CD ecopack with 8-page lyrics booklet and
delightful reverse willow-pattern CD.
Album cover artwork by brussels underground legend djp ddjjpp.posterous.com
Join
now to receive all the new
music
Mr Diagonal creates,
delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android.
You’ll also get access to
supporter-only
exclusives.
Learn more.
a paradox in 6 acts.
piano, voice and a trio of violas da gamba.
100% late victorian.
lyrics
Hansior and Havior
Some said they were friends, some enemy twins,
some said they were lovers grown apart;
but count back from the start, each suiting a part,
twin poles of one planet's teeming heart:
one was born in winter, one in spring,
Hansior, Havior, who will be king ?
Hansior claimed the fortune of the rolling hills,
Havior the coal mine and the iron mill;
but each true his art, fine servant of one
invincible empire's setting suns.
Lilly, pale as a Dane
Lilly, early morning rain
Lilly, is it your real name ?
Lilly, are you still on the game ?
Hansior offered primal flowers, a servant's wing,
Havior a granite tower and diamond ring;
each claiming a heart long kept in the dark,
foul-wintering crocus baiting spring:
when our two blind boxers take the ring,
Hansior, Havior who will be king ?
They met at the races on a stormy day;
the north wind blew the colours of the sky away.
« I saw you this morning, a clouded swan
warned me we were made to meet this day undone »
She bit her lip, and smiled;
and fluttered on the cavalry.
« Lilly, step off the boat,
Lilly may I take your coat?
The city's looking swell tonight,
like my wife before the back-flip... »
« Lilly, this is my pitch,
Lilly, I'll plant my bridge
there where two black Hudsons merge,
as suspenders span the free world... »
« Lilly, I like your taste,
Lilly, I know a little place...
I'll take liver, kidney, tripe;
a man of taste never denies a deep gut... »
Rising from the ballroom in a Great Black Silk Balloon,
through enchanting landscapes in pre/post-war bloom;
there's a battle yet to run, a conquest to be made,
I've got to take a photograph before the picture fades.
Why do I with Lilly choose to fly into the night,
when I know that I will loose the kite-strings of my life?
It's hardly for the memory of what we do in bed;
more to turn the wheel around,
to forge a feather out of lead,
to turn the world clean upside-down by walking on my head.
credits
from Late Victorian,
released March 19, 2011
mr diagonal (piano, voice),
anne bernard, christine lejeune, sonia arbouche (violas da gamba)
Melvins fans will flip for this lost ’90s indie classic, with its sludgy guitars, hypnotic rhythms and irresistible hooks. Essential. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 13, 2020
Kishi Bashi channels the pain of a difficult year into his latest release, resulting in sumptuous songs tinged with heartbreak. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 15, 2016