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Recommended by us on 19th August 2010
...according to our Brian on Thu 19 Aug, 2010.
These peeps never fail to impress me, a Swedish M/F duo that produce soulful, otherworldly percussive pop with scintillating use of abstract angles & bluesy vocal stylings. Her voice has a tendency to grate on some folk but I think she proudly straddles the boundary between Beth Gibbons & Beach House's Victoria Legrand, possessing an affecting & swooping range that I find incredibly moving - especially in the context of a choral torch-song! This collaborative EP - the first of two 12"s to be compiled into an album at a later date - features the same choir Bjork employed on Medulla and some very beautiful, sumptuous & atmospheric neo-classical arrangements amongst the widescreen tribalisms. I'm thoroughly taken with this record, they've excelled themselves here, taken their cosmic minimalism to new heights. Get involved in their sound-world for you may not want to leave. Beautiful!
This is the second of two mini 12" EP's from Wildbirds & Peacedrums. The first passed me by but this one is all up in my face so i'll get on and tell you something about it. Wildbirds...specialise in high concept pop music much like Sade, Bjork, Kate Bush and those types so they've got a great front lady thing going on and they enlist the help of all sorts of producers and engineers (in this case the Ben Frost the golden manchild) to create vast musical landscapes elaborating on whatever it is that's on their mind at the time. 'Iris' seems to focus it's attention on the steel drum which is probably up there in my top five instruments of all time (vibraphone, electric guitar, Korg MS-20, steel drum and the Omnichord...just incase you were interested). So, these tracks are minimalist beat and steel drum affairs with a warm, inventive vocal delivery driving them home. It's pretty effective stuff and probably the most interesting of the Wildbirds stuff i recall hearing. Kinda reminds me of the new High Places stuff or perhaps Pit Er Pat....in a way
* Rivers is the mesmerising third album by Sweden’s Wildbirds & Peacedrums, combining the two limited edition vinyl only 12” EPs, Retina and Iris, which were released in May and June 2010 respectively. The album will be released as a double CD in a deluxe gatefold wallet, with one EP represented on each disc, and, for the first time, the ten songs will also be available to download.
* Characteristically, Wildbirds emphasise instinct, emotional rawness and purity of expression over perfection. The whole album was recorded and mixed in Reykjavík in a single week, and retains an intentionally spontaneous, live feel. A new sense of restraint and control is apparent, compared to Wildbirds’ previous albums (2008’s Heartcore and 2009’s The Snake) and their blistering live shows, consciously bringing Mariam Wallentin’s lyrical concerns into clearer focus. While the two Eps are sonically quite distinct, they complement each other with unifying themes of reflection, light and water. Heard in the context of the album, the new songs are revealed as an extraordinary body of work.
* Following a period of careful preparation, Mariam and her husband Andreas Werliin travelled to Iceland in late January. Collaborating with cellist and arranger Hildur Guðnadóttir (who has worked with The Knife, Nico Muhly and is a memberof Múm and who proved to be the catalyst for the project), they were abetted by a stellar cast of contributors, including Australian émigré sound artist and engineer Ben Frost, and his Bedroom Community associate Valgeir Sigurðsson (Camille, CocoRosie, Bonnie Prince Billy) who mixed the songs.
* The Retina half of the album comprises five colossal songs, stratospheric in scale and emotional scope. Recorded inthe modern Guðríðarkirkja church with the 12-strong Schola Cantorum Reykjavík Chamber Choir (who also featured on Björk’s Medulla album), with arrangements by Guðnadóttir. Standouts are the atmospheric ‘Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood’ and the powerful, percussive ‘Fight For Me’. At the time of writing, Retina had been awarded Single Of The Month by both Artrocker and DJ magazines in the UK.
* Recorded in Reykjavík’s Greenhouse studios, the five songs that make up Iris are an oasis of introspection measured against Retina’s overwhelming torrent. The songs revolve around the uniquely resonant sound of the steel pan –Mariam’s current musical passion. Alongside her haunting vocal and Andreas’ elemental percussion (and very little else), the instrument gives the recordings a more intimate, direct sound that counterbalances Retina’s more expansive ambience. The album’s bewitching closing track, ‘The Well’ is currently available as a free download to Leaf mailing list subscribers. Sign up or log in here: http://files.theleaflabel.com/signup/
* The Rivers project was conceived for live performance as much as anything, and for the first time Mariam and Andreas recorded their music as it is meant to be heard, almost entirely live. The duo are set to perform these songs across Europe following the album’s release, accompanied once again by a 12-piece choir, also re-imagining other songs from their growing repertoire. As Wildbirds & Peacedrums with Voices, they premiered the new songs at two phenomenal UK appearances in May: at the Pavement-curated ATP Festival, and a sold-out show at the 500-capacity Bishopsgate Institute in London (described by The Guardian as “fantastic” in their five star review).
* A stunning video has been released for ‘Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood’, using footage shot during therecording sessions in Iceland and at home in Gothenburg. Watch it here: http://vimeo.com/11681801
- CD1 (Retina): 1. Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood 2. Tiny Holes In This World 3. Under Land And Over Sea 4.Fight For Me 5. Peeling Off The Layers-
CD2 (Iris): 1. The Wave 2. The Drop 3. The Course 4. The Lake 5. The Well
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