In the fall of 2008, near the chain linked intersection of one junkyard and a storage facility in Northern California, an inquisitive drifter witnessed the coalescence of O Vesicae and the Found Mountain. Chris Keene (Found Mountain, Surrogate, Numberonegun, Sherwood) and Daniel Taylor (Found Mountain, West by Swan) received implicit instruction from O Vesicae (songwriter Christopher Armstrong, of Sherwood) to build two thunderous pillars, one by skin and wood, the other by metal and electricity, to flank his recently crafted anthems of perplexing and mysterious origin. The union resulted in a handful of evenings at , where Keene determined to orchestrate an impressive ballet starring carefully selected knobs, sliders, cursors and arrows. While a few weeks walked by, O Vesicae and the Found Mountain attained completion. The three called their work good, and they rested.
At once both humble and critical, O Vesicae fabricates tunes moored in the living tradition of modern melodic rock. Daunting and danceable, like a slice of sixties folk salt-cured and preserved unto maturity, O Vesicae and the Found Mountain boasts of well-pruned structures, playful instrumentation, and superior production. The album speaks like an old friend and raises answers to questions that we were previously unaware to have entertained.
Now in 2009, having achieved their mutual enlightenment with astounding accuracy, O Vesicae and the Found Mountain lead quite lives of satisfaction and content, patiently waiting their pending summons. May we all delight.
