Black Aura

Black Aura was formed in the spring of 1997 as the solo project of Levi Dittebrandt. At first, albums were self released on cassette only in very small quantities every 1-3 months. In the fall of 1998, Jennifer Neslund was hired in as the first full fledged member and co-songwriter. 3 albums followed from the pair, My Filtered Eyes Upon Echoes Gaze (1999), Water Colour Graveyard (2000) and All Of Them Witches (2001). Midway through the AOTW sessions, problems arose between the two and the songwriting was once again Levi's sole responsibility.



By late 2002 Black Aura was again officialy a solo project. 2003 saw the ridiculously limited release of a double album, Parasomnias/Insomnia a very raw, unfinished set of songs split into a disc of electronic minded songs and one of more sprawling, organic compositions (also released seperately with slightly altered track listings).



In 2004 The fourth incarnation of the Black Aura live band was formed and the 18th Black Aura studio album, Dissolution, was released. (Review of Dissolution can be viewed online at http://www.livejournal.com/users/mickmercer/2005/01/20/

written by Mick Mercer for MickMercer.com)

The band rounded out the year by playing a half dozen shows in and around the Seattle area.



2005 saw the release of a very different Black Aura record, Obscured which took an overall lighter approach and focused more on string arrangements bubbling synthscapes and mostly acoustic guitars. Released the same month was a companion disc with a dozen and a half out-takes and would-be B-sides.

(Review of Obscured can be viewed online at

http://www.livejournal.com/users/mickmercer/390503.html

written by Mick Mercer for MickMercer.com and later printed in the online magazine "The Mick")



Panaphobia surfaced at the tail end of 2006 and was made available in 2007. After a rather bleak period, Levi returned with another solo release, the "aruakcalb" e.p. which featured 5 new songs, 2 of which later appeared on the "Atonement Rituals and Suicide Chants" LP which saw release on September 4th 2007. A few odd shows were played, one opening for Frontline Assembly and the DVD, Delusions and Catastrophes, was finally completed (though was never released).



In March of 2008, the 11 year mark for Black Aura, the restructuring of the live band began. Pat Moening was briefly welcomed back on bass and synth. Eli Boardner of Crackula fame was hired in shortly thereafter and was scheduled to make his Black Aura debut at a small warm up gig in a Seattle coffee club. as the story goes, he ran into.legal troubles the evening prior to and did not arrive. Despite the tumultuous times, Levi continued appearing both solo and in shifting 2-man line-ups in the Northwest and moonlighting as keyboardist for The Monthly Cardinal / Malice Of Inanimate Objects.



At the start of 2010, Levi Dittebrandt finally completed The Winter Carnival. It released on February 16th, 2010 and is the first record available as a digital download in addition to the regular cd edition. It is currently available from I-Tunes, CdBaby.com, Amazon and many other retailers.



Currently, Levi is writing and recording material for the next record, Hallucination Phantoms, due January 4th, 2011 as well as working on soundtracks and a secret experimental sound project.



To order albums directly, book or to request a list of available discs not available through retailers, please email at aruakcalb@hotmail.com .