Theo Angell & The Tabernacle Hillside Singers

THEO ANGELL TENEBRAEThere are great sci-fi stories in the flesh of underground music, and Theo Angell is a monstrous storyteller—there can be no single universe to slay or streamline his genius. He cannot be contained within the medium, his voice becomes a giant amidst the twin peaks of yr speakers. Boasting an impressive amalgam of the sonic pH factor of the Pacific Northwest, sacred harmony singing/arranging and an extremely erudite upgrade on modern folk forms, Theo Angell's Tenebrae resonates deep in the annals of sonic architecture, the next step, or second tier, of the Cecil Sharp house. This addition is more like a modal bathysphere with a teleport than any kinda arcane "in the ground pool," tho' there is plenty here for one to deep one’s inner ear within the waters of tradition. I first "heard" Angell's music when he was part of the Hall Of Fame triad, his tonal shards along with "headphones as space helmet wireless mic" never ceased to astound and it was his harmonic juxtapostions that were always a standout force in their live sets. On record that unit boasted great prowess with effortless forays into instrumental urban wormholes and pastoral greenspace and here on Tenebrae the same accents can be found, but far more “21st century” in both the production, depth of field and, most importantly, the songwriting.The vocals are extraordinary, coming across with a warm reediness conjuring up the colloquial plaintiveness of Washington Phillips crossed with a more exploratory Willie Nelson cast in acid folk modes...and this IS the real psych folk, transportive with deep attention to sonic detail and with an equally legit centrifuge of tonal color. It is as if Tenebrae refracted the early music of John Dowland and transported it thru a space age, spaced out choral family. "The family" is a solid approach here, Theo sings of various culture hordes, implements his own cult of musicians (for this aural message, the Tabernacle Hillside Singers include, among others, Matt Valentine, P.G. Six, Tom Greenwood and Samara Lubelski), and sounds himself like a harmony machine from a future wave. Obviously in the latter is where his impeccable vocal style emerges, you simply have to live this sorta colloquial song in order to sing it and Theo is the pure voice of lost America jamming with the embers of tradition. This is no small feat, and yet the familiars are so potent in his tonal magic that you feel free and yet anchored to pure folk song. This is where he darks the sun of the zeitgeist of strum and hum silver spoon folkies and stands alive as the alchemical metal.The towering offspring within Tenebrae are all light and dark, as blinding as long lost harmony from suntones rebirthed as illuminating forms in the folk vernacular. This is heady stuff, but what I found most rewarding is that it also works as an aural massage, something you want to keep playing back, perfect alongside those fave rotations real slow in the glow from the window, everything so slow when this kinda shine flows.- Matt "MV" Valentine / Maximum Arousal Farm / Winter 2009Amish is pleased to announce the release of Theo Angell's Tenebrae (AMI-030) in the late Spring. Tenebrae is Theo's fourth long-player and second with Amish (also see Dearly Beloved, [AMI-025]). Theo grew up in rural Oregon, was home-schooled along with his siblings by his minister father, which provided him little exposure to mainstream pop culture; the tunes on Tenebrae reflect these conditions, documenting both a reverence for and rebellion against isolation and spiritual absolutes. To that end, the title song, which is the Latin word for shadows, references a religious ceremony that involves the extinguishing of candles and a slamming of the book in advance of holy week. The album’s song-cycle reworks various primitive musical forms (tent revival, folk, psych, fill-in-the-blank with wildly counter-cultural outsider artist) to new and celebratory ends, twisting these styles into a unique brand of folk-psychedelia.  For this outing, the Tabernacle Hillside Singers include, among others, Matt Valentine, P.G. Six, Tom Greenwood, Samara Lubelski and Tara Jane O'Neil. Tenebrae highlights again Theo’s unique poly-vocal pyrotechnics and will no doubt prove to be one of the most beautiful records of the year. The CD comes in a deluxe Japanese style mini-lp gatefold package, with beautiful artwork and full lyric sheet.TENEBRAE OUT JUNE 9THAURAPLINTH is out now on Digitalis Industries. You can purchase a copy from their website: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/rec_index.html........... ............................................................ ...... A truly original, brilliant and beautiful album, Auraplinth is imbued from start to finish with strong melodies, interesting arrangements, pretty fingerpicking and haunting vocals. Despite the aforementioned originality, Auraplinth is not without context, discerning listeners will hear eches of Wickerman, Smog, Tom Z, Jandek, Maitreya Kali, Wooden Wand, British Isles and New Age guitar players such as William Ackerman, not to mention an almost magical synthesis of psyche-folk past and present.Though the sound of Auraplinth is uniformly organic, the instrumentation and vibe shifts constantly throughout the record - from solo vocals backed by simple acoustic guitar, to British Isles folk fingerpicking, to a relaxed full band. These changes and progressions lend the album a narrative, long-form feel - even Angell's voice has a chameleonlike quality - from a haunted tenor that evokes thoughts of Devendra Banhart to a deep Bill Callahan bass - the man has many faces. Appropriately, then, the album cover features not a photograph of Angell but a mask - specifically a Victorian death mask of the artist.Cover art for Auraplinth was done by the artist Christian Holstad, and the record was mastered by Pete Swanson of Yellow Swans fame. Other contributors to the success of Auraplinth include the ‘Tabernacle Hillside Singers’. This loose group consists of Dan Brown from Hall of Fame, Josh Stevenson of Magneticring and the folk singer Cynthia Nelson whose excellent solo work and magnificent live performances, if I may digress, must also be checked out.If the tone shifts subtly from song to song, things take a sharp turn midway through, at "Flurdrid Mourning" where the words, guitars and drums are stripped away, and the listener is left with the haunting, ringing bass of a bodhran and creepy, vocal incantations that would feel perfectly at home in the sort of occult rituals that one would imagine a guy with a beard as long as Angell's probably performs in the woods when he finds the time to escape his New York City home. Things continue in this vein through the next track which exchanges tambourine for the bodhran before easing the listener back into the pretty guitar folk vein established previously.Despite previous releases under this name, and work with Jackie-O-Motherfucker and Hall of Fame, Theo Angell remains a relatively unknown name. This album will change that; Auraplinth is a brilliant, distinct and memorable record from a powerful new talent in psyche-folk............ From the Left Hip - Gordon B. Isnor