THE WOMAN IN THE DUNES - ADVERTS/REVIEWS
 
 
  Fluxeuropa 18/01/01  
 
 
  Being a longterm Siouxsie and The Banshees fan I was intrigued to hear what founder member and ex-guitarist, Steven Severin, was up to. The last time I heard any of his work outside the Banshees was with The Glove, his collaboration with Robert Smith. This CD though is years on from then and has no resemblance. It's the third release on his own Internet based label RE:. Woman Of The Dunes was inspired by the last two pages of the poem-novel of the same name by Japanese writer Kobo Abe. It was also part of the stage production commissioned by Japanese choreographer Shakti and the Vasata Mala Dance Company.

Severin's music is mainly dark atmospheric soundscapes. Being the talented soul he is, he has managed to vary things quite a bit, while so many others have failed in this area. He creates a whole wealth of different sounds and melodies which are blended together excellently. The CD's opener, 'The Dawning', is an hypnotic blend of flowing dreamy melody and edgy dark sounds and that's followed by the even darker 'Dance of Sisyphus'. 'Dance Of Fear' has a classical atmospheric feel that's not a million miles away from Dead Can Dance. 'Dance Of Eros' is one of the few highly electronic sounding inclusions and is again infused with darkness whilst a bouncey electro rhythm dances nicely over the top. The only vocal inclusion is from ex-Swans singer Jarboe who does an excellent job on the Screaming Jay Hawkins classic 'I Put A Spell On You'. Don't expect a complete similarity with the original though as Jarboe gives her squeaky tonsils a good working out and Severin's music continues in the same dark vein as before. Piano on this was provided by Nick Pagan from The Changelings. That for me then is the standout track. 'Dance of Ecstasy' holds an extreme resemblance to Suicide which I gather Severin has always cited as an influence. It's the most experimental and noisy thing on here but I've certainly no complaints about that. 'The Sunset', which is the finale, is a mellow electronic ambient tune which drifts along nicely and dreamily. Severin has certainly moved on in a different style since the Banshees split a few year ago but still manages to produce some worthwhile compositions.

John Marshall

 
     

 
 
 
  Sorted Magazine    
 
 
  Steven Severin's third RE:release was specially commissioned by Shakti and the Vasanta Mala dance company to accompany their stage production of the Kobo Abe novel of the same name. Thankfully, though, this suffers less from that fact than his previous release, "Maldoro", did. Whereas "Maldoro" did not stand up very well as music divorced from the visual performance, this does have more of a melodic, ambient fell to it. However, there is nothing ground-breaking here, and when a track like 'Dance of Sissyphus', little more than a loop of pulses and washes of sound, stretches to over 10 minutes long, it does get rather monotonous. It sounds fine as background noise, but it is very hard to sit down and listen to without hitting the fast forward button. 'Dance of Eros' adds a funkier bass line, but still, it does little more than that over 12½ minutes.

Everything changes, though, with 'I put a spell on you, the version of the late Screaming Jay Hawkins classic. Originally recorded by the great Jarboe (ex-Swans) with Nick Pagan of The Changelings on piano, Steven Severin adds a dark undertow of booming and oppressive atmosphere. The result is amazing, the twisted torch-song vocals, the raw piano playing and powerful noises underneath it all. This track, hopefully, gives a glimpse of what Mr Severin intends to do in the future - strange and out of the ordinary collaborations with underground figures he's contacted through the years.

Donnacha DeLong