M.J. HARRIS & MARTYN BATES

MURDER BALLADS (THE COMPLETE COLLECTION)

 Disc one: DRIFT
  1/  The Death of Polly                         (Harris,Bates)                14.09
  2/  The Fowler                                 (Harris,Bates)                18.32
  3/  Lucy Wan                                   (Harris,Bates)                14.39
  4/  Long Lankin                                (Harris,Bates)                16.04

 Disc two: PASSAGES
  1/  The Bramble Briar                          (Harris,Bates)                13.27
  2/  The Cruel Mother                           (Harris,Bates)                11.24
  3/  The Banks of Fordie                        (Harris,Bates)                13.07
  4/  The Murder of Maria Marten                 (Harris,Bates)                17.32

 Disc three: INCEST
  1/  The Bonny Hind                             (Harris,Bates)                12.11
  2/  Sheaf and Knife                            (Harris,Bates)                12.06
  3/  The Two Brothers                           (Harris,Bates)                17.08
  4/  Edward                                     (Harris,Bates)                17.41

          Disc one recorded and mixed by M.J. Harris at Wall of Silence, early 1994
          Disc two recorded and mixed by M.J. Harris at The Box, July 1996
          Disc three recorded and mixed by M.J. Harris at The Box, July 1997 and at
            A-Scale, November - December 1997
          Produced by M.J. Harris and Martyn Bates
          Executive Producer: Luciano Dari
Mick Harris: sounds; Martyn Bates: voices, sounds.

          1998 - Invisible Records (USA), inv127 (3CD)

REVIEWS :

Murder Ballads is a three-CD set reissuing the trilogy of Drift, Passages and Incest Songs previously put out by Harris (Scorn) and Martyn Bates (Eyeless in Gaza). The three albums naturally belong together for their highly stylized content. Each one is a set of original compositions inspired by, and closely following, the patterns of the West European/American folk murder ballad. While gory stories on the TV news may seem to indicate a dark curiosity pandering to contemporary man, Harris and Bates' work reminds us that such stories have always found an audience and gained life in frequent retelling. Mick Harris provides the forlorn, desolate soundscapes that have caused this music to be termed isolationist, or even post-isolationist. These attenuated pieces average about 20 minutes each. Over this cold, abandoned, synthesizer soundscape Bates intones a morbid, chilling, blue-eyed soul of syllables stretched out a gallow's length. The combination of this sanguine poetry and chilling ambient darkwave is intensely fascinating to the point of being disturbing. Harris and Bates deserve high praise for so totally incorporating this blood-drenched footnote on music history as to create such a worthy body of work to add to and continue the murderous game. The set, in an understated gold and black package, includes fittingly antique artwork and complete lyrics.

Thomas Schulte (courtesy of the All Music Guide, via the Get Music website)