la piramide di sangue

la piramide di sangue - tebe (sound of cobra, 2012)

The sound of the band is builded on two guitars, two basses, one clarinet, one synth, several effects, drums and percussions. The songs are a mosaic of meditative and restless sounds that could remind Sun Ra, Art Ensemble of Chicago, ballads with north-african taste, kraut rock rides under the sign of Agitation Free and Neu! Their first 12″ comes out in a 500 copies red vinyl limited edition, in coproduction with our friends of Boring Machines.

sangue, io la sono

buy: soundofcobra@gmail.com

snails

snails - 7'' (great pop supplement, 2011)
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Bristol based Snails is basically a duo, consisting of Dan Weltman (aka Hollowbody) and Mog Fry (The Wraiths / Ukeytronica). They mentioned that Basil Kirchin, Clive Palmer and Moondog influenced them. “With tips of the hat to Francoise Hardy, The Left Banke and The Pastels.” At first they wanted to “soundtrack a budget slasher movie involving a homicidal nun”. This led to more than one lost soundtrack. It is hard to tell the range of their inspirations, because both songs from the single are already somewhat different, although both have that lovely English countryside flavour in them rooted in folk, with free and fresh new inspirations. The loveliest track with no doubt is “She’d like an hour”. Here we hear fast moody pickings, glockenspiel and layers of texturing strings/brass and flute arrangements and percussion, led by a melancholic sweet female lead voice. The arrangements evolve further and change into a kind of old music dance-folk flavoured tune led by two guitars and hand percussion, with some moody acid folkish progressing on the rhythms with several vocal and flute arrangements ideas. “Daylight ends” is in a lighter happier mode, a song by dual vocals, picking guitars and electric (some kind of string instrument or) guitar, violin and some mouth harmonica, like a softened and sweetened countryside/Appalachian folk flavoured lullaby. Edition of 300 numbered green vinyl records. psychedelic folk 

she'd like an hour (bandcamp) / buy

least carpet

least carpet - least carpet (dfbm, 2010)

If you listen to Least Carpet the first time it will remember you of something you do already know, but it’s blurry and then you get pictures. Pictures of sitting on a hill top in the fresh blooming meadow. You smell the weed and maybe yourself, you listen to the birdsongs and hear tiny bells ringing. On the left side, downhill you get a glimpse of some small village, on the right side: your sheep. You pickup your self carved flute and whistle with the birds (...) Least Carpet play Eastern European influenced psych folk in vein of Hala Strana or Thuja. It makes you feel sitting on a bench in front of an old shack, surrounded by nature with sun in your face, daydreaming. Dying for bad music

buy & free download

ryley walker & daniel bachman

ryley walker & daniel bachman - of deathly premonitions (plustapes, 2011)

It’s hard to fathom what the Appalachian musical landscape must have been like in the early 1900s when musicians would sit on their front porch surrounded by family and friends while they picked away, but we here at Plustapes have long extolled the virtues of that missing link in guitar wunderkid Ryley Walker. It was thanks to a chance encounter while Daniel Bachman (a.k.a. Sacred Harp) was on tour through the Midwest that their collaborative effort, Of Deathly Premonitions, came to be. Walker was excited to meet this fellow fingerstyle guitar traveller of comparable age and equal ability – the first thing they talked about was a shared love for Loren Connors and Sandy Bull. Not long after, they were talking record collections and collaborations. Of Deathly Premonitions is the result, four songs birthed from a relaxed session in the middle of the week during a trip Walker made to Bachman’s hometown of Fredericksberg, Virginia this past spring. With a few beers and a bit of ambition, the pastoral past meets the fingerstyle future. 100 copies.

No puedo más que confirmar las sensaciones del año pasado. Daniel Bachman se ha convertido ya en uno de esos imprescindibles fingerpickings de esta aldea y las doce cuerdas de Ryley Walker ayudan a ello.

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savaging spires

savaging spires - s/t (critical heights, 2011)

Enchanting from the off, their eponymous debut is set to become a real cult classic, crossing secret paths between pastoral psych collaging and knowingly meticulous folk composition in the flicker of a hare's whisker. Wicker Man references abound, but there's something far more wyrd at play here, an instinctively organic flow between seemingly improvised jamming and full blown choral harmonies bound to take your breath away. critical heights

Savaging Spires play improvised lullabies and outro jams with here and there a song context but mostly the vocals are with nananas and lalalas in very nice group harmonies, girls and boys in separate choirs. The instruments remain somewhat steady as instant found percussions and hand claps, acoustic guitar strums and pickings, banjos, flute and glockenspiel, here and there a cello texture. This is a staring at a nice forest and environment at a doorstep, a celebration to a time standing still place. Themes like songs are only repetitions of just one sentence. The sound of their improvisations are really nice, which is psych-folk/acid folk minded, performed by new hippies with a forest mind, but it is getting a bit long and limited for a full release doing only that outro, intro, intermezzo, and lullaby jam stuff. psychedelic folk

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john terlazzo (rare earth XXVI)

john terlazzo - honour among thieves (1983)

"Dark loner poet folk/rock. Very heavy Leonard Cohen influence, but makes LC seem cheerful by comparison. Even the one song that is upbeat, almost good-timey, has a dark undertone. Terlazzo is accompanied on many tracks by a beautiful haunting female backing vocal which is often wordless. Several tracks have fine electric guitar leads and solos. The poetic nature of his writing rather stark and often “esoteric” lyric images, brought out well by his rather limited baritone voice. I rate this at the top of the loner folkie heap." Patrick Lundborg /Acid Archives.

No sé que más añadir, sólo la poesía de 'Avalanche' de Leonard Cohen o 'Things Behind The Sun' de Nick Drake se acerca a 'Honour Among Thieves' o 'The Older Code'.

the family elan

the family elan - low bow bright glow (alt. vinyl, 2010)

Fusion is a dirty word, implying clinicism and a dry sense of conscious matchmaking. “Bow Low Bright Glow” is a more a communal excavation and re-presentation of buried European folk and sufi-hearted music than any form of experiment. Family Elan are alone in their field. Here, Chris Hladowski has put together a collection of original numbers, visions created from lost/found tapes and traditional pieces (including a absolutely gorgeous “The BlackPlanets Of Her Eyes”) that are a fitting companion to Family Elan’s “Stare of Dawn” debut.

Alongside Hladowski’s voice, there’s the vocal input of Nalle’s Hanna Tuulikki – a voice as easily capable of gentle Qawwali as it is folk song. This is a record of heavy treble intricacy, Hladowski’s saz and bouzouki playing encompassing drones, folk, dervish progressive work and a woozy shimmer over and through the entwining melodies. Family Elan are more than just a project or a band, Hladowski has endowed the music here with a such a unique voice that shaky shorthand comparisons would be pointless and a short sell. Music that hints at the devotional rarely feels as inclusive, as communal and as enjoyable as this.

Abandonado Locust y tras tres años de larga espera, el proyecto de Chris Hladowski y Hanna Tuulikki, una debilidad personal, regresa al traditional-folk del Eastern Europe y lo rodea de múltiples referencias, drones, una sensibilidad más propia de Clive's Original Band e intricadas melodías al saz y al bouzouki que revolotearán sin cesar en tu subconsciente.

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georgia's horse

georgia's horse - shepherd [ep] (fire, 2009)

This five track EP features the skewed and magnetic vision of singer/songwriter Teresa Maldonado but her brittle and skeletal songs are fleshed out by multi-instrumentalist Tiziano Hernandez (bass/guitars), Brad Thomason (drums) and Melly Rose (cello). But thats not to say that this recording sounds like it was handled by some kind of your mothers your brother, lives in a barn hillman. Their recent collaboration with hotly tipped Pitchfork favourites and electronic/dub step pioneers Various Productions (As It Stops Raining, Fire Records) has certainly influenced the group the title track and Snake & Sparrow, creak and echo as if recorded in a haunted house, on haunted equipment. From the most basic of set ups, a deeply affecting and subtle beauty is achieved.

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