Search - Lydia Lunch :: Drowning in Limbo

Lydia's midnight grave-yard death kiss

06/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On this album, Atavistic records was able to fit in two of Lydia Lunch's most haunting and blissful recordings. While neither "The Drowning of Lucy Hamilton" or "In Limbo" are on the same level of sheer brutal perfection as Lydia's work in Teen-age Jesus and the Jerks, they are both incredible records. "The Drowning..." is really one piece of music, fragmented into short movements. Play it with the lights off, and you can feel the clausterphobic aura eminated by Lydia and Lucy Hamilton (i.e. China Burg of MARS). This record is not for everyone, but the dark meanderings of the guitar and bass clarinet will take the listener far into the right side of the brain, where extream pain and pleasure are one. This mood continues on the second album of the disc, "In Limbo". The atmosphere is set on this record not only by Lydia distinct voice and words, but by Thurston Moore, who plays bass and co-wrote most of the songs on the record. His style here is very similiar to some of the less hysteric moments on sonic-youth's "confusion is sex". Sexual confusion/obsession, suicide and guilt are seductivly woven into "In Limbo". Every song builds upon the next. "What Did You Do" is one of Lydia's best. The lyrics combine the pscycological fragmentation of Teen-age Jesus and the gothic rotting house imagry of "In Limbo". The dark vortex created by Lydia on "In Limbo" combines dreary desire and lust for anihilation into one moment. Do your eternal soul a massive favor and buy this. Make sure to turn off the lights and open the windows to let the night air in."

Absolute best album for moody, moping introverts.

05/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are very few pieces of music that sound like the " In Limbo " recordings. If you love this cd then you will probably want to hear more music that is similar, however there is nothing similar recorded in the 1980's. Comparisons? Try Sonic Youth, James Chance, Swans or the Birthday Party... however In Limbo seems to stand out because of its ambiguities which fit in the gaps between all the gloom and caterwauling. That is the point of Lydia Lunch. On the surface she's " in yer face", There's nothing much in rock music that blurs the boundaries... at least not until the 1990's. Maybe that is why a French techno outfit recently used Emerald Pale Has Disappeared in combination with dance beats. Yeh anyway shes in your face but if you listen to it closely there are all these subtleties. There are enough beautiful moments of melody, texture, rhythm and well chosen cacaphony to make the brutality of this music completely enjoyable. Next stop Luciano Berio...Arnold Schoenberg...Albert Ayler..."