Jocelyn Montgomery

Lux Vivens (Mammoth)
by Angela Dauthi

Strange. I received a slew of so-called “Gothic” material this quarter, but the most “Gothic”-sounding album out of all of them is Lux Vivens. Imagine Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) taking over Julee Cruise’s stuff in Twin Peaks, removing most of the pop elements, and singing in Latin (specifically, the songs of Hildegard Von Bingen, a 12th century German nun). This stuff is as creepy as it is challenging – beautiful vocals over Lynch’s trademark disquiet. A perfect unison between a sensitive (meant in the “I can see the court of the Fair Folk” way) singer and a disturbing (meant in the “I’ve seen this movie 23 times and still don’t know what the hell is going on” way) artist/director/musician/permanent-bad-hair-with-the-weird-voice guy. It’s a keeper.
(101 B Street Carrboro, NC 27510)