Artistry and Distinction in Record-Making since 1980
RED TEMPLE SPIRITS
Independent Project Records is thrilled to announce the CD reissue of the two phenomenal albums released by this enigmatic Los Angeles band from the late 1980's: Dancing To Restore An Eclipsed Moon and If Tomorrow I Were Leaving For Lhasa, I Wouldn’t Stay a Minute More...
Originally released in 1988 and 1989, these two albums sound like nothing else from the period, deftly blending gothic post-punk sounds with pagan tribal psychedelia. Red Temple Spirits’ debut has been described as a haunting masterpiece of psychedelic post-punk, laden with exotic musicianship and a unique combination of Native American and Eastern mysticism. While shimmering guitar textures weave patterns over heavy hypnotic rhythms, the enchanting lyrical imagery of vocalist William Faircloth brings a trippy, shamanistic quality to the proceedings. Easily some of the most mesmerizing and vital post-punk music ever created, Red Temple Spirits play with an austerity, grace, and pureness to form that remains fresh over two decades after they originally recorded.
Dancing To Restore An Eclipsed Moon contains ten powerful originals, and includes what may be the finest cover version extant of Pink Floyd’s Nile Song. The band’s second album has been described as a fully-developed excursion into other realms, with rumbling basslines and slithery guitar washes of elegant brilliance. Once again drawing inspiration from Tibetan and Native American cultures, vocalist Faircloth leads the listener through a tangle of mystical themes while the band (guitarist Dallas Taylor, bassist Dino Paredes and drummer Thomas Pierik) skillfully blend heavy tribal rhythms and ethereal guitar, building up to moments of extreme tension. In the UK, Sounds magazine described their song Soft Machine as “a beast of a sucker,” and City of Millions was called “a song many bands have died trying to execute.”