Kaddish (Towering Inferno album)
| Kaddish | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Studio album by Towering Inferno | |
| Released | November 1993 |
| Recorded | 1991–1993 |
| Studio | Diorama and Camden Lock & Porcupine Studios, London, and at LGM Studios, Budapest; mixed and mastered at Lavender Hill Studios |
| Genre | |
| Length | 73:45 |
| Label | TI, Island |
| Producer | Towering Inferno |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
Kaddish is a 1993 concept album by English experimental music group Towering Inferno. It reflects on the Holocaust and includes East European folk singing, Rabbinical chants, klezmer fiddling, sampled voices (including Hitler's), heavy metal guitar and industrial synthesizer.Brian Eno described it as "the most frightening record I have ever heard".Kaddish was Towering Inferno's debut album. It was released on their own TI Records in 1993, and then globally by Island Records in 1995.
Towering Inferno was the duo of musicians Richard Wolfson and Andy Saunders. Wolfson was also a performance artist, cameraman and journalist, and had previously worked with Saunders in several groups. Wolfson and Saunders, both of European-Jewish descent, formed Towering Inferno in 1985 as an "ambient, techno and heavy metal" multimedia stage project that involved electronics and film. The duo toured Europe, augmenting their performances with slide and super 8 projectors. In 1986 they met Hungarian performance poet Endre Szkárosi in Italy at the Bologna Festival and were impressed by his cryptic works which challenged Communist dictatorship and explored European identity. Wolfson and Saunders decided to explore their own identities and spent the next five years on the road filming, performing and creating what became Kaddish, named for the Jewish prayer of the same name.
Roger Riley, a visual director who accompanied Wolfson and Saunders across Europe, said that "The long gestation of the project gave it a depth and richness it would not otherwise have had". They travelled thousands of miles, performing in Europe's underground circuit in venues as diverse as riding stables and slaughterhouses. These images, including those from a visit to the Dachau concentration camp, stimulated the creative process. Saunders said that they were also influenced by their experiences as children in synagogue, in particular sounds of the shofar, kaddish and the choirs. He said he found it unusual the other Jewish musicians like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen tended to shy away from their "Jewishness" rather than embrace it.
...
Wikipedia