Carola Baer – The Story Of Valerie
Carola Baer – The Story Of Valerie

Carola Baer – The Story Of Valerie

Regular price £26.00 Sale

Label: Concentric Circles – CC 001
Format: Vinyl, LP, Reissue
Country: US
Released: Oct 26, 2018
Genre: Electronic, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Synth-pop, Leftfield, Experimental

The discovery of a cassette of Carola Baer's early 90s private home recordings was the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack. Made as a one off mixtape of newly recorded songs, and given away to a long-since forgotten recipient, this cassette was found in 2017 at a Goodwill "bins" location in Portland, Oregon. These chaotic, by the pound thrift stores contain 1000's of unsorted items in constant flux, which are only available for the public to buy for a limited time before they are discarded. The prospect that this obscure relic would be rescued from it's untimely fate is nothing short of a miracle. As this tape was the only one in existence, with no back up versions of many of the songs, it's more than likely that this music would have been lost forever.

The Story of Valerie is made up of songs culled from that cassette, with a few additional tracks from the time, and is the first time Carola Baer's solo material has been heard by the public. The intensely emotional feeling of the music and lyrics is brought upon by the primary themes of the album: the cruelty of humanity, isolated life as a british immigrant in the US and the pain of doomed relationships. Despite being inspired by classic 4AD acts like Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins, Baer's home recordings have a sound and style that is all their own. Many of the tracks feel like musical exorcisms, with Baer's spine tingling voice soaring above minimal arrangements for Yamaha DX-7 and Casio CZ-101 synthesizers. Like finding a strangers diary and being captivated by what’s found inside, the listener is granted access to music that is especially personal in nature.

It feels almost criminal that this music has never been heard, and was on the brink of extinction. The story of the source cassette being found is a prime example of how much incredible music is out in the world just waiting to be uncovered... (NM/NM)

Tracklist

A1 Maker Of Me
A2 Golden Boy
A3 Save Me
A4 We Already Feel
A5 Springtime
A6 Doors Talk
B1 Solemn Cattle
B2 Nothing Left To Say
B3 See The Lights Again
B4 Dreams
B5 On Top Of The Mountain