Dire Wolves Dire Wolves

Dire Wolves and Head Of Wantastiquet split cassette is featured today on the Bandcamp Hunter blog tumblr thingy from Melbourne Australia -- http://bandcamphunter.tumblr.com/post/139714341150/head-of-wantastiquet-dire-wolves-split-cs

This Friday - February 26 - Dire Wolves play in Oakland with Arrington de Dionyso

New Pome Pome Tones tape - reviews !

Head Of Wantastiquet / Dire Wolves split tape is OUT NOW.  Order direct here.
Or get it from Eclipse Mailorder, Aquarius Records (SF), Staalplaat (Berlin), Guestroom Records (OKC), Revolver Distribution/Midheaven Mailorder, etc... The release has received killer reviews already:

"Gettin back into the swing of things with this out of the park crusher - my new favorite band DIRE WOLVES spiral down the rabbit hole with a pair of sprawling psychedelic excursions, opening with "floating flower on the silver river of truth", a thirteen minute mid tempo jam, smoked way out like DATE PALMS' DUSTED SESSIONS meets BARDO POND's "tantric porno" off AMANITA through a weirdo 70s hard rock / acid folk filter a la COMUS' FIRST UTTERANCE and HIGH TIDE's SEA SHANTIES, with wordless angelic female vocals sprinkled in - the second track "two flutes" dives off the deep end into some vaporous k-hole musings like CHARALAMBIDES with a classically trained CHRISTINA CARTER... this is my first encounter with HEAD OF WANTASTIQUET's music, a 24 minute sidelong epic entitled "the head of the sphinx will never become a lion" that starts off some nice hypnotic percussion and a minimal droning tone, then it shifts to the next gear with double the percussive drive though still neatly subdued with a nice reverberating guitar lick repeating toward infinity, maybe landing somewhere between PHAROAH SANDERS and CAN's FUTURE DAYS, between ILYAS AHMED and SUN ARAW, not too far from HERBCRAFT's ASTRAL BODY ELECTRIC, then it unravels into some jaw dropping reverse tape amorphous cacophony.  highly recommended"  (Psi Lab)

"New from Pome Pome Tones comes a split cassette release from 2 of the most eclectic, creative forces in left-field music... this cassette release is of the highest quality; full of atmosphere, texture and flecked with genius. The Head of Wantastiquet track, 'The Head Of The Sphinx Will Never Become A Lion' is an exquisite experimental track, laden with drones and ethnic instrumentation. It conveys a sense of calm without being soporific, but it is way more than that - it has an easy flow, moving from the music of the bazaar to throbbing drones with some quasi-tribal drums...The Dire Wolves track, 'Floating Flower On The Silver River Of Truth / Two Flutes' has a bucolic atmosphere, in much the same vein as some of Evening Fires more Appalachian based psych. The languid guitar and violin sound almost melancholic at times, especially in conjunction with the muted freeform vocals in the background..."  (Dayz Of Purple And Orange)

The legendary Italian music magazine Rockerilla did a feature on the release !

 
You can even scan the QR code for an exclusive Dire Wolves track. What is this world coming to ?

Happy New Year

The next Pome Pome Tones release (#7) will be out in February 2016 --
a split cassette for Head Of Wantastiquet / Dire Wolves.. it was featured last night on WFMU.
https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/64432
You can pre-order now, if you like -- jerkfree (at) gmail

As usual, new episodes of my weekly radio show are up for your listening pleasure.

Jeffrey Alexander "Floating Lights" cassette (Pome Pome Tones #4) featured on this year-end mixcloud comp from Zurich-based music site fromheretillnow.

The last issue of Byron Coley + Thurston Moore's Bull Tongue Review had this Jeffrey Alexander "Wayfinding" LP review (Pome Pome Tones #3) --

A spectral voice echoed on the wind

Dire Wolves tape (Pome Pome Tones #6) on KALX best-of 2015 list.
hells yeah! since it's sold out, you can listen/download for free right here - http://bit.ly/1M8WMny
NEW Dire Wolves tape coming soon - we know you are on tenterhooks!
Happy New Year freaks.

Oh yeah - almost forgot about this live review of the Dire Wolves show at Adobe Books...
"A dense atmosphere was created, hanging like fog in our ears until the last note died. I definitely felt like we had been taken on an epic sound journey over jagged peaks of guitar and through lush violin valleys, across boulder fields of percussion and rolling hillsides of bass, all while a spectral voice echoed on the wind."




..

Recordings, radio shows, etc

Many more Pome Pome Tones radio shows are online now - check out all the playlists, listen to all the podcasts, dig it now my friends -- http://rvpods.com/ppt

The next PPT release is in the works - a split tape with Dire Wolves and Head of Wantastiquet. Stay tooooned for details. In the meantime, dig each of those bands here and here.

Perfect Wave is having a SALE for a limited time - you can get 3 tapes for $12 (Jeffrey Alexander, Itasca, Maia Ibar).  COOL !  Hurry Up!  http://www.perfectwave.org/store/
Perfect Wave also had a sweet label feature programme on WNYU - listen up -- http://wnyu.org/2015-12-02_termiteterrace

Jeffrey Alexander participated in a tribute to the late Nick Talbot, which aired on the BBC recently. For a few weeks, you can stream it here -- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0386268
Catch it before its gone. The hour-long programme starts around 40 minutes in.

Here's a new video from Jeffrey's tape that was released last month on Self-Help Tapes.
Only a handful of tapes remain - hurry!

Here's a sweet review of said tape in Tiny Mix Tapes:
"Jeffrey Alexander is a true head. After following and taping live shows of the Grateful Dead during the 80s, he began making music of his own, forming The Iditarod, Black Forest/Black Sea, and the still active Dire Wolves. He’s played in and toured with a litany of other acts, including his present possition as synth player in Jackie-O-Motherfucker. He also ran Magic Eye Singles, which eventually became Secret Eye Records, and currently hosts a weekly radio show. Oh, and he makes music as a solo artist, too. On his latest offering, Water Meditations, Jeffrey explores churning swirls of shruti box drones, chord-organ moods, the noisy spices of a cracklebox and synthesizer, and some light acoustical accents from a marimba and psaltery. Each instrument equally contributes for a truly transformative performance, placing the listener’s mind in the clouds, and their soul in the streams. In a meager edition of 30, pick up a copy of Water Meditations from Self-Help Tapes before they are all gone."
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/listen-jeffrey-alexander-water-meditations

DIRE WOLVES and JEFFREY ALEXANDER both reviewed in Psi Lab - hell yeah.
"...i feel like i should be more than just tangentially familiar with ALEXANDER's work, which i'm well on my way to rectifying - to be sure this is a potent double recommendation, two tapes, two galaxies connected by a wormhole synapse deep in ALEXANDER's far out mind"

DIRE WOLVES - THE BERNAL CODEX
pome pome tones 2015, edition of ?
"THE BERNAL CODEX is the latest from DIRE WOLVES, another major player in the free rock scene, physically manifested since 2009, somehow escaping my scouring of the four corners of the weirdo tape world til recently - as a four piece they give it all they got considering comparisons to contemporaries BURNT HILLS and DESMADRADOS SOLDADOS DE VENTURA where both outfits feature 8+ members - there's more mysticism in the WOLVES, splicing the dna of MV & EE, PHAROAH SANDERS and SONIC YOUTH, honing in on the heavy kraut psych of early 70s AMON DUUL II as advertised, in a way that neatly bridges the gap between BURNT HILLS' profound freeform primitivism and DSDV's enlightened groove-locked chaos - there's nothin about DIRE WOLVES that ain't right up my alley, they've got a tape titled THE CREATOR HAS A FASTER VAN on SLOOW for goodness sake"

JEFFREY ALEXANDER - ASTRAL TRAVELER
perfect wave 2015, edition of 75
"ASTRAL TRAVELER - the title alone reeled me in, and then the artwork - dissipating contrails, cirrus clouds and lens flare forming an ever gazing galactic eye of sorts - well that pretty much finished me off before i even hit play, then the music proceeded to obliterate my thin veil of consciousness like NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS' DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS otherworldly longform drone on side one with a huge warbly tone swirling around a faint reverberating keyboard motif, then side kicks back with a BADFOOT BROWN / ALICE COLTRANE / PHAROAH SANDERS smoked out late night cosmic drone jazz improv session laced with some cool in-and-out avant guitar stuff - how is this just one dude?"
http://psilabtapes.blogspot.com/2015/11/recommendation-79-jeffrey-alexander.html


Jeffrey Alexander - very very purple live set recorded in Philadelphia, PA


... yep

Another review of the new Pome Pome Tones LP on Critical Masses

Jeffrey Alexander – Wayfinding Beacons from Planet to Planet 

(Pome Pome Tones, 2015) 

As the first contact pop reverberates outward from “Approach Lights One,” before a single note is struck, it’s clear that Wayfinding Beacons from Planet to Planet is going to be exploratory in nature. That initial ping – well, it’s hardly a ping sound, but I’m thinking of it as some sort of sonar projection – flickers out into the expanse with discovery on its mind. What’s out there? Why do we need to know? Oh sonar, illuminate me!

That sense of discovery is perfectly logical given Jeffrey Alexander’s recent exploits. Alexander, who has performed in The Iditarod, Dire Wolves, Black Forest/Black Sea, and JOMF (pronounced “jawmf” – just kidding, it’s an abbreviation for Jackie O Motherfucker), continues the psychedelic/drone/sound collage experimentation he’s perfected with those groups, and thrusts it to the far reaches of the known universe. His compositions inspire awe at the star stuff flitting through my mind right now (if I had a telescope to pair with my imagination, I’d be peering through it for the full effect), the patterns and transmissions penetrating constellations and nebulae in their attempt to communicate with what’s out there. Wayfinding Beacons is as science-y an album as you’ll come across, interested mainly in getting at the stuff we don’t know about. Yet.

 

http://criticalmassesmedia.com/2015/06/crate-digging-jeffrey-alexander-wayfinding-beacons-from-planet-to-planet/

A bunch of new Jeffrey Alexander reviews !

Critical Masses
http://criticalmassesmedia.com/2015/04/on-shuffle-jeffrey-alexander-approach-lights-three-video/

Ad Hoc
http://adhoc.fm/post/jeffrey-alexander-flutter/

Tome To The Weather Machine
http://www.tometotheweathermachine.com/videodrones/2015/04/videodrone-jeffrey-alexander-approach-lights-three

Louder Than War
http://louderthanwar.com/watch-this-brand-new-video-by-legendary-ambient-composer-jeffrey-alexander/

From Here Till Now
http://www.fromheretillnow.com/blog/2015/4/25/jeffrey-alexander

yesssss!

latest KYY LP reviewed in the Sound Projector

This is a great record, folks. I'm psyched that Jan asked me to contribute to the weird-o sounds...
http://www.thesoundprojector.com/2014/12/31/enjoyable-flows/

End of year round-up

Hey folks! sorry for the radio silence. Blog times are tough... but the weekly radio show plows forward. Catch up on many months of playlists and podcasts here: http://rvpods.com/ppt -- listen, stream, download, as you prefer... Go on, enjoy some cool musicks...

The recent Iditarod LP i put together is reviewed in the Terrascope this month:
"Collecting together, EP tracks, a live recording and some pieces from compilations “Foxfur and Rarebits” is a wonderful collection that highlights just how good pioneering wyrd folk band The Iditarod really were. Opening with “Feel the Breath of the Woods Upon Your Heart Part One” you are immediately pulled into a strange hallucinating world, voices, percussion and guitar swirling together creating a vortex of sound  that builds in tension with a stuttering electric guitar writhing at its centre. Elswhere”Sparrow” is a haunting folk tune lost on a foggy highway, whilst “Where the Cold Wind Blows” begins as a bleak re-working of that Leadbelly tune before morphing into something slightly warmer, musically at least, with a sweet flute adding beauty to the stringed instruments that weave magic into the tune. Taking the song and making it their own, The band's version of “Julia Dream” is another highlight a droning cello adding depth to the arrangement. To end, we get part two of the opening song, this part feeling sparser with a clarinet (possibly) adding a different timbre to the piece although the electric guitar defintely makes its presence felt throughout." (http://www.terrascope.co.uk)

New Dire Wolves recordings!  and still more on the way in early 2015...  Also a new Dire Wolves website. Boom.

New Jeffrey Alexander solo releases also coming soon!  full length LP on Pome Pome Tones ... also a brand new C30 cassette on Perfect Wave out of Brooklyn.  stay tuned!

Happy New Year.

A couple more Iditarod reviews for ya

Here's one in Dutch:
http://www.kwadratuur.be/cdbesprekingen/detail/the_iditarod_-_foxfur_and_rarebits

And another in German:
http://dasklienicum.blogspot.com/2014/09/neue-tone-1433-iditarod.html

Hopefully, this record will never be reviewed in the USA.

Get yours today - I only have ten copies left...
https://jeffreyalexander.bandcamp.com/album/foxfur-and-rarebits-lp-2014

My new LP of ye olden musicks reviewed in VICE Portugal

http://www.vice.com/pt/read/discos-the-iditarod

Thanks to a co-worker for this partial translation: 
"As big of a splash as freak-folk made, ten years after ears turned to the music of Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, the phenomenon didn’t serve to bring to the spotlight those more entrenched in the scene. In the case of the duo known as the Iditarod, one almost wants to say they arrived a bit too early to jump on the train which, at the time of departure, rapidly took off with the young faces most likely to succeed (because that’s how hypes go). Even so, you can’t ignore the fact that Jeffrey Alexander (multi-instrumentalist and principal composer) anticipated, almost ten years prior, almost everything which would set the profile for freak-folk, namely its tendency to accompany strange and lyrical voices with largely acoustic instruments not at all shy in bringing back the psychedelic marasmus of the 60s and 70s. This is all substantiated in the collection Foxfur and Rarebits, which includes songs recorded between 2000 and 2004 (right before the harp-girl-and-long-beard boom)... This makes up one of the missing pieces to the freak-folk puzzle."

Available on bndcmp - with 5 bonus tracks!  
https://jeffreyalexander.bandcamp.com/album/foxfur-and-rarebits-lp-2014

New (old) Iditarod LP out now! more great reviews...

Hello friends. A primer: From 1996-2003 I had a weirdo folky project with Carin Wagner called The Iditarod. I wrote all the music (and chose a ton of cover songs) and played most of the instruments. Carin wrote all of the lyrics and sang. I experimented with strange recording ideas, taught myself mixing and mastering, booked us a crap load of shows - we toured a lot... it was fun, well - I had fun anyway. There are some releases that I'm really proud of like THIS ONE. So fast forward eleven years after our break-up and the great Morc Records of Ghent Belgium has just released an LP of Iditarod comp tracks and rarities collected from 2000-2003. I have newly mastered all of these tracks... Carin created some beautiful new artwork... and the wonderful UK writer and critic, Jeanette Leech, provided extensive sleevenotes. In addition to reviews for magazines like Mojo and The Wire, Jeanette is also the author of Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk - so cool !

You can download it here NOW - complete with five non-LP bonus tracks:


Folk Radio UK writes (23 July 2014):
The Iditarod were very much a pioneering psychedelic folk group although for some this took the benefit of hindsight to realise as alongside the likes Stone Breath their music pre-dated the arrival of Freak Folk and mainstream breakthrough acts such as Banhart and Newsom.
At a time when indie rock was ruling venues finding a suitable place to perform their quieter music was difficult to say the least. The band eventually managed to find an ideal home base in Providence, Rhode Island where there was a more appreciative audience. They released The River Nektar in 1998. The core of the band was Carin Sloan (formerly Carin Wagner) and Jeffrey Alexander.
Amongst their self-penned material they also played traditional songs that they had learned from records by Anne Briggs and Pentangle. This new 2000-2003 collection on Morc Records titled Foxfur & Rarebits brings together oddments including alternate takes and live performances and although these songs were never meant to be together as an album, they do work as one.

Microphones In The Trees writes (24 July 2014):
aunque la canciones de The Iditarod en realidad no son nuevas, de ahora, (hay una inédita en directo y muchas que ya habían aparecido en recopilatorios), sigue siendo un regalo reencontrarse con su paraíso folk, con la voz de Carin Wagner, dulce hasta derretirse, el cello y el banjo de Sharron Kraus y el glockenspiel y la guitarra de Jeffrey Alexander. 'where the cold winds blow' es demasiado bonita y me recuerda a 'the turin horse'.... ya sólo faltaría un nuevo disco de Davenport y otro de Black Forest/Black Sea...

New Iditarod review - how's your Dutch?

http://www.newfolksounds.nl/the-iditarod-foxfur-rarebits/recensies/2014

Foxfur & rarebits
(Morc 68 / Clear spot)

Ik ben wat huiverig met heruitgaven die worden gepresenteerd als ‘legendarisch’, ‘grensverleggend’, ’toonaangevend’ en meer van die terminologie. Vooral als het je geen ene moer zegt. En nog meer als ze destijds, op het moment dat ze oorspronkelijk werden uitgegeven, ook nauwelijks potten konden breken. Uiteraard bevestigen uitzonderingen de regel. Dat gaat in dit geval op voor het totaal onbekende The Iditarod, een Brits duo met snarenplukker Jeffrey en zangeres Carin Sloan. Voorliggend album is een verzameling van materiaal van diverse 7-inches en EP’s, en een live track. Niet afkomstig dus van hun twee reguliere albums of de eerder bij MORC verschenen verzamelaar Kleine. In feite is dus niet het album, maar de formatie ‘legendarisch’. En daar zit best wel wat in, ondanks het feit dat misschien slechts een handjevol liefhebbers ze kennen. Iditarod maakt toegankelijke freakfolk, psychfolk of welke term er voor geldt. Wel degelijk op de (Britse) traditie gebaseerde akoestische muziek, zonder ‘trad.arr’ te zijn, aangevuld met een dosis psychedelica en hippie invloeden. En dat halverwege de jaren negentig tot de eerste maanden van het nieuwe millennium. Toen gaf het duo er de brui aan. Juist op het moment dat dit soort muziek zich op een grotere belangstelling kon beroepen. Juiste muziek, verkeerde planning lijkt het… Want die muziek is best aangenaam, met verwijzingen naar bijvoorbeeld In Gowan Ring, of Stone Breath. Of is het andersom… Feeërieke melodieën met ballen, power gekoppeld aan ontspanning, engelengezang met diepgang, vrije songs met structuur. Leuke cover trouwens van Julia Dream van Pink Floyd. De zang van Carin Sloan doet me heel sterk denken aan Barbara Gaskin van Spirogyra en ook muzikaal zijn er parallellen met die groep. Waar Iditarod de mosterd vandaan haalde dus…Zie ze maar als bruggenbouwers van wat ooit was en toen weer terugkwam.

New JOMF / Tom Carter + Helena Espvall LP on Aquarius

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER / TOM CARTER & HELENA ESPVALL split (Pome Pome Tones / Ruralfaune)
It's been awhile since we've heard from these two camps of free rock improvisers, but this split is a welcome return for both old faves, Jackie-O Motherfucker and Tom Carter.
The Jackie-O side is a side-long track called "House of Rain" which begins plaintively with funereal horns, bass, synth, and clattering percussion airing out in a slow build. Mournful mumbling vocals intone through a collage of interweaving sounds, broken guitar strums, hallucinogenic claptrap, and propulsive dirgery that coalesce into a momentous free-jazz memorial send-off for some seemingly heroic figure's burial at sea. Flutes, drums and horns buzzingly flock together into an epic whirring cloud of noise that battles it out among the stratosphere before slowly dying out.
The Tom Carter side is a collaboration with cellist Helena Espvall (formerly of Espers) called "Electrogesis" which begins more abstractly with what sounds like sped-up piano tones joined by cello and guitar in tandem, the cello more abrasive and droney while the guitar is more searching and exploratory, riding the line between melodic psych excursion and free improvisation. Soon the two lock horns around an intense raga-like center and as the sound grows more intense, the music fragments and destabilizes into a burning murky ember of glorious beautiful noise. So great! Limited to 200 copies.
http://www.aquariusrecords.org

New review, June 18 podcast, Fever Witch on the 25th !!!

Sudden Art Music Magazine (from ITALY) reviews 
JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER "Europe '14" (tour-only cdr, 2014):
"Jeffrey Alexander (Iditarod) has become, quite recently, a member of Jackie-O Motherfucker and surely brought something from Black Forest/Black Sea (his previous band) in this historical project, but there was already affinity between the two acts. Impro-destructured-rock, with 'folkie' influences, an intelligent use of sax and liquid waves from analog synths. This cd consists in two long jams and a 'brief' (!) track of about 8 minutes.. It's a trip that could be very interesting for people with a free spirit.." (NICOLA NOVELLI)
https://jeffreyalexander.bandcamp.com/album/europe-14-tour-only-cdr-2014

Last weeks radio show playlist/podcast: http://rvpods.com/ppt


FEVER WITCH live on Pome Pome Tones, June 25th 8-10am on Radio Valencia

FEVER WITCH is the solo project of classically trained vocalist Kelly Ann (KA), from Oakland, California. She preforms with one synth, one microphone, and huge balls. She tours up and down the west coast a few times a year.

"…like a lo-fi 4 track Arvo Part, spectral and shimmery, murky and moody, the perfect late night chill out bliss out, with a slightly witchy/demonic edge to it… vibes of Twin Peaks… gothy and gloomy, some of the tracks are like otherworldly ballads..." (Aquarius Records)

Tune in to POME POME TONES on Wednesday morning June 25th from 8-10am as Kelly Ann joins me in the studio. She'll treat us to a live FEVER WITCH on-air performance… we'll talk about precious things like love and law and poverty… and take turns playing each others favorite supernatural records.

http://feverwitch.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/fever.x.witch
http://pptones.com/

Kitchen Cynics covers LP reviewed in The Wire

I have just a handful of copies of this left, if you want to mail order -- click here:
Oh yes, I want to buy this LP, I will click this link right now

Kitchen Cynics covers LP reviewed in Jan 2014 Terrascope

check it out --
Kitchen Cynics compilation review

mail order from me, right here --
Oh yes, I want to buy this LP, I will click this link right now

Avarus LP reviewed in the Psychotropic Zone, Finland

Holy Crap SALE - Get yours today for ONLY $7 - email: jerkfree@gmail
put "Take me in the ZONE" in the subject line.

"It’s been four year since the latest official Avarus albums IV and Toosassa were released, but there have been a couple of tapes since then. On Salon des Amateurs this Finnish free form experimental psych rock/folk/jazz/electronic outfit is joined by Jeffrey Alexander (electric guitar, Black Forest/Black Sea, Secret Eye Records etc.) from the US and Moritz Kleiner (synthesizer) from Germany. Other players are this time Jukka Räisänen (electric bass), Lars Mattila (electric guitar), Arttu Partinen (percussion), Tero Niskanen (synthesizer). These two, untitled side-long tracks on this very nice vinyl album were both recorded spontaneously at Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf, Germany, on May 30 2011 when Avarus was on their European tour. The sound quality is good and the band is clearly in great and inspirational mood. The A side starts off slowly with some electronic sounds and hypnotic bass line and monotonic guitar while Arttu slowly lets the rhythm grow. The track gets VERY hypnotic and trance-inducing in the middle and you will be transported into this strange, psychedelic Avarus world that only exists during their gigs. On side B they have a nice, almost dub like beat going and even some chord changes, until the track cools down into weird, quiet, jazzy drone. I might not be the right person to review this music since I don’t really know many bands like this, but I think Avarus is a great band and I do enjoy their strange, improvisational aural trips even if they’re pretty primitive, monotonic and whimsical. Or maybe that’s exactly the reason!"
http://psychotropiczone.blogspot.com/2013/12/avarus-salon-des-amateurs.html

A couple of new JOMF reviews...

"ghostly melodies from what must be a pan flute being played through an angel’s anus" -- well, they've got my number. funny that they also reference two finnish bands that i have also made angel's anus sounds with. how did they know?

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/cerberus/jackie-o-motherfucker-hello

http://devdformats.blogspot.com/2013/08/jackie-o-motherfucker-hello-cs.html 

"I have been listening to this cassette on repeat for about an hour now and I gotta tell you. I have yet to get sick of earring this. Jackie-o Motherfucker has improvised into many different genres over their long list of releases. I'm sure you are familiar with them so I will not bother going into it all, but it's dense. This cassette follows them into a more free jazz type of world. Like Coltrane at his strangest or Sun Ra at his most destructive. I would recommend picking this up right away and doing what I did—listen to it over and over and over."

Black Forest/Black Sea - released 10 years ago this week

original USA release, 2003 - Last Visible Dog + Secret Eye Records split label release
re-issued (with bonus tracks) in France, 2005 - Asphalt Duchess label

bonus tracks:
Sea Song - live on WMBR, Cambridge MA, July 10, 2003
Lump In Throat - live on the sidewalk outside of Tonevendor, Sacramento CA, Aug 3, 2003

"On their debut, Providence-based Black Forest/Black Sea offer seven chilly field recordings placed within a half-improvised framework of guitar, cello and sundry accented glitches. After piecing together a magnificent patchwork tent of bark, calico fabric, twisted vines, and fallen stars, the duo-- featuring ex-members of experimental folk troupe Iditarod-- sets up an austere camp in the enchanted psych-folk glen also inhabited by Ghost, Charalambides, Six Organs of Admittance, Fursaxa, and the Jewelled Antler Collective. In addition to Jeffrey Alexander's guitar (finger-picked and bowed) and Miriam Goldberg's cello (pitch-shifted and ring modulated), Black Forest/Black Sea incorporate hissing short-wave radio, omnichord, haunting vocal melodies, saxophone, rusty percussion, 8-rpm phonograph, reel-to-reel noise, drone, feedback, fireside crackles, and some general knob turning." (Pitchfork)

"Black Forest/Black Sea is primarily Jeffrey Alexander and Miriam Goldberg, an unusual folk styled duo who sound straightforward enough on first hearing, until something unexpected turns the simply plucked banjo song they are playing upside down. Backwards backwoods playing, electronic effects, a shortwave radio and some knob twiddling are all incorporated into their sound, which twists from traditional folk Americana to beatbox Improv and back again. Nothing, however, is quite what it seems, and this constant sound shifting gives Alexander and Goldberg's musically metamorphic contribution to the New Weird America cult an edge over the competition. For BF/BS are genuinely strange." (The Wire)