The Otherworld with MHLee:
Playlist
from May 28, 2026
The Otherworld explores music that seeks to conjure images of distant lands and fantasy ambiance through dreamy dungeon-synth, acid folk, neo-folk, and more. Featuring work primarily from small projects, it's an ambiance to which you can drift off and imagine yourself in another land.
<-- Previous playlist | Back to The Otherworld with MHLee playlists | Next playlist -->
Artist
Track
Album
Year
Comments
Images
Approx. start time
Channel Marker
The Grey Funnel Line
The Grey Funnel Line Ep
2025
0:00:00 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Blood Tower
Spellbound Ships on Cursed Waters
Blood Tower / Apothecarium
2017
Blood Tower - side A:
Haunted and documented by Lord Bill in the Moonworshipper Tower under the psilocydic moon in the smoldering breath of June 2016 Omaha, NE
0:04:57 (MP3 | Pop-up)
The Northern Lighthouse Board
Devil Pins
An Anthology
2023
A collection of NLB tracks 2019-2023
0:10:42 (MP3 | Pop-up)
144000
Lord of the Reedy River
Elf Dance
1995
Archive recordings from spring / summer 1994; an intense period of experimental lethargy, heavy caffeine intake, nocturnal living, and an ice cream diet... feat. Solas, 144000, and more... from apocalyptic heraldry to ethereal ambience... a historical document of pre-Drekka lo-fi, LTD to 15 copies."
- summer 1999 Bluesanct catalog
|
This is a collection of short lived projects I was working on in FEB-MAY 1994... a year before starting Bluesanct and around two years before starting to work as Drekka.
||
SOLAS was a project by Miss Ann-Marie and myself. Sung in latin, gaelic, and English this untitled EP is all that we managed to record. It was recorded in my attic room at Fruit House, Watertown, MA.
|
SEVEN YEAR LOCUST was a project by Ann-Marie and Scott P. of the band Mistle Thrush. We did one session in the basement of Fruit House as as a trio.
|
RINGWORM SIDESHOW was a project that Dave Nelson and I did from time to time. This track features Dave, playing AM radio modulation as instrument; a technique which I still use today for mixing Drekka tracks. I am not sure where it was recorded, but likely at Ugly House, Watertown, MA.
|
144000 is a project that I still record under from time to time. The first track here is a Donovan cover, and the second was supposed to be on a full length that I never completed. Both were likely recorded in my attic room at Fruit House.
|
Remastering this early Bluesanct release was a task. Like many of my early 4-track recordings, the mixes were done at an extremely low output and tended to lean heavily to the left for some reason. I probably spent more time than necessary trying to wrangle these tracks into a listenable collection without altering the original sound too much.
|
Originally issued as a distended 90 minute collection. For the reissue, I have trimmed the tape filler and unlistenable tracks and present to you a collection that I hope will be interesting to those with an ear for early 90's lo-fi 4AD inspired ad hoc experiments, as well as those interested in hearing some precursors to my work as Drekka.
|
Those with a keen ear may even hear elements of future Drekka works woven within these early tracks.
|
Most early Bluesanct releases had no reviews at the time, due to the extremely limited runs. But, I recently found a reply from when I submitted a couple tracks to a comp that had a panel of judges for selection.
|
They chose "Ivy Song" by Solas for the comp (good choice) and had the following to say about this track and 144000:
|
Solas
• Minimalist Enya
• Combines reminiscences of Sinead and the Star Spangled Banner with a touch of Monte Cazazza
|
144000
• Simply awful
• drone drone drone
|
The Solas review seems about right... except for the Monte Cazazza reference. However, I think the 144000 review is a bit harsh... I guess it was simply ahead of its time, hah.
|
- Mkl Anderson, 03 May 2021
0:11:49 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Ashtoreth & Grey Malkin
A Cloak of Lichen
A Crown of Silver Antlers
2026
Written and performed by Ashtoreth & Grey Malkin between autumn 2024 and spring 2025
|
Dedicated to both of our fathers, who passed during this time
|
Vocals on ‘A Crown of Silver Antlers' by Gayle Brogan, with thanks
|
Mixed and sculpted by Peter Verwimp
Mastered by Ronald Mariën
|
Artwork by Ruairi O’Baoighill from images by Grey Malkin
|
‘All these are but dreams and shadows; the shadows that hide the real world from our eyes.’ (‘The Great God Pan’, Arthur Machen)
0:17:23 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Bobby Krlic
Attestupan
Midsommar (Original Motion Picture Score)
2019
0:28:39 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Nøkken + The Grim
Harangoznak Vecsernyére (The Vesper Bells Are Tolling)
Harangoznak Vecsernyére (The Vesper Bells Are Tolling)
2021
Harangoznak Vecsernyére (The Vesper Bells Are Tolling) is a Székely-Magyar folk song from Gyergyóújfalu located in the Carpathian mountains. We recorded it as part of Left/Folk's second compilation "Left/Folk II: Resilience as Praxis": leftfolk.bandcamp.com
|
This song is about themes of shamanistic spirituality concerning death and is a form of funerary lament about ancestors in the Land and a man whose spirit has rejoined the Land upon his death. In Hungarian burial traditions, a song would be sung from the perspective of the spirit of the dead speaking as a last farewell to the living. Music was used in a spiritual function, often in magic chants of the regös, one of several kinds of Magyar 'shaman'. Music is an interconnecting force, and sound is a living being, part of the personhood of the living world. This is with the understanding that all living beings participate in making music, not just humans.
|
Harangoznak Vecsernyére, however, would not be directly sung as funeral rites but instead has a similar form to them, expressing emotional knowledge about the tradition. It talks of a woodsman named Uti Miska (a stock character in Hungarian oral traditions) who died in the woods alone. Like all of the dead, he returns to the Land and becomes part of its ancestral memory, sharing his story with others who listen to the wind. The song is sung from his perspective as an oral tradition of music meant for sharing spiritual and ancestral knowledge.
|
In Magyar spirituality, there is more than one soul within a living being (and by living being, we mean not only animals and plants, but beings considered "inanimate" in "Western" settler-colonial worldviews, such as rocks, streams, winds, the Land, and so on...all have souls and are living...they are persons, and a human has been many things and can become many things when they reincarnate). The "lélek" or breath-spirit/body-soul is the life force and living memories of the individual that become part of the ancestral memory of the Land. The lélek is exhaled out of the body upon death. This spirit goes on to dwell within the Land and become part of the rest of the living world. Thus the Living are composed of the Dead.
|
The other spirit which goes onto reincarnate in new life is called the "ört" in Mari and might be referred to as the "íz" in Hungarian. This is the shadow-spirit. Often it is attached to the "lélek", especially if there is a difficult passing, as seems to be the case with the protagonist of this song, and may result in a "ghost". To these ends, some Finno-Ugric peoples go to great lengths to help spirits of the dead move on and not return to their old dwelling places. In some cultures, it is important to bury or even burn all of the individuals' possessions when they have died or to change the appearance of one's home to "confuse" the spirit so that they cannot find where they once lived.
|
Nøkken has provided an essay about the song itself and its deeper roots in Hungarian spirituality and Finno-Ugric shamanistic beliefs in general which may be read here: nokken.band/vesperbellslore
0:32:17 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Weasly Wimp
𝔈𝔪𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔩𝔡 𝔈𝔩𝔣
𝕷𝖎𝖋𝖊𝖇𝖆𝖓𝖊
2020
0:42:31 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Acheulean Forests
Mystical Forest of Mirth
Of Faerie
2018
Enchanted Forests of Faerie Delight!
0:46:13 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Ashleigh Bridges
Nether Realm
Old School RuneScape
2013
0:53:09 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Borg
Valor & Love
The Triumph of Spring
2019
Diverse, odd, and eclectic - Triumph of Spring touches on a much more traditional approach with it's medieval and folk styling. Transport yourself to an archaic time of whimsy and festivities and you celebrate with the Triumph of Spring.
0:57:07 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Quercus Alba
Melting Streams
Forêt Endormie / Quercus Alba Split
2019
Quercus Alba:
|
This project is inspired by my experiences in the northern wilderness and forests of Minnesota, my heritage within them, and my rediscovery of these beautiful landscapes after my departure.
|
Protect, visit, and support your local wilderness and public lands. It is all we have left.
1:00:00 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Novemthree
Gathering Wildflowers
Meandering in Streams of Reflection/Auguries of Innocence
2009
1:04:42 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Oak and Ivy
From the Soil
Demo I
2016
Dark neo-folk hailing from Virginia and crafted by Foglord.
1:06:24 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Shire Oak
Terrible Lizard
Tale of a Titan
2023
Artwork from “The Ceratopsia” by J.B. Hatcher, Richard Swann Lull, Henry Fairfield Osborn, & Othniel Charles Marsh (1907)
1:09:18 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Diplodocus
Plotting Cynodonts
Slow And Heavy (B-side)
2019
A continuation to Slow And Heavy.
1:12:31 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Plague of Insomnia
Burial Waltz
Inhalation EP
2020
1:17:35 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Quest Master
The Five Holy Runes of White Magic
Lost Songs of Distant Realms: Volume One
2017
Soundtrack to a 90's RPG, that was forgotten by time. Created with classic digital tones from Yamaha and Casio keyboards.
1:20:23 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Travellers Rest
Brompton
Where Your Quest Ends
2025
Dedicated and inspired by the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries in London. England. These spaces are truly magical, and their overgrown grounds evoke feelings of history, olden ways, and the desperate passing of time.
|
This album is for all of us who are on this Quest...let us remember that it will all end soon.
1:22:33 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Hermit Knight
That Wretched & Beautiful Cursed Object
Upon The Dawn of the Vermilion Glaive
2023
Nostalgic and deeply emotional, 'Upon The Dawn...' is released for the first time today. This music connects on an intimate level, beautifully mournful and washed through with rushing waves of fuzzy synthesisers & strings.
|
The album is reminiscent of more soul-stirring, anthemic dungeon synth but offers a wide sound pallet and would appeal to fans of the Cosmic Ocean favourite: 'Pastoral Daydreams' (Chronicles Of Jest).
|
A powerful release from Hermit Knight, best listened to at the end of a day, whilst in a reflective mood.
1:28:16 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Castle Zagyx
The Sacred Oriflamme
Doors to the Battlefields of Ertbe
2021
Welcome to the world of Ertbe, a place where young and bustling kingdoms settle over the ruins of those who fell under fire and sword; a place of old grievances, family grudges, bigotry, and megalomania. This is the land where armies raise their banner to fight in the eternal Wars of Religion, in a cyclical conflict whose original motives are lost in the mists of time. This is the land where wizards form companies that march alongside soldiers, where fiefdom borders are constantly changing, where war sails ride the waves thanks to wind spells, and where armies take risks in dangerous winter campaigns in the mountainous high lands.
|
Here, even subjugated dragons, bound demons, elemental forces and the dead take part in the fight. Huge war machines have been prepared against the enemy. Heroes command the troops, knowing that their end may come tomorrow. Life is short, brutal and intense in Ertbe, but gold and glory surely worth the effort.
1:31:12 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Jim Kirkwood
Smaug
Where Shadows Lie (Remaster)
2024
Out of Season and Hosianna Mantra are proud to announce the launch of the first-ever reissue campaign of the works of cult fantasy synth figure Jim Kirkwood, whose original compositions predated by several years the legendary dark ambient progenitors of what would later be rebranded as “dungeon synth”. Kirkwood's musical style was unique from his contemporaries, falling less in-line musically with the medieval, subterranean dread of his peers and more with artists like Mort Garson (Plantasia, Atraxia's The Unexplained, etc.). Kirkwood incorporated a far more diverse palette of influences such as the Berlin School (Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze, etc.) of electronic music, John Carpenter's synth-driven soundtrack compositions, and, perhaps most importantly, a spiritual foundation akin to the New Age cassette culture of the 1980's, albeit much darker.
|
Kirkwood's immense body of work functioned as an aural adaptation, thematically centered around the works of J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings), Michael Moorcock (The Elric Saga), Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Celtic Mythology, and the Norse Poetic Edda. With singular vision and unmatched dedication, Kirkwood released two dozen full-length cassettes from 1990-1996 to virtually no audience but himself and his closest confidants. As such, this original run of recorded material languished in total obscurity before being rediscovered by underground fans in the last decade, resulting in the sudden, long-overdue recognition of the genius of Jim Kirkwood.
|
First discovering The Hobbit at the age of 13, his rabid consumption of the seminal works of fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien can be considered the impetus for Kirkwood’s musical career. Perhaps in an effort to sustain the sense of magical escapism of experiencing The Lord of the Rings trilogy during idyllic British summers, Kirkwood’s solo musical journey began in Middle Earth with Where Shadows Lie (1990, oos-204/DEI-001). This kickstarted a deluge of unbridled and prolific creativity resulting in multiple tape releases, including two other Tolkien-inspired albums, King of the Golden Hall (1991, oos-205/DEI-002) and Uruk-Hai (1992, oos-206/DEI-003). This series of albums would come to form some of Kirkwood’s most well-regarded work, a collection which would become known as his Middle Earth Trilogy.
1:34:45 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Dyvyná
Lie Peacefully, My Child
The Temptation Of Triglav's Children
2023
1:38:11 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Greet
Another Day
Harmonium 1
2024
“Greet” is the new dark folk solo project from Matthew Broadley, the former drummer of Black Metal band Dawn Ray’d. Harmonium driven drones and textures combined with wonky melodies. 4 Odes to winter, nature, the drudgery of work and beer. A labour of love and fear, of hope and anxiety, of joy and hate. If you imagine Neil Young crossed with The Wicker Man then you’ll be some of the way there
1:44:48 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Grandma's Cottage
holly, ivy, yew and laurel
Precious Moments
2021
1:48:13 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Villein
Knight on the Double Fountain
Splendor Solis
2020
1:53:06 (MP3 | Pop-up)
King Crimson
Peace - A Theme
In The Wake Of Poseidon
1970
1:56:30 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Daniellafish
No Surprises
Twigs & Velvet
2013
1:57:40 (MP3 | Pop-up)
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。