CAMERON KNOWLER - CRK

(LP on Worried Songs)

CRK is a beautifully crafted and deeply personal collection of primarily solo guitar instrumentals which explore the nooks and crannies of a remembered landscape, in this case Cameron Knowler’s birthplace of Yuma, Arizona USA - a town best known perhaps for its outlaws, deserts, ten-past-three trains and, unexpectedly, the production of lettuces.

From the textured card sleeve to the rich, sonorous production throughout, this record is very much a transport of delight, one on which Knowler ferries listeners across his deftly crafted world with understated yet skilful performances of glorious acoustic music whilst simultaneously keeping an eye on tradition with his astute arrangements of old time fiddle tunes. My favourite track is, I think, 'Mule at the Wagon' on which Cameron Knowler's deft guitar picking comes close to that of Richard Thompson, another knowledgable craftsman, albeit of British rather than American folk traditions; however an equally strong case could be made for every song on here, as there's absolutely no filler, just beautifully played rural America guitar instrumentals. The two outliers are the opening 'Christmas in Yuma' which features haunting prose-poetry voiced by Jack Kilmer (you can have fun reading along to this in the sleeve notes) and the closing 'Sun Dust' which features field recordings by Annabella Boatwright. Other occasional contributions include Jordan Tice (guitar and mandolin), Jay Bellerose (drums), Ethan Jodziewicz (bass), Rayna Gellert (fiddle), Mark Goldenberg (guitar), Rich Hinman (steel guitar) and Robert Bowlin (piano), but overall the album is a testament to Cameron Knowler's ability and sheer presence throughout which causes this record to stand tall like an Iceberg amongst the fields of lettuce. I love it.

(Phil McMullen)

TEONANÁCATL – TEONANÁCATL EP

(Smolder Brains Records)

There sure is some great new rock music coming out of Latin America these days.  Last month we looked at Las Fuerzas Extrañas from Argentina, and now we turn our ears to Mexico and Teonanácatl.  Named after magic mushrooms (just look at the cover), here’s a young band who uses their supreme musical chops to proffer a blend of rock, prog, space and psychedelia sure to please many around these parts.  It may be a four-song 27-minute EP, but many of the tracks have songs within songs.  They’re chock full of variety in many ways.

The band always keeps you guessing with time signatures.  Each track starts with a unique rhythm, some of them pretty complex such as opener “Caronte.”  But they also frequently shift to new tempos mid-track, just when your ears are nicely settled into the groove.  The variety of instruments on display is also impressive.  Whether it’s Baruch Hernandez’s sprightly organ solos, Carlos Chavez’s smoking guitar workouts, or the incandescent violin playing of Raul Calva, the instrumental breaks are always by nature captivating and different.  So are the moods.  “Caronte” is somewhere in the middle of the rock-prog spectrum, while “El Teatro de las Ilusiones” is a riff-heavy blues boogie.  “Mi Ego y Yo” begins in a spacy mood courtesy of Hernandez’s keys and Calva’s soaring violin, before a long and winding tour of styles, tempos and instrumentation, occasionally venturing into Santana and Allman Brothers Band territory.  “La Creatura” has some fine early Crimson touches in another imaginative multiple section journey.

Even the choice of languages doesn’t sit still.  “Caronte” and closer “La Creatura” are in English, while middle two tracks “El Teatro de las Ilusiones” and “Mi Ego y Yo” are in Spanish.  Whatever the tongue, singer Roy Cabrera displays extraordinary vocal strength and range, once in a while hitting some notes I could last reach before puberty.

Their sound reminded me a little of another excellent Mexican band I’d enjoyed and written about a few years ago, Rostro Del Sol.  A little bit of checking revealed sure enough, several members are in both bands.  I wanted to especially call out Raul Calva, whose violin playing is full of range and emotion, and reminded me somewhat of another Terrascope favorite, Vespero, and their brilliant violinist Vitaly Borodin.

Teonanácatl is working on their first full length LP, which they say won’t include any of these tracks.  That’ll be high on our wish list this year.  Also of note, their debut single “Lights of the Universe,” which predated this EP, is in a similar combobulation of proggy/rocky/psych styles and is well worth your time as well.

(Mark Feingold)

DOKA – CYCLI

LIMITED LP (100 copies)/ CASSETTE/ DL www.twindimensionrecords.bigcartel.com  

Doka is the vehicle for Dutch musician Marijn Filius. This, I believe, is his first release and it is quite firmley in the space rock/krautrock genre. Purely instrumental, these 5 tracks may well constitute more of an EP than an LP, running to just 28 minutes in duration. It is released on Twin Dimension Records, the same Dutch label that Joost Dijkema releases his records on.

The opening song and also the album’s title track ‘Cycli’ starts with a motorik drum pattern, over which synths squelch and a loping electric guitar noodles into view, and that is pretty much the sound of the entire record. I’m reminded of Ripley Johnson’s Moon Duo/Rose City Band or perhaps Träd, Gras och Stenar, it motors along quite nicely, not outstaying its welcome and fading out to synth. ’Super 8’, hoves into view and follows a similar trajectory, the guitar has a bit more bite as it progresses, in no hurry over a bed of chugging rhythms, perfect for a long moon light drive as it twists and turns, it also fades out to a howling synth squall.

A change of pace for ‘Jardim De Mar’, a slower song, lazily spun, it develops as it progresses towards its climax, again the guitar is to the fore and like all the tracks the guitar provides the melody and tune, gradually building but fairly sparse. The next track ‘Meander’ does indeed meander all over the place, the motorik beat is back, it has more synth which drives the song along nicely, fading out to a drone. The final track is ‘Howl/Mexican Dog’, a two-parter that is a touch more aggressive, but follows a similar trajectory as it reaches for the stars.

(Andrew Young)

LP/CD/DL East Riding Acoustic

www.jameswaudby.bandcamp.com

We very much enjoyed the previous album by James here at Terrascope, it announced the arrival of a major talent, although some of us were already aware of James through his work as guitarist in psychedelically inclined Hull band Salako, who put out a few albums and singles on the Jeepster record label in the latter part of the nineties, home to Belle And Sebastian, Looper etc. That debut album ‘On The Ballast Miles’, was notable for its unadorned, unaffected songs, performed (as is this album) by James on acoustic guitar and vocals.

This album continues as before, with ten songs written and performed by James, recorded, mixed and mastered by fellow Salako band mate Luke Barwell. The album was recorded in a barn, deep in the East Riding countryside. Things begin with ‘The Potter’s Strain’, a beautiful sounding tale of forbidden love between a serf and a noblewoman, James acoustic guitar playing is a thing of quiet beauty, indeed this album is intended to be listened to as a whole in one sitting and it certainly works very well in that regard. ‘Beverley Gate’, unfurls gently on ringing strings, belying its bloody history throughout the years.

You can hear James’s acoustic guitar creaking under the pressure of taught strings on ‘A Portable Fiction’, which tells of a returning fortune seeker. The songs have a medieval setting none more so than ‘The Stare Beyond The Wolds’, a pretty song which tells of blood on the cellar door and a body cold on the floor. This first side ends with an intimate ‘Robert Adams’, a timeless plangent tale sung over more of that lovely finger-picked, warm acoustic guitar.

Side two opens with ‘The Fall Of Ravenser Odd’, a tale of a medieval city lost to the sea, a lovely acoustic guitar figure accompanies this tale of a crumbling chapel throughout the years, much like Dunwich in Suffolk. This is followed by the bruised beauty of ‘Saxston’s Hand’, informed as it is by the fading blooms of summer roses; James’s acoustic playing is so good, this is followed by ‘The Queen Of Holderness’, a topographical song concerning this particular marshy area of Hull, between the river Humber and the North Sea. ‘From The Boulder Clay’, is deftly sung and played, elemental; of gravity and soil. The album ends with a public execution in the short, sombre tale that is ‘The Hanging’.  This is another fine album from James and one which I can heartily recommend; it is due to be released on February 24th.

(Andrew Young)

FIFTH DAUGHTER STELLAR SEASON 

(300 coloured/black vinyl copies from Fruits de Mer www.fruitsdemerrecords.com )

Fifth Daughter consist of Nicholas Whittaker and James Howarth, together they have created a pretty fine album of progressive jazzy acid- folk. Nick was a member of progressive jazz rock band Diagonal who put out a few excellent albums on Rise Above Records and James a member of Running Dogs and has collaborated with the KLF and Youth. The album also features fellow Diagonal members Luke Foster and Dave Wileman, along with guitarist Will Howes.

It’s a concept album, but don’t let that put you off! You wouldn’t really know it unless you were told as much. The instrumentation is extremely varied, with sitar, synthesizers, plenty of percussion and woodwind, along with the expected guitar, propulsive drums and bass.

It’s apparently about a society far from Earth, centred around sun worship, with the eventual realization that each of the seasons are to be appreciated in their own right, in fact one of the songs is entitled ‘In Love With The Sun’.

This is a really good album and one I wouldn’t have been too surprised to find had been released on Vertigo records, back in the early seventies, but of course it really couldn’t have been because the modern recording techniques used here have moved on leaps and bounds since those days, but you get what I mean, more the style of the album than its sound.

The album is quite slow to reveal its charms; they come with further listening. Standout tracks for me are epic album closer ‘Even Winter’, which really encapsulates their style quite nicely, a warm bath of proggy, jazz rock with acid- folk overtones, don’t you know, plus a great way to end the album. The third track ‘House Of Ra’ where I’m reminded of the medieval folk rock band Circulus, who also released albums on Diagonal’s record label Rise Above, ‘Forever Knowing’, a wistful jazz inflected song which leads into the rousing aforementioned In ‘Love With The Sun’ and ‘Season Of Fasting’/’Call For The Equinox’.   

This is an excellent debut album and will no doubt sell out quickly, so get in there and order a copy as it is available now and extremely limited.

(Andrew Young)