Mar 01, 2010
RIGHTEOUS FISTS OF HARMONY.
There's always been something about Alfred 'Daedelus' Arlington and his music that has been magically captivating. Ever since I interned at Ninja Tune and heard his newest album at the time - 'Exquisite Corpse' - I was hooked. This music was unlike anything I'd ever heard before: at times disjointed, at others organic and ethereal. It bristled with aural elements that would never, ever sit well with each other - electronic wizardry and lush, lilting strings for example, but the enigmatic lost-in-time dandy managed to make it work with serious finesse. And hey, when the beats banged, they BANGED.
Anyway, this all brings me to the fact that Daedelus is bringing a new record out on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label, entitled 'Righteous Fists Of Harmony'. Conceptually, the record works as a soundtrack to the Boxer Rebellion that took place in China in the late 19th century. Only Darlington could dream up something like this - it's what makes his music inimitable. Anyway, the record landed on my desk this morning, and I can tell you it sounds incredible. It'll be reviewed on here soon.
'Righteous Fists Of Harmony' is released on 22nd March, so until then, here's the dreamy video for album track 'Fin de Siècle':
Here's some more info on the record and the why behind it:
After seventy years of China’s opium-related subjugation by Queen Victoria and her allies, a force of resistance fighters — termed “Boxers” by the British — rose to the challenge in 1898. Calling themselves “The Righteous Fists of Harmony,” this secret society of martial artists felt they held magical powers: they believed themselves bulletproof, able to fly, and capable of raising the dead (who would then fight alongside them). And so began the brief Boxer Rebellion; three years later 100,000 Boxers had fallen, their magic helpless against the cutting-edge machinery of war. The British prevailed only to face ultimate defeat, as their empire rapidly declined.
Daedelus endeavors to compose a requiem for the end — of beliefs, of lives, and of an era. This elegy for a bygone battle sheds light on our own contemporary conundrum: will our faith in modernity be our downfall? Are we blinded by this age of wonders, doomed to be destroyed by our ingenious inventions? Although Daedelus’ music has always juxtaposed organic and electronic elements, they war as never before on “Righteous Fists of Harmony,” a portrait of a tumultuous era that came crashing to a close.
Amazing.
