Molly Parden – Where Do All Of Our Passing Days Go?

Molly Parden poses a question we all should consider, Where Do All Of Our Passing Days Go? The unavoidable truth is we can never get those precious passing days back. Considering this makes Molly Parden’s song even more potent. In Sacramented, Molly’s third full-length album she writes about love, vulnerability and yes, she asks questions. It’s her voice that surprised me, it’s gentle, comforting, composed and confident, yet her promo photos suggest to me a different tone. Should I be swayed by an image, does it even matter? Probably not, yet this does open up a dialogue on the importance of publicity. Nashville-based Molly Parden’s new album is lovingly produced and you should definitely indulge in her reassuring music.

Andrew Combs – Truth And Love

“I see this collection of tunes as a black and white short film on beauty, meditation, mindfulness, and love in the current age of deception, greed, and divisiveness”, says Andrew Combs. Though born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Nashville-based singer-songwriter and artist Andrew Combs can’t say for certain he identifies with any one place in particular. No matter because his album, Sundays certainly caught my attention. Andrew’s voice intrigues me, I have a sneaking suspicion he could sound a little affected if he were not obviously so comfortable with his songwriting ability. Truth And Love is an especially charming cut. Andrew contunes, “I recorded the album in mono, with no reverb or delay, the intention was to strip back our idea of arrangement and production to appropriately suit these subtle songs. I had experienced a mental breakdown in late 2020 and was in the midst of finding medical attention and meditation practice when I wrote the majority of these songs”. Thank you for sharing, Andrew.

The Cleaners From Venus – Murmurations

Ah, here is another reason to always check out compilations. The Cat Collects Seasons out of the UK features a musical journey through the seasons with Rachel Love (formerly of Dolly Mixture) as Spring, 3 A.M. Again as Summer, The Cleaners From Venus (Martin Newell) as Autumn and Jodie Lowther as Winter. 12 brand new songs in total, specially recorded for the album. As it’s Autumn here at Life Elsewhere Tower we selected Martin Newell AKA The Cleaners From Venus with Murmurations. Beyond the reference to Autumn I really like this cut, all the other cuts are undoubtably fine, too.

Dorthia Cottrell – Eat What I Kill

Now for a venture into Death Folk Country, that’s the title of Dorthia Cottrell’s new album. Based out of Richmond, Virginia, Ms. Cotterll is known for her doom and gloom music with the band, Windhand, her solo work doesn’t stray too far from that classification. “This album to me is about painting a picture of a place where my heart lives.” Says Dorthia, adding, “Death Folk Country is partly me describing a genre that fits the sound – but it’s also meant to be taken as a Naming, a coronation of the world inside me. Death Folk Country is the music and also the land where the music takes place, and the two have always been inextricable from each other.” I love the way Eat What I Kill begins, OK, I like the whole song. But, I do think taking a stroll down a dark alley with Dorthia may not be a good idea if she happens to find you appetizing. 

Karine Polwart with Pippa Murphy & Dave Milligan – Wind Blown

Karine Polwart, the multi-award-winning Scottish songwriter, folk singer, and storyteller collaborates on her Seek The Light EP with pianist Dave Milligan, sound designer and composer, Pippa Murphy. Wind Blown is from the intriguing Seek The Light EP. On each repeated listen I hear more subtleties from Karine Polwart’s work.

Robert Sunday – In Your Room

The desperation of the Blues has always been important to me, unrequited love, songs of broken hearts, misery even, I love a song that brings me to the brink of tears, OK, a song that makes me cry…the poignant love song that touches me. In Your Room from Robert Sunday is such a song. Ghosts Of Me is the album from London-based solo acoustic singer-songwriter. I hear something almost fragile about Robert Sunday’s songs, not in the way he sings or plays his guitar, it’s more in the tone, the mood he evokes. Perhaps it’s the earnestness, the honesty of Robert’s performance? I’m moved by Robert Sunday’s work. Oh, a quick mention about the curiously delightful artwork, the credit is given to Lucile, I’m wondering if this charming image of ghosts is by his daughter? It’s really lovely.

Fenne Lily – Hollywood And Fear (Bonus Track)

This artist first came to my attention some years past by the talented Siv Jakobsen. “This isn’t a sad album – it’s about as uplifting as my way of doing things will allow,” the artist says. “These songs explore worry and doubt and letting go, but those themes are framed brightly.” Big Picture, Fenne Lily’s album is out November 10th on Dead Oceans, with five bonus tracks. This is another artist I do hope to see live sooner than later.

Hanging Freud – A Hand To Hold The Gun

Paula Borges and Jonathan Skinner in their guise as Hanging Freud make a welcome return to LEM. Worship is their 5th long-player due out in December and they say “This album literally come from a place of contradiction hanging somewhere between courageous vulnerability and fearful resilience, and deal with themes such as collective distress and loss, finding beauty in tragedy or yet questioning about what makes us human in the symbolic contrasts of life and death.” It’s no surprise then to hear that this “less is more” introspective ode to melancholia was written in particular claustrophobic circumstances during the pandemic lockdown. “Because of what was going on, we were essentially stuck in temporary accommodation in Scotland, away from our studio and forced into a period unexperienced before. The songs that came out therefore come from a different place. Everything was done within a laptop and is proudly 100% digital. It was recorded and mixed while literally sitting on the side of a bed in a mouse infested apartment,” explains Paula. Hanging Freud have established a distinctive style and I’m pleased to hear they are keeping at it.

Cleo Soul – Desire

Ah, yes, here is another artist I have featured on LEM in past volumes, the very talented Cleo Sol. Desire is from Cleo’s new LP, Gold. Everything is perfectly put together, the production, her songs, her voice, an all-round combination, a winner. In my opinion, Cleo Sol deserves much wider attention.

Zuso – Hold Me

I admit, I probably pronounced Zuso as Sozu. Go on, you try it. This is the project of Australian producer Gabriel Cuenca with a formidable jaunt into deep house with what I consider to be a slight merge into drum & bass. About Hold Me, Gabriel says, “I wrote the beat quite quickly and then I found the vocal sample in this sample-pack that I remembered using ages ago for one of the first ever demos I made. It just had such a nice chilled and gentle vibe which I really loved. I wanted the song to give off this wholesome calming energy and the Hold Me vocal fits that tone perfectly” This release comes via the Love Clvb imprint by way of the always exceptional Mammal Sounds stable in Sydney. 

Vanishing Twin – Afternoon X

Afternoon X is the title track from Vanishing Twin’s new LP. They say after a few line-ups changes, they now have a tightly honed collective with singer and multi-instrumentalist Cathy Lucas, drummer Valentina Magaletti and bassist Susumu Mukai. I’m reminded of the releases Rough Trade would send me way back in the early days of the indie revolution. Releases that defied a genre, and that was a good thing then, and now. The album Afternoon X from Vanishing Twin is well worth investigating.

Muslimgauze – Zurif Moussa

Bryn Jones from Salford, near Manchester was a British ethnic electronica and experimental musician. Jones first released music in 1982, his prodigious output continued until his untimely death in 1999. Jones’ music under the moniker Muslimgauze was released and re-released on various labels, including demos, remixes and numerous studio variations of nearly all his music. Jones released material on nearly any small label that approached him. A drawback with releasing on so many labels was gratuitous editing by producers and, through design or circumstance and no royalties. Bryn Jones originally claimed Muslimgauze was formed in response to Operation Peace of the Galilee, Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon to stem attacks from Palestinian Liberation Organization guerrillas stationed in South Lebanon. This event inspired Jones to research the conflict’s origins, which grew into a lifelong artistic focal point, and he became a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause,and often dedicated recordings to the Palestinian Liberation Organization or a free Palestine. Jones’s research further grew to encompass other conflict-ridden, predominantly Muslim countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chechnya, Iran, and Iraq. He concluded that Western interests for natural resources and strategic-political gain were root causes for many of these conflicts and should Western meddling halt, said regions would stabilise. Jones frequently netted criticism for never having visited the Middle East. He said in a 1994 interview, “I don’t think you can visit an occupied land. It’s the principle. Not until it’s free again.” The name Muslimgauze is said to have originated as a play on the word muslin (a type of gauze) combined with Muslim. But, to my knowledge that was never been authenticated by Bryn Jones. In 1999, The New York Times wrote this about Muslimgauze, “Muslimgauze occupied a strange place in the musical world. He was a powerful, prolific innovator, releasing albums that were alternately beautiful and visceral, full of ambient electronics, polyrhythmic drumming and all kinds of voices and sound effects. The recordings earned him a devoted following in underground, experimental and industrial music circles worldwide.” Many of Bryn Jones prolific Muslimgauze releases are now extremely rare, including the cut we selected, Zurif Moussa from the album Vampire of Tehran.

Portions of the Muslimgauze information are from various sources, including Wikipedia.

Artwork by Ken Becket (1946 – 2020) “Butcher (from the Sign series)” 1994 36” x 36” digital print. Courtesy of Norman B’s collection