Label: Not On Label - None
Format: Cassette, Album
Country: US
Released: 2023
Genre: Electronic, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Ambient, Folk, Leftfield
Wistful meta-folk from the American Midwest, self-published by US musician and occasional ANF customer Erik Kramer - totally floored by this.
Sometimes it feels too good to be true. Erik got in touch recently to humbly and politely share some new music he’s been working on, the first thing for a number of years. From the first click we were transported away to open prairies and time ground down to a halt. It’s music rooted in simplicity and the great outdoors - unadorned, unembellished and happy to let you stay a little while. Drifting from the opening woozy tape-warbled keyboards to the stripped-bare Shirley Collin indebted ‘Just As The Tide Was Flowing’, it’s clear we’re in the presence of something really special. We’re reminded of Nuno Canavarro’s Plux Quba, the way you’re always inside it but never quite know where you are. Kramer’s string playing strikes a perfect mood throughout, allowing each piece the space to breath whilst percolating a deep sense of Autumn nostalgia. ‘Rain For The Field’ is one of the best tracks we’ve heard for some time - a civic-hall singalong laced with tin whistle and rising synth notes. It’s easy to imagine Kramer here roping some of his friends in to sing along here, the happy / sad feeling is one of communion and earnest enjoyment. Subtly augmented field-recordings and crusty tape samples tap into the woolly and loveable aesthetic of say The Sprigs, Matthew Sullivan’s scene-setting pieces or any of your favourite NZ lathe micro-editions. Music for the wide open blue sky - a firm favourite of the year. (Mint / New - with free DL).
music for Blue Sky (" where the eagle that flies out of sight flies ")
cybernetic meadow song for the place we were at before we were here..." Where the fish are as fine as the color of colors! "
nowhere is a place on earth 👍
RIYL: a big prairie, central and eastern european cuisine, clicking around on wikipedia, Wisconsin, looking at pictures of mythic creatures, Gary Snyder, the smell when the radiators kick on for the first time, going Up North, Chicago bungalows, walking around
credits
released November 3, 2023
Recorded 2017-2023
Mastered by Sean McCann
Cover and insert printed by Depression Press
'Pure as lapis lazuli'
keyboard, steel string, tape
'Just as the tide was flowing'
Eva Chudnow - singing, Erik- banjo, field recordings, samples
traditional English folk song - this version is heavily indebted to the Shirley Collins version on The Power Of The True Love Knot
'Where the fish are as fine as the color of colors'
pump organ, banjo, recorder, percussion
'Hermit guardian angel'
nylon string, sampler, samples, Casio MT-40
environmental sound loop taken from Heron's 'Little Angel'
'Rain for the field'
Ben Bergstrom - singing, guitar, Colleen Bergstrom - singing, bells, Nick Rauba - singing, guitar, Lindsey Collier - singing, bells, Alex Tomasek - singing, recorder, Liv Jordan - singing, drum, Erik- singing, Roland XP-80, nylon string, Roland Jupiter 6, pump organ, tin whistle
'Gates locked at sunset'
Roland XP-80, pump organ, nylon string
'Night patrol'
Sawyer Gee - nylon string, Erik- banjo & drum machine, Madison area teenagers- cars & trucks
'Daylight saving'
nylon string, singing, Casio MT-40, samples
'Snake wheel loon light'
Zack Stafford - electronics, Erik- bells, bowls, bottles, drum, Casio MT-40, Roland Jupiter 6, radio, Voices Of The Loon LP & turntable
'Now that the night is young'
Ben Bergstrom - guitar, Nick Rauba - bass, Erik- guitar
Tracklist
1. Pure as lapis lazuli 01:02
2. Just as the tide was flowing 04:08
3. Where the fish are as fine as the color of colors 03:52
4. Hermit guardian angel 09:17
5. Rain for the field 05:29
6. Gates locked at sunset 06:22
7. Night patrol 03:05
8. Daylight saving 04:27
9. Snake wheel loon light 09:06
10. Now that the night is young 04:18
