microphones in the trees: February 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010

these hands are leaves

1 : fursaxa sunhead bowed
2 : donato epiro these hands are leaves
3 : family elanour bed is green
4 : le devenir animali'd like to be the sun behind willie mc tell
5 : joanna newsomgood intentions paving company
6 : equinox, the peacekeeperif you don't mind, i'm going home
7 : kiwako kanedakumalift
8 : niobeyou have a gift
9 : rauelssonliebre
10 : clogson the edge (feat. shara worden)
11 : jason molina, will oldham, alasdair robertsthe last house
12 : steve gunn mouse of knowledge
13 : muffinwe are the rainbow
14 : salvador crestalas hojas de las hojas
15 : unknown artistchemirocha
16 : egle sommacalbecco d'anatra
17 : vibracathedral orchestrarich witch
18 : volcano the bearbow heavier my lord
19 : tirath singh nirmalaashes mould
20 : aidan bakerliminoid (part ii)
21 : jüppala kääpiökagami hebi (mirror snake)
22 : ous malmerilaulu
23 : drowning the virgin silenceriverman


fotola: lawrence martinez

::: verde que te quiero verde :::

family elan

family elan • bow low bright glow [alt vinyl 2010]

"Fusion is a dirty word, implying clinicism and a dry sense of conscious matchmaking. “Bow Low Bright Glow” is a more a communal excavation and re-presentation of buried European folk and sufi-hearted music than any form of experiment. Family Elan are alone in their field. Here, Chris Hladowski has put together a collection of original numbers, visions created from lost/found tapes and traditional pieces (including a absolutely gorgeous “The BlackPlanets Of Her Eyes”) that are a fitting companion to Family Elan’s “Stare of Dawn” debut.

Alongside Hladowski’s voice, there’s the vocal input of Nalle’s Hanna Tuulikki – a voice as easily capable of gentle Qawwali as it is folk song. This is a record of heavy treble intricacy, Hladowski’s saz and bouzouki playing encompassing drones, folk, dervish progressive work and a woozy shimmer over and through the entwining melodies. Family Elan are more than just a project or a band, Hladowski has endowed the music here with a such a unique voice that shaky shorthand comparisons would be pointless and a short sell. Music that hints at the devotional rarely feels as inclusive, as communal and as enjoyable as this." alt.vinyl

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

guanaco

"debut LP from England's Lex Panayi who also plays in Beggin' Your Pardon Miss Joan, this however is his solo project, which focuses on psychedelic acid drenched folk and dark grey area drones for a monolith landscape. The whole records blends beautifully together to create an excellent album from a relatively unknown artist. This is a must for fans of early Six Organs of Admittance, Cam Deas, Voice of the Seven Woods and such... Paste on cover and insert, edition of only 300." blackest rainbow

Guanaco tiene nuevo disco!. entrevista aquí (grande Lex, por cosas como ésta y por muchas más)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

higuma

"January is always time for new beginnings and sewing the seeds for the year to come and I can think of no better way to start things off than with this massive, dusty blast from San Francisco duo, Higuma. Comprised of Barn Owl's Evan Caminiti and Lisa McGee. Like a phoenix from the shambles, "Den of Spirits" comes from a place buried deep and forgotten. These are sonic explorations steeped in the sound of the earth's core. Caminiti and McGee have concocted an epic brew of dirt-stained drones.

Basic, tribal percussion underpins the scorchers as they soar. Caminiti's exquisite guitar explorations are puncuated by the absolutely inspiring vocals from McGee. Terrestrial choirs never sounded so good...It's a carefully constructed, delicately held-together mini-masterpiece. Don't worry, though, because when you come down, you'll come down gently into a bed of crystal clean air. Stunning all the way." digitalis

Saturday, February 20, 2010

festival sinsal #8 bill callahan

cruzo la mirada con mr. callahan momentos antes de la prueba de sonido, esboza una mueca y su cara dibuja el único registro facial que va a regalar a todo el que se le acerque a menos de un metro. sí, bill está en la ciudad, prepara en la prueba de sonido "blood red bird" o "strayed" y me ilusiono pensando que olvidará los últimos discos y paseará por ese pasado que tanto ha marcado mi vida.
la única vez que vi a este señor en directo fue hace una barbaridad de años, le acompañaba también un baterista aunque aquella vez era jim white, yo tenía incluso pelo, él era el mismo pero sin tantos kilómetros, las canas confirman el poso, bill callahan es el tipo del que le hablaré a mis nietos, como la voz más importante que mis oídos han escuchado nunca. abel decía después de la prueba que se lo follaría, eloy que tras oír "i am a rock, bottom riser" en directo ya podía morir en paz, marga no podría imaginarse una conversación en una habitación a solas sin morir presa del rubor del que se siente minúsuculo ante semejante personalidad. le sigo buscando con la mirada y él sigue en su papel, vestido con camisa blanca, corbata, zapatos y pantalón negros parece un funcionario salido de los comics del seth más introspectivo aunque los calcetines naranjas despisten.
me siento en la butaca y observo la actuación como en una película pendiente de cada gesto, del baile pélvico, del flaqueo de las rodillas, por momentos me parece como clint eastwood, aunque él es harry el limpio y haya cambiado el magnum colt 45 por una gibson les paul que de colt sólo tiene los versos de "let me see the colts". al oír el estruendo de los aplausos tras cada canción me doy cuenta de que me he perdido algo, el paseo por "woke on a whale heart" o "sometimes i wish we were an eagle" me deja en inferioridad, apenas los he escuchado, voy deshojando mentalmente la margarita de canciones esperando por "i was a stranger", "held", "it's rough", "shortdrive", "easily led", "i break horses", "your new friend", "chosen one", "all your women things", "river guard", "teenage spaceship", "truth serum" o "feather by feather" por citar algunas de las canciones que le han puesto tildes a mi pasado. pero el paso de tiempo es irreversible, los himnos ahora son otros, bill no me quiere.
por ahí se cuelan "too many birds", "eid ma clack shaw", "all thoughts are prey to same beast", "rococo zephyr" o "the wind and the dove", himnos ante los que me siento un extranjero sin papeles, aún así quedo presa del embobamiento más absurdo, del más cursi, del que me lleva a decirle te quiero con cada aplauso, con cada sonrisa cómplice. a mitad del concierto abre el baúl de los recuerdos y nos regala una versión de "battysphere" para hacer justicia con los que han ido a verlo sabiendo que son casi veinte años los que lleva este hombre en el cruel mundo de la música, es cierto que la ha rescatado de esa caja vacía donde se guarda el amor, pero ni tiene polvo ni tiene moho, devuelve a la retina un puñado de sensaciones que sólo los que han estado allí sabrán de lo que hablo. enlaza poco después una espiral a medio camino entre sonic youth y la velvet underground para recordar que la familia es lo más importante, y las tradiciones también.
esto se está terminando y me falta algo, me faltan esas canciones que, en bucle, acompañarán mañana por la mañana la crítica, y aunque no lo vea venir, mr. callahan consigue desarmarme y regalarme esos himnos que ahora sí pegan con mis arrugas, mis calvas y mis kilos de más y de menos. que "a river ain't too much to love" era un gran disco lo sabía, pero no tanto. "in the pines", "say valley maker" o "let me see the colts" me han devuelto a la sala moby dick en madrid, al concierto de hace diez años. no consigo dejar de frotar los oídos al escuchar versos del tipo "and it may be crazy, but i'm the closest thing i have", esto se ha terminado y ya me siento bien, bill sí me quiere.
el eco de "rock bottom riser" sigue recorriendo mis venas, las 460 personas que han ido se levantan y se van, presumo un sold out en el puesto del merchandising al que no se acerca, sólo quedan papeles en el suelo, termina de recoger las cosas y prefiere ir a cenar al hotel, nos damos la mano en silencio y dibujamos la misma mueca, se gira y no he conseguido decirle nada porque no hacía falta. nos vamos a cenar luis, fer y yo hablando del personaje, o mejor dicho, de la persona. criticamos que no se implique más, si es que se le puede reprochar algo a quién ha regalado un puñado de postales visuales y polaroids sonoras que muchos tardarán en olvidar. vuelvo para casa pensado en cómo reprocharle algo a quién a veces se siente como la madre del mundo. honey, i love you and that's all you need to know. lo sé bill, yo también te quiero.
"oh to live in the country, with a chicken and those other things, where the hills loping, where the dress and the hair in the river, undulating".

Friday, February 19, 2010

fursaxa

"...following Fursaxa’s role as part of The Valerie Project, a live soundtrack for the 1970 Czech film "Valerie and her Week of Wonders", Tara enjoyed playing with a number of musicians so much she enlisted their help for her new album, Mycorrhizae Realm...Greg Weeks, Mary Lattimore, and Helena Espvall, all fellow Valerians, feature here. Greg recorded the album at his studio; Mary contributes harp on 4 of the tracks found here as well as co-writing ‘Well Of Tuhala’ and ‘Charlote’; and Helena contributes cello on ‘Poplar Moon’, ‘Celosia’ and ‘Ode To Goliards’. It is an exercise in symbiosis." atp

amor eterno a tara burke...qué alegría que después de tantos discos de fursaxa haya llegado el más bonito de todos. well of tuhala, charlote, sunhead bowed (parece árbore acompañándola con la guitarra!), poplar moon, ...

Thursday, February 18, 2010

keijo

"Keijo's songs draw from country-blues sources, as is often the case with his releases, there's a couple of Woody Guthrie interpretations included here. Harmonicas whine and woe, but also keep up the rhythm of keepin' on. In these songs, people get up early and travel in a land "that used to be your land."..." ikuisuus

quiero viajar por carreteras desiertas con songs of luck de fondo, y rambling around en repeat

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

félicia atkinson

"Félicia Atkinson is a sound and visual artist and performer born in 1981 in Paris. She uses lo-fi material to draw, improvise music, make little sculptures… She curently resides in Brussels , Belgium. She has played alone and in collaboration with musicians such as David Daniell, Sylvain Chauveau, Paul Labrecque and Stretchandrelax..

Lakes and losses is her second solo album recorded also at home with harp, guitar, electronics and voice. It's a sad mantra in six parts about the mutation of the seasons and the heart. black cdr, 8 pages black and white booklet -14 x 14 cm booklet cover printed on 250gr curious particle paper, inside on 90 heavy paper" kaugummi

drinking out of the freckled cup

"drinking out of the freckled cup is a project to showcase the beauty of people, light, warmth, color, lack of color, skin, touch, mountains, exploration, and most things in between.
"Your fingers upon by back connecting the dots. Drinking tea out of the freckled cup and waiting for you to come back home. Waiting for there to be a home outside of this one. Keeping warm under white sheets. Wanting to be closer than science will allow us."
Curated by Jocelyn Catterson. Volume One for sale!"

Monday, February 15, 2010

donato epiro

"Over the course of ‘Sounding the Sun’, Italian psych magician Donato Epiro aims his wand in all directions of the acoustical field, doing his best chameleon’s dance with drums, flute, chanting, and strings. An impressive dynamism is in play when Donato takes his bonfire percussion & fluttering raga loops, then swiftly braids them down to stilled passages of minimalist vibration. It’s a blissful abduction of the ear’s attention/perception, harnessed to a pervasive feeling of time running backwards as the album spins forward. A beautiful and unpredictable escape to some far off sunny fields of a magical land long, long ago. Limited edition of 100 hand stamped cdrs with double-sided insert card & color cover in vinyl jacket." stunned records

collage: dona k.

percusiones, flautas, cantos tribales, ceremonias y pajarillos, high wolf, deep magic....con Donato Epiro, que también tiene su propio sello: sturmundrugs

carpaccio magazine #11

"In this issue you’ll find the photographies and illustrations of 32 collaborators from around the world (Valencia, Berlin, London, Israel, Croatia, Georgia, Moscow, California, Melbourne, Taiwan,…): Alexander Kostinskyi, Ana Cabaleiro *coquinete*, Anna Grimal *lagrimal*, Asja Boros, Astrid Andersson, Camila do Rosario, Carla Fuentes *little isdrawing*, Davide Bignotti, Elise Hori, Erin Gilkes, Gabriel Miller, Helen Korpak, Jacobo Medrano, Jessica Polar, Jessica Tremp, Katja Sonnewend, Kirill Savateev, Laura Addari, Lisa *OPPY* Currie, Lucía Franco, Maike Hemmers, Morgaine Faye, Oscar Martín, Rafa Romero, Rebekah Campbell, Ricor, Riki Musafi, Simon Filip and Theo Firmo. And an interview with Levan Kakabadze and another one with Alba Yruela & Rafa Castells.
You can get this Issue through MagCloud. If you’re from outside USA, Canada or UK, just send us an e-mail and we’ll tell you what you could do to get it!" carpaccio magazine

Friday, February 12, 2010

there is a place

01. dreaming my life away ~ best coast
02. dreamers ~ edith frost
03. arabian sea ~ high wolf
04. cholita maria ~ vibracathedral orchestra
05. soft story ~ chris forsyth
06. golden dome ~ alexander tucker & decomposed orchestra
07. wind drone song ~ stag hare
08. rainbow ~ valet
09. coast to coast ~ dirty beaches
10. rambling on my mind ~ keijo
11. lift him up, that's all ~ washington phillips
12. radio flyer ~ mark mcguire
13. memo to my son ~ winfred e. eye
14. what a little moonlight can do ~ billie holiday
15. broken stems ~ the oh sees
16. wild ~ john k.
17. of heavy hearts and pocket books ~ lavendirt
18. sugar fix ~ hungry owl
19. those bedroom eyes ~ john k.

foto: luke byrne

Thursday, February 11, 2010

annapurna illusion

"annapurna illusion starts with epic, ritual ambient from France. Their drones are extremly psychedelic compressedand ethnic like one side of indian ritual music. They begin with a three parted story called "Sumatra" part 1, 2 and 3.
Niagara Falls gives you a special feeling of of their own psychedelic krautrock ideas, filled up with dreamy instrumental parts, combined with their special synergie of human and sytheziser. They start with "Comet Pills" followed by one of my favorit songs at the moment "Traumgekrönt." amid the waves
(cortesía de brontosonix)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

keijo

"Maailma syntyy ('The World is Born') derives from the Finnish cosmogonic myth. The way of singing here is Keijo's adaption of the tradition he had learnt in the mid 1990s in Jyväskylä from Ville Elonheimo (who, by turn, had learnt it from his grandmother). For many years Keijo and Ville performed material influenced by ancient poems, such as this tale of creation.

Yön hetkinä ('At The Moments of Night') is named after the moments when the fragments of it were born, at night one is open and able to hear, when it is possible to hear other ways and other things than the day. The soundscape of the piece is like the night, you swell and churn, and sometimes something solid may come up." luovaja

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

keijo & uton

"space ambient drones meets the blues, simple and out there" om ha sva ha ksha ma la va ra yam

"first duo collaboration of keijo & uton. here is seven songs of droney and spacey blues jams, sometimes far away in cosmos, sometimes rockin' the ground again"

armónicas, palos de lluvia, percusiones, pajarindos...no podemos pedir más, el encuentro perfecto y soñado

foto: eylowrance

Monday, February 08, 2010

annapurna iIlusion

"Annapurna Illusion is still confidential but this is like High Wolf alter ego in a darker / krautrock aesthetic, with previous releases on Earjerk and Reverb Worship before cassette coming soon on Peasant Magik . Here is two long tracks alternating kosmiche synthetizer, psychedelic jams and doooom voice mantras. The other side of the Winged Sun looking glass." winged sun
la mejor definición sería muy winged sun...y eso es, como siempre, el mejor piropo. para muestra los ocho minutos siete segundos de out of mind, !!!. feliz de haber colaborado con la portada

Friday, February 05, 2010

kurt weisman

"Orange is kurt weisman's second album and it is a brilliantly chiseled gem. a beautiful garnet, or perhaps an orange chalcedony. there are traces of traditional norwegian melodies, atonal counterpoint, simple folk songs, new age blues, spacy doo wop, neo-classicism & love songs...kurt lives in a cabin in the woods near putney, vermont. it seems that the quiet, peaceful isolation permeated this music. these songs were ingrained and steeped deeply within kurt's soul (and fingers) over the course of a few years. now he is a mirror reflecting them back to us with love to the universe. Orange is mostly kurt singing and playing guitars but there are tasteful additions of clarinets from robert stillman (horses) and kinetic sparkling keyboards from eliot krimsky (glass ghost) & a touch of other instruments & sounds by kurt. included is a nice insert of a woodblock print of a horse by ben stamper who also helped produce the album." autumn

foto: toby price

puedo confirmar y confirmo que when i saw him with you es una de las canciones más bonitas de kurt weisman e incluso de feathers, y también blueberry song, que me recuerda a kath bloom y loren connors

Thursday, February 04, 2010

drmwpn

"Light your dreamweapon with some of Chicago’s most enlightened Heads. Improv band rocking the outer limits of Quantonia featuring Michael Zerang, Adam Vida, Liz Payne, Sam Wagster, Majahbeen, Steve Krakow, Jim Becker, Jim Dorling, Carol Genetti and Dan Mohr. A galactic transmission from beyond." sloow tapes

foto: jeff luker

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

deep magik / love cult

"Bliss coming to you from solo artist Deep Magic and duo Love Cult. Both sides go to places of utter serenity, using slowly coagulating loops that shimmer into the forefront and slowly drip out and fade into your memory. Deep Magic going with more minimal and traditional instrumentation while Love Cult layers in found sounds and electronic noise into the mix. Originally released on Existential Cloth, now completely sold out." incomplete tales of several journeys

precioso artwork: deep magic (hoy.joy) y love cult (visual cult)

Monday, February 01, 2010

keijo

"Keijo's songs draw from country-blues sources, as is often the case with his releases, there's a couple of Woody Guthrie interpretations included here. Harmonicas whine and woe, but also keep up the rhythm of keepin' on. In these songs, people get up early and travel in a land "that used to be your land." It's a place where luck comes and goes, just like the people that you meet. The girl knows how to hit you like rolling thunder, the workers are left unpaid (the boss ain't), the ones with no work are standing in the welfare line, your "true love" throws you a suitcase and shows you the door, there's working in the country and in the cities, an anonymous wanderer carries the blues wherever he goes...but it's bigger than just being down: you don't see me worrying, 'cos I've got nothing left to lose. That's why we all share the blues." ikuisuus

todas sus canciones podrían dar vida a un western mágico...don't remember me, don't remember me when i'm gone. y tanto que sí, larga a vida a keijo virtanen!