When Wovenhand took to the stage at Roadburn 2011 the general
consensus was that they brought down one of the heaviest sets of that
weekend – they weren’t necessarily the loudest bands to play, but they
were the one of the heaviest. You’ve got to take your hat off
to the good folks at Roadburn for bringing such disparate artists to
their festival, artists that don’t all necessarily deal in distortion
but who all bring an equally dark musical atmosphere to the stages of
013. This year’s breakout Roadburn success had to be the enigmatic LA
folk doom-weaver Chelsea Wolfe whose 2011 album Apokalypsis
earned her more than her fair share of fans, many of them in the metal
community. Indeed, Chelsea Wolfe was probably the last person on Earth
who expected to have a large following of hairy, stoned men but her
appearance at Roadburn (to a sizeable crowd) and the fact that her set
is now being released as a limited edition vinyl is testament to her
truly breathtaking collection of ghostly songs.
Creeping-in spectre-like with the beautiful ‘Halfsleeper’ from her debut album The Grime and the Glow,
it’s clear that Chelsea has the audience encapsulated from the off, her
simple guitar work allowing her commanding voice to take centre stage
to deliver the songs’ incredibly dark lyrics. It’s a bold start to her
set, one that really puts her out there by herself before the band kicks
in towards the end, seguing into the more-familiar trip-hop shuffle of
‘Movie Screen’ from Apokalypsis. The fast-paced ‘Demons’
follows before the fantastic, tumultuous waking-dream of ‘Mer’ closes
side A. At this point it’s impossible not to be won-over by the strength
of the songs and the quality of the performances – ‘Tracks (Tall
Bodies)’ opens side B, the keyboards shimmying elegantly beneath the
guitars and Wolfe’s darkly romantic vocals: “We could be two straight
lines/ In a crooked world.”
One can hear the genesis of Wolfe’s sound in these live renditions of
the songs; the ragged ‘Noorus’ and ‘Moses’ both recall PJ Harvey; it’s
hard not to think of Beth Gibbons and Portishead on ‘Movie Screen’ and
throughout there is a certain aura of tragedy and enigma that brings
troubled troubadours like Jeff Buckley and drug-era John Frusciante to
mind, in feel if not in any immediate musical similarity. But Chelsea
Wolfe is an organic amalgamation of her influences, and in her own way, a
progression too. She creates music that feels removed from normal life –
the closing ‘Pale on Pale’ has a hypnotic groove and an almost
Indian-style vocal that can’t help but shift the atmosphere around you,
and in this live capacity, with the inevitable festival weed-cloud
filling the air, you can imagine the force that her songs would have
when you can feel the kick of the drums and her wailing voice beating in
your chest.
These live renditions aren’t very far removed from their recorded
counterparts and this could be an issue for certain artists releasing a
live vinyl – you’d assume there’d be a desire for alternate versions,
extended jams or radical reworkings to make it a worthwhile venture. But
when you’re an artist who has concocted two such otherwordly albums,
it’s actually impressive how well-represented the songs are in the hands
of Wolfe and her talented band. Don’t come to Chelsea Wolfe Live at
Roadburn 2012 expecting controversy or change, come for the atmosphere,
the likes of which few artists are capable of creating.
[Originally published by the Sleeping Shaman, 01/10/2012]
http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/c/chelsea-wolfe-live-at-roadburn-2012-lp-2012/
[Later reposted as Roadburn Festival's 'Album of the Day', 01/10/2012]
http://www.roadburn.com/2012/10/album-of-the-day-chelsea-wolfe-live-at-roadburn-2012/
No comments:
Post a Comment