a r t i s t : Wildbirds & Peacedrums
t i t l e : Heartcore
d a t e : 2008
l a b e l : Leaf
c a t : BAY61V
s o u r c e : Vinyl
g e n r e : Folk
r l s. d a t e : Apr/2008
t r a c k s : 12
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 55,5 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
It's no overstatement to say their self produced debut,
Heartcore, is something of a minor masterpiece! // The Stool
Pigeon
At times it's hard to believe the majesty and racket
emanating from the stage is the work of but two musicians,
such is the impact they have-incredible // Drowned In Sound
PRECIOUS WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS are charismatic singer Mariam
Wallentin and drummer Andreas Werliin. Together the Swedish
duo have forged an extraordinary hybrid of spiritual pop,
primal blues and ecstatic soul music. Seesawing between pagan
rhythms and sparse, bewitching ballads, their self-produced
debut is a declaration of intent: immediate, exhilarating, and
just plain new.
I really felt that there was more to come out of the drum
set, other sounds and feelings, says Andreas, explaining the
depth of emotion and dynamic rhythmic palette that colours the
duo's expressive music. Having met at the Academy of Music and
Drama in Gothenburg in 2004, where Mariam enrolled in vocal
improv and Andreas in percussion, both were frustrated by the
institution's rigid format. I was so fed up at the way music
was played at the University - music judged only upon level
and virtuosity, says Andreas. It just felt wrong.
Wildbirds & Peacedrums was born of a desire to break free and
return to music that captures pure feeling. We had no musical
ideals to trust or lean on, so we had just to really believe
in ourselves and each other, and it was much easier actually.
To get that heavy blanket of history and knowledge off your
shoulders was the best musical experience of our lives.
It comes as no surprise, given their obvious musical
chemistry, that the duo were married soon after they began
performing in the summer of 2005, during a holiday spell in
Berlin.
We always start with the lyrics that Mariam writes, then try
to find one or two elements to fit around them - it can be a
rhythm or a sound and then we go from there. For me it is such
a release to write music this way - with Mariam's voice, I
don't need to cover it up with a lot of other stuff - I can
just play a simple rhythm and rely on the space/silence. We
keep a lot of space in the recordings and somehow it seems
that people fill in the rest themselves an old jazz listener
hears horns and basslines and a punk hears smashed guitars!
After hand-sewing fabric covers for two limited edition CDRs,
the duo recorded their debut album Heartcore in Gothenberg in
the summer of 2006. They used a mobile studio, allowing for a
variety of intimate spaces with different acoustical elements.
Having never used any of the equipment before, Mariam and
Andreas were forced to keep the recording as spare and live as
possible, using just vocals and drums, with a handful of
additional instruments like glockenspiel and zither.
We tried to rely on the energy we create on stage. It was so
hard to know what the result was going to be like because we
had no references or ideal - we just tried to record as we
played the music live at that time. We had just the feeling
and goal of trying to capture some honest and intense musical
state of mind.
Mariam's uninhibited, skin-prickling vocal expressions invoke
vintage blues performers like Bessie Smith through to the
spookily evocative folk singing of Mary Margaret O'Hara. With
a fiery passion all her own that encompasses moods from the
heavy spiritual lament of I Can't Tell in his Eyes' to the
raw gospel exclamation of Bird' with just pulsing bass drums
accompanying Mariam's ululations, to the rock & roll
handclaps, crash, bang and wallop crescendo of 'Doubt/Hope',
she is a mercurial talent with a breathtaking emotional depth.
Indeed, Heartcore could not be a more apt album title. Largely
stripped bare with only the most potent, select sounds
remaining behind Mariam's transporting voice, the effect is
luscious, enveloping and mesmerising.
Heartcore was originally released in Sweden in 2007 on Found
You Recordings, now licensed for worldwide release by The Leaf
Label. After a year of shows in Scandinavia, Wildbirds &
Peacedrums will bring their powerful live show to the rest of
Europe this spring, and to North America and Asia later in
2008. With a brand new album of songs already waiting in the
wings, this very special duo has even more spectacular musical
revelations to come.
_______________________________________________________________________
a1-Pony [03:21]
a2-The Way Things Go [02:03]
a3-Bird [02:22]
a4-I Can't Tell in His Eyes [04:11]
a5-Doubt Hope [03:05]
a6-A Story from A Chair [03:54]
b1-The Battle in Water [03:58]
b2-The Ones that Should Save Me Get Me Down [02:50]
b3-Lost Love [04:19]
b4-The Window [02:36]
b5-Nakina [02:54]
b6-We Hold Each Other Song [04:51]
-------
40:24 min