the blithe sons

the blithe sons ~ we walk the young earth (family vineyard 2003)

"The Blithe Sons are the duo of Loren Chasse and Glenn Donaldson. Compiled from performances that took place under a creek bridge in San Gregorio on sea cliffs in the Marin Headlands. With acoustic guitar, harps, bells, harmonium, gongs submerged in a creek, cymbals, vocals, banjo, birds, pipes, bell-blocks, drums, branches and the location itself as an instrument, these album weaves minimalist hymns with stark drones. The Blithe Sons conjure an imaginary wilderness through the sounds made within these mysterious locales, combining Chasse's leanings towards tones and percussive textures with Donaldson's folk-inflected melodies" family vineyard

"...But, what about the true meaning of the 'Jewelled Antler'?

Loren Chasse: "The name came up spontaneously one day, while Thuja was playing. It stuck around in our thoughts and appeared later on as a title for a song. This didn't quite seem to fulfill the potential of this image, and so when Glenn and I decided to begin a label there was the Jewelled Antler, waiting as the perfect mascot for our imagined musics." perfect sound forever

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the blithe sons

the blithe sons - the great orthochromatic wheel (family vineyard lp 2008)

nuevo disco de Loren Chasse y Glenn Donaldson después de casi cinco años, y reedición de la cajita de cuatro cd's de The Jewelled Antler Library, una de esa ediciones originales cuyas ventas en ebay se disparan hasta $350...

"The Great Orthochromatic Wheel is The Blithe Sons first full-length release since 2004. In the years since the California duo of Loren Chasse and Glenn Donaldson may have traversed poppy fields and swam to aqua cities though mostly they've remained active with their Jewelled Antler offshoots: Ov, Of, and Child Readers (Chasse) or Skygreen Leopards and Flying Canyon (Donaldson) and both in Thuja.

These five songs combine nature's melodic pull and minimalist songs forms summoned by a miniature orchestra of eclectic instruments. Each LP side flaunts a different depth of the Sons, one recorded outdoors and the other inside. The indoor set consists of slow-motion ballads built on hymn-like organ, nylon string guitar, analog drum machine & stark percussion. The outdoor side offers a web of exotic wind-instruments & battery-powered electronics reverberating in cavernous hall cut in the side of a sea-cliff." family vineyard

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dredd foole

  dredd foole - kissing the contemporary bliss (child of microtones 2005; family vineyard 2008)

"For over 30 years troubadour wailer Dan Ireton, aka Dredd Foole, has called upon the spirit of 78 shellac blues n' psychedelic Stooges n' Velvets to fuel his guttural, pure soul ethos of the song. Whether solo or leading mass, Foole hints at the classic forms of Blood On The Tracks and the celestial fug of Sun Ra's third-eye vision to create an approach untraveled yet increasingly influential (see: Six Organs of Admittance, Sunburned Hand of the Man).

Produced in multi-dimensional spectrasound by Matt Valentine, Kissing The Contemporary Bliss spans 50 miles of elbow room and kicks up the most outward bound and staggering approaches to Gus Cannon's "Walk Right In" and Robert Johnson's "Stones In My Passway" while offering ear-popping originals colored by Erika Elder's jug blowin' and Coot Moon's ecstatic, reverb dosed banjo. You'll hear nothing like this in 2008 or beyond.." family vineyard

foto: philip hunter

 cd1 & cd2

cold bleak heat

cold bleak heat - simitu (family vineyard, 2007)

Cold Bleak Heat is the dream-team, east-coast avant jazz line-up of alto/tenor saxophonist Paul Flaherty (Dream/Aktion Unit), drummer Chris Corsano (Sunburned Hand of the Man, Vampire Belt), trumpeter Greg Kelley (nmperign, Heathen Shame), and acoustic bassist Matt Heyner (No Neck Blues Band, Test, Eye Contact).
While explosive as their 2005 debut, Simitu brings a melancholic, even sensitive feel to these improvisations. Yet, no need to worry about these four wipin' tears on their sleeves. CBH wages between the melodic centers/ghostly solos of Flaherty/Kelley and loose, downhill, free blow outs you'd expect, all while mainting the grand swell of a hardcore jazz symphony. Even as complex and multi-paced beats sink into bowed-drones and vocal hollers, focused lyricism remains the returning leader. Features liner notes and drawings by Christina Carter (Charalambides).

el gran Flaherty es un hiperactivo personaje interesado en cualquier manifestación artística que contenga la palabra jazz en su vertiente más enloquecida y rupturista, es la visión punkie del freejazz, es alguien que sopla su saxo, una y otra vez, como si le fuera la vida en ello. como decía Charlie Wilmoth, las diferencias entre sus últimos discos tienen que ver con quienes tocan con él más que con lo que él mismo toca, y en ese sentido Simitu tampoco es una excepción. el segundo disco de Cold Bleak Heat discurre con la naturalidad y la calidez de una charla entre amigos de la talla de Chris Corsano, Matt Heyner y Greg Kelley, con la serenidad y el aplomo que sólo otorga la experiencia. muchos minutos de belleza culminados por esos insistentes y pasionales solos de saxo, trompeta y batería en la elocuente 'La Voz de la Gente es la Voz de Dios'. sin olvidar la elegancia a lo Sonny Rollins que recubre la desnuda 'Mugged by a Glacier', ni el modo en que la batería, enérgica y veloz, de 'Pound Cake' recuerda como si nada a aquella barbaridad llamada 'At Basin' Street' de Max Roach y Clifford Brown. tampoco la jungla de ritmos que conectan visceralmente con el legado de Albert Ayler y Don Cherry en 'A White Bandaged Head In The Shad' o los zumbidos nerviosos de bajo y trompeta en 'Should we destroy the Hubble?', imaginaria banda sonora para una segunda parte de La Semilla del Diablo. si sentiste un vuelco en el estómago con Eye Contact, Dream/Aktion Unit y Odd Clouds...

en la página de myspace de Family Vineyard podéis escuchar Pound Cake

loren connors

loren connors - night through singles and collected works 1976-2004 (family vineyard, 2006)

"Essential 3CD collection of singles by avant blues guitarist Loren Mazzacane Connors, one of America's most unique and challenging voices. Night Through spans four decades of Connors' recordings from the earliest acoustic session and first solo 7" -- 'Ribbon o' Blues on St. Joan' -- to rare singles issued By Table Of The Elements, Road Come, Father Yod, Menlo Park, Gyttia, Union Pole, and others, to his late '90s band Haunted House and recent acoustic recordings. Overall, three and half hours of music: 12 7" singles, private CD-R releases, collaborations with Suzanne Langille, Robert Crotty, and Haunted House, compilation appearances, and 22 unreleased pieces including a 1959 recording by Connors' mother Mary Mazzacane. 24-page color booklet contains detailed notes and cover art for each single, never before seen photographs, an essay by renowned blues scholar Dr. William Ferris and commentary from Connors, Langille, Road Cone's Mike Hinds and others. Remastered from the original tapes by Jim O'Rourke, this is the definitive overview of Connors' journey as the consummate solo artist from embryonic origins in New Haven, CT to the rise as a monumental presence and spirit channeler. Whether considered avant garde or pure spirit haunt, Connors' guitar speaks purely from the soul in solo settings or with his revered collaborations with the likes of Alan Licht, Jandek, Keiji Haino, Christina Carter, Langille, O'Rourke, Kath Bloom and John Fahey."

The Departing of a Dream vol. I Part IV

The Departing of a Dream Vol. II Part II

The Departing of a Dream Vol. III: Juliet Her Death

arreglos flotantes, notas de guitarra que arropan en vez de sonar y esa peculiar cadencia melódica. poco importa que haya acompañado a Kath Bloom en algunos de los discos más bonitos del mundo y que Kath Bloom sea sólo recordada por incluir Come Here en Antes del Amanecer. es probable que dentro de veinte años haya quien le recuerde como hoy se recuerda a Nick Drake o John Fahey, pero ahora mismo Loren Connors y sus grabaciones desoladas al aire libre repartidas por innumerables discos y colaboraciones siguen siendo el calmante infalible para las horas bajas y las noches de insomnio. una y otra vez, y las veces que haga falta, It's so hard to come home es tan tan tan especial que merecería ser mil veces la canción del día

blithe sons

the blithe sons ~ the arm of the starfish (family vineyard 2004)

rescato del baúl de los recuerdos la esponjosa estrella de mar de The Blithe Sons (Loren Chasse de Coelacanth, Of, Thuja y Child Readers, y Glenn Donaldson de Skygreen Leopards, the Birdtree, y Thuja). Espuma, medusas, anémonas de sol...no existe un disco que exprese con tanta precisión el significado de 'clima', perfecto para escuchar justo antes de dormir y con las luces apagadas.

Sun Anemone & Foam