New Music: Inside Voices
posted ~ March 21st, 2009. Filed under: Music Reviews, Uncategorized.
Photo from the Valentines show 3-23-09
This picture below is out-dated; that gnarly beard has since been harnessed into an authoritative mustache (pictured above). Inside Voices is from Portland. These are folks who manage to create one of the small glimmers of ingenuity out there that remind us that there are still rustic musical paths to traverse in an otherwise well-beaten auditory forest. Their songs are long swaths of wind meandering across empty fields strew with the carcasses of abandoned tractors. Simple song structure led, often times, by a steel string slide guitar (John Gnorski) are backed by appropriate bass (Lee Stack). The percussion (Jeff Brodsky) is what truly seals the deal. Spacious but assertive polyrhythms give the songs something more than the average 4/4, kick, snare, kick, snare, you might expect from songs about the range and rolling waves. If that weren’t enough, the two standing musicians manage to drip perfect vocal harmonies across the songs in a, what seems like, effortless fashion.
They are currently working on their debut album which I hope to be involved in making the artwork for. They will also be featured on Tender Loving Empire’s new comp, Friends and Friends of Friends Vol. 2, coming out in May. This track, “Bombay Beach” is a personal favorite.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Check out Inside Voices this Monday at Valentine’s or Thursday at Backspace.
