Not actually a David J solo album but a fascinating collaborative effort, Moon and Serpent was planned and performed for an English underground arts festival in mid-1995. While the credits indicate a separate recording date all together, the liner notes draw a distinction between the music on this disc -- indeed recorded elsewhere -- and the overall performance, which seemingly looks to have been partially recorded live. J himself splits music duties with fellow U.K. musician Tim Perkins, while the vocals and prose for the entire piece comes from past collaborator and longtime Bauhaus/David J supporter and friend Alan Moore. Known predominantly for his inventive, striking comic book work in such classics of the form as -V for Vendetta and -Watchmen, here he creates an extended, mysterious narrative, half rumination and half invocation, delivered in his quick but clear speaking style. His vocals are at times treated or multi-tracked, if anything oddly sounding more than once like what Peter Murphy did in his most extreme moments in Bauhaus. The subject matter encompasses London's history and social geography -- the Kray twins, Jack the Ripper, pagan temples, and more -- to the then contemporaneous collision of a comet with Jupiter, the cultured prose often suggesting the blend of mysticism and urban decay rampant in the World Serpent circle of bands like Coil and Current 93. The atmospheric music runs from the doomily theatrical to the playfully so, from the completely minimal to the rather more noticeable, though knowing who to credit where is a bit hard. While the individual tracks indicate separate pieces were created by J and Perkins, the disc itself is mastered as one overall song; no skipping ahead on this one, it's all one experience through and through. A striking artistic achievement on balance, Moon and Serpent will be of interest to more than just David J fans. ~ Ned Raggett, Rovi