Friday, November 2.
End of an Empire Presents:
Alasdair Roberts (Drag City)
Charalambides (Kranky, Wholly Other)
plus Heather Leigh Murray
The Nave Gallery
Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church
155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville, MA
8 pm/ $8/ All ages
Scottish songwriter Alasdair Roberts' career as a recording artist sprung into a critically lauded, cult-praised profession when a demo he made with his group Appendix Out found its way into the hands of Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie Prince Billy). Oldham identified with Appendix Out's similarly calculated sound enough that he released their first recording, the 7" titled Ice Age/Pissed with You, on his own Palace Records label in 1996. The momentum from this release's affiliation with Oldham sparked not only a series of split 7" releases, but also to a recording contract with Chicago indie label Drag City. After Appendix Out's third release for the label, released in February 2001, Roberts immediately recorded and released his first solo album, released on Secretly Canadian and titled The Crook of My Arm. Roberts later followed with his second solo release, Farewell Sorrow, which garnered more critical acclaim and showcased the development of his songwriting growing tendrils around the roots of the British and Scottish folk traditions. The stark and beautiful No Earthly Man arrived in 2005, followed by the more band-oriented Amber Gatherers in 2007.
http://www.alasdairroberts.com/
To say that the words "unique" and "singular" are over-used in describing music is to state the obvious. To apply these words to the sounds created by the various duo/trio configurations of the Texas group Charalambides over the last decade plus would be understatement. To be sure there are numerous antecedents to their music; to deny this of any artist‘s work would be akin to saying that they are deaf. But they have surely broken new ground in the primitive/ folk/mystic/improv/psych valley in which they toil. As Marcus Boon wrote in The Wire; "...here is a truly 21st century experimental ethnic music that explores quietness and stasis... in the same way that musicians in the second half of the 20th century discovered amplification, noise and speed."
http://www.kranky.net/artists/charalambides.html
http://frontporchproductions.org/artist/charalambides
Scottish songwriter Alasdair Roberts' career as a recording artist sprung into a critically lauded, cult-praised profession when a demo he made with his group Appendix Out found its way into the hands of Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie Prince Billy). Oldham identified with Appendix Out's similarly calculated sound enough that he released their first recording, the 7" titled Ice Age/Pissed with You, on his own Palace Records label in 1996. The momentum from this release's affiliation with Oldham sparked not only a series of split 7" releases, but also to a recording contract with Chicago indie label Drag City. After Appendix Out's third release for the label, released in February 2001, Roberts immediately recorded and released his first solo album, released on Secretly Canadian and titled The Crook of My Arm. Roberts later followed with his second solo release, Farewell Sorrow, which garnered more critical acclaim and showcased the development of his songwriting growing tendrils around the roots of the British and Scottish folk traditions. The stark and beautiful No Earthly Man arrived in 2005, followed by the more band-oriented Amber Gatherers in 2007.
http://www.alasdairroberts.com/
To say that the words "unique" and "singular" are over-used in describing music is to state the obvious. To apply these words to the sounds created by the various duo/trio configurations of the Texas group Charalambides over the last decade plus would be understatement. To be sure there are numerous antecedents to their music; to deny this of any artist‘s work would be akin to saying that they are deaf. But they have surely broken new ground in the primitive/ folk/mystic/improv/psych valley in which they toil. As Marcus Boon wrote in The Wire; "...here is a truly 21st century experimental ethnic music that explores quietness and stasis... in the same way that musicians in the second half of the 20th century discovered amplification, noise and speed."
http://www.kranky.net/artists/charalambides.html
http://frontporchproductions.org/artist/charalambides
