Clavius Productions presents the second-to-last show ever at 611 Florida, featuring excellent new folksingers Noa Babayof (from Israel) and Sharon van Etten (from Brooklyn), both on Greg Weeks' Language of Stone label:
Friday, July 18
611 Florida Ave NW WDC
http://www.claviusproductions.org 9pm, $5 suggested donation
202-360-9739 for more info
BYOW!
Kuschty Rye Ergot (DC improv psych, mem. of Kohoutek, ex-Redeemers/Promise Breakers)
Noa Babayof (Language of Stone, psych-folk from Israel)
Sharon van Etten (Language of Stone, solo folk from NYC)
Sun Tornado (DC/Pittsburgh instrumental improv psych)
Kuschty Rye Ergot http://www.myspace.com/kuschtyryeergot Kuschty Rye Ergot is the new project from long-time DC area multi-instrumentalist/vocalist John Stanton. A collective as opposed to a fixed lineup, performances range from drifty slowburn Popol Vuh-ish watercolour solo guitar/synth constructs to full blown ensemble sonic exhaust blasts, along with occasional stripped down acoustic folk musings. Elements of many of Stanton's wide-ranging previous efforts (Redeemers, Cash Slave Clique, Nik Turner/Harvey Bainbridge of Hawkwind, Spaceseed, Promise Breakers, Cotton & Billawtm) are in evidence, refracted via a prism of spatial folk, electronics, and whatever else the lineup du jour shakes loose from their collective tree. A universe where Ronnie Lane and COB channel Dome and Peter Hammill? You decide.
Noa Babayof http://www.myspace.com/noababayof The Israeli singer/songwriter Noa Babayof is rapidly establishing a presence on the new international folk scene. Her debut album
From a Window to a Wall was recently recorded and mixed by renowned Greg Weeks (The Espers) at his studio in Philadelphia. The album is set for a US/European release in spring 2008 on Weeks' new analog recording label Language of Stone.
From a Window to a Wall features lush string arrangements backing up Noa's arresting singing and writing style. Noa is influenced by the likes of Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, along with such contemporary icons as Diane Cluck, Smog and the Espers. Anova Music, Noa's Israeli management and label, released
From a Window to a Wall locally in fall 2007. The album was released in the US on Language of Stone on June 17, 2008.
"...Nothing has captured my attention quite like Israeli singer/songwriter Noa Babayof...Babayof's haunting voice brings to mind Joni Mitchell, Nico and even Marissa Nadler. She is writing some of the saddest songs this side of Leonard Cohen..." (Heeb Magazine)
"Striking work by this Israeli singer-songwriter, possessing a willowy, chilling voice and milky lower register, delicately accented in the style of a femme Nick Drake channeling Nico, that lends a spectral presence to this gorgeously arranged set...Thrilling both instrumentally and in its welcoming, outstretched ambiance, its gentle, mildly unsettling facades chase the sun down with a bewitching drive..." (Other Music)
"Writing all her own songs, she evokes a sad yet arresting timelessness which brings to mind Sandy Denny, Vashti Bunyan, early Joni Mitchell and more contemporary SSW's like Marissa Nadler. But with those comparisons aside, Babayof's got a rich, warm voice and her intensity is heightened by the dramatic string arrangements on the album, and the lull, exquisite pacing of the songs." (Some Velvet Blog)
"Haunted and haunting, Israeli singer/songwriter Noa Babayof's voice falls somewhere in the spectrum between Sandy Denny and Nico, with the former's wistful strength and the latter's exotic deadpan. There's a crystalline quality that hangs suspended in the ether, yet scythes through the strange melancholy of her songs; imagine a shimmering chandelier in a funeral parlor." (Philadelphia CityPaper.Net)
"It's Vashti Bunyan with a touch of Mazzy Star and maybe a pinky of Rasputina's macabre peculiarity. The album's standout, no doubt, is Noa's wraith of a voice, which sounds something like Nico after a 10-year coma." (Philadelphia Weekly)
"Israeli songstress brings timeless beauty to Philly...The story of how that album â??
From a Window to a Wall â?? came to be seems, in a way, to threaten any kind of myth or legend surrounding Babayof, whose music is steeped in a peculiar and ancient beauty that would seem to transcend modern life altogether. But with just one listen, it becomes clear that her music is indeed something timeless, something that exists beyond our efforts to classify, categorize, and mystify." (The Northeast Times)
Sharon van Etten http://www.sharonvanetten.com/ http://www.myspace.com/sharonvanetten Brooklyn's Sharon Van Etten plays self-described "sad prairie folk music," lovely and unusually direct.
"Sharon Van Etten plays bittersweet neofolk so slow, spare and subtle that you might have to crane your neck to hear it. The Brooklyn songsmithâ??s tunes are definitely worth the effort." (Time Out New York)
nice interview here:
http://www.afreeman.org/2008/05/15/sharon-van-ettens-first-time/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE END OF 611 FLORIDA = FREE FOLK PHANTASMAGORY V
Saturday, September 13
4pm, $5 suggested donation
BYOW!
Kohoutek (DC, Music Fellowship)
The Julie Mittens (Holland, Holy Mountain)
Max Ochs (MD)
Hat City Intuitive (CT)
and more TBA!
