Never shy of delving into the more fascinating and avantgarde corners of the Rock world, the great SKiN GRAFT records last month released into the world a six-song, CD (and special edition color 7” vinyl + CD) split between Lyon France’s Pili Coït & Progressive-Rock three-piece Yowie. Fundamentally a duo of Jessica Martin Maresco (of Le Grand Sbam) on drums and vocals, plus Guilhem Meier (of Poil) on guitar and vocals (weaving together fluid guitar-driven rhythm, beguiling harmonies and off-kilter rhythms), Pili Coït’s half of this split sees them expanded into a full-blown orchestra with the addition of Les Exocrines. And now Ghost Cult is delighted to premiere a live version of the split’s third and final collaboration between Pili Coït & Les Exocrines—”Min Neqba” the track (in fact all three Pili Coït numbers on the split) a reimagining of the biblical poem “The Song of Songs”.
Pre-order the split here:
https://skingraftrecords.bandcamp.com/
Of the collaboration Gilhem Meier gives the following poetic account.
Why Les Exocrines?
The two lovers of Pili Coït
get their kicks
playing together
with a deceptively minimalist air
a polyphonic and polyrhythmic music tinged
with metal drums and 12-string splinters.
But to celebrate this hymn
to carnal love
from the Song of Songs
the two multiply their erogenous zones
by calling on their friends the Exocrines.
The tickle of plucked strings,
the ageless breath of the kaval
and the gentle power of the tuba – bass clarinette
Infuse their love secretions into all the senses
verging on orgasm after orgasm after orgasm
with
every
finger-drum
break
Jessica Martin Maresco elaborates on the origins and lyrics of the song, “Many people think the Song of Songs is a religious psalm, but this is a mistake. It’s a love song written many millennia before our time, by many hands, over many hundreds of years. It’s a love song unearthed by archaeological digs on the shores of the Dead Sea. It was found in a consonant form, and it is actually the multiple translations that followed that have tried to make it say what it did not say – like the New Testament or the Torah.”
“We decided to sing it in Syriac Aramaic,” the drummer and singer continues, “because it’s a language that was spoken at the time in Judea and ancient Palestine. Historically, this language is very close to Arabic and Hebrew. Linguistically speaking, it’s the missing link between these two languages. It’s a language that binds and brings to light the prohibited and forbidden love recounted in the Song of Songs.
“So what does this song actually say?
“”Min Neqba”, literally, my slit, my opening. It says, “I hear my love knocking at my door. He puts his hand through it, and the slit drips with myrrh. He passes his hand through the slit, and my organs are moved by him.”
“I don’t think I have to draw a picture of what is being talked about here. It isn’t a psalm. It is a priceless antique – erotic, post-prehistoric rock and roll!”
The split can be purchased from SKiN GRAFT Records on Bandcamp. The “Ultimate Edition” bundle includes the full six-track CD + a limited edition two-song 7” single on turquoise colored vinyl with exclusive artwork and lyrics.
Both the special edition and standard CD come with an exclusive digital goodie-bag including print-your-own posters, bumper sticker and T-shirt.