the klf - waiting for rites of mu
from the excellent klf website :
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Kopyright Liberation Front: Waiting For The Rites Of Mu
[13 Oct 1997] bootleg? compilation album
CD: 1997 UK (Echo Beach; EBSC8/EB014-4109-2) [x3333?]
42:39 Waiting [soundtrack from video, first 5 seconds missing]
29:24 The Rites Of Mu [narrated by Martin Sheen]
[cover mislabeled "Rights Of Mu"; released through Rough Trade in the UK;
the KLF claim it is a bootleg and announced they would sue Echo Beach;
the number of copies (stated by Echo Beach as 3333) might be larger]
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then out of the blue last week certain rumblings started that this recording was available in full to a select few. the fact that the above info advised that the klf prevented this album from being released indicated to those involved with the 'leak' that this is indeed a genuine klf recording.
though we will never know for certain.
i got lucky. i have now heard this artefact.
to put it simply, its a continuation of the klf's ambient sound scape style a la their 'chill out'. lots of well used klf sound snippets are interspersed with various choral parts, church organs etc, along with the obvious jimi hendrix samples (harking back to the glory days of 1987) the first track is as indicated above a 42 meandering mini sonic capsule of the klf's recorded output. excellent stuff if you subscribe the klf's manifesto, but don't expect tunes.
the second track is something different all together. styled like an aural equivalent of 'apocalypse now' there is a vocal narrative (it has to be assumed that its bill acting as martin sheen) describing an invitation to meet the mysterious klf and the resultant journey into psyche madness. following a typical klf opening the listener is taken on a voyage through more of bill drummonds and jimi cautys' sample library, revisiting vocals from '1987 - what the f*ck ..' adding foghorns, rumbling bass tones, this is an epic atmospheric final calling card that truly should have been released to the masses abject rejection. the dialogue by 'martin sheen' is excellent, and funny, with subtle references into all the fun and games and the various differences between the justified ancients of mu mu and the subsequent klf moniker. with the grand finale of children choirs, horror soundtrack chords, and burning fires brings the story to its natural close.
hearing this makes me realise how much i miss 'em, the pop world was a far more entertaining place when they were stirring it all up, revealing the inner workings of the pop band machine and spitting out classics on the way uch as 'justified and ancient', 'america', and my own personal fave 'its grim up north'.
the album, whether genuine or not, is a perfect way to close this particular pop music chapter.
good bye trancentral.
be safe.
scans of sleeves (1.3 Mb zip file)