Live review of Earth, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds March 9th 2012

The Brudenell Social Club in Leeds hides away amongst the back to backs and corner shops of Leeds’ student area in Headingley. The venue has, over the years built up a reputation for being a sought after venue for touring bands of many varied and disparate genres of music. Tonight, set amongst the mirrors, the packed venue played host to 3 acts that perfectly complemented each other’s sound and character.

Ô Paon is essentially the work of French Canadian Genevieve Castree, who, alone, with her guitar microphone and looping devices, held the audience rapt with delicate gossamer melodies and swirling waves of passion. That air of ardour and enigma was particularly heightened as all the songs were performed in French. Compositions were built up on a wall of guitar and voice to be shattered with her elusive, fragile voice. That one woman, armed with so few devices, can achieve this kind of atmosphere in such a venue, must surely make her, and the audience enthralled and uneasy, proud to be part of it.

The atmosphere was not lost with Mount Eerie, effectively guitarist and vocalist Phil Elverum. Previously working under the moniker The Microphones, Elverum produces full frontal assaults of sound and emotion using only his voice and a variety of guitar distortions, and reminiscent of Ô Paon, held the room mesmerised with a variety of compositions that captivated and startled the audience in equal measure. More belligerent in approach, Elverum’s compositions ride on an engine of feedback, reverberation and distortion, which provided the perfect soundtrack for the expectant audience.

That Earth have recently been reviewed in a variety of magazines of differing contexts, jazz, rock and avant garde, is surely testament to the progress they have made in their career. That the audience present tonight was comprised of a variety of characters, including someone in a Gong t-shirt, further enhances that belief that the Earth sound now appeals to lovers of many genres of music. “Last night we played in a cave and got dripped on…” quipped Carlson, referring to the concert in Edinburgh....

Read the full review at This Is Not A Scene

Earth - Angels of Darkness Demons of Light II review for This Is Not A Scene webzine

Review


“Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II”, recorded in the same two week session in 2011 as the first instalment, sees Seattle’s Earth delving further into the realms of folklore, and music that has at its essence the acid folk generation.

The album itself opens with ‘Sigil of Brass,’ a gently meandering interplay of delicate guitar lines that ushers the listener into ‘His Teeth Did Brightly Shine,’ where the interplay between the sparse sounding instrumentation moves onto another level. The tone is profoundly mesmerising and leaves the listener curious as to where these changes are leading. The pace of the piece builds laboriously over the next six or seven minutes, until finally ‘Multiplicity of Doors’ introduces percussion and cello to baleful effect. This is not to say that the momentum of the album is in any way fractured or non-linear, as each piece flows effortlessly throughout.

There is a striking sense of improvisational communication between the participating musicians which lends “Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II” a strong sense that as each track passes, the whole is being developed organically.

The line up on the album, together with Dylan Carson is complemented by a remarkably diverse array of musicians including Adrienne Davies on percussion, Lori Goldston on cello (who has worked artists as divergent as David Byrne and Nirvana) and Karl Blau on bass. ‘The Corascene Dog’ follows on in the same vein of intelligent contemplative progression, and a common thread develops in that despite being the work of a particular mind, the pieces are now very closely informed by the participating musicians.

In many ways the album has brought together elements that have characterised Earth’s body of work over the years, from the lumbering, howling, distorted guitar lines that were such a feature of “Earth 2” we now have those similar lines again, but in a more restrained and subdued form. The familiar lengthy, repetitive lines are apparent, but whereas in previous incarnations those lines would have beaten the listener into submission with sheer volume and presence, those lines are now delivered with poise and grace and cagoule the listener into quiet contemplation.

The final track ‘The Rakehell’ adds yet another layer to the experience and, although still moving carefully forward, has a somewhat more tuneful, lounge jazz feel. Again, this is not to be derogative of the compositions on “Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II”, but to suggest a dramatic leap forward for the second incarnation of Earth, who forge ahead in style and content and should be thought of as an example of the creative spirit in progress.