About Me
The Occasional Keepers comprise Bobby Wratten (The Field Mice, Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars) together with Caesar and Carolyn Allen (The Wake), plus Michael Hiscock and Beth Arzy.
************************************************************
****
THE BEAUTY OF THE EMPTY VESSEL
is the first instalment from an ongoing collaboration between Bobby, Caesar and Carolyn, featuring guest appearances from Beth Arzy (Aberdeen, Trembling Blue Stars) and Michael Hiscock (Field Mice). The album features a meditative, minimalist mix of guitars, keyboards, echoing drums and male and female vocals, set against the background hummings of real places and real times. The songs incorporate a variety of styles, to produce a highly personal synthesis of neo-folk, experimental pop, dissonance, electronics and improvisation. All ten new tracks were recorded and produced by Ian Catt (St Etienne) in April 2005. Full tracklist: The Bracken, Rose-Scented Fire, J. Carpenter Kid, Of Nightingales, Concrete Music, In Quiet Isolation, Desire, North Sea Rig, The Crackle of Debris, The Last Lighthouse Keeper.
************************************************************
****
REVIEWS:
"While it's a logical follow-on from the musicians' other work (a Sarah supergroup?), Beauty exists on its own just fine. Often it's a matter of the smallest touches having the greatest impact, thus Caesar's melodica floating over the moody ambient collage intro on Concrete Music, or the rich electric guitar melody for In Quiet Isolation - measured, beautiful and living up to the song title" (All Music Guide, 08/05); "Lovely bubble bath pop and slo-mo waltz" (BBC Ceefax, 09/05); "The Occasional Keepers reference the past but are just as concerned with the modern day world. Combining a foreground of acoustic guitars and shy downbeat vocals with background field recordings, the formula is shown to best effect on Rose Scented Fire, The Crackle of Debris and the instrumental finale, The Last Lighthouse Keeper, all of which possess a compelling layer of eeriness. Little easy-on-the-ear jangle pop, but in its place there's a much greater appreciation of atmosphere and texture" (Leonard's Lair, 08/05); "An album of intriguing and often magical avant-pop, with sound experiments in texture and light coalescing around crystalline guitars and pitter-patter drum machines. The whole album is, as the title suggests, a study in minimalism that veers from the abstract to the figurative in accomplished sweeps. Esoteric, elegiac and essential" (Tangents, 09/05); "Though much less loud than Sigur Ros, fans of that band will enjoy the dreamy feel of this album as well. For that fact, Kendra Smith will love it too, and the album works excellently when just played and enjoyed" (Gullbuy, 09/05); "Yes, Beauty holds introspection dear to its heart, but embraces experimentalism to a degree many wouldn't have predicted from three people heavily involved in the more sensitive sounds emanating from the British underground in the 80s and early 90s. Concrete Music and In Quiet Isolation effectively form the album's central section. The former is Eno-ish and still only gradually announces itself from its field-recording intro. It takes in the most minimal of melodic signposts (a lonely piano tinkles, a single bell tolls, Caesar's melodica flows in and out) and is so frail it barely counts as 'otherworldly'. In Quiet Isolation, meanwhile, could easily be the album's title - sparser than sparse, with a chiming electric guitar leading the way" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 10/05); "A 'supergroup' more in the vein of This Mortal Coil than CSNY, the trio mix together quiet acoustic guitars, keyboards and assorted field recordings with male and female vocals in a mix of gentle ballads and swirling instrumentals" (Exclaim! 10/05); "Un bien bel album triste comme un galion enfoui qu'on visiterait emerveille, le coeur leger de le savoir si bien conserve. A conseiller aux amoureux des grands paysages sonores... et aux fans de Sarah Records!" (PopNews, 11/05)
************************************************************
****
AMG:The idea of a Sarah Records supergroup might have seemed strange (to put it mildly) to some around 1990 or so. But come 2005 and with the LTM label in full swing reissuing a variety of bands from that stable, such a thing has happened, with the Occasional Keepers bringing together Bobby Wratten from the Field Mice/Northern Picture Library/Trembling Blue Stars and the two core stalwarts of the Wake, Caesar and Carolyn Allen. To top it all off, The Beauty of the Empty Vessel is produced by Sarah veteran Ian Catt, so it's easy to go into this debut effort with certain expectations. But while it's a logical follow-on from the musicians' other work, Beauty exists on its own just fine -- one could play it for someone who knew nothing of the band's context and the combination of reflective singing and delicate arrangements could easily be enough. Often it's a matter of the smallest touches having the greatest impact: Caesar's keening melodica on "Concrete Music" floating over a moody ambient collage intro, or the rich electric guitar melody for "In Quiet Isolation," measured, beautiful, and living up to the song title. "The Bracken," which starts the album, serves as a perfect précis for the band's intention -- the combination of serene piano, mantra-like acoustic guitar, and soothing woodwind is both tightly arranged and warmly inviting, a formalism that seeks to attract rather than look inward. When the bandmembers take even a slightly rougher approach, the effect is to seem monstrous given the album's calm -- thus the shift to distorted vocals on the chorus of "Of Nightingales" is almost like dropping a bomb on a calm hillside. A couple of tracks take a specific keyboard lead approach that slots in (all too readily perhaps) with the "synth pop as emo" school of Magnetic Fields/Postal Service, but think of "J. Carpenter Kid," with calm guest vocals from Beth Arzy (who also sings on the quite Cure-like "Desire"), as a Young Marble Giants tribute instead and all is well. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
