caethua/shep and me

caethua / shep and me ~ split lp (lighten up sounds, 2008)

"originally released on cassette in 2008, these fantastic recordings finally get the deluxe vinyl treatment they deserve. these newly remastered tracks reveal a remarkable subtlety, having been previously obscured by poor dubbing techniques and the inherent limitations of the cassette format. all has been clarified.

clare hubbard stays busy with her musical projects ancestral diet and sports, but she might be best known for her folk-based work as caethua. her caethua side is entitled “wrecks and rescues”, and is an epic and dusty side-long track of beautiful creaking folk-craft. in the winter of 2008, clare recorded herself at home in bloomington, in. she delicately layers synth, strings, horns, electronics, percussion and vocals, along with 5 years worth of field recordings taken from the st. lawrence river and her wanderings through swamps, fields and forests. soft tones and organic rustlings blend beautifully with melancholy string plunk and blown-out electro growl to create a brilliantly shimmering psychedelic-folk masterpiece.

shep and me’s side is more firmly rooted in traditional americana folk and blues music, yet still manages to keep itself wedged into a pretty strange corner. all five tracks feature matthew himes collaborating with h. caleb gamble. both sing and play nylon and steel stringed guitars in addition to using tape loops, french horn, lap steel, live percussion, drum machines, electronics and waveform oscillators to present a uniquely twisted vision of contemporary folk music. plaintive and stark gutter-country songs about seasonal shifts and the horrors of these modern times..." time~lag

clare hubbard y matthew himes, personas que se cruzan y hacen cosas tan bonitas como este split...llevo toda la mañana saltando de una canción a otra incapaz de encontrar las palabras para describirlo. era disco favorito sin escucharlo y ahora, junto a 'aren't you ashamed?', es ese disco acogedor al que siempre acudes cuando no puedes escuchar nada más. las canciones de shep and me son emocionantes, sencillas, perfectas, de las de tararear tumbada en la hierba. hay silbidos oklahoma, ladridos, lluvia, ronroneos, mandolinas, banjos, guitarras, fingerpicking con alma y sobre todo esa voz de duende que te arrulla y te transporta y me enamora como nunca: en el poema adaptado de jim thompson y en 'like a dog' (..stop dreaming) dan ganas de abrazarlo. la canción de caethua dura casi veinte minutos, field recordings con lechuzas y grillos y tonadillas 'miles and miles away' grabadas en su casa, en el río de san lorenzo y durante largos paseos por bosques, campos y pantanos. split casero y entrañable como una abuela que hace ganchillo y el gatuso que juega a sus pies con un ovillo de lana. días de cap'n jack, rafi bookstaber, michael tapscott y matthew himes. y 'downbound' en repeat 

fotos: mariana albertario/antes de los bosques, li hui & plakka

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