Tracklist
01. Song of the Saw (feat. Worms of the Earth)
02. A Time Of Innocence
03. It Always Starts With Land
04. Auraria
05. Apparently Heroic Wars
06. Coffin Man
07. They Take Their Stand
08. Iron Bars Clang Against His Freedom
09. To Spike the Slabs of Eternity (feat. Worms of the Earth)
10. Ghosts Dance Lightly on the Puncheon Floor
11. Pride
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About the artist
Savage Ideal is an electronic/folk/ambient/americana/post-industrial industrial project of Christian Wright, whose primary project, from 2003-2008, has been Bajskorv, an old-school industrial band from Washington, DC.
Savage Ideal was initiated to transcend mainstream industrial through technical experimentation as well in depth of emotion and intelligence. Compositionally this project mixes down-tempo, ambient, and noise influences against a background of sound-collage derived from field recorded ‘found sounds’. Its primary influences derive from current and historical events and personages. The cluttered, repressive minds of ghosts, lost causes, abandoned lifestyles and contemporary disgrace… Out modeled technology, that which has rotten and decayed of national fabrics, their protagonists and antagonists, their cursed and revered and their never-understood.
Savage Ideal is also a term coined in 1940 by W. J. Cash; one of the American South’s bleakest writers of historical pessimism. It describes the condition of conformity whereby even the thought of political alternative has ceased to exist; stamped out by the fire of collective brutality and official prejudice. It has always existed as a tendency but has never been all powerful or inevitable.
About this release
A brooding analysis of historical landscape… Songs inspired by and dedicated to Southern History. All tracks are largely based around a vast library of found sounds / field recordings gathered during a month long Appalachian sojurn in April, 2008. Sound collage meets post industrial meets folk. Dan Barrett of Worms of the Earth collaborated on / arranged / wrote tracks 1, 9, and 12. Acoustic guitar meets powernoise in Bob Moog’s backyard.
Press
“In this time of digital saturation, it’s rare to find an artist so dedicated to utilizing the tools of old to create a sound that can only be described as ageless. Such is the case with Christian Wright as demonstrated by his second release as Savage Ideal. […] if one can withstand the bleak visions that these strange atmospheres and sounds conjure within the unprepared mind, the scattered traces of melody and actual musicianship at play could provide a glimmer of hope in the face of unconscionable despair. [4/5]”
— Ilker Yücel, ReGen Magazine
“[…]The heavy industrial rhythmic is a rather constant element emerging from the songs. It creates a real outburst of power. Another important layer in the sound consists of sound collages. We’re here entering the most experimental part of the project. We here get an impressive arsenal of sound cocktails made by field recordings and other studio manipulations. There’s a very efficient electronic component emerging from this sound laboratory. Somewhere on top of the industrial and experimental layers is a darker and interesting ambient influence. “It Always Starts With Land” is a remarkable example of this American project’s potential. The diversity of influences is simply surprising while the global elaboration of the song structure is remarkable. The opening track “Song Of The Saw” is another fascinating exposure from this album. A few tracks are like moving into a more ambient style (cf. “1Aurarie” and “Apparently Heroic Wars”) while the more electronic and totally unexpected “To Spike The Slabs Of Eternity” injects a new variation in the global style. I personally prefer the heavier style of the project, which sometimes comes together with quite mysterious ambient atmospheres. I here want to recommend the excellent “Pride” and “They Take Their Stand”. “Ghosts” stands for diversity, intelligence and efficiency! It’s a remarkable album recovering different, but related genres!
(DP:7/8)DP.”
— Side-Line Magazine
Credits
All sounds & arrangements by Christian Wright (savageideal.noisenobodys.com; www.myspace.com/savageideal)
, except tracks (1, 9 and 12) sounds & arrangements by Worms of the Earth (wormsoftheearth.blogspot.com www.myspace.com/wormsoftheearth)
Graphic Design by Christian Wright, Amanda Gold and Guin Harrison
Mastered by Dan Barrett 2008-2009 in Washington, DC.
All material is © Savage Ideal 2009. All Rights Reserved
“Ghosts” is NCB013