Whatever Happened To : Hungry Ghosts

A couple of years ago, I stumbled across an amazing album, that changed the way I listened to music. "Alone, Alone" was the second LP from Australian 3 piece Hungry Ghosts and is easily one of the most devastatingly beautiful records I have ever heard.

The band combine traditional music from Asian and Eastern European countries with Parisian folk music and ambient guitar sounds, giving a cinematic desert feel that evokes images of wide open spaces, Western films and dust trail roads. Think film soundtrack musicians Ennio Morricone or Yann Tiersen and you are only getting half an idea of their sound. This is an unique release, and I have never heard anything like it. You can listen to some of their songs here. The title track "Alone, Alone" comes highly recommended, with some of the most amazing guitar work ever commited to record and is "dripping with melancholy". One reviewer has described this album as "...blessed with the ability to utter a million words with a single instrumental phrase and to turn a melancholy passage into a triumphant climax." Listening to songs like "I Don't Think About You Anymore..." it is very hard to disagree with this opinion.

However, the band are as enigmatic as their music and with only one previous album before this masterpiece, there is very little information about them anywhere. What I can tell you is they have practically disbanded, but form very occasionally to perform live. Founding member J.P Shilo did appear to go off the rails and end up in a "black hole". He is now recording again and returning to his interest in Tibetan Buddhism. He has posted some songs on his new myspace site.

But, listen to tracks such as "Nothing Has To Happen", "Remember What It Was Like To Float" and "Trying To Lift A Rock With A Bottle On Your Head" to discover one of the most criminally overlooked acts ever. Listen to some tracks here. You can also read some reviews from the time of the album's release in 2000, here and here