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memento mori

  • memento mori cvrMemento Mori - Hugo Race and Josh Lord (independent)

    You shouldn't put “Memento Mori” on as background music while you do the dusting or writing funny memes. I mean, you can, of course. But it's a lovely slow-paced creature, and it will snare you.

    You'll find yourself slouched on the couch, wanting sleep and comfort but... despite all the gorgeous sounds, it's damned unsettling. You'll wake with a stiff neck and your limbs out of joint, I promise. No, skip to the end for how to fully appreciate this.

    But first, I must apologise unreservedly to both Josh Lord and Hugo Race. I was unable to do this review quickly enough. 

  • hugo race guitar landscapeHugo Race at home on the stage.

    After listening to Josh Lord and Hugo Race's LP "Memento Mori"for so long I'm in some kind of extended swoon. Took two showers and a handful of aspirin, plus an 11-year-old’s netball final to finally get me to shake out of it.

    Melbourne visual artist Josh Lord collaborated with musician-producer Hugo Race (Hugo Race FatalistsNick Cave and the Bad Seeds and The Wreckery) for the artwork of Hugo's albums “Dishee” and “Star Birth/Star Death”. In 2021, they spent a day in the studio channelling their own improvised music, creating a wall of sound with guitars and devices. “Memento Mori” is the result.

    I decided to ask the perpetrators of this unholy haze a few questions: the same questions, equally, and hoping that they wouldn't confer with each other. 

    As The Barman says: Full disclosure: I know both of these gents, and know also that their personalities are fundamentally different - although what drives them is a very similar creature.