The Vool Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 2 bands from very different cultural origins, Japan and Germany… yet spiritually akin and connected by many similarities: a cinematic approach to music, based on lengthy, escalating compositions… the fact that both bands have existed for more than 15 years and released multiple albums since their inception; that they have toured many times around the globe, visiting off-the-beaten-track territories like Siberia, New Zealand, South East Asia and South America; and finally their shared passion for double albums, such as THE OCEAN’s „Heliocentric“ / „Anthropocentric“, and MONO’s „The Last Dawn“ / „Rays Of Darkness“. It only makes sense that these two bands will now tour together – and release new music just in time for their extended European run, in form of a split LP. Two songs, only one by each band – but 24 minutes of new music altogether. THE OCEAN’s contribution, a 13 minutes song entitled The Quiet Observer, was inspired by Gaspard Noe’s controversial movie Enter The Void. The movie tells the story of a drug dealer getting shot in a Tokyo toilet while tripping on DMT, and entering what is referred to as the „intermediate state“ according to the Bardo Thodol, the Tibetan Book Of The Dead: the book, which has been a source of inspiration for many writers, artists and musicians from John Lennon to Aldous Huxley, describes a state immediately after a person’s death, when the intellect of the dead person must face its own illusions, in the form of peaceful and wrathful deities, in a protracted psychedelic experience. Only if it manages to expose these horrifying guises as products of its own imagination, can it escape the eternal cycle of rebirth. Noe leaves it open as to whether protagonist Oscar’s death and the following metaphysical experience are actually happening – or whether he is simply tripping… MONO address similar topics with their contribution, an 11-minutes song entitled Death in Reverse. The song serves as a trailer for the upcoming 9th MONO album, which is scheduled for an early 2016 release through Pelagic Records. Guitarist and main song writer Takaakira Goto comments: „The theme of this track is life and death and regeneration. Even when our bodies decay and decompose, our souls will prevail unchanged. Our bodies will act as seeds for the next generation, while our souls will journey together into our new eternal life. This is the story we want to explore with our next album, a portrayal of our journey through life towards death; from living out our lives proud and high, to bodies immolating, infused with precious memories… and through the vast, noisy tunnel of space, we become pure souls – a single drop of water in the fountain of life.“ LA-based German cover artist Florian Bertmer was commissioned to transform these themes into cover art. The split EP comes on a single slab of 12″ vinyl in different colours, matching Bertmer’s lucid illustration and limited to 150 copies each. Preorder now:VINYL: http://pelagic-records.com/…/mono-the-ocean-transcendental-…CD: http://pelagic-records.com/…/mono-the-ocean-transcendental-… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordZagry Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Thanks ! Ordered an aqua blue/ultra clear, it goes perfectly with the artwork Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximuss Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 black is 4 euros cheaper! Thanks op Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum7 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 A 13-minute The Ocean song? Yes please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentin31 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Available at their european tour that begins october 10th? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Vool Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 In case you were wondering about the high shipping costs: we've had some issues with the postage calculator in the webshop. They are fixed now, and you can select the (cheaper but uninsured) shipping option again... so if postage seemed outrages before, please try again now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiatorhums Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Saw this on MONO's instragram. Glad it wasn't painfully expensive to ship to the states. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindovermatter Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Definitely ordered this. There are a few items in their webstore that I want but I'll hold off until the dollar gets a LITTLE closer to the GBP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExtraFox Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Definitely ordered this. There are a few items in their webstore that I want but I'll hold off until the dollar gets a LITTLE closer to the GBP. Don't think that'll be much help to you. Pelagic are in Berlin and so sell in Euros (€). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindovermatter Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Don't think that'll be much help to you. Pelagic are in Berlin and so sell in Euros (€). My ignorance shined through there, thanks for the correction. Either way, the value of the dollar is garbage and makes that conversion get nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Vool Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Well, regarding the exchange rate, you're on the advantage-side I minimized my US-orders because 1€=$1.45 (~1.5 years ago) decreased to 1€=$1.12 which makes records from the US super expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drds89 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Well, regarding the exchange rate, you're on the advantage-side I minimized my US-orders because 1€=$1.45 (~1.5 years ago) decreased to 1€=$1.12 which makes records from the US super expensive yes indeed, we Yanks have been enjoying some decent savings the past couple years vs. the euro edit: don't see how these bands are 'spiritually akin' at all, esp Ocean's webpage statement, but both bands are enormous and should be an interesting split Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Vool Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 Just received mine...Look better than I've imagined! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voltagedrop Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 All the coloured versions are sold out on Pelagic's site. Guess I slept too long on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentin31 Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Anyone know if they have it during their European tour? Seeing them on Monday, will probably pick one if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum7 Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Sweet, can't wait to get my blue/clear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizio59 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Anyone know if they have it during their European tour? Seeing them on Monday, will probably pick one if possible. Unfortunately they have only the black variant at the merch table.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentin31 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Well, I'll pick up the black then, I would have definitely prefered one of the color in color version but anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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