siren, pocahaunted (& robedoor)

siren - living light (buried valley, 2007)

"Buried Valley offers us yet another glimpse into the solo expression of one of the many talented minds behind the booming psych scene popping up in Los Angeles. Under the Siren pseudonym, Bethany of Pocahaunted takes a step back from the duo spirit jams to ride upon a beam of melancholy that is spiraling slowly into silence. “Living Light” relies on a simple palette consisting of Bethany’s lovely voice, a guitar, and plenty of reverb for twenty glorious minutes. Both tracks are like a looped descent into the spirit world tapped by Pocahaunted but approached with much more trepidation and a lot less volume. The A-side, “Feathered Crown”, is a ten-minute beauty to behold, opening with a strong, melodic refrain which emerges a few times throughout the track, then digs in deep, her voice always a lingering presence, ghostly, boring a discreet hole into my psyche through which small feedback lines whistle like wind. My one complaint would be the lack of dynamics in the songwriting. Both compositions are similarly split between a lower movement and a vigorous refrain, often separated by obvious volume shifts. The b-side “Spiral Spell” has a more halting approach to the compositional form, but it works in a similar fashion as the a-side. The arrangements and instrumentation may not be the most engaging, but it seems that these play out like extra layers which serve more to accentuate and frame Bethany’s pristine singing performance. Wordless, absorbing, and exact, her vocals in Pocahaunted were always a large part of the draw, but here, they are fully revealed making this project an enticing avenue for further development of her unique approach to affective chant. Amongst the rising tide of vocally-based experimental music becoming more prevalent by the day, the Siren project definitely keeps a disembodied head above the tribe." foxy digitalis

pocahaunted - moccasinging (not not fun, 2006)

"One last tape to mention before I move onto more accessible shit. Not Not Fun has become one of my absolute favorite labels as of late. They've put out tons of killer stuff in 2006 and this recent tape from Pocahaunted called Moccasinging. This is some magnificent tribal exclamation. This duo of Bethany and Amanda (who co-runs Not Not Fun with Britt from the also fantastic Robedoor) know how to turn a simple freakout jam into something spectacular. Cryptic drums and layer-upon-layer of treated voices fly through the air like ghosts scared of their own fucking shadows. Bits and pieces of keyboard and guitar make their way into the mix, but it's the vocals that really set this shit apart. I love this tape and am dying to hear more from these two. Typically excellent packaging, too." brad rose

"Not Not Fun's newest ancestral spirit team is Pocahaunted, and this sunset-kissed C38 is their first foray outside the inner psychic teepee/sanctum of private dreamsong. So dance round the fire, the war for the plains is ON (yr tape deck). A spectral feather headdress of bone cloud chanting, turquoise noise, ocarina whispers, and trail-of-tears tom-tom tribalism, Moccasinging weaves together a ragged patchwork equal parts mother/earth lamentation, battle prayer, and primitive creation myth. Four tomahawk hymns of buffalo skull sisterhood. Hand-painted tapes in tie-dyed canvas pouches adorned with golden beads and eagle feathers, plus an insert. Limited to 100. Member of Quintana Roo"

pocahaunted & robedoor - mouth of prayer (blackest rainbow, 2007)

"New limited collaborative set from the Robedoor duo paired with west coast all-femme vocal hypnotists Pocahaunted. A little more melodic than earlier Robedoor entries, repeat guitar picking glides over bone-rotting fuzz and coronas of vocal."

"This is an unusually mellow outing for Robedoor, the usual doom riddled atmospheres replaced with subtle stains or taints, a slowly transmutive drone to which Pocahaunted supply vocal tracings and layered guitar loops. Guessing Robedoor are responsible for the general uneasiness that’s threaded through this single track, a bent mirror undercurrent, similar to that psychic nagging you used to get just before a cassette wobbled off into disrepair, slight distorted shapes, cymbal smears, rifts in the lullaby quality. Lovely Native American drums supply a gentle impetus, a heartbeat definition through which the vocals fall, float apparitionally chasing their own tails wailing, whelping, wraithlike shapes that fade slowly out. A beautiful sound that doesn’t over stretch itself during the disc’s 27 minutes and demonstrates an interesting division for Robedoor while furthering Pocahaunted’s ability to invoke the ghosts of the Sioux , Pawnee, Arapaho." rottenmeats

brrr, tres críticas borradas de un plumazo. para una vez que hacía tres de un tirón...agh. no me siento con fuerzas de rehacerlas, así que sólo diré que me encanta todo lo que hacen Pocahaunted, como Siren (proyecto de Bethany) o acompañadas de Robedoor. hablaba de mocasines (si entráis en su página podéis elegir el más bonito), de coronas de plumas, de mantras, de pipas sagradas, de percusiones nativas, de unas Flying Saucer Attack Arapahoes influidas por la inercia de My Cat is an Alien, tan endiabladamente perversas como Silvester Anfang. de la sonoridad de la palabra 'field recordings', de que Mouth of Prayer es como si la Velvet tocase I wanna be your dog a muy baja fidelidad y a muy pocas revoluciones, encerrados en una cueva y arropados por Tara Burke y las huestes de Clay Ruby. hablaba de voces que se elevan sobre las montañas y se diluyen para colarse en tus sueños. no sé qué decía exactamente de Siren, pero recuerdo que se colaba el nombre de Jessica Bailiff, y algo parecido a la capacidad de poder hacer la misma canción una y mil veces y no aburrir jamás.

Pocahaunted - Motherloom (mp3)

Siren - Feather Crown (mp3 sample)

Siren - Spiral Spell (mp3 sample)