Helene Gautier (vocals) Peter Philipson (guitars/banjo/dulcimer) Raz Ullah (electronics/samples/drones/guitar) Paul Blakesley (double bass/vocals)
Brian Edwards (drums/magic tricks)
Influences
John Martyn, Pentangle, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Billy Childish, Lydia Kavina, Bob Moog, John Renbourn, Jimmy Page, Jandek, Headless Heroes Of The Apocalypse, Danny Thompson, Jim Jarmusch, Neil Young, Tunng, Four Tet, Klaus Nomi, Mothers Of Invention, Edgar Varese, Mark Hollis, Nina Hagen, Dick Annegarn...
Leaves of Life is the essential collection of songs by some of today’s most creative Indie
Folk musicians. This record brings together unique and contemporary artistic voices to
create an evocative and stunning collaboration; with all proceeds from the sales of this
record going to benefit important relief programs in Africa, and other communities in great
need around the world.
Curated and produced by Buck Curran of the Alt-folk duo Arborea, Leaves of Life features 19
exclusive songs by artists Alela Diane, Devendra Banhart, Marissa Nadler and Black Hole
Infinity, Fern Knight, Shanti Curran (Arborea), Rio en Medio, Larkin Grimm, Mi and L’au,
Starless and Bible Black, Silver Summit, Micah Blue Smaldone, David Garland, Citay, Big Blood,
Mica Jones, Eric Carbonara, Ora Cogan, Cursillistas, and Magic Leaves...along with the beautiful
art work of musician Hanna Tuulikki. This project hopes to further inspire people around the
world to join in vital artistic and social efforts to make a better life for all of us.
In addition the digital release of the compilation will include special bonus tracks by Jozef van
Wissem, Laurent Brondel, Denise Dill, and Plains.
Single "Up With The Orcadian Tide" out on Static Caravan on 18 June 2007.
Starless & Bible Black are a Manchester band drawing musical lines between torch song, bluesy chanson, vintage folk-jazz and early electronic music. Built around the three core members of Hélène Gautier (vocals); Peter Philipson (guitar, dulcimer); and Raz Ullah (electronics, samples, drones), the band have played a succession of shows around the UK both as a stripped down three piece and as a six piece with Paul Blakesley (double bass), Brian Edwards (drums) and Ros Hawley (clarinet).
After releasing their first EP on their own Timbreland Recordings label, the band was spotted by Chicago based label Locust Music and they agreed an album deal in early 2006.
Their music has been described as "Charcoalesque female vocals, antique guitar folk and dark chamber song with radiophonic Moogness" but even that neglects the melodic bass, rolling drums and occasional woodwind section that forms their eclectic sound. As a vague reference the key influences are records by John Martyn, Pentangle, Cocteau Twins and Billy Childish.
While some may assume that their name is taken from the 1974 King Crimson album, it is actually inspired by the classic 1965 recording by Stan Tracey that in turn is lifted from a line in Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood.
Reviews
“Full-blooded revivalists of bold 70's folk rock eclecticism……from bare acoustic ballads to Pentangle style rambling and bitter sweet harmonies……they accomplish all this with a firm perception of their own powers, drawing on such varied sources without succumbing to self conscious classicism, and stamping their own personality on their material.” Wire Magazine
“This Manchester-based group is responsible for one of the year’s best folkie songs” New York Times
“…they draw upon any number of intertwined traditions simultaneously….. the group moves crisply through songs informed by Appalachian folk, downtempo jazz, Middle English pastoralism, and smoky continental balladry. Starless & Bible Black perform each of their stylistic shifts with an effortless agility, resulting in a collection that captivates primarily through its graceful, almost nonchalant simplicity.” Pitchfork
“Folk strains, art songs, and electronic atmospherics combine for a beguiling blend in the debut by this Manchester band.” Amazon.com
“For an album that features a breadth of different takes on contemporary nu-folk sounds, taking in some diverse approaches to arrangement along the way, Starless & Bible Black are equally effective when paring a song down to its very core. An extremely promising debut indeed.” Boomkat.com
“a solid record……. a warm, intimate folk experience…..catchy folk with a sublime twist.” Foxy Digitalis
“Starless and Bible Black’s music feels absolutely effortless, born out of thin air. And over this serene percolation, Hélène Gautier sings like an angel with an earthly heart, enhancing, to near impossible levels, the beguiling and mesmerizing effect of the songs. It’s like Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval singing through a curtain of opium smoke and fireflies, only a whole lot more awesome.” Harp Magazine
“Starless engage the tropes of antique folk and folk revival through a rigorously formal songwriting approach...... while “freak-folk” typifies America in all her goofy, communalist, postmodern Californi-ality, Starless & Bible Black blow in with the green, reserved air of the heath and the Arctic Circle, serious and hard.” Dusted Magazine
"the rhythm section feel their way around a dark studio one chord at a time, conversing over a slow-motion drone. The pulse, when it finally arrives, is a cool breeze from a more delicate era -- with hints of cresting jazz polyrhythm but, thankfully, no jazz pretensions. This proves an ideal launching pad for Helene Gautier, a French singer with a clear and hollow voice. Here, her verses sometimes echo the moody side of Pentangle.” National Public Radio, US
“Those songs are built like trellises: finger-picked guitar, banjo, glockenspiel, winds, and brushed skins augmented by carefully placed electronic glitches and synth washes. Gautier, who slips into her native tongue once or twice but otherwise keeps to an appealing, heavily accented English. She can sound wraith-like or husky, like Francoiz Breut channeling Sandy Denny.” Allmusic .com
“ What really sets Starless apart from the average acoustic-based warblers are Helene Gautier’s vocals, notably her airy high notes, throaty alto and French (her native tongue)-via-Manchester accent.” CMJ
“Starless And Bible Black bring much of the mysticism and sounds of the sounds of British countryside to the fore...... a modern fusion of beautiful, classic folk and urban ballads....... an album that’s been a long time coming, but be assured, it's worth the wait.” Manchester Music
"Starless & Bible Black se permettent même d'errer vers des teintes plus sombres et gothiques comme seuls le Velvet Underground ou Nico savaient en apposer sur les murs de leur cave." Rock & Folk Magazine, France
"Le groupe publie en cette fin d'année un album se situant dans la droite lignée des ambiances de Sixteen Horsepower, Led Zeppelin (lorsque Jimmy page et ses acolytes avaient opéré un retour aux sources folk), voire des maîtres Nick Drake ou Bert Jansch." Popnews, France
“melding of early 4AD’s ambient experimentations with the baroque elements found in neo-folkies” Paper Thin Walls
“This apparent bouquet of contrasts is the sonic essence of Starless & Bible Black, a blissful, down-tempo conundrum that maintains a pastoral presence” Glide Magazine
“Distilled sunlight, perfume bottles on an aunt's dresser, driving south, unplanned friends' jams, certain bookstores on cold afternoons, and the raking of leaves.” Poly Revenge
Electric Free Time Machine celebrate the launch of their debut album: ’mystery with hermit foil’ with a gig at the Yorkshire house in Lancaster.
ELECTRIC FREE TIME MACHINE - Lancaster
recent sound carriers for Damo Suzuki:From fast and bulbous blues stomps and vast experimental krautrock ambient strangeness, to abrasive shambolic metal, strange time shifts and delicate acoustic folk. www.myspace.com/eftm
albums at a special launch price of £4...so thats £5 for an amazing night of music and a brand spanking new bespoke embossed digipack album...have mercy
Svarte Greiner (Deaf Center/Miasmah/Type) explores deep into a dark, mysterious and disturbing universe. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Earth, Volcano the Bear, David Darling & Deathprod, the music is draped in Lynchian mysticism and horror film cinematics. "The music of Svarte Greiner is practically perfect. It's like that sound in our heads we've been imagining for ages but had never actually heard." - Type Records.
The Sight Below (Rafael Anton Irisarri/Miasmah/Immune) draws as much on modern genre progenitors like Brian Eno, Robin Guthrie and My Bloody Valentine as it does from the more historic traditions in neo-classicism from Erik Satie and Olivier Messiaen. His album Glider has appeared on Thom Yorke's radar in making the Radiohead's lynchpin's top ten playlist.
His debut album Navigare soon to feature on the Miasmah label, Simon Scott (former Slowdive) is set to be a household name in conceptual music. Simon is the former Slowdive drummer, co-producer of Televise, producer of Seavault, and owner of KESH Recordings label.
CONFIRMED BANDS FOR 2009 INCLUDE... NINE BLACK ALPS KID BRITISH WAVE MACHINES MISTY’S BIG ADVENTURE THE TRAVELLING BAND TEN BEARS THE VORTEX THE MAYBES KARIMA FRANCIS THE JESSIE ROSE TRIP FRAZER KING CASIO KID GIDEON CONN THE GAY BLADES THE WHISKYCATS TEN BEARS ..... with around 200 bands over the weekend
**** CHECK THE MYSPACE BLOG FOR FULL MUSIC AND ARTS LISTINGS ****
Good evening Starless, free this Bank Holiday Monday? I'm playing with my band at the Bay Horse in Manchester as part of the Hungry Pigeon festival, should be a most splendid affair ... Get in touch if you want tickets they're £4 in advance.
Hi Guys, free this Saturday? I'm playing with my band at the mighty fine Big Green festival in Chorlton, Manchester. Also playing are Jake Flowers, Sr Gents, Dr Butlers Hatstand Band and many more...
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