Arbouretum: The Gathering

Year:  2011

Label:  Thrill Jockey

Catalog Number:  THRILL 257

Format:  CD (digipak)

Website:  http://arbouretum.blogspot.com

I’m not exactly sure what to make of Arbouretum.  Maybe that’s what makes them one of my favorite artists at the moment.  Their sound, perhaps best described as psychedelic prog-folk stoner rock, has been likened to Crazy Horse, Bob Mould, and Richard Thompson-era Fairport Convention, though none of those comparisons seems exactly on the mark.  To me, singer Dave Heumann’s distinctive voice falls somewhere between that of Eddie Vedder and Gordon Lightfoot, fronting a band that brings to mind Pink Floyd circa Obscured by Clouds. 

The Baltimore group’s fourth album The Gathering sees them getting heavier, both by turning up the fuzzbox on their folk, and by tackling the weighty subject matter of psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s Red Book, exploring realms of the psyche such as the collective unconscious, archetypes, and spirit guides.  Mythic imagery abounds in the album’s lyrics, notably in excellent opening track “The White Bird,” the title referring to Jung’s “daemon of spirituality [that] decendeth into our soul.”  Adding to the heady lyrics, a hypnotic fuzz-guitar riff further propels the song deep into inner space.  (And extra points to Heumann for including the words “gloaming,” “tessellating,” and “mycelia” in the same song.) 

Sometimes cover versions can break up an album’s continuity, but here the inclusion of Jimmy Webb’s classic ballad “The Highwayman” has the opposite effect:  The oft-covered tale of a wandering spirit reincarnated through the ages as frontier outlaw, sailor, dam builder, and starship captain fits perfectly with Arbouretum’s unique brand of cosmic Americana. 

The Eastern-tinged heavy groove of “Waxing Crescents” makes that track another highlight of The Gathering, its lyrics continuing the theme of spiritual vision quest (“What lens is offering to give blurred things clarity?”) as Heumann’s wails are made even more otherworldly by processing them through the filter of an ancient VCS3 synthesizer.  One can almost picture Arbouretum belting out the apocalyptic hymn “When Delivery Comes” on a towering cliff, the howling wind blowing majestically through their beards.  The album closes with the epic jam “Song of the Nile,” a psychedelic beast inspired by Gnostic mythology that chugs along relentlessly for 10-plus minutes before finally spiraling into the cosmos.

Heavy, man.

Ulver: Wars of the Roses

Year:  2011

Label:  Kscope

Catalog Number:  KSCOPE169
Format:  CD (digibook)
Website:  http://www.jester-records.com/ulver

Ulver are a band that defy simple categorization.  Over the years they’ve charted a crooked course, lurching from black metal steeped in Norwegian folklore to atmospheric film soundtracks and an ambitious musical interpretation of William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, followed by forays into chamber music, glitch electronica, and minimalist ambience.

With their most recent album Wars of the Roses, Ulver have combined many of these influences into a dark reflection on civilization in decline.  “We are our own enemy,” vocalist Kristoffer Rygg laments in “February MMX,” a slice of atmospheric indie rock that despite its doomy lyrics is arguably the most accessible track on the album.  It’s followed by “Norwegian Gothic,” an often-cynical summation of the history and traditions of their homeland (“Sins of our fathers, their land and nature / Amusement and abuse in the old farm house”) with appropriately unsettling music. 

From there things don’t get any brighter:  “September IV” is a somber eulogy to a young family friend lost to violence, while “England” uses the metaphor of a fox hunt to allude to the dark history of that country:  “And hidden in the hollow / A blood-red coat, white to the bone / Fit for queen and the cloven foot.”  The band have said that a fascination with England inspired the album, and the 2009 addition of British multi-instrumentalist and composer Daniel O’Sullivan to their lineup may have sharpened this focus.

The album’s centerpiece is the 15-minute “Stone Angels,” an interpretation of a 1997 work by American poet Keith Waldrop that features O’Sullivan reciting the poem over a bed of shifting atmospheric musical interludes.  It’s a fascinating and beautiful track that stands in contrast to the other more traditionally structured songs on the album.  In fact, that’s my one minor criticism of Wars of the Roses:  Devoting a full one-third of the album to a spoken-word piece makes the album seem a bit disjointed.  But Ulver have always specialized in contrasts, so perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise. 

Wars of the Roses was mixed by famed 4AD producer John Fryer, and the production of the album is impeccable, with atmospheric and often ominous layers of acoustic, electric, and electronic instruments, treatments and sound effects sharing the stage without ever upstaging one another. 

Until recently Ulver were strictly a studio band, but in 2009 they turned their attention to live performance, playing to great reviews and becoming the first rock band invited to perform at the prestigious Norwegian National Opera House.  A live DVD and Blu-Ray of that concert is due any day now—it will be interesting to see how they approach songs like these in a live setting.


Ulver - Norwegian Gothic (taken from Wars of the Roses) from Kscope on Vimeo.