| $15.48
new to stock as of
february 25th, 2009
threads:
folk
modern-psych
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| | | textile (france) #t 15 cd joanne robertson “the lighter” compact disc - gardener (4:01)
- lit (3:16)
- silver (2:31)
- grasscat (3:53)
- blow (4:15)
- stovepipe (3:32)
- tap (4:20)
- lipsun (2:36)
- dragg (2:36)
- marker (4:37)
- crackling (3:34)
- fringe (3:43)
- ola (4:38)
| ... based on byron’s (multiple!) descriptions of this one (not to mention the presence of this heat producer & flying lizard david cunningham, who’s otherwise been quiet on the production front these days) i was expecting a more angular take on “private” folk/psych craft, and, for a brief moment i was met with some neat, a-rhythmic overdubs ... before realizing i was listening to the same track at the same time twice (both locally in the foreground and via ms. robertson’s myspace page in the background) ...
cunningham does add some nice flourishes (listen to the sound-sample) but this is largely of the sort of confessional singer/songwriter avenues that i don’t tread down much these days ... that said, ms. robertson has a lovely, breathy tone that’s very easy on the ears ... |
| | joanne roberston - "the lighter"
listening to joanne roberston’s debut album is something i’ve been doing in bits and pieces for quite a while. songs have come, songs have gone, and while i miss some of the tunes that have disappeared into the aether, the remaining selections are uniformly stellar.
it’s hard to describe exactly how joanne’s songs function. in certain ways they bear a similarity to folk music. empiricially, they fulfill most of that genre’s requirements, but they actually hew to none of its conventions. the lyrics, the structures, the rhythms all breathe with a unique quality that feels born of a free improvisational impulse rarely associated with folk music. the surface of this music is so casual it almost defies you to get close enough to really see it, really try to comprehend it. but the closer you listen, the weirder and deeper everything becomes.
to not do so is to miss 90% of what’s going on. this album is like the soundtrack to a movie about semiotic icebergs – massive floes of content and ideas, obscured by the sparkle of water. joanne is such a theoretician, it’s probably hard for her to trust her instincts at times. but she has obviously trusted herself to fly blind on some tracks here. their forms are so open as to be almost non-existent. others have been revised with almost an alchemist’s attention to detail – every cracked globe of vital element in the exact right place.
transparent and opaque at the same moment, the lighter represents a brilliant set of songs, made even more luminous by david cunningham’s production touch. you are in for a big motherfuckin’ treat. dig it.
--byron coley 2007 |
...
joanne robertson grew up amidst the carnal circus atmosphere of blackpool, england. after studying piano in her youth, she chose instead to borrow her father’s guitar and wander through the sand dunes, plucking noisily at the strings and singing extemporaneous songs to scare-off the local hippies. she hung out in the region’s punk and metal bars, but fled to paris when drugs started collecting her friends in a little bucket. after that came the glasgow school of art and a noisy rock band called i love lucy, whose lyrics were all improvised. with the help of her schoolmates from franz ferdinand, they played in glasgow, london and new york, before breaking up after their sixth gig. starting to think that even i love lucy was too structured, joanne traveled to the coasts of america, where she communed with noise bands, did some shows and contemplated her future.
she opted to take her mfa at ucl slade school of fine art, where she formed the blood ‘n feathers collective with lucy stein. their visual art was widely feted and was included in the prestigious becks futures 2006 show, which showcases notable young british artists. simultaneously, joanne returned to solo performance, opening shows for martin creed around london. her debut album. the lighter, produced by david cunningham, is a direct outgrowth of this solo work. the lighter has a stark, weird musical beauty that is analogous to joanne’s visual work. flatness hide depth. simplicity masks complexity. the sweet conceals the sour. opposites attract and overwhelm each other. it’s one of nature’s laws. or maybe two.
joanne also works with the trio, mememe, alternately playing electric guitar and drums, making a racket that can be heard all the way up at the top of brick lane, when blasted from the basement of nog gallery. but this isn’t about that. the lighter is a collection of intimate interior portraits, reminiscent in spots of sybille baier, barbara manning, even hope sandoval, but all performed with an addictive off-kilter grace that suspends time in a very special way.
cunningham’s production has a luminous simplicity which allows joanne’s voice and guitar to breath as one, emitting whiffs that seem new and old at the same time. a devotee of serious art theory, joanne would (i’m certain) like to place all of this in a theoretical context, but it’s such a goddamn wonderful listen, i suggest we all just pull up some chairs and some fires and some drinks, and lift a toast (or a series of ‘em) to the lighter’s magnetic magic. a dark room, and empty bed and you. that’s all it takes.
-- byron coley |
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