Schrei X

• Artist: Diamanda Galás
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1996
• Type: Live, Contains explicit content
• Genre: Avant-Garde

Review

"This is not ambient music," admonishes a proclamation in the booklet accompanying this release. One wonders why Diamanda Galás or Mute thought this warning necessary, as Schrei X, presented here in both live and studio versions, is essentially a sequence of Beckettian monologues alternately shrieked, spoken, whispered, cried, or spat out, bearing little resemblance to the gentle waftings of Kitaro and crowd. In fact, a mere perusal of the titles of the pieces would presumably ward off the innocent ambient fan. Schrei X is one of the sparest of Galás' albums and possibly loses some effect on disc, where the visual theatricality of her performance (as well as her physical presence) is lost. This plus the fractured nature of the string of short pieces (based on texts found in Job and Thomas Aquinas as well as her own writing) act against any cumulative power that the work might otherwise have. Still, her voice is as powerful, convincing, and just plain scary as ever, and fans of her previous work will want to add this dark offering to their collections. ~ Brian Olewnick, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Do Room [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:12)
I-I Am - Dreams [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(5:01)
M Dis I [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:13)
O.P.M. [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:25)
Abasement [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(3:10)
Headbox [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(2:17)
Cunt [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(:49)
Hepar [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(:55)
Coitum [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:14)
Vein [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(3:56)
M Dis II [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(:57)
Smell [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(2:18)
Hee Shock Die [Live]	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:59)
Do Room	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(2:17)
I I	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:59)
M Dis I	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:36)
O.P.M.	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:48)
Headbox	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:56)
Cunt	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:43)
Hepar	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:42)
Vein	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(1:54)
M Dis II	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(2:01)
Smell	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(2:17)
Hee Shock Die	Diamanda Galás	Diamanda Galás	(7:26)

Credits

Holly Duthie (Design), Blaise Dupuy (Engineer), Blaise Dupuy (Mixing), Diamanda Galás (Voices), Diamanda Galás (Electronics), Mandy Parnell (Mastering), Blaise Dupuy (Producer), Diamanda Galás (Vocals)