All the Pretty Little Horses (TheInmostLightItself) is an album by English band Current 93. It forms the second part of the Inmost Light trilogy; the first being 1995's Where the Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight) and the last being 1996's The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal). Unlike its bookends, All the Pretty Little Horses is a full-length album. Like the earlier Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre, All the Pretty Little Horses contains several songs based on repeating melodic themes. Lyrically, the album revolves around the ideas of pain and death, specifically as reflected in Patripassianist philosophy, along with the overarching concept of the "inmost light", or soul. In contrast, the music itself is some of Current 93's most traditional, relying heavily on acoustic guitar. Exceptions appear in the form of two spoken-word tracks: the ominous, drone-based round "Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil", and "Patripassian", backed mainly by a heavily treated loop of Carlo Gesualdo's Miserere.
The album opens with "The Long Shadow Falls", a conceptual link and recap of the previous EP, Where the Long Shadows Fall. In this version, John Balance's improvised phrase, "Why can't we all just walk away," is clearly heard instead of nearly inaudible. A hidden track of Thomas Ligotti reading from his story Les Fleurs appears at the end of the album.
Originally available on compact disc and vinyl, the album was reissued as part of the boxed set The Inmost Light in 2007.
Is it bad that this album made me laugh as I imagined it as the output of the experimental phase of one of the groups in the movie A Mighty Wind?
This album’s weirdness certainly merits possible inclusion on a “listen to before you die” list… which is something I try to keep in mind as I listen to things that I might not choose for my music collection.
The opening recitation of All The Pretty Little Horses in a dystopian whisper recalibrated my ear and I ended up really enjoying this listen.
I’m glad this exists and glad I listened to it.
I lost track of the lyrics - my brain is way too ADHD to stay on track as they meandered and rambled - but they certainly evoke a mood.
Even if I only listen to this once in my life I find it a worthy recommendation. Throwing in a bonus star for whoever ventured out on this limb.
A second over 90 minutes long experimental album with a crying baby on the cover has hit the user submitted list.
From what I understand, this band is David Tibet, a scary guy who makes experimental music, collecting other scary guys who make experimental music like a Pokémon team, then arranging them in wacky combinations.
I listened to the Spotify version that has those two very long tracks bookending the album, and I'm glad I did, because not only were they easily the best parts of the album, they also added so much to the overall experience and atmosphere.
The actual "meat" of the album in the middle was pretty hit or miss, as I didn't really like the guy's singing voice, but there's still some gems in there. The soundscapier tracks are absolutely where this album shines. "Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil" in particular. Also Nick Cave jumpscare. What the hell is that guy doing on here.
Had to digest it for a moment, but yeah, this is really good. Strong 4/5.
Ha-ha, Current 93! I don’t expect many here to be fans of David Tibet’s esoteric soundscapes, but for such a project to be able to cull contributions from names as big as Nick Cave it merits special attention. This record and “Thunder Perfect Mind” are probably the easiest entry points into the band, with many quite beautiful moments like “The BloodBells Chime”. Respect for this pick
Part 2 of a trilogy, so something that might be worth further exploration. Highlights from this sessions All the Pretty Little Horsies/Horses, The BloodBells Chime.
I really did not care for what was going on vocally or lyrically with this. Affected, pretentious, wilfully obscure. For the general quality of the music (occasional high-pitched screeching overtones notwithstanding) and the sheer balls of unloading an hour-long invented lore-dump I'll keep it on the positive rating side - barely. Better than more ultraprocessed pop pap anyway.
I'm sorry to whoever submitted this but any album where I pause it to discover where that awful alarm is coming from in my home and it turns out it just WAS the album gets -1 star. This was already racing toward a 1/5, so yeah this is "would give it a zero if I could" territory.
Looked up the genres for this one and apparently this LP falls in the Neo/apocalyptic folk category, which is a new on for me. Whatever it is, I didn't particularly care for it – this sparse, 'Hush-a-bye' sound feels like the sonic equivalent of gnawing what morsels are left off a stripped bone, and the intensely English vocals are cloying and off-putting.
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