Label: Sub Rosa
Reissued 4/12/2024
The anthology Spectra Ex Machina brings together rare documents pertaining to so-called occult phenomena, most of them taken from little-known archives. In the course of three volumes, this series traces an audio history of parapsychology through the exploration of spiritualism and haunted houses (Vol. 1); musician mediums (vol. 2); experiences of extrasensory perceptions (clairvoyance, psychokinesis, etc.) and electronic voice phenomena (vol. 3). The documents gathered here are, by their extravagance and far-fetched aspects, more than the mere objects of belief one would be tempted to reduce them to. They are vestiges of aberrant phenomena, fossils of an unknown civilization buried in the depths of the unconscious that are revived, in a way, when we listen to them. They can be understood as "works", in the full artistic sense of the word, and constitute a kind of "cabinet of sound curiosities" that is worthy of aesthetic interest. Sometimes imbued with a disconcerting dramatic intensity, these documents bear the features of an authentic time machine, placing the listener in the position of a witness of the time immersed in the dim darkness of the experimental hall. And it is at that precise moment that the aesthetic power of these archives takes precedence over their probative value. Their somewhat old-fashioned charm, maintained by the surface noise of magnetic tapes and old wax disks, gets stronger with each listen. Contains a 20-page large booklet, 30x30 cm.
Track listing:
- Arthur Conan Doyle– Arthur Conan Doyle On Spiritualism [London, England, May 14, 1930]
- Gladys Osborne Leonard– Gladys Osborne Leonard And The Spirit Of "Feda," In The Presence Of Reverend W.S. Irving And T. Besterman [London, England, November 17, 1932]
- Rudi Schneider– Rudi Schneider's Trance [London, England, 1933]
- Bess Houdini– Harry Houdini's Final Séance [Hollywood, USA, October 31, 1936]
- Ivy Carter Beaumont– Ivy Carter Beaumont aka "Rosemary": "The Speech Of Ancient Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty" [England, July 14, 1938]
- Einer Nielsen– Einer Nielsen And The "Spectral Voices" Of "Astrid" And "Bischof Liljeblad" [Copenhagen, Denmark, c. 1950]
- Leslie Flint– Leslie Flint And The "Voice" Of Oscar Wilde
- Ménie Grégoire– A Spiritism Séance Broadcast On The Radio [Paris. France. 1976]
- Annemarie Schaberl– The Rosenheim Case [Germany, December 1967]
- Unknown Artist– The Th. Case [Switzerland, April 16, 1967]
- Unknown Artist– The S. Case [Germany, 1968]
- Unknown Artist– The P. Case [Germany, December 1971]
- Unknown Artist– Knocking Phenomena [Germany, 1974]
- Emile Tizané– Émile Tizané About "Little Hauntings" [Paris, France, 1976]
- Janet Hodgson– Voice Produced By Janet Hodgson During A Trance [Enfield, England, January-February 1978]
- Dominique– Dominique And The "Talking Wall" [La Machine, France, 1973]
- Anneliese Michel– Anneliese Michel's Exorcism Ritual By Father Arnold Renz [Klingenberg, Germany, 1976]
- Denys Renaudin– Denys Renaudin's Investigation Of A Haunting Case [Paris, France, 1979]
- Jack Sutton– Jack Sutton And The "Haunted Airfield" [Norfolk, England, c. 1980]
- Unknown Artist– "Paranormal" Explosion [London, England, 1995]