Earworm: Grouper “Hold The Way”
October 7th, 2009
Who: Grouper
What: A solo artist named Liz Harris from Portland who makes hair-raisingly sublime ambient music comprised of samples, a Wurlitzer, guitar, tape loops, field recordings, electro-acoustic noise and lots of reverb.
Sounds like: The stripped down arrangements, echo-drenched instrumentation and Harris’ angelic vocals suggest images of a beautiful spirit chanting meditative hymns in a barren, forested landscape.
RIYL: This Mortal Coil, Cocteau Twins, early Slowdive
Need to know: Harris is fond of releasing her music independently via CD-Rs. To date she has seven albums and countless singles and collaborations. It was 2008’s Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill and a tour this past spring with Animal Collective though that destroyed anyone’s hopes of keeping her music a secret.
Track: “Hold The Way” is one of two new Grouper songs. Beginning with crackling, nonsensical vocal samples and Harris’ beatific, multi-tracked voice intoning a tranquil harmony, it all of a sudden matures into a disembodied mantra. As arresting as the song is, the accompanying monochromatic video adds a disquieting gravitas thanks to a creepy vagueness and a closing shot of a lone duck with its egg.
Grouper - Hold the Way from Weston Currie on Vimeo.
Buy: You can buy pretty much anything Grouper has released here.
- Cam Lindsay
Tags: Grouper, Liz Harris
Posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 1:47 pm by Cam and is filed under Earworm, The New Music.
