Vibracathedral Orchestra - Live on WFMU
(Eclipse)
In the fall of 2003, Vibracathedral Orchestra embarked on a (too) brief tour of the East coast of the United States. Neil Campbell stayed at home citing paternal duties (he was a new dad), but barely a week after the rest of the band hit the shores of the States, they made a pilgrimage to the studios of WFMU, New Jersey's free form radio to play an in-studio with their pals Matthew Bower (of Sunroof!, Hototogisu, and other projects too numerous to mention), John Godbert (a member at various times in Total, Skullflower, etc.), and Tom Greenwood (of Jackie-o Motherfucker, et al.).
Vibracathedral Orchestra live is a totally different proposition than their "studio" recordings. Playing live gives them a chance to stretch out their improvisations and set the controls for the heart of the drone. Add to that the fact that they had acquired confidence after having just completed very successful gigs with American sympaticos Sunburned Hand of the Man and Double Leopards, the inspired contributions from their guests, and the soundboard quality you get from these two side-long recordings and what you've got is some pretty essential stuff.
Side one ("Captain Labor") hovers into focus with drum circle rhythms, skittery guitar, and echoed vocals exploring the periphery of No-Neck Blues Band territory. Violins infiltrate to joust with strangled shamanic cries and more wobbly percussive peals from bells, cymbals, flutes, and basically whatever was to hand. Less chaotic than it might sound, the dynamics are expertly controlled as wave over wave of sound lap the shore.
Side two ("Ridin' Free") checks in with shimmering e-bowed guitar gamboling with saxophone and stumbling bells with fragments of smeared voices thrown in for good measure. Then various musical subgroups break off and carry on in parallel. As in the classic Ornette Coleman double quartet sessions, the listener's ear can dart from one locus to the next savoring the vibrations in smaller sections or revel in the larger global swells before the "breakdown" of whistles and drums takes the tune out on a more rhythmic vibe.
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