HUNGRY GHOST

In Tibetan Buddhism, a "hungry ghost" refers to someone with an insatiable yearning for information, stimulation and experience; a person who is always searching without rest. In many ways, this is the true of Hungry Ghost, whose iconoclastic post-ambient music reflects its creators' drive for new experiences and truly challenges listeners. Formed in 1994, the group has recently released Sugar Skulls, their first album for Tone Casualties.

While the media has described Hungry Ghost as an ambient/free noise/trance/industrial group, the band shies away from pigeonholing themselves. Hungry Ghost sees the debate over musical genres and trends as absurd -- the group simply thinks theirs is a lovely sound. This philosophy is evidenced by the pseudonyms used by the members of the group: Bhopal, Cactus, Ulbrecht and Miscreant.

The story behind the release and the group is filled with coincidence. Cactus and Miscreant had known each other long before forming the group, but only after beginning work on the clips for Sugar Skulls did they discover that they were both born on the Day of the Dead, November 2, in 1964, within five minutes of each other. (Sugar skulls are ornaments made for smashing during Day of the Dead festivities.)

Hungry Ghost's sound demonstrates the group's penchant for things dark and moody and their approach to recording is unique. Sugar Skulls was recorded live and the sounds and textures were largely improvised, edited and assembled into larger collected works that ultimately makes for a surreal, cinematic listening experience.

Sugar Skulls is an engaging pastiche of sound, blending atmospheric keyboards with an undulating stream of percussion and haunting mutated speech samples. Hungry Ghost has begun working extensively with film, video and computer art as an extension of their musical art. In addition, the group is participating in the new Galivant Media World Wide Web site using their sound and imagery.

The American Music Press described Hungry Ghost's sound as, "the mix of acoustic and electric worlds creates an atmospheric world that is at once lulling and engaging." The group is firmly committed to an open interpretation of the music of Sugar Skulls , a record that is simultaneously meditative, ethnic, urgent and spooky.