Our dearest Concreteweb’s headquarters did recently receive a cd-r / mp3 with seven Folk-oriented albums. As a matter of fact, Strawberry Oracle Promotions will give some renewed attention to seven bands / projects within the Folk scene by having this material put on the foreground again. It deals with both recent as well as pretty old recordings, and in order to give this stuff a boost, I will be so kind to have it reviewed.
Jahrtal was a project by Austrian Hippie Ewald Spiss, who was helped out by his wife Christine on several songs. This review deals with a compilation that was released on tape before through the Belgian label Sloow Tapes in a very limited edition (only seventy copies have been distributed), but now in a re-mastered edition (still rather limited!) and with some bonus songs that weren’t included on the original tape. This release (originating from 2009) consists of eighteen instrumental pieces, mainly very short in length (with two exceptions), and which Ewald labelled as Post-Spitz-Folk. Like In Gowan Ring’s B’Eirth, Ewald constructed some instruments himself, like the so-called gzitar, a combination of guitar, sitar and citer. Further on, he makes use of stuff like harmonium, organ, sitar, hurdy gurdy, flutes, violin, acoustic guitars, psalter, banjo, dulcimer etc.; even electronics are part of his creations. And that comparison to In Gowan Ring gets translated in the Music of Jahrtal as well. It’s a combination of emotive and natural spheres, dreamy drones, tribal sounds, ambient passages, folkish tranquillity and esoteric melodies. It has something soundtrack-alike from time to time, then again it rather reminds me to Twinsistermoon or Spires That In The Sunset Rise, and even Yen Pox and Current 93 are possible comparisons. It’s happy and it’s sad, it’s darkening and it’s enlightening, Reprisen & Instrumentalstuecke is a fine release to float into dreams of Nature’s Beauty.
FYI: the vinyl edition is planned for later this year.