Mad People Tarot Decks

We are all mad here

In Lewis Carroll's iconic novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, the eponymous young protagonist sneaks into and makes her way through a fantasy world populated with hybrid creatures, walking and talking chess pawns and playing cards following mathematically structured moves. Whether a piece of concealed social and political satire, a surreal coming-of-age allegory or simply a game of words, notions and numbers narrated in fairy tale form, Carroll's universe remains one of literature's richest, most fascinating puzzles. Nightmarishly sophisticated in its understated wittiness, it brings forth the dramatic contradictions in human society's extreme organization, the inherent "madness" governing virtually every aspect of our everyday life and interaction.

UrbsTopia Tarot Decks

Urban utopias & dystopias

A city (urbs in Latin, hence the adjective "urban") is a miniature universe, a unit mirroring a totality; a living, evolving microcosm with its own internal, intrinsic and intricate rules and laws, the mysteries and secrets that haunt it, the tales and legends that define it.

Lethe's Betrayal Tarot Decks

The darkest lullabies

In Greek mythology, Lethe was one of the five rivers of the Underworld, offering eternal forgetfulness to those who drank from its water. Lethe, or oblivion, often viewed as an equivalent to death itself, brings relief from the burden of memory - however, one does not have to die in order to forget; and voluntarily choosing oblivion over the pain of memories could be a way to cope with grief, or even with the less weighty troubles of everyday. This is not necessarily a foolproof solution, though...

Machines that Know Tarot Decks

Maritime legends with teeth

What if all pieces on a chessboard were to be replaced with Fassbinder-esque sailors, with a dash of post-apocalyptic steampunk thrown in for good measure? An idea out of nowhere that appeared cool and fun at first, only to prove a deeply challenging and thought provoking venture.

Moss of Utopia Tarot Decks

Deluded Pleiades, vessels of mysteries

"Moss of utopia" is a metaphor used by Odysseus Elytis in the section of his epic work The Axion Esti (What Is Worthy, 1959) dedicated to young women, whom he goes on to describe as "the deluded Pleiades" and "the Vessels of Mysteries, full to the brim yet bottomless".

Black Mirror Tarot Decks

The abyss looks back into you

A black mirror is an instrument of magical practice. Opaque and unsettling, rather than reflecting the outward reality, it forces anyone who looks into it to acknowledge their own, internal truth, the deepest, unknown darkness of their soul.

YouTube Copyfraud Strikes again

Or, how to abuse the law to one's own advantage

On YouTube's page of our very own Down to Earth video (Public Digital Festival 2010 entry) you may see a message saying that it contains material from an entity called IODA.

And Life Be Nothing

A music video in retro tones

A somewhat Angeresque visual collage, made with edited and compiled Public Domain material from The Prelinger Archive. Music: Lost Galaxy by Dead Admiral (from the album Of Spirits & All Flesh, 2010). Vimeo Festival & Awards 2012 entry, in the Remix category.

Nehoryn: Memory's Garden

Tripping down memory lane

A composer of prodigious talent and impressive musical inventiveness, Nehoryn offers a "retrospective" of his earlier compositions in a 12-track collection by the eloquent title of Memory's Garden. It is always exciting to observe how an artist's work has evolved with time, what elements and influences determined its development, which of them were left behind for good and which were the crucial ones to remain and mature into something even richer and more accomplished.

Fanfan l'elephant: Toi

Luminous elation in pastel tones

An appetising single of ambient electro, inviting us to a voyage of the heart and the spirit; the melodic lines, percussions/drums and sound effects form a universe of stark beauty, soothing for the ear and purifying for the soul.

vermillia: under the frozen rain. waiting for a rainbow

The meaning and beauty of sorrow

Vermillia is one of those one-of-a-kind artists who pursue their own vision regardless of genres and classifications. A musical as well as visual concept - concise collections of intensely evocative instrumentals, with very pretty hand drawn covers that depict Anime style female figures and faces.

Oscar Fantoche: Fantoche Orchestra

First and last waltz

An odd, haunted waltz suspended in mid-air through the mist. A slow oriental melody snaking its way along a lazy counterpoint of percussions and bassline. A fragmented, intoxicated march flirting with languorous violins.

Urzhia-Kan: Atlantik

Profundity in surface

A delicate mermaid choir, electric guitars, synth and an ostinato drum groove echoing the rhythm in Ravel's Bolero: the eponymous opening track of Urzhia-Kan's second album, Atlantik, promises an engaging and adventurous musical experience.

Juan Shaman: Solos y Azules

Alone and blue

I had first listened to Juan Shaman a few years ago, when his album Reevolucion was published on Jamendo. I was impressed by his very characteristic voice and the dark, rhythmic melodies of his songs, while his lyrics reminded me a little of Lorca's poetry - highly evocative, sometimes surreal, but also close to the pure lyrical and audacious imagery of traditional songs.

Aufklarung: My mistress eyes

In the end is the beginning

Five "cornerstone" poems by authors whose work marked Europe's (and the whole world's) literary history - the famous Shakespeare sonnet My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun, Wordsworth's The Solitary Reaper and She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways, Home Is Where One Starts From by T. S. Eliot (from the Four Quartets) and When You Are Old by W. B. Yeats - set to music in an ambitious yet unpretentious album, merging past and modern resonances in a peculiarly attractive mix.

John Peter B.: Origami

Modular, multifold elegance

Symphonic arrangements and experimental researches in an album featuring unexpected piano harmonies, quasi-minimalistic stings and winds and an almost outworldly choral part, as well as a couple of more rhythmic tracks where the tendency of stylistic exploration is significantly prominent.

Disciples of Bob: New Roman Tragedy

Decline and fall of the New Roman empire(s)

It was the band name that first caught my eye: intrigued, I ran a search for "Disciples of Bob" - which yielded a few unrelated and inconclusive results, seemingly having nothing to do with the little musical pearl I was listening to; or, on second thoughts, maybe they were all connected with it in some way. Whatever the case, New Roman Tragedy remained a gripping collection of songs worthy of an attentive listen, or many.

SHAMATRONIC: Trip solombre

Orpheus in the Underworld

Trip solombre is a genuinely original album on all aspects. Its greatest asset rests in the impressively powerful, flexible and almost weirdly beautiful voice of the singer, tracing an occult journey on engrossing sonorities accented by dark, ritualistic hymns and incantations.

Lunar Bed: Battery Farm

Neal and Jack and a bitter reflection

An acoustic mini album with quite unusual melodies (in which I discovered different things each time I listened to them), interesting lyrics and a beautiful, very distinctive voice.

Down to Earth

A literal ground exercise

A short exercise in style with tears and smiles, but no faces. All audio material used is in the Public Domain and has been obtained from Archive.org via Public Domain 2ten. Public Digital Festival 2010 entry, in the Do It Your Way category.