ivyaura
Molly Shannon x Balam Acab x Jack equals Scumbody; press photo courtesy of the artists.
Balam Acab’s Alec Koone & Michael of Molly Shannon, Molly Shannon are the new freakish/stylish force to be reckoned with known under the chosen moniker of ivyaura. Alec & Michael’s recent collaborative synergy is one that finds the contemporary masters concerning themselves with combining sparse elements that make for cryptic soundtracks for all tomorrow’s cult thrillers & slasher films by entertaining haunted atmospheres & samples of melodic keys & found sample-fragrances that make for some mysterious environments. Presenting the debut ivyaura single “SCUMBODY”, the Balam Acab x Molly Shannon, Molly Shannon intersection of visions point toward the new era of auteurs inspired by the creations of John Carpenter, Wes Craven, David Lynch & more that indicate the hypnagogic brave new worlds that will populate the soundtracks of tomorrow’s counter-culture horror classics.
Through the blinds with Balam Acab; press photo courtesy of the artist.
“SCUMBODY” encapsulates the beauty & strangeness of noir aesthetics where we can hear the yin & yang pitted against each other. From the constant pitch-shifting opening that samples Dolls of Ink’s “Luciferi Excelsi” of; “In the beginning, in fact we thought and really not stopped, you know, putting us together. But we survived because we’re survivors and you’re all survivors and you’re gonna make it, and you’re really gonna like each other, I’m telling you you’re gonna like each other by the time you get there.” The tone is set like seeking out the lost tomb or pyre of an esoteric icon deep in the labyrinth of an underground catacomb network of ambiance and apparitions that ghost in and out of the mix. Warbling vocals materialize & hover in front of the listener as you can detect passages of melodic air & breathes that permeate the mix along with distortion that billows in something of a perfect harmony. With inside sources describing Michael currently in the process of crafting together some skeletal foundations of tracks that Alec is cooking up some further creations for; Balam Acab’s Alec Koone provided us with the following exclusive introduction to the new collaborative offshoot:
This song is just the beginning of what we hope will continue to be a working collaboration. We met on Twitter, but then started emailing when Twitter got too scary.
The underlying song structure is sparse and spare, and Michael sent it to Alec just to listen. But, once we started talking more about a collaboration it was clear the sparseness could lend itself to a good first attempt. In short, we wanted to hear what it would sound like to put Molly Shannon, Molly Shannon vocals in a Balam Acab song. It sounds like we did it.
Listen out for more from ivyaura via Bandcamp
