Dan Barrett’s music plays like a spectre in the night, most effective to the highly attentive and surveyors of the smallest details. It’s something that exists and has its hand on your shoulder. Your reason for ignoring it has nothing to do with the light ethereal touch, but rather that it may trigger thoughts that veer into the unpleasant and supernatural; it is what some might deem as “unnatural”. A track from the eponymous album of Dan Barrett’s project Giles Corey, “Empty Churches”, begins with an appropriate sample. The famous paranormal researcher Raymond Cass begins: “The voices of unknown origin appearing on radio frequencies were first noticed in Scandinavia by the military in the ‘30s, and were put down at the time to secret Nazi transmitters.” He continues: “After the war, no records of secret Nazi transmissions ever came to light. The voices didn’t stop after the war, but it was not until 1959 that Frederich Jorgensen noticed intrusions on tape and commenced his own systematic study. A disturbing fact soon emerged; the voices zeroed in onto [Jorgensen], addressing him by name, revealing knowledge of his thoughts and actions and claiming to be the voices of deceased friends and acquaintances.”

Barrett produces music that plays like the sounds of ghosts from another time; it is hardly a menacing sound, instead opting for ethereal beauty in the compositions despite lyrical content that is gloomy – to say the least. The most chilling aspect of Barrett’s fascination with death and the afterlife is that it arose from depression. The longing to no longer exist, in this life at least, is certainly one way to spark an interest in such affairs. What makes Barrett’s music such an artistic feat is how genuinely it projects these sentiments. Much of Giles Corey is wordless; heavy organs and keys show dominance over ghostly choirs and languishing croons, with Barrett’s breathy and sombering tone providing the only hint of singular resonance. It sounds like a procession of tortured ghosts rather than one man tackling depression and his ensuing fascination with death. But through his own work and the art of others, he seeks the answer to whether life is worth living. By how resounding his music will be to others in a similar situation, one can hope he realizes the worth and impact of his life and the musical ability he was given alongside it.

Giles Corey is a dense, hour-long affair that features songs with plenty of life – despite how it occasionally sounds like it’s coming from a lifeless entity. There’s so much power in these compositions that even the ghostly quality is submerged at some points by vibrant life; both “Spectral Bride” and “Blackest Bile” begin as an acoustic slogs with solemn organ-drenched choir processions before bursting into expansive arrangements – and even in the case of “Spectral Bride” a brass-like movement. “Blackest Bile” ascends to stomping percussion and vocals with greater clarity, with both high and low pitches interweaving with precision. Moments like these, especially in subdued chirpiness of “Spectral Bride”, provide a hint of optimism that lifts these efforts to an emotionally stirring state. The very sudden transition from gloomy cathedral-like processions to more spontaneous bursts of life, even if the sanguinity isn’t exactly unavoidable, is metaphorical on several levels. This, in particular, brings Scott Walker’s recent works to mind. Every song on Giles Corey attacks this ascension differently, each providing a glimpse into Barrett’s troubled but brilliant mind. It’s art for the human soul, and for what exists beyond that.

Giles Corey comes with a 150-page book that Barrett calls “an intensely personal, intimate portrait of depression that took me almost 4 years to make.” The album follows a story arc that is detailed in the book, along with an emphasis on afterlife theorist Robert Voor. It’s certainly not something to read/listen to if you’re looking for a sudden burst of happiness, but anyone interested in the human psyche and the many factors of the afterlife will find this to be a stunning work of art.

RIYL: Scott Walker, John Cale, Tim Buckley, Robert Wyatt, Jacques Brel, David Sylvian, Stars of the Lid, Roxy Music, Talk Talk, Tindersticks, Harry Nilsson

Giles Corey – Empty Churches

Giles Corey – Spectral Bride

Giles Corey – I’m Going To Do It

Official Site / MySpace / BUY

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Throw some Wu-Tang, an orchestra, and Euro-pop into a blender. It would probably taste sour since the differences in expectations surrounding tempo and instrumentation between the ingredients are evident. Kammerflimmer Kollektief have found a recipe for success though, mainly in their ability to prioritize various strengths over personal interests in their selfless presentation. Despite gravitating toward what many classify as free-jazz, the kollektief recognize their abilities in pop songwriting as being too important to neglect. Kammerflimmer Kollektief play to their strengths, not their interests. They have been active since 1997, remaining busy by releasing eight albums in that span. Their ninth, Wildling, was released this February and is one of their most impressive showings yet. The core of the band is Johannes Frisch, Thomas Weber, and vocalist Heike Aumüller, though collaborations with Christopher Brunner, Heike Wendelin, and D. Wurm occur frequently. Influences are more of a complementary factor for Kammerflimmer Kollektief, at least on Wildling, as song structures rooted in pop find unique expansion through components of improvisational jazz, noise, and Euro-electronica. The result is generally a laudable achievement, propelled by songs both accessible and complex that provide an equal dose of surefire ambition and hook-laden accessibility. Influences like Velvet Underground, John Coltrane, Tim Buckley, and Robert Wyatt are no surprise, since these are all artists that exhibited the same masterful prioritization despite varying styles.

The moment “Move Right In” descends into the depths of reverbed guitar, comparisons to Mazzy Star also become abundant. Vocalist Heike Aumüller sounds angelically serene, thanks in part to backing instrumentation that is one of the albums most accessible in its distinctive guitar-based twang of folk. Dream-pop is certainly evident as well, but that is more resounding in the heavy use of reverb and multiple layers of vocals. “Move Right In” is one of the most beautiful tracks I have this year so it comes highly recommended. Another highlight is “Silver Chords”, where one hear the bleeps of and swabs of saxophone, the latter sounding more like seagulls engulfing than the actual woodwind. They actually both resemble bird sounds despite differences in pitch, that is until the saxophone turns suave around the two-minute mark. The breezy, beach-y atmosphere this song creates is quite engaging, and serves as a great example of their jazz influence in their ability to bring atmospheres out of modulation and pitch. To spice things up further, Aumüller presents the listener with several variations of her voice on nearly every track, whether it is cohesively converged on “Move Right In” or technologically modulated like on the atmospheric “Cry Tuff”.

The rush of a xylophone on “Aum A Go-Go” coincides beautifully with crisp percussion and field recordings that take on the role of strings in their layered approach. The gauze of layered pads like these help create a “free-jazz” classification due to uses in woodwinds and strings, but when one truly examines the songwriting and role of genre-bending instruments it comes off more as avant-garde pop music. There are certainly jazz influences, but there are also those borrowed from electronica and pop that are often used in making tracks through Wildling so satisfying in short bursts. For instance, when the drums in “Cry Tuff” kick in ever so slightly under the warble of distorted guitars and cluttered synths, it allows for the eventual resolution of clear-sounding acoustics to resonate successfully and cohesively with familiar percussion. When Aumüller repeats a ghostly whisper in “Spookin’ the Horse” as spurts of saxophone combine with the same distinctive folky twang on “Move Right In”, I find myself reminiscing about Talk Talk’s later material like Spirit of Eden. Like Talk Talk, Kammerflimmer Kollektief are able to combine their natural abilities in pop songwriting with an obvious adoration for free-jazz, noise, and anything avant-garde. Wildling is a fascinating success that I recommend.

RIYL: Talk Talk, Mazzy Star, Beach House, Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Triosk, Tied & Tickled Trio, Supersilent, Bohren & der Club of Gore, Nils Petter Molvær, Dictaphone, Contemporary Noise Quintet, Jacaszek, Isotope 217

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Kammerflimmer Kollektief – Move Right In

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Kammerflimmer Kollektief – Silver Chords

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Kammerflimmer Kollektief – Cry Tuff

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