Seas & Trees has the brilliant contributions of Thøger Lund on bass, casio sk-1, guitar, loops and other pedals and The French Tourist of Nantes, France on theramin, vinyl and loopers.
Winter Garden's special guest is Paul Niehaus (Calexico) on pedal steel.
Influences
REVIEWS
SEAS & TREES
"...like the Eno of that high water mark, Brown is as interested in timbre and texture as in melodic development...from the point of view of found sound, might be Pink Floyd’s underrated Atom Heart Mother...she blurs the lines between human repetition (of the sort that you find in minimalism, or in, e.g., the guitar compositions of Robert Fripp), and machined repetition, but in order to say something about the human heart and its appreciation of slow development and historical repetition...loops that are subtler and more textured tell us how things recur in the physiognomy of human beings, in human psychology, and in history."Rick Moody, NYC
therumpus.net for Full Story
"You might assume that songs described as “hypnotic and transporting
ambient acoustelectric psychosonic visualizations captured in
ephemeral movements and fortunate folds” would be crippled by
abstraction and theory. But these manipulations of sound from artist
Vicki Brown are, in the end, hauntingly… musical. Hailing from
Tucson, Arizona, it is not surprising that the experimental tunes here
are filled with the spaciousness of desert expanses, moving at glacial
pace, but filled with momentum all the same. “Seas & Trees” was a
wise name choice for an album full of music that simultaneously
suggests the profound and elemental."Chris Robley, CD Baby
"...groundbreaking audio offering intellectual or, dare I say, psychic stimulation...loosely capturing and mixing evocative, ephemeral sounds...space from which a lot of great art is born. The woman is a highly intuitive, accomplished, and aesthetically exacting player and composer...her somewhat deceptively serene tracks chart integral esoteric and visceral pathways."Mary Leary, San Diego Entertainer Full Review
"..a nicely varied bunch of music, and not just a bunch of solo violin pieces...its the variation in these pieces that make things pretty nice. Per track she employs a few sounds, which of course loop around...the simplicity works really well, in a nice minimal way. Then gentle melodies are woven together into a dreamy landscapes. Not in a drone sense however, more like post rock meeting classical music...a near perfect CD"Modisti.com, Madrid, Spain
WINTER GARDEN
7 out of 10 "...a tremendous piece, evoking a mood reminiscent of smoky Appalachian dawns with the sun rising on a frosty landscape, crying out for a visual treatment, one can envisage this music set to film...if your mood is right it can put you inside a wonderful musical landscape that rewards repeated listening."Paul Kerr, Americana-UK Full Review
"Clearly, Vicki can play it both heavy and light: Balancing the delicate with the intense, she paints evocative sonic pictures perfect for contemplating, mind-tripping or just spacing out."Carl Hanni, Tucson Weekly
Tucson musician Vicki Brown's violin-based improvisational and experimental pieces are kaleidoscopic rides through ethereal cinematic moodscapes where randomness and intention collide.
Springs fall over rocks. Rocks bed down trees. Trees flow to seas. Vicki's second release, "Seas & Trees", contains 14 fabulisms that take place between the seas and the trees, in the air and on the floor, among the shadows and the shafts, alongside train tracks and iceburgs, the underside of a wing, amidst reeds and rushes or in the tears of an elephant. Most of it was recorded at home either by herself on violin, viola, voice, guitar, casios, loop stations and other pedals or with the additions on bass, pedals, and casio sk1 courtesy of Thøger Lund (Giant Sand, The Desoto Caucus), in the studio with Thøger Lund and France's French Tourist (Nantes) on theramin and vinyl, or while choreographing sounds for Movement Salon, Tucson's premier and only arts ensemble (dancers, musicians, writers) that practices the art of Compositional Improvisation. The album is permanently housed in CD Baby's Editor's Picks collection. Dancer Pamela Vail choreographed her performance at the 2009 Philadelphia Fringe Festival with music from "Seas & Trees".
Her first album, "Winter Garden" was released in 2006 by KEEP Recordings. Recorded during the cooler months of 2005 in her 1880s desert adobe home, the eight instrumental pieces were sculpted using horsehair, strings, strokes of Casio keys and deft slides on the pedal steel by Paul Niehaus of Calexico. "Winter Garden" is featured on NPR's Open Mic program.
In 2007, she was special musical guest at CIVWORLD's 5th Interdependence Day Forum, a global conference held in Mexico City. Hosted by former Mexican foreign minister Luiz Derbez, the discussions were focused on issues of migration and democracy. International scholars and artist luminaries included Brazil's Cultural Minister Gilberto Gil, Polish Solidarity Founder Adam Michnik, former U.N. Undersecretary Olara Otunnu, television host Tavis Smiley, philosopher Cornell West, author and political theorist Benjamin Barber, musicians Yo Yo Ma and Jon Langford, and filmmaker Josh Fox.
Voted "Best String Player" in Tucson Area Musician Awards (TAMMIES, 2008).
Recording she did with Joey Burns (Calexico) for Year Long Disaster (Year Long Disaster, 2008) received a Grammy nomination for Best New Rock Song (Swan on Black Lake).
She has composed soundtracks for the University of Arizona's Repertory Theater 2009 production of "Rum & Coke" and for Kore Press' production of "Coming in Hot" adapted from the book "POWDER, Writings by Women in the Military from Vietnam to Iraq" which premiered to critical acclaim September 24-27, 2009.
Vicki's recording credits include Ian Moore • Steve Wynn • The Desoto Caucus • Lilium • Year Long Disaster • Jim Pugliese • Dirk Wednesday • Marianne Dissard • Naim Amor • John Coinman • Darren Hanlon • Chris Cacavas • Amy Rude • Arizona Repertory Theater • Sea of Cortez • International WOW! Theater (NY) • Kore Press • Gabriel Sullivan • Beautiful Bird • Carl John • Will Elliott + The Heretics • The Holy Rolling Empire • Campo Bravo • András Laszló Weil Fisher • Lonna Kelley • The New Drakes
She has toured and/or shared stages with Calexico • Steve Wynn • Hugo Race • Corde • Vinicio Caposella • Nicolai Dunger • Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter • Sparklehorse • Woven Hand • DeVotchka • Jon Langford • Brian Lopez • Marie Frank • Kristin Hersh • Paul Horn • Norfolk&Western • Marianne Dissard • Sea of Cortez • Tatsuya Nakatani • Pam Rose • Hanz Araki • Cathy Rivers • Naim Amor • Amy Rude • Campo Bravo • Eric Potter • The Lowlights • Megan Haas • Cyril Barrett • Paul Niehaus
She has also run through the forests of Costa Rica counting Spider monkeys and been highly entertained collecting countless hours of field observational data on the rhesus macaque monkey - who wouldn't laugh seeing a one wipe out on a pine cone or rushing away from a feeding frenzy on his hind legs with an armful of monkey chow bisquits and one in his mouth? From monkeys, she moved to measurement and got a PhD in Psychology from the University of Arizona with a specialty in psychometrics, essentially devising the best way to ask questions to understand why it is we do the things we do or what we think about it. Currently, she is working as a Research Associate for the VA to help clinicians better diagnose brain injury in Veterans who have been exposed to blasts due to improvised explosive devices in the wholly unforgivable occupation of Afghanistan and Iraqi.
I've just put a new track up on youtube 'TETEROM - Subway'. It's a bit different to the stuff your used to but I think you'll really like the way the images go with the music. Conjuring up memories of past times.
hey veeb! don't you worry your pretty little toes... I did not make it to ol' Tucson this year... yet! but I have been all over the CA and NV deserts recording shit and goofing off. if the thunder returns, I may come racing back your way to bottle it. or maybe I just come out to race my bike through the new underpants. BEWARE!!
CARDINAL is out! A new collaboration between GRIM and Impressus Records, featuring Mirio Cosottini (trumpet), Andrea Melani (drums), Tonino Miano (piano), and Alessio Pisani (bassoon).
For previews, free downloads and purchase visit us at:
Beautiful songs Vicki! You were always such an inspiration.....watching you soar with your music. Lovin it! Stay in touch. Would love to play together if you're ever in Nashville.
