MONTGOMERY, ROY / GROUPER split (Grouper Records) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We had a vinyl version of this split between ethereal bliss-scaper Liz Harris aka Grouper, and legendary NZ guitarist Roy Montgomery, a while back, but we got so few copies, and had such a rush on the ones we did get, that we never had a chance to review it, and thus it never even made it up onto the site. But now it's finally been reissued on cd, and with a bonus Roy Montgomery track to boot!
Roy's original track/side was a gorgeously epic bit of dreamy strum and steel string drift, titled "Fantasia On A Theme By Sandy Bull (Slight Return)", just that instantly recognizable guitar, a cloud of buzzing steel strings, a sort of blissed out Appalachia spread out over nearly 20 minutes, the sound slipping smoothly from that urgent strum, to something much more hushed and minimal, abstract and softly space-y, and over the course of the track, drifting between the two. Hypnotic and haunting and quite lovely.
His bonus track is a billowy cloud of chiming shimmering guitar, sweet melancholy melodies, piled atop a jangly strum, notes wreathed in delay and reverb and echo, the sound somehow both ethereal and propulsive, ghostly and insistent, the sounds hazy and gauzy and washed out, but subtly tense, with a sense of mystery and loss and longing, the aural equivalent of watching the world through rain slicked windows, in fact, Montgomery seems impossibly deft at creating the perfect rainy day soundtrack.
Grouper's half of the split begins with "Hollow Press", and the sound of whispering wind, for nearly two minutes, before ethereal effected vocals drift in, floating atop the swirling soft white noise, which leads directly into "Vessel", a haunting elegy of weirdly distorted guitar, unfurled in spidery tendrils, the vocals nearly free of effects, and sounding as angelic as ever, a gorgeous hushed lullaby. "Hold The Way" is another gentle bit of crystalline drift, a looped muted guitar figure, undulating softly beneath sweetly crooned vox, a dream pop slowed down and blurred into something much more ethereal and ephemeral. Finally, "Pulse" sends reverbed guitars drifting from speaker to speaker, the stereo field dizzyingly panned, softly psychedelic, slowly the wind returns, and guitar fading out leaving just the sound of wind, and a barking dog, a hazy outro of found sound, wiping away all the traces of the sounds that came before, like the surf smoothing out sand on the beach. So Lovely.
The new cd version is housed in a swank digipak, and is still most likely WAY too limited...
MPEG Stream: GROUPER "Hollow Press"
MPEG Stream: ROY MONTGOMERY "Vessel"
MPEG Stream: "Fantasia on a Theme by Sandy Bull (Slight Return)"
XIU XIU VS. GROUPER Creepshow (Slender Means Society States Rights Records) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The beautifully damaged worlds of Xiu Xiu and Grouper are magically melded together on this limited edition ep. The trademark drugged out dreamy drones of Liz Harris aka Grouper perfectly compliment the mopey dark instrumentation of Xiu Xiu. Like their collaboration with Larsen last year, Xiu Xiu prove that besides their intense lyrics and over-the-top vocal delivery, they have a knack for creating a truly creepy and unsettling ambiance. Vocals and voices are just another element of the haunting mood these two effortlessly conjure up. Like the ghost sounds of a carnival that rode off into the sunset hundreds of years ago but whose imprint has never been totally erased. Together Xiu Xiu and Grouper weave sounds that occupy some perfect space between dreams and nightmares. Highly recommended! And we only got a handful direct from the bands, so you know what that means...
MPEG Stream: "Sea"
MPEG Stream: "In Dreams"
XIU XIU VS. GROUPER Creepshow (Release The Bats) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl!!
Limited to 525 copies, seemingly already out of print...
The beautifully damaged worlds of Xiu Xiu and Grouper are magically melded together on this limited edition ep. The trademark drugged out dreamy drones of Liz Harris aka Grouper perfectly compliment the mopey dark instrumentation of Xiu Xiu. Like their collaboration with Larsen last year, Xiu Xiu prove that besides their intense lyrics and over-the-top vocal delivery, they have a knack for creating a truly creepy and unsettling ambiance. Vocals and voices are just another element of the haunting mood these two effortlessly conjure up. Like the ghost sounds of a carnival that rode off into the sunset hundreds of years ago but whose imprint has never been totally erased. Together Xiu Xiu and Grouper weave sounds that occupy some perfect space between dreams and nightmares. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Sea"
MPEG Stream: "In Dreams"