Jozef van Wissem & United Bible Studies

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4...according to our Brian on Thu 14 Jul, 2011.

Improv Lutist and outer-fringes collaborator extraordinaire Wissem here joins hands with cult Irish types United Bible Studies. From the off this is a lush sounding record, title track 'Downland' sounding a little like James Blackshaw gone all cosmic and that with whooshing astral noises & an ominous drone being the undercurrent beneath some sweet thoughtful guitar. UBS vocalist Alison O' Donell pops up with her wide-eyed theatrical tones on the second track 'Seven Tears', a song imbued with meandering psych-rock elements under the jaunty acoustic guitar. Side one ends with a piece of stuttering, stumbling de-tuned experimentation that remains largely listenable due to its use of field recordings, intimate acoustics & blatant drunken charm. The opening track of side two sounds quite demented in a barking acid folk pixie way. Has me thinking of Comus or Gong in spirit. It's certainly a wide-eyed cyclic, gibbering sprite of a tune. Like the space invader noise throughout. You can never have too many space invader noises on a record. On the subsequent tune Wissem's feminine vocals are found fleshing-out an impassioned piece of haughty folk minimalism. The penultimate track is a more challenging, difficult beast that folds both ethereal, medieval & discordant rock elements. One for fans of Trembling Bells & the more esoteric end of Appendix Out, the closer is a magical dream-like folk-rock piece with choral vocals, chiming acoustic interplay and there's even what sounds like a hurdy gurdy in there. A cracking conclusion to a most interesting and diverse collection.

Dutch Lutenist Jozef Van Wissem has collaborated with James Blackshaw, Smegma, Keiji Haino and Jim Jarmusch among others. Mostly based in Ireland, the ever-shifting line-ups of United Bible Studies have spent the last decade roaming far and wide from their folk roots, exploring ecstatic group improvisation, songcraft, and studio-based Prog epics. The album is bookended by two different versions of the same composition, 'Downland' and 'The Seas Have Lifted Up Their Voice'. Propulsive and metronomic, with Beach Boys-inspired harmonies, it led UBS to a new way of working. Van Wissem's pieces were either stark and minimal, or had multi-layered harmonies which led UBS into less than familiar territory. The sparser pieces lent themselves to being shaped into songs, and the addition of extemporaneous textures. Van Wissem wrote the lyrics of Altars Of Brick (The Day Is Coming) for Alison O'Donnell to sing. Its ominous tone inspired Gavin Prior to write the tangentially related Í Rith na h-Óiche in Gaelic. O'Donnell did historical research for her courtly romance Seven Tears, named after Dowland's famous song cycle. The Bible Students have woven murk and mystery around the lucid austerity of van Wissem's compositions, together creating an album which is unlike anything in either of their substantial back catalogues and more than the mere sum of its parts. Numbered limited edition, silk screen art print silver on black.

Tracklisting:

Side A
1. DOWNLAND 8:14
2. Seven Tears 3:30
3. Trade Boys For prostitutes Sell Girls For Wine 3:47

Side B
1. Come Holy Ghost 3:28
2. Altars of brick ( the day is coming) 2:40
3. I Rith Na hOíche 3:54
4. The seas have lifted up their voice 5:22

Browdonn said:

Jozef is not singing anywhere on this record.

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