DIRGE

Though its opening passages may lure you into thinking you're in for another mostly tranquil listen along the lines of the preceding Barren Dream, it becomes apparent very soon that Dirge shows a different side of Mr. Sirius, with regular outbreaks of louder, somewhat RIOish playing and almost operatic vocals from Lisa Ohki. Whilst the last album presented a mixture of symphonic and Canterbury-flavoured styles, this album is more firmly in the Canterbury/RIO camp, with the influence of the likes of Henry Cow much more prominent. A very successful noisy counterpart to its quiet older brother, Dirge is another fine accomplishment from a Japanese band which unfortunately doesn't seem to have released very much since.