"...quiet, stripped-down, with brush strokes of piano and spare orchestration" - Rolling Stone
"a compelling whirl of Laurel Canyon-echo balladry and desolate-psychedelia stomp." - Rolling Stone http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/27/frickes-picks-a-lone-fleet-fox/
"...there's a journeyman feel to his words as they unspool (helped along by his lived-in pipes) that conveys meaning even when it's not necessarily there, evoking images of long walks under the stars" - Pitchfork (7.6)
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12603-vacilando-territory-blues/
"These songs whisper loudly to slow the world down, to preserve a moment and all its emotions, whether they're pleasant or-- more likely—painful" – Pitchfork
"a lone wanderer battling solitude with sound." – Spin
http://www.spin.com/reviews/j-tillman-vacilando-territory-blues-western-vinyl
“This is no mere side-project. His first proper UK release is a treat, at times conjuring the beautiful, stark bleakness of Nick Drake, elsewhere not afraid to crank things up, as on the distortion heavy ‘New Imperial Grand Blues’. Best of all is the upliftingly redemptive ‘Above All Men’.” – Q Magazine
“An existentialist’s songs cycle, Vacilando…’s lonely songs reinforce each other with an impeccable internal logic, fashioning its own little world-weary universe, wherein less is more, simple guitar strums signal seismic shifts in mood, shadows bump into one another. Like Neil Young’s On the Beach or Jason Molina’s Songs:Ohia incarnation, it’s best heard late at night, alone, lights down low, one last glass of wine in the wings.” – Uncut
“Josh Tillman’s practise resonates throughout roomy Americana in which he ranges from spare meditations to rambunctious blues, biblical imagery to intimate studies and bleak introspection to hymnal uplift. Gorgeous stuff.” – The Independent
Year In The Kingdom unravels some kind of galactic wilderness. Tillman's 6th album lyrically borders on mystic; proffering a transcendent union, an effortlessness. Strange and honest, this song cycle inhabits it's own idea-scape; one seemingly obsessed with wrestling death. These are afterlife dialogues of a mysterious future. Celestial badlands.
Unknown to just about everyone, Tillman started recording in April, tracking most of the instruments during the two week session himself. Hammered dulcimer, banjo, recorder, cymbals of varying size and wheezing air organs all feature heavily and lend YITK it's bizarre scale, conjuring tidal shifts with tiny movements. The string arrangements, performed by Jenna Conrad, as well as transposed from Tillman's sung direction, were intended to rest on chords almost counter-intuitively, bringing to bloom complex, decontextualized tones. Most noticeable upon first listen, however, is the production itself. While most of Tillman's records evidence some shambolic home recording, YITK is undisturbed throughout. Out up front of the mix, and dry as a bone, Tillman's voice is featured in a way unlike any of his previous records.
YITK sounds liberated; it is far and away Tillman's most joyful work. Created with little input or context, it is seemingly disinterested in communicating much else than a meditation for the few who allow themselves to listen with an open heart.
In 2008, Tillman joined Seattle band of longtime friends and musical collaborators, Fleet Foxes who he'll be touring with in Europe and the US throughout July, August and September.
Tillman will then embark on a national US tour for Year In The Kingdom in September which continue throughout the Fall.
US Tour Dates
11/03 - Neurolux - Boise, ID
11/05 - The Aquarium - Fargo, ND
11/06 - Music Box Theatre - Minneapolis, MN
11/07 - Turner Hall - Milwaukee, WI
11/08 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL
11/10 - The Pike Room at the Crofoot - Pontiac, MI
11/11 - Horseshoe Tavern - Toronto, ON
11/12 - Il Motore - Montreal, QB
11/13 - Space - Portland, ME
11/15 - Middle East Upstairs - Cambridge, MA
11/16 - The Bell House - Brooklyn, NY
11/17 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA
11/18 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
11/19 - UVA Chapel - Charlotesville, NC
11/20 - Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
11/21 - The Earl - Atlanta, GA
11/23 - The Bottletree - Birmingham, AL
11/26 - Walter's on Washington - Houston, TX
11/27 - The Mohawk - Austin, TX
11/28 - Hailey's - Denton, TX
11/30 - Modified - Phoenix, AZ
12/1 - Casbah - San Diego, CA
12/02 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
12/04 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
12/10 - The Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, BC
12/11 - The Crocodile - Seattle, WA
12/12 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR
http://www.myspace.com/jtillman
No comments:
Post a Comment