Hrsta's critically lauded debut, L'eclat du ciel etait insoutenable, was released on Fancy records in 2001. Work with Molasses and Set Fire To Flames kept Moya busy through 2001-2004, and he regrouped Hrsta in 2004 to record the band's second album, Stem Stem In Electro, released on Constellation in 2005. This recording featured a large cast of Montreal musicians, with Brooke Crouser (organ, guitar, effects) and the rhythm section of Harris Newman (bass) and Eric Craven (drums) emerging as consistent Hrsta members for studio and live playing.

Hrsta toured extensively in Europe in 2006, with Moya and Crouser forming the core of the touring group, and Crouser establishing herself as Moya's primary writing partner, further shaping the Hrsta sound with her array of acoustic and electric organs and effects. The results of this collaboration can be heard on Hrsta's third record, Ghosts Will Come And Kiss Our Eyes, released on Constellation in the fall of 2007.

Hrsta harnesses traditional and otherworldly sound as Moya sings lyrics cribbed from lost faerie tales in a voice that recalls a more blissed-out Daniel Johnson or a less blissed-out Wayne Coyne. Moya's electric guitar work is unique and recognizable to many from the early Godspeed records - a haunted, reverb-drenched, oscillating siren-sound, guided by a focused and soaring melodic sense.

Eric Craven is half of the duo Hangedup, and has worked extensively with numerous other artists of note, including A Silver Mt. Zion, Tony Conrad, Sackville, Sixtoo, and Mitch Akiyama.

Harris Newman works primarily as a mastering engineer in Montreal. He has released two solo albums of fingerpicked guitar under his own name, and has appeared on recordings by Esmerine, Sackville, Hangedup, and many others.

Brooke Crouser is a member of Jackie-O Motherfucker and Set Fire to Flames. She has toured and recorded extensively with various groups, most notably the Swords Project. ©

Mike Moya, the man from Turin, and Brooke Crouser (23 Oct 06, Luminaire London)

Fancy and Alien8 Recordings are pleased to present the debut of Montreal’s Hrsta. Hrsta (pronounced “hursh-tah”) is Mike Moya, founding member of both godspeed you black emperor! and Molasses, as well as a member of set fire to flames and the Lonesome Hanks. This scintillating release, infused with endless waves of psilocybin pathos, does little to enlighten listeners confronted with the mystery that has enshrouded the name Moya, once thought to be a wayward rail-hopping tomcat. It does, instead, compound the intrigue with layers of hypnotic drones, haunting melodies, beautiful vocals, and streams of bewildering lyrics; leaving us to wonder how long these songs and sounds have been bubbling under the surface.

A guitar player at heart, this multi-instrumentalist has just begun to show the world what can happen when he is left to his own devices. Essentially a solo effort with Moya providing guitar, tape loops, organ, bowed desk, melodica, kazoo, and vocals; this release also features guest performances from Bruce Cawdron (godspeed you black emperor/set fire to flames) on drums, bowed cymbals, and idiophones; Norsola Johnson (godspeed you black emperor/molasses) on cello; Scott Chernoff (molasses) on acoustic guitar; and Fluffy Erskine (molasses) on saw, and bowed cymbals.

A heady mixture of instrumental and vocal tracks bleeding seamlessly into each other. Sad, exotic melodies with disquieting swells of six-string mayhem, creepy outer-worldly drones, volatile clench-teeth vocals and drums that start from nowhere than become immense before your eyes and ears; all this creating an epic swirl of dense, rotting, blissful psychedelia.

Stem Stem In Electro is a gorgeous collection of songs painted in psych-rock tones and timbres, minor-key progressions, and unsettling invocations of haunted transcendentalism. The opening track, with it's trance-like group chorus of "we climb to the light", conjures up a cultish hymn, with Moya's guitar howls and washes underscoring the disquieting downwards chord structure. This sets the stage for "Blood On The Sun", a chilling ballad delivered in Moya's otherworldly voice, like a sedated Daniel Johnson or Wayne Coyne. The trip continues with a delicate instrumental and the tremulous swing of "Folkways Orange". Side two starts with the album's centrepiece, "Swallow's Tail", where a metallic pulse introduces a spooky, magickal romp, channeling the Canterbury spirit of bands like Caravan and Khan. This nod towards 70's-era English prog carries through to the end of the album, terminating in the majestic closing instrumental, with more phantasmic group si