giles-corey-planning-for-burial

Giles Corey streams & upcoming show w/ Planning for Burial

by Wyatt Marshall

Giles Corey
Giles Corey

Dan Barrett is Giles Corey. Not the Giles Corey that was pressed to death in New England in 1692, but Barrett isn’t much different. Giles Corey is the moniker of Dan Barrett, the Connecticut based mastermind behind Enemies List Recordings and one half of shoegaze/drone/industrial/metal outfit Have A Nice Life. This self titled release is Barrett first official solo release as Giles Corey and since I received a copy in my mailbox to review on Friday I have been trying to tackle the idea of how I’m going to do this record justice with a review. Before we go on, you must understand that this isn’t just a record. This isn’t just nine tracks of some of the best gloomy folk music you have heard. This is a memoir. This is a cry for help. This is a dark, black memory. This is something so personal that it challenges the listener. This is listening to a plane crash or a car wreck. This is listening to a suicide note. This is something we haven’t heard before. Accompanying this nine track album is 150 page book.

“Sometime in the Spring of 2009 I tried to kill myself. Six months before that, I used a Voor’s Head Device for the first time”

This is the first sentence of the introduction. Following this sentence, the introduction goes on to tell about how Barrett wore this device over his head, sat at his piano and blacked out. He remained unconscious for an hour, until his tape recorder clicked to a stop. [Heavy Boots]

Dark folk one-man band Giles Corey is playing NYC on January 12 at Cameo with Planning For Burial, My Mountain and Whip Angels. Giles Corey has teamed up with Planning for Burial before–the two share a similarly bleak vibe, with Planning for Burial bringing droning, shoegaze-y minimalist songs with occasional hints of black and doom metal to the table. Giles Corey’s music brims with melancholy, so prepare to revel in your mid-January SAD. Tickets for the Cameo show are on sale now.

Listen to a live Giles Corey set (with Planning for Burial on keyboard in one song), the self-titled LP mentioned above, and Planning for Burial’s latest below…

Giles Corey – Giles Corey

Giles Corey – Live In The Middle of Nowhere

Planning for Burial – Quietly