Goat's Head Soup. The Rolling Stones

Goat's Head Soup, the album that will forever be the one after the "big four", although I prefer to state the "big five", as the live album of 1970 will forever be The Rolling Stones' best. That level of intensity has never been brought forward on a live album again. Not by The Rolling Stones, not by a lot of other bands either.

Goat's Head Soup, for years I thought the album was called Goat's Head Soap, was my second Stones album. After having bought 'Black And Blue' in the U.K. during a spring holiday with my parents there, my brother brought it back for me from his language course in the U.K. two months later. That summer I bought 'Get Your Ya-Ya's Out'.

Goat's Head Soup gets a re-release in several formats. Two of the "new" songs have been reviewed already in the singles section of the blog. I announced a good look at the original album, so here we go.

The first thing I notice is that the two "new" songs, indeed were never truly finished. The sound of the ten songs on the original album clearly are. They are produced until the very end with a myriad of attention going into the details of the music and the sound. This is an album alright and The Rolling Stones made it the best one they could at that point in time. The only thing against it is that it came after the most rock and roll and sketchy album the band ever made, 'Exile On Main Street'. So it's better to compare it to 'Sticky Fingers' or 'Let It Bleed'. 'Beggars Banquet' is in a total league of its own.

Taking the two albums in, Goat's Head Soup doesn't fare that bad, really. Both albums contain songs that I do not really, really like. Both albums contain songs that belong in the list of the Stones' best. The thing is, that in part it is a bit more of the same. This music has been done before and that is, exceptions noted, what goes for all records after. The Rolling Stones became more and more a formula.

Of course I can never listen to the album again with fresh ears, having played it so much as a teenager. In the last decades it was played a lot less, so I can play it with somewhat fresh ears perhaps. Was I surprised? Oh, yes!

I never liked the opening song. The riff is nice at first, but it just goes on and on. 'Dancing With Mr. D.', is the song that ought to have been replaced by one of the "new" songs. They are both better. This is, deep down, just boring, but still the Stones. So it has that toughness in it that makes me sit though it any way. The little harmonies and shouts, an extra guitar line here and there. But still, this ought to have been a "new" song in 2020.

'100 Years Ago' is a song that deserved a better ending. It is like the band didn't know how to end it and sounds like it to. Still it was one of my favourite songs on the album and still is. I love the electric piano or clavinet Billy Preston is playing. Keyboards are playing a huge role on the album as a whole, Nicky Hopkins, Ian Stewart, Billy Preston were musicians The Rolling Stones could not do without on Goat's Head Soup. '100 Years Ago' has the quality of a dream turning to nightmare and back. The interaction between the dirty piano and guitar sound work really well together as with Mick Jagger's voices. Charlie Watts' drumming is forceful and driving.

The first ballad is a successful one. 'Coming Down Again' is the Keith song of the album. His voice still a lot better than it would become not much later. Once again I notice how delicate the accompaniment is. The wah-wah guitar parts, the clear piano. It plays such a huge part in this song. I have no way of telling but it sounds to me that this was a major influence on Roy Bittan of the E Street Band (and Bowie's 'Station To Station' album three years later). I can't help it but I'm a sucker for these sort of Stones ballads. Just listen to Mick interacting here with the band and song and however plays the bass, probably not Bill Wyman, does a great job. A sax solo and there's a cherry on top of the pie as well.

'(Doo Doo Doo Doo) Heartbreaker' is the surprising song 44 years down my introduction of the album. Also the b-side to 'Star Star', the single I did have at the time. Again the song starts with an organ, showing how important the keyboards are. 'Heartbreaker' is a great rocking song with a lot of soul in it. Again the wah-wah guitar, as if either Keith of Mick Taylor had discovered the toy and started to play with it in the studio. Big fat horns are all over the song, just like the "doo doo doo" harmonies. The solo is a great, trippy experience, taking the song in a different direction for a few seconds. So, there's a discovery in 2020 anyway.

Side A ends with THE ballad. The first single of the album and a number 1 hit and one of the biggest Rolling Stones hits ever in The Netherlands. I loved the song then and still do now. Not that there's a need to hear the song a lot any more. It is an integral part of me and I can dream every nuance and phrase. Nicky Hopkins' piano part is the central instrument behind Mick Jagger's voice. The ballad of ballads as far as I'm concerned, as nothing is overdone here. It is the music that is leading and not the effects. That starts with that piano. So enormously beautiful and again I mention Roy Bittan in 'Word On A Wing' and 'The River' and then tell me about Nicky Hopkins and 'Angie' again.

Side B opens with a clean rocker, 'Silver Train'. It's not spectacular, but listen to that slide guitar, Jagger's harmonica and that change into the chorus with "I did not know her name". It kicks so much life into the song. And there's a lot of boogie woogie piano going on the background, so that must be Ian Stewart playing. Allegedly he was only interested to play a rock and roll or boogie woogie parts and nothing else. He does here alright. With the bridge part in place, 'Silver Train' claims it own and deserves that spot to.

'Hide Your Love' is a totally different beast. What to call it? It is fairly empty, again the piano leads the way, although the solo instrument is the guitar, loud and clear. It is an exciting song, although I can't really explain why that is. I certainly think it's better than I used to, as my younger self. Let me call it bluesy, for certain. With changes that make it stunningly good in some places. Taking it all in, the atmosphere of the song is not unlike the live setting on the 'El Mocambo' blues and rock and roll side of the 'Love You Live' album. Informal just rocking away together. 'Hide Your Love' is one of the hidden treasures in the band's oeuvre.

The third ballad is 'Winter'. Again the band simply delivers. The song has a mood that is just right, it touches on the subject just right. I am listening and forgetting to write anything I notice, being taking along by Mick's lush vocals, the interplay between the guitar and piano. I can feel the cold and the hope of sun in my bones and on my skin while listening.

'Can You Hear The Music' is the Indian song on this album. Again a ballad, but with eastern influences all over. Although it surprises me in 2020, it is not the most interesting song of the album. The song does have its moments, like the flute played by Jim Horn.

The final song is 'Star Star' or 'Starfucker' as it was supposed to be called. Always a little scandal surrounding a Stones release to catch the eye or ear. 'Star Star' is a joyful rock and roll, Chuck Berry inspired song. Keith Richards can do his rock and roll thing and show that there aren't many guitar players allowed to stand in the slipstream of Mr. Berry himself. The song simply works and is great to sing along to. With a fine solo to boot.

The sessions would lead to several songs on later albums. It also was the last album with Jimmy Miller producing for the band, five albums in all. Looking at the picture of Miller on the inner sleeve, I know, now, exactly why. Miller has that same ghostlike face Keith Richards had at the time. Death is in his looks, one of the casualties lain by the wayside of the Glimmer Twins. The production of Goat's Head Soup is great by the way and Miller, dead for 26 years this year, has a claim to fame forever, with a totally winning streak to his name as far as rock albums are concerned.

So, the overall verdict. A great album and I like it better than 'Sticky Fingers' I have to say. As a whole the album works great. Almost all individual songs make the grade easily and even that opening song is played with swagger in a great way. Top album in other words.

Wo.


Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Halluzinationen. Sophie Hunger

Ever since I'm following the career of Sophie Hunger, either late 2012 or early 2013 and, of course I can add, through a post written by Erwin Zijleman, I am listening to an artist who reinvents herself by the album. For the first time I have the impression that she's looking back on what she has achieved so far and got inspired by her past which led to new songs.

Hence, I hear electronic songs that are the result of her move to Berlin and presented on her previous album 'Molecules'. The live show around 'Molecules' was, again, so impressive. There are also extreme singer-songwriter songs to be found on Hallunizationen that make me think of her albums from before my discovery.

The album opens with a song as ethereal as its title suggests, 'Liquid Air'. A song like a dream, fleeting, ungraspable, yet so extremely beautiful. With 'Liquid Air' Sophie Hunger adds another top song to her already top heavy set of top songs. The start does not give away what is to follow. A rhythm and an electric piano set the mood. Slowly but surely "more Sophie Hungers" sing together, while the song gets digitized more and more giving the whole a spooky atmosphere. 'Liquid Air' slowly but surely grows and grows without exploding in any kind. It is atmospheric in an extreme sense. Well built up and fleshed out. What a way to open an album!

'Finde Mich' continuous this mood, with a regular piano sound at the base of the song. Also the bass plays a prominent role, softy slapping away in the background. A moderate 'Moon Safari' bass sound. Again the song is seemingly relaxed, the mood gives away a tenseness just below the surface of the song. This tension makes the opening duo a great way to start.

The title song is a nervous electronic song closer to Sophie Hunger's previous album. Her typical voice hovers over the electronic sounds where a traditional organ weaves its notes into. The title is something plaguing the singer but totally unwelcome in the end. "Ich liebe euch, ich hasse euch", can a point of view be more contrasting? As confusing as hallucinations can make a person.

Listening closer to the album as a whole, I notice that Sophie Hunger is challenging me as a listener. She makes me work hard to keep paying attention to the details she has put into her new album. What I like about her music is all in there, but at times hidden behind what has her fancy now. The moment I recognise those details all incorporated into the song, it immediately falls into place. From that moment on I enjoy a song like 'Bad Medicine' double.

'Alpha Venom' is perhaps the most rocking song Sophie Hunger has released to date. It's like an ever continuing race. Running and running and running with no finish line to run towards. So yes, I feel somewhat haunted or chased. "I'm the one who makes the music". No, I haven't forgotten, Sophie. So in that way I am reminded of that great opening song of De Kift's latest album 'Hoogriet', 'Ik Ken'. Both songs drive the listener ever forward, relentless.

So it comes rather as a surprise to hear the next song, 'Rote Beeten Aus Arsen'. Just the piano and Sophie Hunger's voice. At the end it is as if she forgot the next phrase, starts again and decides to stop anyway. A strange experience. The song is nice though. Just as surprising is the poppy track 'Everything Is Good'. Just the way the song sounds. The line "I'm lucky I don't have to be with you", does not suggest that all is right, but o.k.

There are a few more songs on the album, but you've got the gist of it. With Halluzinationen Sophie Hunger has added another fine album to her oeuvre. There's so much musical richness on the album that it will take many listening sessions after these first sessions to discover them all. As soon as the album is released, it will enter my home to start enjoying these new sessions. Sophie Hunger remains one of my favourite singers that I've discovered in the 10s. With ease I might add.

Wo.

P.S. (1-10-2020). Now that I have the cd and listened to it multiple times, there's one comment I have to add. In several of the songs Sophie Hunger has managed to recreate her live sound on record. The enormous spacious and clarity I always notice when at one of her shows can be found on this record. This impresses me as much at home as it does in a venue.


Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Lamentations. American Aquarium

American Aquarium verkeert al een aantal jaren in topvorm, maar overtreft zichzelf met het grootse en meeslepende Lamentations, dat een aantal songs bevat waarvoor Springsteen zich niet zou schamen.

American Aquarium is nog altijd niet heel bekend, maar heeft inmiddels een stapeltje albums gemaakt waar liefhebbers van Americana echt niet omheen kunnen. Het zijn prachtige albums die nu nog eens worden overtroffen door het wonderschone Lamentations. De songs, de teksten, de instrumentatie, de productie, de zang; alles klinkt nog net wat beter dan we van de band uit North Carolina gewend zijn. Lamentations klinkt groots en meeslepend, kleurt soms binnen en soms buiten de lijntjes van de Americana en maakt bijna drie kwartier indruk met in veel gevallen monumentale songs. Prachtalbum.

De Amerikaanse band American Aquarium heeft zich de afgelopen jaren dankzij een serie uitstekende albums opgewerkt tot de vaandeldragers van de hedendaagse Americana. Het meer dan uitstekende Things Change uit 2018 wordt nu gevolgd door Lamentations en ook dit keer heeft de band uit Raleigh, North Carolina, een uitstekend album afgeleverd.

De muziek van American Aquarium deed me op Things Change al meer dan eens denken aan de muziek van Bruce Springsteen en de associatie met de muziek van The Boss duikt ook direct weer op bij beluistering van Lamentations en misschien nog wel sterker dan in het verleden.

Dat ligt voor een belangrijk deel aan de stem van zanger BJ Barham, maar het zijn zeker niet alleen de vocalen die associaties met Springsteen oproepen. In de openingstrack en bijna titeltrack Me + Mine (Lamentations) komt de Amerikaanse band op de proppen met een song die niet had misstaan op een van de betere albums van de meester zelf. Vergeleken met Bruce Springsteen schuurt de muziek van American Aquarium dichter tegen de Americana aan, zeker wanneer van achter de keyboards (die ook een hoog Springsteen gehalte hebben) een pedal steel opduikt.

De bijna zeven minuten durende titeltrack imponeert vijf minuten lang en gooit er dan nog een schepje bovenop met een bijna bombastische explosie die je eerder verwacht in de progrock dan in de Americana. Het is een openingstrack die zich mag scharen onder het mooiste dat American Aquarium de afgelopen elf jaar heeft gemaakt en het is een track die de lat hoog legt voor de rest van het album.

Met Before The Dogwood Blooms schuift de Amerikaanse band weer wat meer op richting countryrock en alt-country, maar ook de tweede track op Lamentations klinkt groots en meeslepend, met hier en daar een hint naar de muziek van Springsteen. Six Years Come September is American Aquarium’s versie van Springsteen’s I’m On Fire, maar de band uit Raleigh, North Carolina, blijft ook een Amerikaanse rootsband,

Het is een rootsband die energiek en gedreven klinkt en die laat horen dat de goede vorm van de vorige albums alleen maar een voorteken was van de grootse vorm van de band op Lamentations. Het knappe van de nieuwe songs van de band is dat ze aan de ene kant groots en meeslepend klinken, maar aan de andere kant ook intiem klinken.

De muzikanten van de band zijn uitstekend op elkaar ingespeeld en toveren met een flink arsenaal aan instrumenten een rijk en gloedvol geluid in elkaar, dat vervolgens prachtig werd geproduceerd door ouwe rot Shooter Jennings, die met name de pedal steel een glansrol heeft gegeven. Het is een geluid dat uitstekend past bij de geweldige stem van BJ Barham, die alleen maar beter is gaan zingen.

Niet alle songs op het album zijn zo overweldigend als de openingstrack, maar ook als American Aquarium kiest voor redelijk rechttoe rechtaan Americana hoor je dat de band meer in haar mars heeft dan vrijwel al haar soortgenoten. Dat hoor je ook in de teksten van de band, waarin hardop getwijfeld wordt aan de houdbaarheid van de American Dream, maar waarin ook ruimte is voor luchtigere momenten.

American Aquarium walst drie kwartier lang over je heen met songs vol passie en energie, maar ook met songs die continu de grenzen van de Americana opzoeken maar hier ook middenin staan. De afgelopen twee albums van de band waren al jaarlijstjeswaardig, maar Lamentations gaat er dik overheen, zeker wanneer in de prachtige slottrack The Long Haul countryrock nog maar eens wordt vermengd met soul en de band er wederom een "anthem" tegenaan gooit. Zeer indrukwekkend.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Lamentations hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://americanaquarium.bandcamp.com/album/lamentations


of luister naar onze Spotify Playlist om uit te vinden waar we over schrijven:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Kairos 119, juli 2020, Concertzender

Just about each month Wo. listens in to the radioshow .No produces for the Dutch (online) radio station Concertzender. The show is called "Kairos, a meditation on contemporary music". Usually there's not much meditating going on in Wo.'s head as he is listening intently to the music, if the sounds he hears at times is allowed to bear that title. It seems every once in a while he begs to differ. Listening intently to share with you the ideas, feelings, associations that come with the music. Let's hand over to him and see where this Kairos takes him.

The familiar few notes intro come by and changes into, yes ,what? The musical interpretation of a fighter plane crossing the sky overhead? Not one but several. Long held electronic sounds come at me like the waves on the sea. One after the other, each one crashing louder, bigger, better, faster. It's one of those moments when I doubt whether I'm truly listening to music or more to an experiment in sounds. The result of playing with the nobs on an old synthesizer. 'Monolith' the composition is called from a band or artist named Hotel Neon. It is impressive though, very aptly titled. I'm playing it fairly loud and the soundwaves crash into me, envelope me. There's no escape, relentlessly one after the other hits me.

A piano comes in and an old voice speaking Italian or Spanish? I'm not certain but opt for the latter. The piano is recorded spaciously, as if it is standing in my own room, resonating and all. Do the voices belong? I can't tell. It seems an interuption of Olec Mün's piano playing. It is beautiful and touches me, I notice. I'm sure Mün plays the instrument very well. Yet somehow it seems as if he's making the notes up on the spot, taking a fraction of a second too long before playing them or can only barely keep up with the notes on his sheet music. The effect is a slow song that unwinds slowly.

A rough male voice cuts in. I'm hearing an album that passed me by. It happens, I get too many of them these days. An acoustic guitar is played quite aggressively, rhythm and lead. Both (or the same player of course) attack the snares to make them sound as loud a possible. The recording seems closed miked not to lose a single reverberation. Thomas Olivier featuring Ashton Sellars presents 'She's Mine'. I'm paying attention alright, wishing I could play guitar half as good as either Olivier or Sellars (I don't know). Perhaps I do these days, but this good will always remain elusive.

From the intense music in 'She's Mine' another form of intensity comes forward. A bell reverberates loudly, but it's also like a crystal glass filled with water is a part of the sound as are smaller bells and a kind of percussion. There's so much sound going on in 'Chance' that I seem to have two ears short. That there's more between what is played and what I can hear, what my ears can keep up with. Intriguing it is. I would never play this at home (well I am home but you know what I mean) but I am glad I have heard this. Impressive sounds alright. Towards the end of this fragment more starts happening but to me the extra sounds are more like an interruption than a nice addition. If I was meditating I would have been quite rudely interrupted though.

A piano enters and for the second time Marynka comes by on Kairos. This time with 'Spiral To Heaven' from her album 'Red Moon'. 'Spiral To Heaven' is more direct than what I usually hear on Kairos. Not unlike 'She's Mine', Marynka attacks the piano without throwing subtlety over board. The notes are still distinguishable but played faster and louder. The result is that I am listening with joy.

The interruption is rude. Electronic sounds like an electrified beehive and flowing water. What is it I'm hearing. An experiment, for sure, but what else? It is called 'Nilas' by Jake Muir. Again, I have a hard time calling this music. Because I'm playing this Kairos a lot louder than usual, it was on this loud from something played before that must have been recorded/mastered a lot softer, I hear all sorts of sounds coming towards me. Not all nice ones. There are hints at music in the carpets of synth sounds that are being woven ever so slowly but mostly there are sounds. They may even have been familiar before being sampled, sequenced and what else Muir did to them. Strangely enough I can listen to this for a while at this level of sound, but six minutes? No, that's stretching things a bit.

Next up is Broeder Dieleman with a song from his latest album 'Liefde Is De Eerste Wet'. '42' holds the last sounds of 'Nilas', mixed under the banjo of Toon Dieleman. Singing in his Zeeuws-Flemish dialect he makes for a distinct feature in the show. Solo, impressive.

The sounds return and '42', no not '43', a favourite drink, fades away. Harrold Roeland more or less takes over where Jake Muir left off. There's a female voice singing a no text melody, later on more. Again sounds wash over me, taking possession of my ears. Again, as if a glass is rubbed on top. Next to many other sounds, but not noises from objects Muir seemed to have used.

Slowly but surely Job Roggeveen is mixed into Roeland's soundscapes. His dark piano with synth sounds impersonating a modest orchestra. 'Pan' is very melancholic. After the intro the piano plays a little motive as if Charly Chaplin is walking in his characteristic way, stick, hat and all or Oliver Hardy plucking at his clothes or hat when acting being totally embarrassed, fingers plucking and fluttering. Slowly the song flashes out taking parts that came before. 'Pan' becomes almost funny.

A droning, serious sound takes over. Fun is over as well. Kairos becomes darker, moody, brooding. A total shift from all that came before. It is 'Ascencion' by Tim Six. I have to brace myself I see, as this will last 9 minutes. I start wondering whether this is a minimal music composition as nothing much seems to change. Just the soundwaves repeating and repeating or being held like forever. I'm on look-listen for a change. Every once in a while there's a creaky sound. There's birdsong (or crickets?) hidden deeply in the music, looped for certain. Is it my imagination or is one sound gaining in sound or is it me focusing on it more? Finally, there is a change, as if a sounding of all the bells of a cathedral at the same time was recorded, electronically treated and mixed into the composition.

When the real change comes, it is not Six but Milos Valent, John Surman and Stephen Stubbs playing a combination of traditional folk music with something quite different played loud over it. Slowly Six fades out leaving the trio on its own and they take the stage assuredly and loudly. 'Ein Iberisch Postambel' is a weird name for a song, but then an instrumental piece can have any name as it doesn't matter. The dominant sound is a flute I've decided, with some kind of effect on it. A banjo and a violin make up the three. In its own way the song is cheerful, somehow reminding me of Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five'. I can't explain you why but it does.

A drone is laid under the Postambel that slowly but surely loses its position in the mix. The drone flashes out in various drones. Six again? Yes, it is but far more diversified than where I left him close to six minutes ago. Much more has happened to the drones and still happens. Somewhere in there is 'Pan' as well, I have to assume that is so as I can't hear it.

A guitar joins and takes over. Fink has been on the show many times by now. The moody song 'We Watch The Stars', dark, impressive, fills my ears. Everything in it has been done before in popular music, yet Fink gives this song his own distinctive sound. By stripping or leaving out familiar elements most other artists would have added. E.g. parts of this song could have been recorded by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Just imagine how it would have sounded like then. I also have the impression that the violin is lifted from the trio mentioned above but that would be something if .No manages a mix like that. I have to put on the album to check but leave that to you as I have to finish this review. 'Bloom Innocent' is an impressive album. Search the blog to learn more if you like.

A massive interruption cuts into the relatively empty Fink song. Lyenn's album 'Slow Healer' could be found on Kairos a few years back, I notice that it is returning. This time I do notice some sounds that I think do not belong in the original. .No at work. (BTW, .No, there's a new album by Lyenn.) This is not a happy song, but it is beautiful. Fragile, delicate, wounded even perhaps Lyenn sounds in 'Vaguely Lit'. The voice is so prominent, unavoidable. The mood construed here is excellent by the way. So elementary yet so impressive. What a way to end a Kairos, although I think I wrote the same of the June Kairos' ending. Credits where they are due though and Lyenn and .No deserve them here.

Wo.

You can listen to this Kairos here:

https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_563078/


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g


Playlist
00:04 – 05:50  Hotel Neon. Monolith. Album ‘Profile of the lines, various artists one. Concentric Records.
04:59 – 09:15  Olec Mün. Freddy. Album ‘Reconciliation’. Lady Blunt Records.
08:58 – 13:59  Thomas Oliver feat. Ashton Sellars. She’s mine (acoustic). Album ‘The Brightest Light (Deluxe Edition)’. V2 Records.
13:49 – 18:48  Philip Sollman. Chance (fragment). Album ‘Monophonie’. A-Ton 10.
18:16 – 21:34  Marynka. Spiral to Heaven. Album ‘Red Moon’. Orphono Records.
21:15 – 27:17  Jake Muir. Nilas. Album ‘Profile of the lines, various artists one. Concentric Records.
26:57 – 29:03  Broeder Dieleman. 42. Album ‘De Liefde is de Eerste Wet. Snowstar Records.
28:36 – 32:20  Harrold Roeland. Berusting _ Herfst. Album ‘Ceres OST’. Self-released.
31:49 – 36:06  Job Roggeveen. Pan. Album ‘Gliese’. Excelsior Recordings.
34:04 – 43:26  Tim Six. Ascencion (fragment). Album ‘Dialectica. Self Released.
42:06 – 47:55  Milos Valent/ John Surman / Stephen Stubbs. Ein Iberisch Postambel. Album ‘The Dowland Project – Romaria’. ECM NEW SERES 1970 476 5780.  
46:27 – 50:16  Tim Six. Ascencion (fragment). Album ‘Dialectica. Self Released.
48:29 – 48:34  Job Roggeveen. Pan (fragment adapted by Wino Penris). Album ‘Gliese’. Excelsior Recordings.
48:53 – 48:59  Job Roggeveen. Pan (fragment adapted by Wino Penris). Album ‘Gliese’. Excelsior Recordings.
49:13 – 55:11  Fink. We Watch The Stars (fragment). Album ‘Bloom Innocent’. R’Coup’D/DGR.
54:56 – 59:57  Lyenn. Vaguely lit (slightly adapted by Wino Penris). Album ‘Slow Healer’. V2 Records Benelux.

I Was Born Swimming. Squirrel Flower

The album was released late in January of this year, so before the world became ever so small. By chance, thank you Spotify, one of the songs of  I Was Born Swimming, was played after an album of Jess Williamson ended and caught my ear. I started listening and haven't stopped really since.

Squirrel Flower is Ella O'Connor Williams, living in Boston and stemming from a family with a musical streak. Her father's bass playing can be heard on this album. After touring with artists like Soccer Mommy and Adrienne Lenker, both not unfamiliar to this blog, she recorded her debut album with producer Gabe Wax, who had worked with Lenker as well.

This collaboration results in an album that is seldom direct. Several songs seem to float on an endless yet almost calm sea. It gives the singer the opportunity to deliver her songs in the calmest of ways. Squirrel Flower aims for the mind, and not for the throat of her listeners, to make a lasting impression. On the guitars there seems to be endless reverb and delays added to the level just before the sound is repeated. As if recorded in a giant marble, empty bathroom. All this results in a dreamlike state. As if Williams sings to us from the other side. Audible but not real. In a way I can call it ambient music. It's there but in a way it is not. The music is so fleeting. Listen to 'Belly Of The City'. I can imagine the music breaking into little pieces, leaving only the empty spaces in between the vocal lines. Sung as if in church by the way. Is it coincidence that it contains the lines: "I never worshipped another, but I find myself kneeling for you"? I only heard that line after having formed the thought about a church song.

Luckily there's a song like 'Honey, Oh Honey!, where the noise button is used a little. Even at 1"14 minutes it makes exactly the right impression on me. I'm back in the real world for a minute, before taken back to a land of atmosphere and tranquillity in 'Seasonal Affective Disorder'. Instrumental for over two minutes, it is almost more atmosphere than song. The words and vocal turn it into a song of a minimal kind.

Slowly Dutch singer Amber Arcades comes to mind. She dares to play with atmosphere like Squirrel Flower does. The difference is she also dares to rock out more. Rock is far from I Was Born Swimming. The lack of diversity makes it hard to sit out the whole album in one go, I have to admit. That does not mean that it impresses me less. The musicianship and daring of 'Home', the 8th song on the album, is simply impressive.

With I Was Born Swimming Squirrel Flower has released an album for those who like to really immerse into an album. There is no alternative but to listen. Not listening results in not noticing, not enjoying. What a way to present yourself to the world for the first time.

Wo.

You can listen and order to I Was Born Swimming here:

https://squirrelflower.bandcamp.com/album/i-was-born-swimming


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g