microphones in the trees: christina carter
Showing posts with label christina carter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christina carter. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

christina carter


Release comprises a mini CDr mounted in the back of a copy of a 'Penguin Modern Classics' paperback book - "Jean Rhys - La Grosse Fifi". The book is stamped with the Series name, hand-numbered and wrapped in a tracing paper outer cover with the release title and credits etc.. The CDr is stamped with the Series name.

"A sound report on a selection of Jean Rhys stories"


Es evidente la admiración que muchos procesamos a la obra de Christina Carter y, por suerte, sigue siendo apasionante entregarse a cada una de sus nuevas propuestas. Como podemos leer en la parte promocional anterior, este disco se enmarca dentro de un ámbito literario el cual siempre ha estado íntimamente ligado con sus discos, al igual que la poesía. Pero aquí el recitado y oratoria empleada poco tienen que ver con el spoken word y sus discos a capella, más bien es otra reafirmación a sus recientes trabajos como son los imprescindibles "Imaginee", "Trickster Who is Like God" y el soberbio "Texas Modern Exorcism" lanzados estos años dentro de una serie limitada de su sello Many Breaths. Con "Four Woman's Quartet" nos lanzamos a un abismo madurado entre su voz y suspiros balanceados entre la soledad de esas melodías de guitarra que tanto recuerdan al amor suspendido de Loren Connors y delicadezas sutiles con la armónica que penetran en este corte de poco más de viente minutos conectando con las reflexiones habituales de adentrarnos en un mantra espiritual y una narración que revela como siempre una experiencia incomparable similar a fundir en el deseo espiritual a Tim Buckley con Kath Bloom, Richard Youngs y Brigitte Fontaine, Nico y Mary Margaret O'Hara, etc. Pero si tengo que dar una opinión o pensamiento personal sobre sus discos, lo que viene a mi cabeza es el jazz. Acotando jazz como definición de búsqueda espiritual en un estado de elevado, suspendido e ingrávido y de algún modo, sujeto al cariño maternal de los discos de Alice Coltrane, a notar su voz como el suspendido pálpito de Lester Brown. Navegando por las estrellas de nuevo, en cuyo firmamento abrazamos el recuerdo de Madiba. Llanto en paz.

Friday, September 21, 2012

dredd foole with mv & ee


"Blues Sermon With Congregation is basically a trio set, with Dredd Foole aka Dan Ireton on vocals and guitar backed by Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder in full-on Spectrasound head-fuck mode. Christina Carter also guests on one track, here credited as Christiina Madoniia.  Blues Sermon combines the kind of wood and wire vortices of Alan Silva and the Revolutionary Ensemble with those amazing post-Starsailor/Buckley vocal flights, keening in a high cosmo style that is just impossibly beautiful. With free folk the emphasis was always on the free part of the equation, an improvisatory stance that was lost on most beards but this is the absolute apex of that approach, think Robbie Basho’s spine-tingling take on “Salangadou” as played by Don Cherry’s Organic Music Society and with Pat Kilroy on form-destroying raga guitar and feedback visions. Matt & Erika generate some of their most F/X heavy sonic environments, Christina Carter ascends through visions of atonal vocal/guitar bliss and the trio rip through a take on Robert Johnson’s “Stones In My Pathway” that sounds like it is being broadcast over centuries via Sun Ra’s vision of tomorrow in yesterday. A stunning avant/folk/psych private press masterpiece in an edition of only 400 copies. Highest possible recommendation!" volcanic tongue

creo que a partir de ahora, cuando lea la palabra 'spectrasound' inmediatamente pensaré en 'blues sermon with congregation' y especialmente en el hechizo hecho canción llamado 'oro is god', cuya chriistina madoniia no es otra que nuestra querida christina carter. es tan fácil entender el entusiasmo de david keenan y heather leigh murray y que sea 'tip of the tongue' y tan difícil explicar el porqué... blues sermon no es ese 'otro' disco de mv & ee, es folk espectral de la pradera extraído directamente de las raíces de child of microtones, jazz, blues pantanoso, avant, experimental y tradicional, demasiado 'demasiado' para poder describirlo. sólo puedo recomendar de corazón este encuentro casi fantasmal entre dredd foole, erika elder, matt valentine y christina carter, que, a pesar de no ser un disco fácil, es de los que hace honor al tópico y consigue que cada nueva escucha sea un descubrimiento de nuevas sensaciones, tan creativo y rico en matices como clásico y fascinante. todo encaja a la perfección en un encuentro improvisado y lleno de misterio en el que sólo faltaría otro ser de otro mundo para que fuera más que perfecto: keijo virtanen y sus rambling boys. y además está editado en humito, el sello de rafi bookstaber.

out of stock ~ download

Friday, August 31, 2012

christina carter / josephine foster


In the words of  Christina Carter: "It is a sixty plus minute song, and it is definitely a song, not a piece. It is like taking a six-minute song and stretching it out for an hour with compositional coherence intact. In other words, it isn’t like a six-minute song with a 54-minute jam stuck on the end." The low E string thrumbs for the whole 60 minutes like a heartbeat. It's like dipping into someone else's memory for an hour. It's a whole other world. One of America's greatest living artists. Hey America, remember art?" amoeba

"Christina Carter in full-on tonal ascension mode"

entrevista con christina



"A story within a story, Blood Rushing is a glimpse into the world of Blushing, a heteronym of the artist Josephine Foster. A rock-ballet chanté, the music is set to a Pueblo drum's metapulsing Pan-American heartbeat. ...Josephine's voice is not metaphoric. Nor is it a spell. Blood Rushing is as native as my flesh and yours." Natasha Pradhan


madre mía, qué dos discos. blood rushing es un clásico lleno de canciones clásicas, el mejor disco del año, de cualquier año, es difícil encontrar canciones tan bonitas como 'waterfall', 'blood rushing' y 'o stars'. y el de christina carter tiene el buen gusto de siempre y unas melodías que, mmmm, la hace simplemente irresestible. 'trickster who is like god' es un larguísimo mantra con cambios de melodía y la voz inmaculada y dulce de christina que suena como una caricia, que crece y decrece y trasmite una agradable sensación de bienestar flotante, una burbuja de calma y placidez,... todo lo que estamos acostumbrados a recibir de una mujer irrepetible que vive dentro de sí misma, única en su especie, que nunca decepciona, 'a whole other world'

Sunday, June 17, 2012

tom carter appeal



"17 June 2012: While on a tour of Europe with Charalambides, Tom Carter was hospitalized in Berlin, Germany and has been in intensive care for over two weeks. He is currently being treated for serious complications of pneumonia. At this time, there remain many uncertainties regarding his condition, which continues to be variable and evolving. Hospitalization and a projected recovery could last at a minimum many weeks and possibly months.

The consideration and support that has already been expressed, during this time, is of great comfort to Tom’s family.

Many concerned individuals have asked about sending cards and flowers, all of which is greatly appreciated. However, the intensive care unit is not equipped to accommodate gifts. We will be sure to let everyone know if and when the hospital is able to do so. Additionally, Tom is currently unable to receive phone calls or visitors. Many individuals have also inquired as to what other assistance they can provide. Due to the severity of Tom’s illness, his hospitalization away from home, and the projection of a possible prolonged recovery, Tom and his family will certainly incur a more than significant financial burden. There will be medical bills as well as possible travel and housing expenses. It is thought that a considerable portion, if not all, of Tom’s recovery must take place in Berlin. 

A fund is being established to receive donations to offset these costs. Information on how to contribute will follow as soon as it is available. Tom Carter’s generosity and modesty as a musician and friend, coupled with his dedication to a vision of spiritual music as transformative force, provides us all with a rare example of creative and personal possibilities intertwined. Let us keep Tom, whom we cherish, in our thoughts and attune our minds to his full recovery.
Please forward this notice to anyone who may be concerned. We will post updates here as more information becomes available. 

Volcanic Tongue is donating all proceeds from sales of Charalambides and Tom Carter and Christina Carter releases to Tom Carter and his family. Blackest Rainbow Recordings have also very generously offered all their available releases to VT with all proceeds going direct to Tom’s fund. Click the links below to browse all the releases that are part of the appeal." volcanic tongue

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

christina carter


"a new 7" by Christina Carter which serves as the opening ceremony for our new 7" series of solo performances 'Alone Together'. A loan voice, the tangled bells, the caw of a crow, a plane passing overhead… A fortuitous overlapping of sound moments, trapped in amber by Christina for us to bear witness. Much like her early cdrs 'Hand & Mind' or 'Human As Guitar', 'Obelisk/Tholos' is an act of white witchcraft, a healing spell that defines time with the merest of tools: bells, voice, a microphone…" emerald cocoon

foto: searching for the light by misha de ridder

Monday, August 23, 2010

christina carter / islaja

"Limited edition of 100 copies split 7”, only officially available direct from the label. Christina’s side is one of her weirdest tracks, a ‘protest’ song scored for multiple overdubbed voices that move from catatonic Jandek-isms through haunted choral styles. Islaja contributes a spare, intimate vocal piece with a twisted folk melody illuminated by smears of backing vocals." volcanic tongue

foto: lauren treece

Thursday, May 27, 2010

bronze horse


"this is a self-released debut vinyl record made up of music for 4 and 6 steel-stringed guitars and one piece for piano. no vocals… but if you listen close… recorded in ohio, new mexico and montana between 2007-2009." time~lag

"When we first heard a preview of this album a few months back, everyone was floored. It came out of nowhere, the work of one Zachary Hay. The atmosphere was immediately striking. It spoke of empty rooms and secret lives, of the backroads of America, as eloquently as the first cd-r's from Ilyas Ahmed or Jandek’s acoustic recordings. Some of the music could be vaguely described as American Primitive but it was reflected through an odd, almost Corwood-style aesthetic. The solo piano piece is especially poignant, the perfectly simple technique of Vikki Jackman or Christina Carter put to the service of a lonely winter hymnal. Really, this is a magical record, with an atmosphere that would stop time. If you’re a fan of the real American Primitive, a tradition that includes Jandek, Charalambides, Matt Valentine, the Tommy Roundtree/Arian Sample axis and Loren Connors as much as Jack Rose and John Fahey, then this is the perfect postcard from oblivion...A classic out of nowhere underground side." volcanic tongue

discos perdidos, discos que aparecen de la nada y tienen algo especial, como trees, chants & hollers, boots, c.c., snake & remus, long goodbye o cualquier nota musical relacionada con jewelled antler. nº1 en directo pone los pelos de punta, e incluso me recuerda a valerie webb & paul labrecque

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

christina carter

christina carter - texas working blues (blackest rainbow 2008)

"Texas Working Blues is an impressive coup for the burgeoning Blackest Rainbow cassette / CD-R label. It might well seem like over-the-top claim to make having only lived with this tape for a short while, but this is Christina Carter’s finest solo material yet. It doesn’t top the enchantment of the Carter/Murray/Carter Charalambides line-up, it’s too song-based for that comparison, but it isn’t too far in the wake of it.
Despite the title and the Texan-referencing liners, there doesn’t feel like there’s a profound Texas influence in the expected sense of the word. It’s more in the way she interleaves sun-fried guitar and the vocals-through-haze shimmer. “Bird’s Nest” makes this intangibly explicit, lost somewhere between Autumnal wanders and summer smog. The jangle of quiet guitars and breathy vocals is offset with lead guitar parts that sound like her Charalambides partner Tom Carter may not responsible for the most skyward parts of their chemistry. All the usual Christina Carter superlatives apply here, only tenfold – gorgeous tunes, dust rising in sunshine sounds, clipped notes of honeyed 70s psych and with enough disassociation to keep it non-pop. There are flavours of Richard Youngs’ primitive-weird-traditional “Autumn Response” vibe across “Texas Working Blues”. The mix of weird sidereal guitar sounds with the gentle feedback lulling and wire-crawling electric lead lines gives Carter a perfect balance between worlds. 10/10" scott mckeating (foxy digitalis)

seguro que Kath Bloom y Loren Mazzacane Connors tienen algo que ver en el sonido de de Texas Working Blues, deliciosa psicodelia de atmósfera tejana. para mí lo más bonito de Ms. Carter. es tan prolífica que me daría pena que este disco se perdiese como uno más.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

christina carter

"A concept album. Interpretations of seventeen jazz and show tune 'standards', mostly solo voice. Recorded in two late night sessions, impromptu melodies were created for classic lyrics, all telling the story of 'the end of a love affair'. Four of the songs feature multi-tracked resonator guitar accompaniment." many breaths
"Latest dazzling jewel in Christina Carter's growing discography. All covers of standards and ballads, and aside from a couple of acoustic guitar numbers, all solo voice. Melt. Hand made addition of 80 copies. Terrifyingly good." root blog

charalambides / pocahaunted

"charalambides side is an extra pristine hi fi slice of harmolodic vox/gtr layering recorded live in basque country in 2007. i've been on the farm so i haven't heard the pocahaunted side, but based on live evidence it's got to be great. this is part of the bored fortress split 7". wholly other
"Charalambides venture even further into Lilith Fair terrain, guitar outlining the blues around its Rubenesque form. Can’t hang. Pocahaunted, who I’ve not heard before this, offer up a likable loose psych drone, building up a nice atmospheric head of corroding guitar before the big, booming rhythm section lumbers in. Can’t argue with it; it’s an agreeable, spaced-out late evening exploration into the sunset. Sounds like the first Bardo Pond single, almost. Looks like subscriptions are still available if you wanna get in the grind this year." dusted

Thursday, December 27, 2007

christina carter & pocahaunted

"christina carter has trekked around this country (and planet) countless times in the past decade plus, both by herself and with tom carter in charalambides, and the constant gypsy-drifting has weathered her song-stories down into spare, spiral reflections on life, death, and afterlife. here she lays down four perfect vignettes of acoustic guitar pattern, softly sung desperation, and dangerous intimacy. sisters-with-voices pocahaunted handle the b-side, and their two tracks span the psych-ward spectrum from doomy warpath exile to octave-climbing estrogen ecstasy cloud-tripping. both were recorded by bobb bruno at eagle rock hq. summer '07 and cling like cotton to the memory banks. marbled-peach vinyl lps in matte jackets with hooded/devoted artwork by carrie dietz. edition of 500." nnf

la voz de Christina, de coral eclesiástica y virtuosa, es lo primero que se oye en este encuentro soñado. sin salidas de tono, sin sobresaltos, sin una nota más alta que la otra, narrando más que cantando al estilo de un sedado David Tibet, sus cuatro canciones son como un viaje pausado donde destaca la preciosa 'aging'.

y Pocahaunted siguen haciéndome feliz con todo lo que editan, por pequeño que sea: singles, colaboraciones, proyectos paralelos o canciones sueltas en recopilatorios. voces atmosféricas y narcóticas, ritmos opacos y producción bajo mínimos, sonando siempre como si vinieran del más allá. 'silk fog traveller', empezando por el título, significa tanto que me quedo sin palabras.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

the bastard wing

"Debut recording from this new group featuring Christina Carter of Charalambides and Andrew McGregor of Gown, last heard together on their duo split with My Cat Is An Alien. A slow storm of delayed/reverbed guitars marching towards an ever-receding horizon with some beautiful vocals and songwriting from Carter that combines high, acid folk stylings with a heavy, psychedelic atmosphere and Haino-esque shots of gothic electricity."
"...recorded during the winter months of 2005 in Western Massachusetts, Carter and MacGregor approached the album like a long-distance, it’s-in-the-mail collaboration, though in reality recording their parts across the hall from each other. Thematically, Crystal Thicket treads familiar ground for a Carter record: past life regressions, natural birth, growth, erosion, decay. Musically, however, there’s something new going on here. Imagine ’70s nostalgia, soul guitars and Studio 54. In other words, imagine Carter’s first pop album."
 

Sunday, August 13, 2006

charalambides

en Glowing Raw Christina toca la guitarra acústica y canta, Tom hace lo mismo y le añade un saxo, campanillas, un piano harp ...en Emerald Message se repite el discurso pero acompañado de órganos y guitarras eléctricas. parece mentira que canciones como 'Power Carry Me', 'Swimming Pool', la acústica 'Curse of the Dust', que es como una versión de John Fahey pasada por el filtro élfico de The Iditarod, 'Dissapear into the Sky', Ben Chasny reencarnado en Tom Carter (esa voz...), la deuda espiritual y gospel de 'Give me Jesus', que es Mimi Parker en el cuerpo de Christina, o el influjo de Black Forest/Black Sea y Six Organs of Admittance en la preciosísima 'Do You Believe' (no hay palabras..)...como decía, parece mentira que todas sean material inédito de hace más de diez años de 'Houston', 'Internal Eternal' y 'Drilling the Curve'. menos mal que los mensajes esmeraldas, las revelaciones, las piscinas, los árboles caídos y las dos portadas pintadas a mano por Christina no han caído en el olvido. una apuesta menos convencional donde el estilo de grabación y la atmósfera ya no son superadas, para bien o para mal, por las melodías celestiales y perfectas. los Charalambides más Charalambides...

'Another new and equally jaw-dropping collection of archival material from the duo of Tom and Christina Carter with one track from the first trio line-up that also included Jason Bill (now of Migrantes). A huge amount of sonic territory covered here, featuring 1998 material drawn from the original Houston album sessions as well as tracks from late 95, unreleased material from 95's Drilling The Curve sessions and late 95 material from an aborted Siltbreeze album. Tom is on vocals, electric and acoustic guitar and saxophone, Christina on vocals, organ and guitar and Jason on acoustic guitar. Hand-numbered edition of 250 copies in beautiful individually painted hand-made sleeves.'

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

eastern fox squirrels

Eastern Fox Squirrels es para mí una de los discos más bonitos que ha hecho nunca Brad Rose. aquí están las entrañas de The North Sea y The Juniper Meadows, volcánicas, fulgurantes, brumosas, apacibles (como Hours, el momento más dulce del disco). lo mismo pero distinto, incorporando saxos y trompetas, prados de guitarras acústicas y flautas exóticas, manteniendo largas conversaciones con los árboles y las mariposas, con ardillas locas y ardillas lúcidas, advirtiéndonos que no vayamos a los bosques de noche. todas las canciones arropan y adormecen, y su enorme poder evocador convierte nuestras cabezas en pantallas llenas de paisajes, ambientes e historias. no sé si mis elogios vienen contaminados por la magia de los mismos músicos del proyecto pero...esto es una maravilla

"Dream Magazine has come to the same conclusion as I: Brad Rose does not sleep. He can't possibly. Here is a man who runs two labels (both highly prolific), an e-zine, blog, podcast, and who knows what else, and still manages to both work and be about half a dozen bands. He seems a one-man jewelled antler (in fact, he's revived their old e-mail group!), especially when it comes to pioneering some truly innovative and beautiful new groups.

Eastern Fox Squirrels is a collaboration between Brad, his wife Eden and Robert Horton. Along the way they are joined by the talents of Tom and Christina Carter (Charalambides), Dan Plonsey (a player in the company of Anthony Braxton and Eugene Chadbourne) and Jason Bill (Charalambides, also recording with Jack Rose.)

Sonically, Eastern Fox Squirrels has a varied pallet. Like the Jewelled Antler folks, we have bouzouki, glockenspiels, bowed banjos, weird exotic flutes and who knows what else being used to great effect. The results being very much like what you'd expect; experimental but with soft, round edges and nice, nearly ambient dirges that feel welcome but really aren't normal." lvd

Hours (con Christina Carter)

Saturday, April 15, 2006

christina carter



ella y su guitarra, nada más. Lace Heart sigue el camino que había iniciado con Andrew McGregor en la serie de My Cat is an Alien, From the Earth to the Spheres, y al que seguirían Human as guitar y We've, disco a medias con Gown (aka McGregor). se muestra mucho más humana y terrenal que cuando todavía era la esposa de Tom Carter. a excepción de Mimi Parker, no hay muchas voces como la suya, capaces de hacer de la somnolencia algo tan reconfortante...como esos estremecedores e hipnóticos minutos finales de Walkin on the Sand.

(a falta de alguna muestra de Lace Heart, una de las últimas canciones de The North Sea: take it from me, brother moses . "take it from me, brother moses / take my sins away from me...aleluia") "¿se editará algún día? quién sabe...". y tres canciones de Living Contact: Silhouette, Going Down y Major)

Brand new album from Christina (Charalambides) that consolidates the spooked overdubbed form first plotted on Human As Guitar. Her guitar playing here veers away from her earlier single-notes-dropped-into-deep-black-space approach and instead focuses on drugged, metronomic chords and weird inverted blues runs over which overdubbed/reverbed vocals cycle like sad constellations. Beautifully atmospheric songs and another classic instalment of brain-gripping Jandek/Haino-style late-night soul stasis. A comparatively hi-fi recording from Christina too. Every copy individually hand-made, painted, signed and numbered in a limited run of 300 copies. Highly recommended. Volcanic Tongue

Saturday, April 01, 2006

charalambides

hasta ahora sabíamos de Tom y Christina Carter que en el reino del folk primitivo, místico o psicótico podían, por bagaje, caminar con la cabeza muy muy alta. desde el lejano 'our bed is green', autoeditado en cassette en el año 92 a través de su sello Wholly Other, las noticias sonoras de la pareja Carter venían siempre envueltas en drones, pulsaciones minimalistas y trasteos que como los coros, parecían vivir en una súplica permanente. un silencio bizarro que no conseguía conjurar el bien y el mal, únicos aunque plurales en la singularidad, parecían ser dueños en exclusiva de cadencias disonantes que les permitían manejar, como pocos, el sonido dentro de la oscuridad, apuntalando siempre la sensación de contradicción. la nota de prensa de 'joy shapes' hablaba en 2004 de un exorcismo visible en canciones como 'here not here' (here is here / here is not here / the rain falls / and the sun shines / the rain shines / and the sun falls) , todas esas contradicciones, la sensación de vivir en un fuera de juego existencial permanente como parecían decirnos en 'unknown spin' y todas las nubes negras que les amenazaban se han disuelto definitivamente. en 'a vintage burden' el negro no se ve, apenas se intuye, se siente porque existe y es real pero su protagonismo le ha dejado paso a una paleta de colores que, ahora sí, describe paisajes bonitos con todas las letras. abre 'there is no end' y sin apenas darnos cuenta descubrimos que a Chritina Carter le cabía una Mimi Parker dentro. Siguiendo las comparaciones con los luminosos Low de the great destroyer en 'spring' incluso hay cantos a una vida que pone los pelos de punta (go outside / sky is blue / follow stars / love is in the air / let it shine ) , 'dormant love' puede ser perfectamente la canción más evocadora en lo que va de año y tanto 'black dead blues' como 'two birds' -con sus 17 y 12 minutos respectivamente- demuestran que en el firmamento guitarrístico de Tom Carter también tienen cabida la sensualidad y el erotismo. cierra 'hope against hope' y queda la sensación de que este es, con diferencia, el disco más precioso y cósmico que han parido los Carter, y que si logras llegar a él, no querrás salir. maravilloso.

rafa

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

christina carter & andrew macgregor / my cat is an alien

El primer volumen de la serie From the Earth to the Spheres de los hermanos Maurizio y Roberto Opalio (My Cat is an Alien) tuvo como protagonista a Thurston Moore (el más caótico y extraterrestre) , le siguieron Thuja, Jackie-o Motherfucker y Jim O'Rourke.


Por fin, y tal como estaba previsto, le llega el turno a Christina Carter (Charalambides, Scorces) acompañada por el bajo y las voces de Andrew MacGregor (Gown). Cánticos y repeticiones de una misma nota de guitarra por parte de Christina, la respuesta de Andrew al bajo y con idénticos cánticos que se superponen y se complementan, como si estuviéramos asistiendo a un íntimo diálogo de enamorados. Saben lo que piensan uno del otro en ese justo momento y por eso les sale el volumen más humano y terrenal de todos. Por su parte, My Cat is An Alien se encargan de la cara B, el círculo de la vida y la muerte, veintidós minutos de mantra celestial y posiblemente lo más melódico y hermoso que haya salido hasta el momento de sus antenas. Casi tanto como esa hoja sobre fondo violeta de la portada...obra como siempre de Roberto Opalio.