The Ivytree - Winged Leaves
(Catsup Plate)
If you've been reading fakejazz for the last year and a half or so, you've undoubtedly seen many raving reviews of records from the Jewelled Antler Collective. Possibly the biggest gem to come from the collective's musings is the solo album from main man Glenn Donaldson under the moniker The Birdtree. On that record, he took the richly textured, bizarre sound experiments, nature sounds, hodge podge instrumentation and earthy aesthetic that the collective is largely known for, and used them to augment folk and pop songs in an incredibly inviting and accessible way.
Finally following up that first solo album, Glenn has released this album under the slightly altered name The Ivytree. His approach has also been slightly altered. Shaking off a good deal of the layered sounds that completely coat the mixes of his previous releases, Winged Leaves often strips the songs down to nothing but acoustic guitar, voice, and a small touch of reverb. It is stark, but rather than distancing the songs from Glenn's familiar musical terrain, he seems to have simply found a different path. We've heard him play songs along these lines before in The Blithe Sons. However, in that group, the song is guided by the communal wandering and droning, which lays the foundation upon which Glenn's clear voice and acoustic guitar improvise fractured ragas. Here, the vibe-circling that brings about those ragas is gone, forcing Glenn to compose and conjure the mood, which he seems to do easily.
Now, don't get me wrong, there are still times where Glenn lays down a murky drone. The opening track, "Flood," "Winged Leaves (Reprise)," "Longleaf Pines," "Wind-Bent Grass" and "Clay Tablets" all gurgle, hum, and float along the same paths as Glenn's flagship wandering group, Thuja.
Among the many standout tracks is the title track, "Winged Leaves," a peaceful ode to 60's folk. "The Book of Job" is a gentle, two chord song carried by Glenn's soaring voice. Toward the end organ and tambourine swell into the mix, transporting the song from a fairly dreamy acoustic song to a short but drowsy haze. Throughout the album he sparingly uses a small arsenal of his usual myriad of instruments: bouzouki, tenor banjo, drums, tambourine, Acetone organ, Hammond l100, tapes, guitar zither, casiotone, accordion, chord organ, pitch pipe, bells, and wind chimes. "She is the Swallow" may be my favorite track. It's clear, concise and elegantly arranged with propulsive guitar parts and percussion.
As great as The Birdtree album is, I think Glenn has completely outdone himself here. It almost seems pointless to point out specific songs that I like, because Winged Leaves is a crystal clear and basically perfect realization of Glenn's songwriting, throughout.
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