united bible studies

united bible studies ~ i am providence (jellyfant, 2012)

"originally formed as a duo with an unhealthy desire to emulate the Incredible String Band, United Bible Studies quickly evolved into a collective and laid the groundwork for the Deserted Village label and events. since their formation in winter 2001 they have played and recorded sporadically-never settling on one recording method, never settling on one line-up. they show a love of the unadorned beauty of Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs and Vashti Bunyan. sparse folk sidles up to a more melodic take on improvisation and tales of loss and pagan longing abound. If they could exist anywhere, they would be playing in the Green Man when Sergeant Howie arrives..." deserted village

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cubs

cubs ~ the whispering woods (rusted rail, 2011)

"Cubs are a Irish avant garde little mini supergroup, drawn from Englands homebrew underground. Featuring members of United Bible Studies and Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon among others, and guest slots from Cwk Joynes and Plinth's Michael Tanner, The Whispering Woods drinks heavily from English folk tradition, albeit steered in a bucolic atmosphere that recalls British outsiders Movietone. Here, fragile, hesitantly plucked guitars, rough-riding vocal incantations, delicate skeins of Ebow drone, and raspy accordion gather under a Northern Sky. A splendid album of pastoral folk with a late night dreamlike ambience and some intriguing spoken word samples." uncut

todo lo bueno se hace esperar, ¿os acordáis del tacto rugoso de stonewater? 'the whispering woods' sigue siendo igual de bonito, alternando canciones que fluyen naturales como agua del río con breves interludios de inconfundible aroma irlandés, british folk bucólico de la pradera, cielos lluviosos y montañas de verdes aterciopelados, una de las muchas joyas de rusted rail. la última canción, muy hala strana, es un bonus track de veintitrés deliciosos minutos. ñam!

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the a. lords

the a. lords ~ s/t (rif mountain, 2011)

"recorded over then summers between 2000 and 2010, this eponymous lp is the definitive work by The A. Lords, the duo consisting of Michael Tanner and Nicholas Palmer. a lovely five-track ep already appeared in 2006 on the now defunct Barl Fire imprint, and four tracks off that release also made it to this lp, some with new names. six new tracks have been added to fill out the album with more wonderful pastoral folk meanderings.

this is gorgeous music that practically breathes the outdoors, the sunshine, and the Dorset landscape in which it was recorded. a wide variety of acoustic instruments gives each track on the album a unique palette, with many opting for sweet drifting melodies accented with staccato glockenspiel or dulcimer notes, besides the more familiar guitar sound, but also gentle organ drones, bells, toy piano, and the ever-present natural background sounds. a perfect companion to a day in the sun, whether it’s in summer, or a day like we’re having now: a crisp and clear October morning where the sun’s warmth is all the more welcome. calm freefolk at its best." evening of light

"cuando quiero oir música, abro la ventana"

 
foto: emily harriet
 

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plinth

plinth ~ collected machine music (time released sound, 2012)

"Plinth create strange and wondrous music using a collection of calliopes and Victorian music boxes, antique sound makers and wheezing creaking mechanisms from way back when.

and dulcet they are, haunting and mysterious, chiming melodies are laid over the whir of strange machines, it's almost like the soundtrack to some strange mechanical workshop where all the sounds are created via gears, and automatons, a Rube Goldberg like world of contraptions that create melodies, unfurling whirring textures, and the clicking and creaking of clockwork music boxes, the sound of the machines as much a part of the recordings as the music the machines are making. Dreamy and otherworldly, every song here like some old timey lullaby, broadcast via wireless from another dimensions, the sound of faded memories and lost childhoods, soundtracks to dreams and visions of what once was, bells and chimes, tinkling melodies, all wreathed in static and crackle, as if captured directly off the Victrola, or straight out of the music box, recorded onto a wax cylinder and played back by candlelight in the parlor. So lovely." aquarius

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fabio orsi ~ the theft of a rose (time released sound, 2011)

"In this filmic homage to the 1940 Jean Cocteau film, Beauty and the Beast, ambient/drone artist Fabio Orsi has created a dense, moody and melancholic dronework…a 20min+ personal reinterpretation of the Theft of a Rose theme. In a limited edition of just 100 copies, each of these comes with an original polaroid print taken from a still of the film." time released sound

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michael tanner & sharron kraus

michael tanner & sharron kraus ~ in the rheidol valley (morc, 2011)

"As the title of their joint album suggest, this lp was recorded in the Rheidol Valley in Wales. Sharron and Michael took some instruments with them, went for a long walkin the valley, and did some recordings there. This results in a mix of improvisations, songs with a folk structure and some field recordings. The album has a very organic feel to it from start to finish." morc

"Michael and I have just released an album of field recordings  and improvisations we made here in Wales, in the valley behind my home. We sat by waterfalls and in fields with sheep in and played what we felt like playing. We ended up with about an hour of material, which Michael edited into In The Rheidol Valley." sharron kraus

"...a field recording can suggest very obvious geography, a sense of place in the world – a history, even – just with the merest of sounds; a fact which never fails to blow me away." michael tanner (plinth)

a conversation between sharron kraus & michael tanner

 

dibujo: seth neefus

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cubs

cubs - stonewater (rusted rail 3 inch cdr 2007)

"An all-new recording, Cubs is made of members from Ireland's United Bible Studies and others in the Deserted Village collective, a group reliable for a rich, earthen folk and the clearest, boldest of production. Yet unlike familiar UBS releases, 'Stonewater' is defined by a more gentle, intimate presentation and a closeness belied by their four members. The swift plucking and flourish of acoustic guitar heard in opening tracks "Jimjam" and "Cool Filter" illustrate the simple idea of the album, a lullaby of nocturnal faerie-tale - the latter of these tracks inserting additional strings and a wordless, androgynous siren-call. All tracks were recorded in the same sessions last winter with the exception of "Opening Doors", an impeccable live recording featuring flute, accordion, and some glowing, unidentifiable stringed instrument over the standard base of clean, flawless picking. The quite literal "Bottlehum" is a jug-solo segue leading into the shanty-requiem "In Memory of Mariners Lost at Sea", a melancholy collection of (again wordless) voices mourning contently, matched in their sway by a salty accordion. Despite the apparent move inland following the plucky march of "Bijou Banjolin", the spirit of the ghost ship can still be sensed on "Mountain Folk Wandering" (these guys do live on an island), perhaps the darkest track on the disc, textured by accordion, reverberating guitar, and an indecipherable, plaintive voice accompanied by several spooks and their chains." animal psi

absolutamente enamorada. su delicadeza, su profundo aroma irlandés, la inconfundible huella de United Bible Studies, ese no sé qué encantandor que tiene la música de Red Favorite o Valerie Webb & Paul Labrecque, su brevedad, su melancolía, su belleza, su acordeón, su banjo, su flauta.. nueve fábulas que parecen pertenecer a un tiempo indefinido, nueve nanas que hipnotizan y arrullan como el reflujo de las mareas, 'una historia verdadera' contada por the Magickal Folk of the Faraway Tree...o quizá, y no sé porqué, los maravillosos paisajes de 'los inmortales' retratados por The Dead Texan. bonito hasta decir basta

en su página de myspace y en rusted rails podéis escuchar dos canciones