| Helena Espvall — Both Art and Nature are fond of Machinations (2014) |
Helena Espvall — Both Art and Nature are fond of Machinations
••• Helena Espvall is a cello player who is comfortable in indie rock and improvised music circles.
Genres: Experimental, free improv, psych-folk, folk, drone
Instruments: Cello, guitar, voice
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia, USA
Album release: April 2, 2014
Record Label:
Duration: 21:28
Tracks:
1. Both Art and Nature are fond of Machinations 21:28
Career:
••• Espvall's early career included work with Arabian music ensemble Sumer and with Projektor 7, a silent movie orchestra formed by members of Swedish pop group Komeda. She relocated to Philadelphia, USA in the year 2000. Time spent concentrating on cello improvisation led to performances at the High Zero festival in 2001 and 2002.
••• Espvall subsequently entered Philadelphia's flourishing psychedelic and weird-folk circles. She joined Espers shortly after they recorded their first album, was a member of The Valerie Project, and formed the duo Anahita with Tara Burke (a.k.a. Fursaxa). In 2006 a trio consisting of Espvall, Espers bandmate Meg Baird, and English folk singer Sharron Kraus released an album of traditional folk songs under the title Leaves From Off The Tree.
••• 2006 also saw the release of Espvall's first solo album, Nimis & Arx, named after the large-scale sculptures erected in the micronation of Ladonia by Swedish artist Lars Vilks.
••• Collaboration with Masaki Batoh (of Japanese psych band Ghost) produced two albums released by the Drag City label. The first of these, Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh, included several Swedish folk songs and marked the first prominent appearance of Espvall's vocals. A BBC review called it "beautifully fragile, remarkably melodic and enticingly charming". 2009's Overloaded Ark tilted toward extended psychedelic jams, featuring members of Ghost Junzo Tateiwa and Kazuo Ogino as well as ancient music specialist Haruo Kondo. The album's varied instrumentation included acoustic and electric guitars, cello, organ, sho, banjo, renaissance harp, rauschpfeife, crumhorn, cornamuse, hurdy gurdy, recorders, piano, frame drums, darbuka, riq, and electronics.
••• In 2010 Espvall released Lapidary, an improvised collaboration with noise/drone figure Marcia Bassett. Writing for The Wire magazine, Keith Moliné compared it to the first Ash Ra Tempel album and dubbed it "an impressively powerful record".
••• Espvall frequently lends cello playing to the work of other musicians. She has been a member of the touring bands for Vashti Bunyan, Damon and Naomi, Ghost and Marissa Nadler; she has made guest appearances on records by Bert Jansch, Arborea, and Charalambides, among others.
© Shanti Curran and Helena Espvall. Littlefield, Brooklyn, March 2011
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Artist Biography by Michael G. Nastos
••• Helena Espvall is a cello player who is comfortable in indie rock and improvised music circles. She was born and raised in Sweden, playing guitar and cello in rock bands and a silent movie orchestra. Moving to the U.S. and settling in Philadelphia in 2000, Espvall further explored Arabic music, performed with the Amnesiac Music & Dance Ensemble, and joined the contemporary psychedelic-folk group Espers, recording the CDs Weed Tree and II with them. Her penchant for playing free jazz has resulted in collaborations with guitarist Eugene Chadbourne. She is a featured artist with saxophonist/flutist Oluyemi Thomas on his recording Before the Beginning, and with From Quagmire on Habitats in the Wound. Espvall's debut CD as a leader, Nimis & Arx, from the Pax/Fire Museum label is produced by George Korien, where she plays cello, guitar, and recorder, sings and uses electronics. Other artists she has worked with include Katt Hernandez, Lukas Ligeti, Masaki Batoh, Gui Mallon, Nick Castro, Bert Jansch, Sharron Kraus, Fürsaxa, Vashti Bunyan, Samara Lubelski, Marissa Nadler, Damon & Naomi, Arborea, Curia, Golden Ball, the Valerie Project, Polineros, and Scorces.
MySpace: https://myspace.com/helenaespvall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helenaespvallmusic
Museum Fire: http://www.museumfire.com/espvall
••• Não se sabe ao certo se é um disco, se é um EP, se é apenas música sem formato mas a violoncelista e improvisadora norte-americana Helena Espvall, que se encontra a viver em Portugal, partilhou hoje mesmo 21 minutos e 28 segundos de música a que chamou "Both Art and Nature are fond of Machinations". 21 minutos e 28 segundos de melodias escondidas, loops, drones e outras maravilhas. Vale a pena dar-lhe uma boa parte da vossa atenção. (http://bodyspace.net/)
_______________________________________________________________
| Helena Espvall — Both Art and Nature are fond of Machinations (2014) |
••• Helena Espvall is a cello player who is comfortable in indie rock and improvised music circles.
Genres: Experimental, free improv, psych-folk, folk, drone
Instruments: Cello, guitar, voice
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia, USA
Album release: April 2, 2014
Record Label:
Duration: 21:28
Tracks:
1. Both Art and Nature are fond of Machinations 21:28
Career:
••• Espvall's early career included work with Arabian music ensemble Sumer and with Projektor 7, a silent movie orchestra formed by members of Swedish pop group Komeda. She relocated to Philadelphia, USA in the year 2000. Time spent concentrating on cello improvisation led to performances at the High Zero festival in 2001 and 2002.
••• Espvall subsequently entered Philadelphia's flourishing psychedelic and weird-folk circles. She joined Espers shortly after they recorded their first album, was a member of The Valerie Project, and formed the duo Anahita with Tara Burke (a.k.a. Fursaxa). In 2006 a trio consisting of Espvall, Espers bandmate Meg Baird, and English folk singer Sharron Kraus released an album of traditional folk songs under the title Leaves From Off The Tree.
••• 2006 also saw the release of Espvall's first solo album, Nimis & Arx, named after the large-scale sculptures erected in the micronation of Ladonia by Swedish artist Lars Vilks.
••• Collaboration with Masaki Batoh (of Japanese psych band Ghost) produced two albums released by the Drag City label. The first of these, Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh, included several Swedish folk songs and marked the first prominent appearance of Espvall's vocals. A BBC review called it "beautifully fragile, remarkably melodic and enticingly charming". 2009's Overloaded Ark tilted toward extended psychedelic jams, featuring members of Ghost Junzo Tateiwa and Kazuo Ogino as well as ancient music specialist Haruo Kondo. The album's varied instrumentation included acoustic and electric guitars, cello, organ, sho, banjo, renaissance harp, rauschpfeife, crumhorn, cornamuse, hurdy gurdy, recorders, piano, frame drums, darbuka, riq, and electronics.
••• In 2010 Espvall released Lapidary, an improvised collaboration with noise/drone figure Marcia Bassett. Writing for The Wire magazine, Keith Moliné compared it to the first Ash Ra Tempel album and dubbed it "an impressively powerful record".
••• Espvall frequently lends cello playing to the work of other musicians. She has been a member of the touring bands for Vashti Bunyan, Damon and Naomi, Ghost and Marissa Nadler; she has made guest appearances on records by Bert Jansch, Arborea, and Charalambides, among others.
_______________________________________________________________
Artist Biography by Michael G. Nastos
••• Helena Espvall is a cello player who is comfortable in indie rock and improvised music circles. She was born and raised in Sweden, playing guitar and cello in rock bands and a silent movie orchestra. Moving to the U.S. and settling in Philadelphia in 2000, Espvall further explored Arabic music, performed with the Amnesiac Music & Dance Ensemble, and joined the contemporary psychedelic-folk group Espers, recording the CDs Weed Tree and II with them. Her penchant for playing free jazz has resulted in collaborations with guitarist Eugene Chadbourne. She is a featured artist with saxophonist/flutist Oluyemi Thomas on his recording Before the Beginning, and with From Quagmire on Habitats in the Wound. Espvall's debut CD as a leader, Nimis & Arx, from the Pax/Fire Museum label is produced by George Korien, where she plays cello, guitar, and recorder, sings and uses electronics. Other artists she has worked with include Katt Hernandez, Lukas Ligeti, Masaki Batoh, Gui Mallon, Nick Castro, Bert Jansch, Sharron Kraus, Fürsaxa, Vashti Bunyan, Samara Lubelski, Marissa Nadler, Damon & Naomi, Arborea, Curia, Golden Ball, the Valerie Project, Polineros, and Scorces.
MySpace: https://myspace.com/helenaespvall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helenaespvallmusic
Museum Fire: http://www.museumfire.com/espvall
••• Não se sabe ao certo se é um disco, se é um EP, se é apenas música sem formato mas a violoncelista e improvisadora norte-americana Helena Espvall, que se encontra a viver em Portugal, partilhou hoje mesmo 21 minutos e 28 segundos de música a que chamou "Both Art and Nature are fond of Machinations". 21 minutos e 28 segundos de melodias escondidas, loops, drones e outras maravilhas. Vale a pena dar-lhe uma boa parte da vossa atenção. (http://bodyspace.net/)
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