Ghost & Writer - Shipwrecks

The term "Supergroup" is banded around far, far too often these days. The much anticipated album from Ghost & Writer looks to suggest that, at least on this occasion, the label is befitting.

Consisting of Jimmy Joe Snark III from legendary act "The Weathermen", and Frank Spinath (Yes, THAT Frank Spinath) from Seabound and Edge of Dawn, Ghost & Writer is as much a visual journey as an aural journey. Quoth the label website :

"Ghost & Writer reanimated Edgar Allen Poe, only to make him rewrite The Raven and included an evil clown plus a myriad of faceless extras. " Yes please!

Opening their account with "From Hell", an acoustic sounding track with excellent remorseful lyrics "Hello from Hell, I am writing you a letter...".

There is an immediate aesthetic here, G&W seems very very fond of black & white imagery, often hinting at old movies, and there's a definite vibe of "Film Noir" here. It's almost like the romantic, intelligent Detective movies of a world unknown have made a record.

This is backed up almost immediately with "Hitman" - much more Electronic, and easily recognizable as bearing that Spinath mark of quality. I actually feel that this is going to as big as Seabound and Edge of Dawn.

Lyrically, this album is as excellent as it is visually, and musically. I have yet to find one thing I can pick fault with, and I'm up to track Four. This is 30% Film Noir, 30% Poe, 20% Tarot readings, and 20% ESSENTIAL Electro-Industrial. (I'd call this Synthpop, but it's far, far too dark for that).

The more astute of you might be aware of the promo track "Nightshift" - this is on here, and is as novel as it is quaint - the Yin to the rest of the album's Yang. From the beautiful and almost haunting vocals, to the soaring cascade of Instrumentation, this is simply an absolute treasure of a track.

"Man on a Wire" is another excellent dark track - lyrically I consider it to be among the best of the genre. "I'm just a Messenger, now I'm taking a ride. I've entered your Privacy, I know how to Hide".

For everyone who is listening to this on digital media, you need to buy this CD. Immediately, the inlay, the cover, the themes, the package - you are missing so fucking much here that you can never imagine...

There's a certain amount of "Pomp & Circumstance" surrounding this release. It's almost like Messers Spinath & Snark went out their way to make this an Epic, Timeless album, at the cost of over-doing it. Kind of like they expected to sell it just because it's by them. Amazingly, and I cannot stress this enough, they have managed to do it.

Each track is effectively a new experience, a who-dunnit leads into a song of separation. A song of Denial becomes a lesson on regret...

"Integrity" is to this generation what Front 242's "Headhunter" was to the previous one... "You may have come this far, but we know who you are."

Nothing, nothing is as ambitious as a 16 track album with 8 tracks, and then the same 8 tracks remixed, again. Just look at those artists doing the remixes! Isis, File Not Found, Diskonnekted, the near-legendary Acretongue, and of course, Edge of Dawn.

I don't even want to discuss these remixes. None of them are weak tracks, and to the absolute delight (and somewhat amazement), I have to wipe the Skepticism off of my face.

Spinath is at his absolute best here, the vocal work (as nearly always) is unmistakable, and tracks like "Nightshift" and "Fraud" just verify the genius of these two Gentlemen.

The last time I ever had a package that has impressed me this much from start to finish was nearly 10 years ago.

I have NO choice but to give this album a 10/10, yet typically, I feel it should get higher.

Please, please, if you only order ONE CD this year, make it this one! Feb 18 2011