We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

An Erstwisle Alphabestiary: Book One

by Nick Prol & the Proletarians

supported by
Thomas Gelfer
Thomas Gelfer thumbnail
Thomas Gelfer Mind and heart expanding avant-prog that's creatively off the charts but ultra catchy as well. The musicianship is excellent but never overshadows the joy it sounds like everyone had while creating this awesome album. Can't wait for Part 2! Favorite track: Emitones.
Adam Pearson
Adam Pearson thumbnail
Adam Pearson A huge leap forward for weird music and new music alike. I'm now locked in just to know what creature might be lurking next. Kavus Torabi on some spoken bits! Favorite track: Birth Gourd.
Stephen Weigel
Stephen Weigel thumbnail
Stephen Weigel A satisfying blend of quirkiness and strangeness that keeps me hooked and following along! Really appreciate the work put into this amazing album. I enjoy the thick bass lines, sick riffs, disembodied vocals, and spacey guitar licks. It’s hard to choose a favorite track. Favorite track: Jelonomi.
more... more...
/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Each physical copy includes the eye-catchingly curious physical CD and a sumptuous 16-page illustrated book explaining all of the creatures that inhabit the album's enigmatic world. A full multimedia immersive experience!

    Includes unlimited streaming of An Erstwisle Alphabestiary: Book One via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
New Life 03:18
As you see the blinding light Appear in sight You think this might Be the afterlife Well you're both right and wrong at the same time Except you won't be floating with clouds in blue sky It's less an afterlife than a second life Before was "Used To Be" And now's a second scene You won't recognize your own body Or anything else that you see With a gush and a push You see a new light (feeling slimy) The air you breath Fresh air you breath Welcome to your second life Here in Erstwisle
2.
The book that you are holding I have written as a hopefully helpful guide To all the living beings, sentient or not That have come to be known as the "Here Already" Creatures that inhabited Erstwisle Before we arrived All wet and slimy The following are all the "Here Already" I have observed and encountered in my travels of the isle From the Duggers below in the Cragmire to the more mysterious phylum or fauna I've happened upon while out on the Headsea, sailing [Page redacted and removed by the Stead Board of Records. All unsanctioned talk of the Headsea is unauthorized in Stead literature And only to be discussed within the walls of the Catheadral] Knowing the S.B.O.R. that last page will probably be excised upon review But just know that I said a few things about the Headsea you won't hear outside of a pew Before you could become dead Now you're here and "head"'s the new term for second death The sea around Erstwisle Is filled with the second dead Who've become giant heads Floating eternally, Searching for whirlpools To the next life The heads are what you and I will become one day And not the focus of the tome you're currently digesting I hope that you enjoy it thoroughly I urge you to read every word Most carefully Some of these creatures are harmless but some... Are deadly
3.
Apropods 03:04
Pick me up I'm a living thing But we'll get to that later on Turn the page and let's begin With the first creature here within It starts with "A" Have you ever had that kind of friend? Who's silent mostly but then again sometimes Chimes in And he's always right on target Well, that's Apropods These little beetle-like things With mouths on their shells They crawl about the streets of Stead and They chime in when appropriate It's apropos always Hence the name, Apropods A is for Apropods So let's continue without pause now That was "A" Pretty strange, I know But wait 'til you see "B" These things get weirder as we go Take it from me I can tell you wanna turn the page So do it Do it
4.
Birth Gourd 01:43
You just popped on out Of a sphincter spout You're in Erstwisle You feel like a child Please provide me the name you used to be In the "Used To Be" If you're having any trouble understanding me You may have died a baby Or a non-English speaking being Either way I'll alert the Education Sphere You're a new thing now You're a new thing entirely
5.
Cludges 04:29
Like tombstone rows or giant's toes Rocky, bulky and immovable And as far as creatures go... If you have not seen them Well, soon you will They stick out like spikes, you know A "New You" would be best avoiding them Even though they do have souls And there's not a void in them Like boulders by the seaside Overlooking the heads below Suddenly the mountain shifts Over time grassy hills flow Transforming Into a face Well, what do you know? It was there all along in the first place (Their jagged teeth do jut. They do jut.) Masticating like a crusted earthen mandible One of the oddest entries in this manual Crushing and munching the grazing Hildges Painful for a Solver to see this I guess that Cludges are the mountain's mashers Rumbling Tumbling Noshing Nashers Cludges will not budge Even if you shove
6.
Duggers 02:44
Duggers Dig beneath the soil to find Puzzle cubes Then... Take them back To the Solvers in their Puzzle Gardens And they try to solve Them with their Strange machines Oh how I wonder what those strange cubes are... They are so ancient and they're so bizarre Do you remember Rubik's cubes? Well imagine that difficulty times a thousand They're diggin' up the cubes In the Cragmire... Where secrets lie... You better believe That they are Diggin' up the cubes
7.
Emitones 02:57
Do you remember what a parasite looked like under a microscope back in the "Used To Be"? Some kind of geometrical diamond With spider legs and things (Like a drone with a tone, glide about) Well the Emitones are similar In shape but not in size and function They float about the streets of Stead emitting gentle notes instead That signify the coming weather Oh, yes, the weather is decided By the Meteon A dice-like cube that's thrown by phantom hands Then the result is transmitted via spirit waves to the Emitones Scattered about the land You see, the town of Stead itself is living A creature like the rest of these We'll get to that creature later But for now Emitones are the focus of the melodies Emitones Emit. Tones.
8.
If you seek gnosis Seek out the noses That is, the Filnosses They fill the nostrils of their noses With the moss as it decomposes They're all-knowing Everybody knows this If you feel chosen A visit you owe them Filnosses Filnosses! The moss they gather They spread like lather Upon the stones... You know. I'd rather Not go into that part so much Let me tell you about how they touch The laid out moss with their nose tips They make little dots and lines On its surface area not unlike sheet music You see, the noses are in fact... Composers
9.
Golooms 03:02
We've yet to make up words To describe how it feels To stand inside the blur Of the vibrating fields When all alone out there It can spiritually heal The Golooms glow out there And their glow is quite surreal Green and sprouting With fuzzy halos Iridescent like anemones Back in the "Used To Be" We pick 'em, sell 'em On the market streets It's how "New You"s eat It's how Golooms feed The Golooms glow It often shows you where to go This is your home Did you ever believe Could you ever conceive This kind of glow? I know I didn't before But now I surely know I stood out there myself And I saw it glow And did you know? The glow it shows This is my home This now your home Hope you enjoy the glow of the Golooms and what they show
10.
Hildges 02:41
On the path to The Education Sphere They look like steer and should not be feared They feed on crunchy morsels called Ogumbuh Hildges have no known purpose But are a thing of some interest If you consider the fact The Solvers seem to worship them Consider the fact The Solvers seem to worship them Do you remember cows? Well picture them But Hildges are larger and red Do you remember bison? Well, think of them Just larger and red
11.
Intristics 03:50
To travel to and from The isle plateaus high above We load onto Intristics Bipedal, white and intrinsic To all transportation here in Stead They strap above your head And while you’re nestled in what resembles a bed They hover motionless in the dark, purple sky Do Instristics have feelings? Well, my friend, they are living things and If the thing is living the thing is, well, you should treat it as a live thing Intristics are like featherless albatrosses Wings white, except for no wings Just legs that go for miles and miles These legs go for miles
12.
Jelonomi 03:22
I feel so lubricated By the jelly that rises up near my feet I’ve become encapsulated By the jelly that engulfs my whole body I’m a Jelonome We are Jelonomi At the bottom of the Headsea Us Jelonomi do rise We are gelatinous Please do not flatten us It's quite a feat avoiding your feet Flowing and globular The only job we learn is Combing the Headsea seafloor for Rizwees I feel so validated Because you saw me and picked me out for your book Will I be illustrated? If so, do please give me a rather cool look Rise jelly Rise jelly, rise
13.
Kigangs 01:06
Angular Oblong Zig-zag along Underfoot Like a root, twisted Kigangs pick up soot "Like little centipedes they crawl across the ground. Try not to trip over them as you walk around. Strangely enough they move to and fro. Crooked head to toe." Kigangs Step into a crag And your foot will snag It's Kigang Kigangs
14.
Loshnongs 04:56
Solvers with their puzzle cubes Out in their gardens After they're done They shed their robes, revealing Underneath a carapace that's hardened Wrapped around an uncoiled eel thing Oh, so that's what they are Solvers really are just Loshnongs And Loshnongs do retire To little holes in Stead's walls Don't you want to know how they do it? Don't you wan to know what's going on? Don't you want to know the esoteric secrets of the Loshnong? Their secrets are their own And not for us to know But with their true selves shown At least we now know a bit more About them Now what is it with cubes here Have you noticed? How the Meteon was one And now this I sense a strange geometric purpose But after all, mathematical spirits Are the crux of it all And maybe just like Loshnongs And Loshnongs often crawl In a straight line, single file Don't you want to know where they're going? Don't you want to know why they're so long? Don't you want to know the old hermetic knowledge of the Loshnong? The pages now must end But we've only just begun For this is only Book One Half of a whole A-L But the Alphabestiary continues In Book Two....

about

Nick Prol & the Proletarians welcome you to a psychedelic and surrealist world of absurdism and mystery on "An Erstwisle Alphabestiary: Book One"!

Erstwisle... pronounced like "erstwhile" but with the word "isle" in there... a strange, dreamlike dimension, an isle situated smack dab in the middle of the vast "Headsea", an endless body of water filled with giant floating heads. This is our afterlife. It has finally been proven that THIS is where we go when we die, a lone island teeming with enigmatic plant life and creeping creatures. This album is your guide to said isle's flora and fauna. In YOUR world it's Part One of a fun and ambitious concept double album. In Erstwisle, it's the first of a pair of books penned by its foremost creature expert!

An alphabetical bestiary (or alphabestiary), "An Erstwisle Alphabestiary: Book One" takes you through the various beings that inhabit Erstwisle (Book One covers letters A-L and will be released independently prior to Book Two) and explains their unique qualities in a way only the band responsible for the wacky, wild and well-received album, "Loon Attic" can.

Here some kind things some amazing people have said about us:

"Brilliantly bold...and witty too."
-Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine, Solo, etc)

"My brain and heart were improved by listening. Every shadowy corner of this music is populated by fascinating secrets and delicious detail. I'm so glad that Nick Prol and his Proletarians exist."
-Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Devin Townsend, Solo, etc)

"Fucking stunning!"
-Tim Quy (Cardiacs)

We hope that those of you with adventurous and explorative minds with an urge to recapture childhood's sense of wonder, humor and imagination are ready for a truly one of a kind album experience! Every copy of "An Erstwisle Alphabestiary: Book One" comes with a 16-page (!!!) book of illustrations and lyrics to be read while listening to fully immerse you in this strange world we've created.

Featuring guest appearances from Kavus Torabi (Cardiacs, Gong, Knifeworld), Bob Drake (5uus, Thinking Plague), and Thymme Jones (Cheer-Accident)!

Come join us here in Erstwisle, won't you?

credits

released December 16, 2020

The Proletarians are:

Nick Prol - vocals, lyrics, guitar
Ben Spees - bass, synth, backing vocals
Connor Reilly - drums

with special guests:

Dave Newhouse - Horns
Mohadev - stunt guitar
Oliver Campbell - stunt bass, screams
Jerry King - stunt trombone
Jack Tickner - additional stunt guitar
Kavus Torabi - narration
Thymme Jones - narration
Bob Drake - narration

Recorded in Tucson, AZ and Portland, OR 2019-2020.
Mixed and mastered by Ben Spees.
Album art creature model by Isabel Weigand.

Nick Prol & the Proletarians would like to give a big thanks to Gary Maiullo!

This album is dedicated to the memory of Chris Arnold (1990-2020).
See you in Erstwisle.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Nick Prol & The Proletarians Tucson, Arizona

Blending the catchy hooks of pop with the experimental sounds of avant-prog and "Rock In Opposition", Nick Prol & The Proletarians serve to you their own psychedelic bowl of art rock soup they call "Pop in Opposition". Don't mind the flies.

contact / help

Contact Nick Prol & The Proletarians

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like An Erstwisle Alphabestiary: Book One, you may also like: