*************MATCHMAKERS VOLUME 1 *****APRIL 2008*************
The Reveries sing and play standards – from Cole Porter to Nick Cave. They call what they do sweet jazz. It is, but in an altered state precipitating an altered state. This would be hallucinogenic music if hallucinations were real (there are no illusions at work here). This figures – in any setting, all three are insidiously mind-bending musicians. Here, startlingly idiosyncratic guitar playing merges with sweet vocal harmonies and the strange virtuosity they bring to playing a number of fragile and ungainly instruments: the nose flute, the bowed saw, the thumb reeds (strips of balloon rubber stretched between the thumbs and blown in a way one would a blade of grass), and the quasi-ruler bass (a strip of metal held on a table with one hand and plucked with the other, as one would pluck a ruler while holding one end tight to a desk). But the real engines of the waking dream that is the Reveries’ music are the mouth speakers. These are small speakers, taken from the earpieces of cellular phones, hung inside their mouths. Every instrument has a contact microphone on it. So, for example, Eric's guitar can be heard coming out of the speaker in Doug's mouth, Doug's guitar or saw can be heard coming out of the speaker in Ryan's mouth, and anything Ryan does with his mouth can be heard coming out of the speaker in Eric's mouth. Because each Reverie is always using his mouth (either to sing or play an instrument), the speaker signal is filtered in a wild array of wah-wah effects caused by the changing shape of their mouth cavity (it recalls Sly Stone using a talk box; or yah, ok, it might remind one of Peter Frampton as well…). The sound of their singing is further distorted by the fact that they have waterproof audio cable (attached to the speaker) hanging out of the sides of their mouths. The effect of this is that their singing is reminiscent, both in the way it sounds and looks (drool and all), of someone trying to talk with a dentist's irrigation tube hanging out of his mouth. All of these activities are picked up by air microphones and amplified through a small home stereo.
The Reveries' music is incredibly strange/unknowably wonderful. It is dreamy and caustic at the same time. The viscerality of the tasks they set themselves and the labour intensity these exude is especially disorienting given the mellow, lymphatic slackness of the music's flow. Experiencing it is like encountering delicate ultra-lounge psychedelia picked up from afar on a static-ridden short-wave radio. This isn’t a piss-take. There is no smart-ass cynicism or parody in sight. They are not mimicking the representational incongruities of a dream-thought. They’re exerting the dream-work on their songs – the distortions are operating on the deep, pre-symbolic guts of the music. The Reveries make music that’s a reverie – an absent-minded daydream; but it might be worth knowing that “reverie” is derived from the old-French word for wildness. There’s nothing tame or civilized going on here.
My new 3 album box set ODESSA delves into the disgusting involvement the United States government had in hiding Nazi war criminals that were deemed, "intelligence assets", to be used against the Russians. ODESSA also examines the enthusiastic role the Franciscan Order, Argentinian and Chilean Governments, and Arab leaders who hated the Jews played in hiding and finding new homes for former fascists. It seems many nations had a reason to keep these monsters from being captured, and this is my attempt to expose the establishment of a Fourth Reich in South America that still exists to this day. Send $13 cash/check/money order to - Zebulon Kosted P.O. Box 893 Stevensville, MT 59870 U.S.A. Thanks for reading this, and thanks for not deleting it from your comments section! -Z
I am now
recording for a new set of releases called the "Persona Series". These
cassettes will be commissioned works (not by content, but by payment)
for individuals. If John Smith in London, England wants his own Zebulon
Kosted album, I will make a 45 minute album (one side of a 90 minute
tape), 2 hand drawn mini posters, I will name the album after him
(Zebulon Kosted - John Smith), and the fan will retain all rights to
the recording (for use of any future release, sampling, or broadcasting
rights). One copy of the album will remain in my personal collection,
and one will be sent to the customer, so that the only copy that will
be in circulation will be John Smiths copy! Each album is available for
the ridiculously low price of $10 (not including shipping), and will be
shipped in its completed form no later than 6 weeks from the date of
purchase!!!
Hey – just a reminder to listen in FRIDAY afternoon at 4:30-6 pm CST to hear THE REVERIES on “This Great White North” an ALL CANADIAN music show from Austin, Texas It’s on 91. 7 KOOP-FM Listen here
That was an excellent set at Sneaky Dee's. Inventive, ramshackle, minimalist folk-blues fused with an avant-garde spirit. A sound straddling the bluesman summoning creative, spiritual strength at the crossroads, and the spontaneous eclectic alchemy of Krautrock. Musical monks on an intergalactic exploration.
Thanks for the add. You guys are absolutely amazing! Is all information in the "About the Reveries" section true? Do you guys use make-shift instruments like that?
i'm your fan n°1, at so soon 39 years old, like a teenager... i'm waiting for a third album like a cat a sparrow !!! vous êtes les meilleurs !!! cheers eric... bruno
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