Epicurean Escapism I

Epicurean Escapism I Compilation CD + Martin Bladh DVD “Video Works“ + a 24-page catalogue with essay & art works by Martin Bladh

Right on time for the third Epicurean Escapism Festival, The Epicurean & Silken Tofu release another compilation, which is not a mere reissue of the previous Epicurean Escapism I tape/DVDr set released in 2012, but comes with new & exclusive tracks by IRM, KRANK, JARL as well as a collaboration track by HUMAN LARVAE & ANEMONE TUBE.
Apart from this, the set includes a DVD with collected video works by IRM mastermind MARTIN BLADH and a 24-page catalogue with essays and artwork by the same artist.

Swedish industrial trio IRM provide an episodic track constructed with elements from “Indications of Nigredo”, “Order4” and their new album “Closure” unified into a new, holistic composition, which contrasts aggressive noise segments with the illusionary moments of almost folkish lavishness.
The track by John Murphy's lately revived project KRANK is a dark collage of fragmented noise, accoustic samples and female vocals all intermingled in a vortex of sonic chaos.
IRM member JARL contributes a subtle piece of circulating drone sound, whose tranquil surface makes the half hidden harshness beneath even more audible.
ANEMONE TUBE and HUMAN LARVAE contribute a quite lucid piece that perfectly combines the qualities of both projects – the knock-on effect of Anemone Tube's flow of sounds melts with the heaviness of Human Larvae's doomlike industrial.

The 92 minute DVD by MARTIN BLADH includes his earliest short film "Pig and Tomboy"(2005), the epic pentalogy "Cycle" (2006) and the conceptual installation video “DES“ (2009) among others.
All the films present unvarnished set pieces of the human body subjected to subtly implied violence within claustrophobic spaces, where the camera itself, the voyeuristic eye, is the only free player.
The accompanying art catalogue includes collages and Polaroids, several short essays by Bladh as well as an introduction text by Carl Abrahamsson.

Conception, compilation and design: The Epicurean 2014
Texts: Martin Bladh
CD mastering: Phil Julian 2013
DVD Format: Region free PAL

Packaging: luxurious 6 panel 21 x 15 cm folder, 24-page catalogue, printed on matt image paper with dispersion varnish and packaged in a transparent, sealable bag

Tracklists:
§ EPICUREAN ESCAPISM I CD
1 KRANK - Eyes Half Closed 10:19
2 IRM - Triptych 16:52
3 HUMAN LARVAE & ANEMONE TUBE - Shining with Insignificance / Reviving in Obscurity 12:50
4 JARL - A Case of Inbreeding: A Homage to my Doppelganger 25:21

§ MARTIN BLADH “VIDEO WORKS” DVD
Playtime: 92 minutes
1 DES (2009)
2 Cycle (2005 - 2006): Exhibit A, Talk Show, Talk Show II, Talk Show III, Exhibit B
3 Hole3 (2006)
4 Pig and Tomboy (2005)
5 Matt 5:29 - 30 (2005)