"..perverse western atmospheres, and the fine tuning of a Space Folk Opera.."
CharalambidesSeventh Heaven Bucolics
Charalambides Bio:
Despite occasional attempts by yardstick-makers to place them in any of the various genres that rose & fell in their musical proximity, Charalambides have remained dedicated to a vision of spiritual music (in all its forms) as transformative force. Their sound is uniquely personal and consistent, even through some outwardly extreme shifts in tactics.
Charalambides formed in Houston in 1991 amid a flock of fearlessly exploratory (and often drug-induced) rock bands, when Tom, Christina, and Kyle Silfer put down their beers and picked up their instruments. Eventually Kyle went home to New York, and Christina & Tom assumed the name Charalambides for what eventually turned into a flood of releases- beginning with 1992's Our Bed Is Green on their own Wholly Other label, and continuing with dozens of LPs, CDs, and cassettes on labels such as Siltbreeze, Eclipse, Time-Lag, and Kranky.
Despite occasional stints as a trio (first with guitarist Jason Bill and then with pedal steel guitarist & vocalist Heather Leigh Murray) and flourishing solo projects, Charalambides remains constant as the core duo of Tom & Christina Carter.
From their 2006 & 2007 Kranky releases A Vintage Burden & Likeness onwards, Charalambides has renewed their concentration on song-as-mantra (with intermittent guitar solos). But earlier recordings (like 2001's Unknown Spin) whisper of interstellar voids full of silence, or howl with ecstatically-received gnosis (2004's Joy Shapes).
Charalambides' live shows sometimes (and unpredictably) continue this latter thread, which often startles fans familiar only with the band's deceptively low-key reputation. Charalambides began playing sporadic gigs in 1992, making annual or semi-annual forays into other parts of the world from 1993 to 2005 (with the occasional year or two off). In 2006, Charalambides hit the road in earnest, touring the US/UK and making appearances at that year's Terrastock, Arthurfest and the Thurston Moore curated All Tomorrow's Parties: A Nightmare Before Christmas.
In 2008, after months of incessant solo and duo touring in the US and Europe, Tom settled in New York City, and Christina went to Austin, leaving touring aside (for a finite yet undetermined period of time) to concentrate on writing and recording. Their upcoming shows in Amsterdam and Hasselt (Belgium) are their first European performances since 2008.
Charalambides continue their recorded collaboration with Exile, a double LP of new recordings now available on Kranky.
Hello, how are you?
How indeed?
What are you currently listening to?
Christina: Last night I listened to Cesar Franck “Prelude, Chorale and Fugue” and “Prelude, Aria and Finale” as played by pianist Joerg Demus.
Who were your biggest influences when it comes to sculpting your current sound?
C: We don’t have a current sound. We have a permanent sound - and that is our sound. Our biggest influences have been all of the artists who have been driven to find out what their sound is/can be/will be, and who have done what it takes to realize that vision.
Is there a theme on your latest release?
C: Yes, 'Exile' has to do with subversion, inversion, decadence, dissolution, withering, extinction… A lot of reviewers try to find messages of hope on the record, but there really aren’t any messages of hope, per se. There is human fortitude in the face of these things, like on “Pity, Pity Me” the protagonist is not going to work at the factory any more because she has been physically crushed by the conditions of the job, and is dying. She begins the song seeming, yes, like she is asking for pity in a conventional sense, but by the end she is demanding pity, transformed into acknowledgement, from a position of right-minded anger. She is a ghost-voice haunting us with her death and her anger…. But, she still was only able to find release in death.
Will you be doing some extensive touring for said release?
C: No, we might do a couple of short jaunts in the late spring, early summer. Touring costs too much money these days and takes too much time away from earning money at our jobs and living actual day-to-day life. We’re done spending our own money to support touring at this point. I went into debt in order to travel and do what I love to do, but that isn’t sustainable over time. So now, we will play festivals and do a few geographically strategic shows and a few limited tours every so often. It will be interesting, I think, because it will create a different playing dynamic. The high-energy shows are best, when we, with the audience, are creating this feeling. My legs shake and I feel like we are all about to levitate. But maybe a new, different feeling will come out of this more limited travel.
Got any side projects/collabs coming up?
Tom: Christina doesn't do them so much but I do:
Tom Carter/ Dora Bleu / Sam Shalabi "Circle Of Crosses" LP on Tequila Sunrise / Bardo Pond/ Tom Carter 2xLP+CD reissue on 3 Lobed / Tetuzi Akiyama/Tom Carter/ Christian Kiefer LP on Monotype / still trying to find a home for Tom carter/ Robert horton "Nyida Days" ...and a whole bunch of solo LP projects I can't quite solidify yet. Also, looking forward to playing a live trio with Sandy Ewen and Sabir Mateen on 11/21 in Brooklyn... and releasing me & Sandy's next album (project name: Spiderwebs). I'm also doing some more recordings with Eleven Twenty-Nine (my project with Marc Orleans and Michael Evans, first LP on Northern Spy).
If you could re-score a movie soundtrack which movie would you pick?
T: Cocksucker Blues
Got any weird/interesting talents?
C: Yes. Singing, playing guitar, writing, spending time making and creating… seems to be weird and interesting in this place and time… United States, 2012.
You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life. which album would it be?
T: John Coltrane 'Meditations'
Are you living your dream?
T: I'm balancing my own dreams and others' nightmares.
Thanx Brian, Christina & Tom Carter!
Charalambides are currently taking a breather from music, but I'm sure once they return ours ears will be graced with bliss yet again...
"..the future of retro.."
BibioPerspicacious Nostalgia FrequencyBibio Bio:
Bibio is the folk-meets-electronica project of self-taught producer/multi-instrumentalist Stephen Wilkinson, from England's Black Country (aka the West Midlands). As a student of sonic arts at London's Middlesex University, Wilkinson was first inspired by '90s electronic acts such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, and especially Boards of Canada, but became equally intrigued by mid-20th century British folk. He combined these sounds in his own music, along with found sounds and field recordings, for a unique mix of organic and synthetic atmospheres. Boards of Canada's Marcus Eoin handed Wilkinson's demos to Mush Records, which released Bibio's debut album, Fi, in 2004, and its more song-based follow-up, Hand Cranked, two years later. Wilkinson also released the limited-edition Sheila Sets Sail/Tribio on the Artist's Valley imprint, part of a collective Wilkinson has with producers Andy Harber and Richard Roberts. The Ovals and Emeralds EP, which featured organ instead of Bibio's usual acoustic guitars, arrived in 2008; Vignetting the Compost followed in 2009. That summer, Bibio moved to Warp for the eclectic Ambivalence Avenue, followed several months later by the release of a remix-heavy album, The Apple and the Tooth. For 2011's Mind Bokeh -- named after the term for the blurry area in a photograph -- Wilkinson moved further away from folktronica and deeper into the meticulously sampled, electro/hip-hop direction he began on Ambivalence Avenue. 
Hello, how are you?
Good, thanks.
What are you currently listening to?
John Coltrane, Scott Walker, Django Reinhardt, Prince, Whitesnake, Strong Arm Steady, Johnny Hartman, The Ink Spots, The Four Freshmen, Letherette, Clark.
LOVE the new album "Mind Bokeh", how was the recording experience for it, have any issues? Did you know what sound/theme you were going for before you entered the studio?
The only issues I really have is being doubtful of myself, but I've always had that and I consider it a form of quality control. People who lack that self doubt have a kind of plastic confidence and it shows in their art. I believe Krishnamurti once said "A confident man is a dead human being", although that's in a different context altogether. I remember my art college tutors instilling in us a long time ago that a creative seed can be fed and watered and helped to grow into something grand, and in some ways this is a more productive method than starting with some grand idea you want to execute. But having grand ideas is also good, I don't believe in absolutes in art. A balance is usually good. I had some vague ideas of moving towards synth sounds more with this album, but not as an absolute rule, obviously. It's more liberating to not cling to ideas or ideals too hard. Honesty and creative flow is often more endearing. I admire people who can improvise well, not just in music, but in life.
I love the song's "Artists' Valley" & "Saint Christopher", do you have a particular song you are fond of?
I'm fond of all of them, that's why I released them. I listened to them all hundreds of times before deciding to put them on the album.
If you do any live tour dates for this release, in a dream world whom would that be with?
In a dream world it would be some kind of film/music/installation thing with Boards of Canada and Clark, perhaps in some strange derelict building or in a cave... or a forest. Even if nobody turned up, I'd still want to do it, for art's sake.
Have you ever considered doing soundtrack work?
Yes. I'd love to. If the film was right (and the fee), I'd start right away.
What was the last album you bought that let you down?
Expectation is a burden, not music. If you don't like something, get over it and listen to something you do like. People waste far too much time thinking their dislike for something is interesting enough to be shared, hence all of the complaining that goes on online.
You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Arrogantly, it would have to be one of my own. Only because they're personal, like photographs. Surely you'd rescue your own photographs from a fire rather than someone else's?
Are you living your dream?
I'm living in a dream world, have done most of my life, I just happen to be getting paid for it now and that makes it easier to be in my dream world more constantly :) I'm grateful. I count my blessings often. I also know I've put the time and effort in, and it's taken years to get here, so it feels deserved to an extent. But I'm grateful to the people who have made my path easier, and if you were going to be thorough, these people would trace back generations. Anyone who thinks their success is all their own is blinkered by their own conceit. And I guess you even have to thank the people who made things harder.
Thanx Stephen & Josh!
Bibio recently released the "K Is For Kelson" EP look for that, and then look for everything else Bibio has done (You'll especially regret passing up "Ambivalence Avenue" (#10 of 2009) if you choose to do so)...
"..may bring a tear to your ear. If it's raining where you are right now, you need this more than you need oxygen. .."
RiLFAxiomatic Impassioned ApparatusRiLF Bio:
RiLF is Tokyo based alternative band formed by the members of Anoice, Matryoshka and some friends at the beginning of 2010. The members are Takahiro Kido, Takahiro Matsue, Calu, Yuki Murata, Jyunko Tabira, Utaka Fujiwara, and Aki. After releasing their debut EP, “Era EP” under their live name “Ricco Label and Friends” they shortened the band name to RiLF. And now RiLF have just made their 1st album “Ferris Wheel”, which was just released off of the Ricco Label.
Hello, how are you?
Hi, Thank you for your being interested in our band RiLF and giving me the chance to do this interview. First of all, please let me introduce myself, I'm Takahiro Kido, the leader of RiLF. I am also as the owner of the Ricco Label, which is a music labe/home to Tokyo's RiLF.
What are you currently listening to?
Right now "Lost Horizons" by Lemon Jelly and "My Favorite Things" by John Coltrane. These albums make the fall season feel more fresh, I think.
What does “RiLF” stand for?
RiLF was named by abbreviating Ricco Label and Friends, it doesn't mean "Rapper I'd Like to Fxxk", though this word is often misunderstood.
Can you please explain your sound within five words or less?
Something to compose the nature
I LOVE your debut “Ferris Wheel”, you should be pretty proud of it as well. Will you be touring the US with this release?
Thank you very much. To our regret, we don't intend on touring the US right now because we are preparing to make our 2nd album, though we are scheduling some concerts with Dakota Suite in Japan.We may plan a tour in U.S. as soon as the next album comes out.
The song “Pray For A Piano” is particularly GORGEOUS, it kind of reminds me of Sigur Ros meets Miko. Were you at all influenced by either of these artists?
I like either artist, but this particular track was not influenced by their works. The song "Pray for the Piano" was composed by three members of RiLF. Takahiro Matsue (the bassist) played 4 notes on his piano, next I arranged it by adding strings, organs, voices and rhythm, and then Calu (the vocalist) laid her melody down on the track. I don't know what kind of music influenced Matsue and Calu when they made the melody, but I arranged this song while being conscious of some minimal music composers such as Arvo Part and Michael Nyman. These artists often make beautiful music for strings. Now that I think about it this particular composition does kind of remind me of Sigur Ros..
Do you guys have any side projects we should know about?
Yes. Some members of RiLF; me (Takahiro Matuse), Yuki Murata (the pianist), and Utaka Fujiwara (the violist) are also apart of Anoice. Which is a Tokyo based six-piece band, we have released 3 albums from Important Records and the Ricco Label. Calu is also member of Matryoshka which is an Electronica group from Tokyo, they have released one album from Novel Sounds and will release their 2nd album from Virgin Babylon Records next year. I've released some solo albums on PLOP and the Ricco Label, and intend to make my 6th and 7th album next year. Yuki has released 2 solo albums of impromptu piano sessions also on the Ricco Label. She has also released some works under another artist name. In addition, Me and Yuki formed a band called Cru we have released one album. Also me and Tadashi Yoshikawa (the drummer of Anoice) have released one album under the name of Mokyow (also off of Rico).
Can you name me 2-5 amazing artists from your hometown that deserve some attention?
Sorry.. I rarely listen to the works of fellow musicians in our hometown of Tokyo. But, if I could enumerate names of artists in Japan other than Tokyo, I would start with recommending Fuqugia, which is the solo project of Daiki Sakae. Whom is residing in Kagoshima south of Japan. He is a one of the most wonderful/original guitarists out there.
You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
"Closing Time" Tom Waits. This is a very difficult question, so I might say another album if you asked me the same question tomorrow:)
Are you living your dream?
YES.
Thanx Takahiro!
RiLF are currently playing a few shows here and there, mostly in Japan, hopefully one day the rest of the world will have their moment in witnessing this terrific band live...
