Yolk

Olden Yolk is a New York-based group whose penchant for dystopian folk, abstract poeticism, and motorik rhythms have enveloped them in a sound uniquely of-the-moment yet simultaneously time-tested. The project is currently led by songwriters, vocalists, and multi- instrumentalists Shane Butler and Caity Shaffer, whose interlaced vocals are found guiding each composition on their enlivening self-titled debut. The project was initially conceived in 2012 by Butler as an outlet for one-off songs and visual art while touring and releasing albums with the band Quilt (Mexican Summer). Following the release of a split-record with Weyes Blood in 2014, Olden Yolk became a collaborative entity.

Stephan Oliva - Orbit (2019) {Yolk Records ‎YOLK J2075}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 258 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 127 Mb
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© 2019 Yolk Records ‎| YOLK J2075
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Creative / Piano Trio

The piano trio with bass and drums is one of the paramount forms of jazz. It permeates history and is a sort of “banner” for the standard measure of this music and a reference point by which one may appreciate the evolution of a century-old form of jazz. And ORBIT is a new chapter in that story. A pun on the initials Oliva-Rainey-Boisseau International Trio, ORBIT is a theme that drives the music of the group, perfectly illustrating what today’s trio can be: a universe of individual paths, instruments, personalities in orbit around each other. Three spheres of attraction and freedom, influence and feed into the two others. This theme naturally lends itself to the tracks that make up the album - Circles, The Tourniquet, Spirals, Wavin - but the music itself draws its energy, kinetics and interactions from it.

Yolk is an Avant-prog band from France. Their music, characterized by its subtle approach to voices, effects and electronics, has taken singular directions under the influence of bands and artists such as Gong, Fred Frith, The Residents, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and others.

Orca Noise Unit is based on an anagram of —oneironautics—, which refers to the ability to travel within a dream on a conscious basis. Those who have already kept a dream journal know what it feels like to go back and read over older parts. Some dream accounts have a lot of details, others evoke not much more than just a vibe. Some can be read like a full story, whereas others have no beginning, or no end, or neither. Sometimes we were genuinely lucid at the moment of the dream - or at least had a clear perception of things - whereas at other moments we were totally immersed in the projected reality.

This new project is very close to the universe of Mathias Ruëgg’s last records: Third Dream, with the Vienna Art Orchestra and Petites Visions (chamber music). He therefore joined Alban Darche and Jean-Christophe Cholet with great pleasure as a co-composer. The idea is to create an original work inspired by Francis Poulenc’s one, to build his “Tombeau”, like Maurice Ravel who created with his Tombeau de Couperin a timeless work, which deeply anchored its author in a French tradition initiated by François Couperin or Jean-Philippe Rameau.

This group, composed of François Thuillier (tuba), Jean-Louis Pommier (trombone) and Christophe Lavergne (drums), could be the embryo of a fanfare. It is not. Resolutely acoustic, beyond the borders of jazz, it opens up to the music of today. Adventure, risk-taking, complicity, these are the key words that could define the functioning of a formation both unusual and captivating.

As a reissue label, Fallout is hit and miss. Whoever decided to dig up this ultra obscure collection of hippie commune jams for them deserves a promotion. Consisting almost exclusively of six and 12-string acoustic guitar, congas, harmonica, flute, tambourine, and soaring female vocals floating over a gruff male timbre, this forgotten recording sounds as you would imagine a Richie Havens wedding campfire album. The results are not overtly psychedelic as you’d assume, though the surreal three-way medley tribute to Fred Neil (a major folk artist of the time) certainly bends the theme. It’s merely a selection of strong backwoods sing-alongs as folk as a yolk, well deserving of its first appearance on CD.

Last year, Yves Rousseau put together a seven-piece ensemble to perform and record this program of “fragments” inspired by memories of progressive rock music—a heady, testosterone-charged pop subgenre that made a strong impression upon the French bassist when he was a student in the mid-1970s. Since that initial period of discovery, Rousseau has refined his taste for prog-rock indulgence, incorporating ideas inspired by bands like King Crimson, Yes, Genesis and other prominent artists of the era into his vast creative arsenal. With a wealth of experience as a genre-hopping player dating back to the late 1980s and a more recent reputation as a prolific composer and ambitious bandleader, Rousseau takes listeners on a nostalgia trip with Fragments, a collection of all original pieces…