This might be the strangest, the most ambitious of their six
releases – and also their most accessible. Two years in the making, it started
in 2013 in the forests of Northern Ontario where they found inspiration in the
percussive possibilities of fallen trees. “Deep tree diving, oh.” In the echoes
of deep bat-rich caves. “Adios Plato.” In the sounds and the quiet of the wild
spaces, where a chipmunk took them far from the noise of the Demon Trucks that
carry away the harvest of the forest. “Ohhh don’t press your luck, run run away
from the demon truck.” In an encounter with a boulder split by the slow-growing root of
a tree. “The prisoner of war will break free of the stocks/The root will one
day split the rock.” Time spent in an abandoned cabin, said to have once been a
hideout for Al Capone. “We’re all dressed in our best luck ... In the older
days this room would be filled with smoke ... Ah, I just need a blanket for
these bloody finches in my head.” And then into New Orleans earlier this year with
its famous ninth ward that is still recovering from catastrophic flooding a
decade ago. “Barefoot in the ninth....” With its continuing echoes of Katrina.
“Katrina, I wish you’d come and listen to the music coming up through the
floor.” That song features guest musician, New Orleans trumpeter Kenneth Terry (written about previously on this blog). Velvet-voiced Venezuelan singer Yulene Velasquez
adds vocal flourishes that shape the “The Face That You Deserve” into a sweet
exotic charmer. “Each and every drop never stops, till it’s found it’s
way/Every single beam finds its meaning in another’s eye.”
There are four instrumental pieces on this album of eleven
songs. With titles like “Orchestrated Entropy” and “Graveyard of Pines,” they
bristle with original ideas, unusual transitions, atypical harmonies. And with
an instrumental arsenal that includes banjo, guitar, assorted hand percussion,
accordion, trombone, bells, fife, throat-singing, thumb piano, bird calls,
fiddle, piano, and the famous Freedom Boot, these multi-instrumentalists have
created a sound that rewards close listening. This is stellar musicianship in
which one can hear touches of Eric Satie, gypsy music, African and Middle Eastern rhythms and
melodies, blues, New Orleans roustabouts, avant-garde experimentation ... and
much more.
(You can investigate further at the Groanbox site.)
Below, I have been given permission to post an as yet unreleased video about the making of this album. Double-click in order to view it full-frame, or go to YouTube.
