Gifted musician Rory Mohon’s Darkly Dreaming will be the first release and first subscription offering from the consistently killer Burning Witches Records in February. What makes this vinyl release particularly special is that it’s a Vehlinggo Presents curated release: I recommended the album to BWR heads Gary Dimes and Darren Page, who loved the dark and moving, Cliff Martinez-inspired album and were eager to release it. I then wrote up some in-depth liner notes and the rest is magic.
I first heard of Mohon’s Darkly Dreaming around Halloween 2018, when Makeup and Vanity Set (AKA Matthew Pusti) sent me a link to the initial digital release of the album. It had flown under my radar and I was floored by its quality.
Here’s what I wrote in a Nov. 2, 2018, roundup post:
It’s a dark, moody affair, populated by 17 nuanced neon-noir synth score cues for a film not yet made. There are moments when this album flows like the Cliff Martinez-Makeup and Vanity Set collaboration that never was, and others when ’80s Vangelis shines through. There are other instances that tend to sound like something released on Burning Witches Records or, yes, like the work of John Carpenter. But it’s never derivative of any of those composers, instead somehow blending all their better angels into something rich and rewarding for the listener.
After I wrote that blurb, I was compelled to send the link to the BWR gents and, as I mentioned above, they were interested. The liner notes feature interviews with Mohon and Makeup and Vanity Set.
To get Darkly Dreaming, pick up the subscription (which also includes Hunter Complex’s Dead Clam and Zero Degrees, along with other unannounced records) for an exclusive subscriber colour variant. It will also be available to the public in a different variant. Darkly Dreaming is coming in February.
