I will never forget the night of December 14th, 1998. It was a Mondayevening downstairs at the Middle East in Cambridge. An unusually cold,desolate scene from what is typically packed and overbearingly hot. Theattendees got to sit down on chairs for a change and witness a largescreen with incredible black and white images of the trecherous seasoff the coast of the Aleutian Islands (Alaska). The film was 'DutchHarbor' and the Boxhead Ensemble were improvising the soundtrack as wewatched. Three years and three album releases have passed and theensemble has finally released something that doesn't have anything todo with 'Dutch Harbor', but I can still feel the chill. I stepped inthe car earlier this week late at night with the crisp, cold NewEngland air numbing my face. As I popped the disc on, everythingclicked into place. The dark drive wasn't so bad, there was nobody elsein the car and nothing to say but just sit and listen, watching mybreath in front of me, waiting for the heater to kick in. The recordingopens with a short violin, drum, acoustic guitar and background noiseintro, then moves onto a second track with familiar sparse guitar,strings and drums. It's hard not to sound like the Dirty Three whenboth Jim White and Mick Turner are involved, despite them beingcredited on the 'secondary' list of ensemble members. Boxhead Ensemblehas always been loose enough to sound improvisational, but collectedenough to sound composed. Bit by bit, other instruments are introducedto the mix, including double bass and more bowed strings. Over thecourse of the next few songs, the focus moves from empty andalone-sounding bits to a much warmer sound. Drones, chimes and basssounds eventually fill the space by the time the car heater has kickedin. By the time the sixth piece, the gorgeous "Requiem" comes on, thedrummer and guitarists have been silenced and the strings havecompletely taken over. Gentle guitar and drums return on the next tuneand an elegant interplay continues through the end of the disc. Thefeel returns to the earlier sense of chilly solitude, but at thispoint, the sound is majesitc enough to be an aural impression of agorgeous snow-capped Vermont mountain. It ends with a short epilogue,the instruments mimicing a bitter, cold wind blowing. Although they maynot have done it to somebody else's movie -this- time, the ensemble hasonce again created an appropriate soundtrack for the cold, outdoorexperiences of the northern hemisphere in the wintertime.
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