the ivytree

the ivytree ~ a pillar of clouds (tall texan, 2019)

 

The Ivytree is a solo project from San Francisco musician Glenn Donaldson, who has been in a number of groups championed in the DIY underground over the past 20 plus years. Glenn was a founder of the influential Jeweled Antler Collective releasing some of the best underground Bay Area projects of the early 21st century, but he's also been in bands spanning an array of genres; from the drone and experimental works of groups like Thuja and Blithe Sons and psychedelic jangle of Skygreen Leopards.

His Ivytree project is probably described as a tapestry of drones, field recordings, and ghostly folk, interwoven in a haunting tapestry, perfect for the approaching fall and winter."

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the ivytree

the ivytree ~ unburdened light lp (recital program, 2018)

"The Ivytree, as some may know, is the project of San Franciscan musician Glenn Donaldson. In the early 2000s Glenn was a founder of the Jewelled Antler Collective, forming such projects as The Blithe Sons, Thuja, and The Skygreen Leopards, among many others. I admire the range of projects he is associated with, they all beautifully web together. Between 2001 and 2005 Donaldson published a handful of discs under the names The Ivytree and The Birdtree. These boiled down and tanned the patient, outdoor ambiences of the long-form instrumental recordings. These were slow and pastoral and pensive songs, carried by Glenn’s haunting voice: my favorite of his work. Glenn recorded outside with field-recorders and mini-discs: in forests, headlands, and tunnels of the Bay area.

I grew up listening to his recordings ~ throughout high school and college in Goleta, CA. They spark many memories: driving around beach parking lots, dragging boomboxes into creeks, camping in the mountain valleys etc. I remember once driving 5 hours up to San Francisco with a group of friends to try and get into a Giant Skyflower Band concert (another Donaldson project). It was at a bar and we were under 21 ~ so we couldn’t get in, even after trying to bribe the doorman. As you can tell, very special places in my mind and memory. My fondness for The Ivytree never dissipated, and I always dreamed of hearing more material from that time, as I know how prolific the Jewelled Antler association can be.

On a whim in 2017 I reached out to Glenn and asked him if he wanted to publish a “best-of” The Ivytree as a limited LP. This idea blossomed and provoked Glenn to dig through his vast mini-disc archive, where he unearthed some forgotten jewels. The recordings were trickling in to my email ~ one by one, each better than the last... Ranging from the Robert Wyatt-esque piano ballad “Evil is Circular” to the gentle melancholy of “All the White Plumes” that could belong on Richard Youngs’ Sapphie. Unburdened Light carries on the warm breeze and innocence of the early 2000s CDr culture. 

So our project then turned into publishing a new album of unreleased Ivytree recordings. A full circle youthful wish now ripens in my adulthood. I am honored to have stirred up the bees-nest to deliver you these tragically honeyed songs"

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the buried civilizations

the buried civilizations - tunnels to other chambers (Lattajjaa, 2005)

Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Skygreen Leopards, The Ivytree, Teenage Panzerkorps) siempre es sinónimo de garantía. Con la ayuda de Rob Reger (Thuja) y Christine Boepple (Skygreen Leopards) se presenta ahora bajo el nombre de The Buried Civilizations. ''Tunnels to other chambers'' huele a incienso de madreselva, suena frágil, íntimo, melódico y posee además la fascinante profundidad del campo que tantas alegrías nos está dando.

Buscando información me encontré con esta crítica de Brad Rose:

Escuchar Tunnels to Other Chambers es como caminar por el bosque tan lejos como te lleven tus piernas. Una vez te has perdido del todo y tu cuerpo necesita descansar, te encuentras rodeado de árboles magníficos. Sólo hay árboles de hoja perenne que se ven desde kilómetros. Los arreglos de cuerda de Gallery of Ancient Birds insinúan estas imágenes. La tranquila voz de Donaldson es como si los árboles gigantes te cantaran, haciéndote saber que te mantendrán a salvo. Estás atrapado aquí pero es un lugar seguro. La calidez continúa en el siguiente tema, A Port in Sacred Waters. Éste es el momento en que te das cuenta de que nunca encontrarás el camino de vuelta a casa pero pasarás el resto de tu vida aquí. Las cosas podrían ser mucho, mucho peor.

No puedo evitarlo. Soy un adicto a todo que tenga que ver con Jewelled Antler. Algo en la forma que tienen de canalizar el espíritu de la tierra a través de su música nunca deja de emocionarme. Toda la música que nos muestran merece la pena, algo impresionante considerando el abultado volumen de su discografía. La magia de los últimos discos de The Ivytree extiende su mano cubierta de musgo y bendice esta música. Es como si hubiera sido enterrada bajo pilas de basura y hubiera sido descubierta recientemente. Como cualquier joya perdida, se merece toda la atención. Llévatela a los bosques y haz de un árbol de roble tu hogar. Esto es maravilloso.

foto: pabadam

"As Cold As The Clay"
"Moss Banjo"