Black Ships Ate the Sky

Black Ships Ate the Sky is a 2006 album by Current 93. The album features numerous guest vocalists, such as Antony Hegarty, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Marc Almond, and Shirley Collins. It features nine versions of the 1763 Methodist hymn "Idumæa", with lyrics by Charles Wesley^[3], each featuring vocals by a different artist. The album was issued in digipak packaging, with a 56 page booklet containing liner notes, lyrics, photographs, and credits.

In order to assist with funding for the album, customers were able to pre-order a copy. These 'subscribers' received a mention in the liner notes, as well as a limited edition extra CD, entitled I Am Black Ship, consisting of alternate versions of the tracks from Black Ships Ate the Sky.

The track "Sunset (The Death of Thumbelina)" was featured on the National Public Radio program All Songs Considered on August 10, 2006.

Track listing

Black Ships Ate the Sky

1. "Idumæa" (Vocals: Marc Almond) – 3:22
2. "Sunset (The Death of Thumbelina)" – 3:18
3. "Black Ships in the Sky" – 3:38
4. "Then Kill Cæsar" – 3:58
5. "Idumæa" (Vocals: Bonnie "Prince" Billy) – 2:42
6. "This Autistic Imperium Is Nihil Reich" – 4:03
7. "The Dissolution of the Boat Millions of Years" – 3:57
8. "Idumæa" (Vocals: Baby Dee) – 4:19
9. "Bind Your Tortoise Mouth" – 2:30
10. "Idumæa" (Vocals: Antony) – 2:02
11. "Black Ships Seen Last Year South of Heaven" – 4:07
12. "Abba Amma (Babylon Destroyer)" – 3:19
13. "Idumæa" (Vocals: Clodagh Simonds) – 2:35
14. "Black Ships Were Sinking into Idumæa" (Vocals: Cosey Fanni Tutti) – 11:05
15. "The Beautiful Dancing Dust" (Vocals: Antony) – 0:57
16. "Idumæa"(Vocals: Pantaleimon) – 3:06
17. "Vauvauvau (Black Ships in Their Harbour)" – 4:41
18. "Idumæa" (Vocals: David Tibet) – 1:50
19. "Black Ships Ate the Sky" – 4:20
20. "Why Cæsar Is Burning Part II" – 2:48
21. "Idumæa" (Vocals: Shirley Collins) – 2:42

I Am Black Ship

1. "Eaten Sky" (Instrumental Introduction)
2. "Idumæa" (Alternative Vocals: David Tibet)
3. "Black Ships in the Sky (alternate version)"
4. "The Dissolution of the Boat Millions of Years"
5. "South of Heaven (Instrumental Edit)"
6. "'Prototypes' Outtake"
7. "This Autistic Imperium Is Nihil Reich (alternate version)"
8. "5 Hypnagogue 5 (alternate version)"
9. "'Pale Sky' Outtake"
10. "Black Ship Skips to Armageddon"
11. "I Am Black Ship"
12. "Idumæa" (Alternative Vocals II: David Tibet)

Black Ships Eat the Sky

In December 2006, Current 93 released an "alternate version" of the album titled Black Ships Eat the Sky. This limited edition record features different versions and a different mix of the album, which Tibet described as "far more intimate and more emphatically acoustic than the original version." The songs of Black Ships Eat the Sky have the same titles (unlisted on the CD cover itself - only available online) as their …Ate the Sky counterparts, with the exception that track 20 is titled "Why Cæsar is Burning Part I".

References

External links

• Durtro shop