MP3 Arborea - FOLK: Psych-folk
Modern melodic and haunting Appalachian folk musings.
11 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Psych-folk, FOLK: Alternative Folk
Details:
Arborea s/t Fire Museum Records
This self titled collection is the second release for Arborea. Hailing from Maine, the duo of Buck and Shanti Curran (on vocals, guitars, banjos, percussion) are joined on two numbers by Helena Espvall of Espers on cello. Here they conjure up a musical offering that is equal parts Appalachian music, traditional English folk music, and contemporary psychedelic folk with experimental touches creating a sound that stands out as unique while touching upon something that feels as ancient as the urge to create music.
Rare is the record that takes the listener to fields both verdant and desolate in the same journey as this release does, and it does so in a way that makes both equally powerful and inviting. The duo possess an alchemy that makes their collaboration feel as natural as the trees from which their names comes from.
Following upon the success of their debut effort Wayfaring Summer, Arborea have outdone themselves with this release, a recording that establishes them as masters of their craft. This is a group you will be hearing from for years to come.
“Arborea creates timeless music, haunted by deep shadows. Their songs are bathed in shimmering harmonics, spectral slide, and positively spooky banjo. The songs also evoke a kind of mysterious quality, they seem to touch a place in your soul that instinctively understands.”
– Dirty Linen Magazine (from a review of Wayfaring Summer)
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Reviews
Raven Sings the Blues, U.S.
A beautiful and stirring second album from the Maine duo of Buck and Shanti Curran, known better as Arborea. Lilting and desolate folk that''s as beautiful as it is lonesome; and as their name might suggest tinged with dark earthen overtones. The eponymous album feels almost disconnected from urbanity, the calm dry heat of songs like "Ides of March" choke your throat with the dust of stretched gravel roads, the endless repetition of wheat. Elsewhere the pair turns decisively off the path, with rolling clouds replaced by a canopy of trees and twigs underfoot. The sweet loneliness of isolation mixed with the creak of oaken chairs on floorboards and the smell of wet dirt. The pair aren''t totally isolated, however, as they enlist the help of fellow traveler Helena Espvall of Espers whose mournful cello adds nicely to the mix. The album is quite an accomplishment and it''s often hard to believe that this is only the group''s second offering but as with their first album (which is also well worth tracking down) it''s the natural ease and unpolished edge that makes it most alluring.
Electric Roulette, U.K.
When I reviewed Arborea''s first LP - Wayfaring Summer - I uttered the word "masterpiece". It was a big claim. However, it was a big claim that was completely justified. So, here I sit with their second long player - an eponymous cut - and I''m pleased to say that this is a band that gets better with each release.
Normally, a band has to find their feet before really hitting stride, however, Arborea aren''t your average group. Like The Band, which they share a certain woody charm with, this is a band that has landed fully formed. Where The Band did the Rag Mama Rag, Buck and Shanti Curran make beautiful, timeless albums that seem to almost make time freeze like the winter stopping streams. And if you think that''s flowery, you ain''t seen nuthin'' yet. This is a band that demands you get your poetic hat on.
If the first album had something of Pagan sexuality about it, then this album continues in the same way, only this time, with the help of the sirens. ''Arborea'', slowly fades in with a cinematic peer through the mist with the creepy Forwarned before melting into the breathtaking Red Bird. If Forwarned was the opening credits, then the opening dialogue of Red Bird really sets the tone. With some cello help from Helena Espvall of psychedelic folkies The Espers, the earthy strings, coupled with the rootsy pickings of the Currans, are a marriage made in heaven.
Many folk LPs are intent of doing little more than listening to Nick Drake albums. Of course, very few match their influence. However, Arborea seem to drag influences from every corner and twist and forge them into their own unique shapes. There''s drones, the ghost of Smithsonian Folkways field recordings, Celtic music, murder balladry, psychedelic backward guitar, even the leafy weirdness of Goldfrapp''s ''Felt Mountain'' can be heard in some of Shanti''s delivery.
If you think that folk music, which this undoubtedly is, is a lesson in real ales and cardigans, you couldn''t be more wrong. Arborea are a band that, on record at least, aren''t afraid to get naked and draw blood. There''s a toughness in their sound that says ''don''t mess''. This isn''t a band that will fist-fight you in the street, but rather, cast a spell that will leave you in the forest - lost. I''d like to say that they are in fact in league with a band of demonic witches who will cast a wicked spell on you if you don''t buy this album as it''s that good. However, amongst the sinister magick is some truly wonderful, sensual, hip-shaking twang.
If this album was released on some obscure label in the early seventies, you''d be stumping up £300 for it. Black Mountain Road has a timeless quality... it could be a Joe Boyd production... it could be found on a discarded reel-to-reel in the middle of some remote outpost of the Hebrides... it''s a staggering track. There''s something of the Watersons about this record. There''s something of Pentangle. I can''t rate this highly enough! In short, you can''t live without this album. It''s the way albums are supposed to be - exciting, beguiling, enchanting, intriguing - quite simply, it''s superb and needs a place in your home now
People who are interested in The Pentangle Iron & Wine should consider this download.