and professor Brian Evenson found himself out of favor with his spiritual home ground, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - the Mormon church. Since that time, Evenson's incisive, acerbic writing about the medieval brutality of contemporary humanity has gone on to garner significant praise, and not a few distinctions.

The creation of Altmann's Tongue - which features Brian Evenson reading selections from several books through a sonic fabric created by Xingu Hill and Tamarin - proved to be similarly cataclysmic, although of markedly different scale. On the surface, Altmann's Tongue appears to be a simple spoken word project backed by experimental sound design and post-industrial ambience of a distinctly harrowing nature. However, Brian Evenson's readings, recorded in an impromptu fashion in a sparse white apartment, begat an intensity of emotion that compelled Xingu Hill and Tamarin to work for over three years on musical reactions that could equal the sentiment of Evenson's recordings. Musical reactions ranged from morose synth rhythms to enigmatic drones. Evenson's verbal recordings and the music feed upon themselves like the ouroboros, like the snake which grows by eating itself. Ant-zen is proud to present Altmann's Tongue as a unique, compelling collaboration between a thought-provoking author and two exceptional sound experimentalists.

Brian Evenson:
Brian Evenson is the author of several books of fiction, including Altmann's Tongue, Father of Lies (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1998), Contagion and Other Stories (Wordcraft of Oregon, 2000), and Dark Property: An Affliction (Four Walls Eight Windows, 2002). His writing is best described as grotesque, beautiful and magical. He describes the life we see out of the corner of our eyes.

Evenson is the recipient of a NEA fellowship, an O. Henry prize, and a Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award. His short fiction has appeared in the Paris Review, Conjunctions, The Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, Third Bed, the Southern Review, and a number of other magazines. He teaches in Brown University's creative writing program, and is a senior editor for Conjunctions.

Ananda Nidra : Blissful Sleep was created by renowned Tantra teachers and authors Mark A. Michaels (Swami Umeshanand Saraswati) and Patricia Johnson (Devi Veenanand). It is inspired by a traditional Tantric practice known as Yoga Nidra. These two innovative, spoken-word meditations rely on pleasurable images and sensations to induce feelings of relaxation and refreshment coupled with a profound sense of satisfaction. Presented for the first time on compact disc, the 44 minute meditations are read by Michaels (accompanied by a minimalist ambient track from darkwave legends Black Tape For A Blue Girl) and Johnson (accompanied by a floating soundscape from prominent electronic-ambient pioneer Steve Roach). Each CD in this 2-CD set contains one meditation, followed by an additional 16 minutes of music for continued reflection and intregration of the experience. Practicing Ananda Nidra™ involves following the speaker's voice while lying in a comfortable position. If the mind wanders or the listener drifts off to sleep momentarily, the attention is brought back to the instructions. Ananda Nidra begins with a rotation of consciousness through the body. Moving the awareness in this way produces a deep meditative state. Repeating the instructions mentally will take one even deeper. After the rotation is complete, the listener is taken through a series of sense memories and is then guided to experience a direct connection with internal sources of bliss and the beauty of existence.

It is said that 45 minutes of this guided meditation is equivalent to more than three hours of sleep. After practicing Ananda Nidra, the listener will emerge with renewed calm, focused awareness, and a sense of increased energy. Unlike other guided meditations, Ananda Nidra is specifically intended to awaken delightful and erotic sensations and to give the listener a greater capacity to experience joy in everyday life.

In Ananda Nidra, the listener is invited to set an intention at the beginning of the meditation and then to visualize it. The intention should be framed in positive terms: for example, to reinforce a desired behavior, to deepen one's connection with a partner, to develop even more focus, or to maximize self-confidence. This is a powerful tool for personal growth and transformation because the suggestible state that Ananda Nidra produces will implant the intention deep within the unconscious. According to the Vijnanabhairava Tantra, a classic seventh- or eighth-century Tantric text, the state that lies on the border between sleep and wakefulness is a profoundly mystical one. Ananda Nidra will guide one into this blissful state, while focusing the mind on pleasure. Just lie back and let Ananda Nidra awaken the joy that dwells within.

David Thrussell aka Snog, Black Lung and renowned for various other musical projects offers with this release his own personal thoughts on a spoken word album. Despite other famous narrators like Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins just to name today's most active spokespersons, the weirdest think tank from down under (or the world?) surprises with subliminal statements on vegans, media, information, tells stories about bizarre journeys, reveals his personal social observations regarding politics, capitalism et al and juxtaposes philosophical aspects of daily routine.

The Voices of Reason is not a spoken world album in the common sense - it offers both smooth and happy tunes as well as abstract, experimental soundscapes and beats mingled with the dominating smart voice of Thrussell.

The Voices of Reason - an eclectic radio play for the eclectic listener or a soundtrack for the insane?