Sounds of American Doomsday Cults
(Faithways International) CD $15.00
A document of the spellbinding chants, call-and-response decrees, hypnotic invocations and prayers performed against the demon rock’n’roll by the ultra-conservative New Age Church Universal and Triumphant, led by charismatic, gun-hoarding nutjob Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Humorous for its damnation of seemingly harmless rock stars like Billy Joel (which explains why Negativland and other culture-jammers would sample it), this mesmerizing, all-vocal performance should fascinate listeners interested in La Monte Young’s drones and that kind of party music. Guru Ma, RIP, 10/17/09
Sounds of Japanese Doomsday Cults
(Faithways International) 7-inch $5.25 (Out-of-stock)
This reissue of The Sounds Of Japanese Doomsday Cults marks the first bona fide public availability in the West of “Lord Death’s Counting Song” and “Sonshi’s March,” performed by Shoko Asahara, leader of Japanese religious cult Aum Shinri Kyo and convicted murderer of twenty-five people, including eleven who died in the sarin nerve-gas attack in the Tokyo subway system in March of 1995 -- a terrifying incident that put more than five thousand people in the hospital and shocked the world with its televised images of choking and vomiting rush-hour riders staggering out of the subway exits. Originally released on Australia’s Mighty I AM Presence label in three editions of 25 copies each (on polyurethane lathe-cut 8-inch records).