The Birdtree - Orchards & Caravans
(Last Visible Dog)
The Franciscan Hobbies - Masks & Meanings
(Soft Abuse)
The Jewelled Antler Collective has spun out an alarming number of great releases since their relatively recent inception. The collective's head and mouthpiece, Glenn Donaldson, can be found in the majority of Jewelled Antler's projects. His vision is that of the power of the Earth. In putting this idea to use, a Jewelled Antler release is usually laden with earthly imagery, both with the cover art and the song titles. The music itself is often made up of a mix of instruments and natural (basically, field recording) sound. The gentle drones of the odd instrumentation perfectly complement the buzzing of nature, creating soft, peaceful drones. Occasionally a touch of folk will flood the speakers, offering a glimpse of a raga, or a simple ballad. Weaving these two facets of the Jewelled Antler world into a single thought, The Birdtree's Orchards & Caravans is among the more compelling of their releases.
The Birdtree is Glenn Donaldson on his own. The songs are pushed up in the mix, and there are audible lyrics. This is unusual for the generally song and vocal shy collective. But, with Orchards & Caravans, Glenn has shown us that not only can he make some intriguing drone music, but when he combines that aesthetic with his songwriting, the results are magic. "White Sundials Faced the Sun" follows up on the promise of the first track from The Blithe Sons' most recent album, We Walk the Young Earth. Tremelo-tinged drone create a backdrop for an assortment of slowly plucked and bowed instruments on "Pillar of Clouds." Glenn intersperses some drones and some not-quite-song-not-quite-drone tracks among the songs, which gives the album the same tone as the other Jewelled Antler releases. But, the up front melodies and straight ahead songwriting sets it far apart from the others. The beautiful "Red Midnight
Raven" and the standard "Mary Ann" are acoustic guitar based folk songs, treated with traces of the Jewelled Antler aesthetic. "Everyone of Us a New Leaf" is both the most unusual and the more exciting track. Led largely by a synthesizer and sparse drumming, Glenn's vocal melody evokes a deep and charming melancholy.
The Franciscan Hobbies' second album, Masks & Meanings wanders into darker territories. Plaintively droning through subtle ragas and layered tones, the band finds themselves in Tower Recordings' country. The Franciscan Hobbies' seven members (Glenn Donaldson, Greg Bianchi, Loren Chasse, Kerry McLaughlin, Rob Reger, Buffy Vice Sick & Christine Boepple), gently weave a communal din in the night air. No one vies for attention, and the focus is kept on the whole.
Masks & Meanings begins with a few short songs, and ends with a handful of 10+ minute epics. The first of these epics, "Plough Drawn by Toads," is a calming drone, stretched over squeaking and quiet scraping. "Apprehension of Reality" begins as a simple acoustic guitar/organ raga before a slowly pulsing bowed stringed instrument of some type enters the mix, before disintegrating into squeaks and squeals. "A Preordained Sequence" follows a similar pattern, on a shorter timeline while the album's shortest track, "Withered Spring" gives a nod to the mood behind the blues, while shunning any musical similarities. Closing the album, "The Matchless Phenomenon" is a little more propulsive, with a bubbling undercurrent of rhythm. It caves in on itself for the final moments, becoming a thick wall of humming tones.
These two new installments in the Jewelled Antler canon offer more glimpses into some song-based writing. The Birdtree using straight forward songwriting tempered by the trademark drone and hiss of the Jewelled Antler world, while The Franciscan Hobbies' songwriting is meditative and entrancing, tempered by free, washed out tone poems. Ultimately they're slightly different takes on the same view. But both are exciting and inviting forays into noise friendly folk music.
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