WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS
Rivers
BAY76
The Leaf Label 2010
10 Tracks. 44mins15secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

Earlier this year, Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums released two somewhat different EPs which have now been collected into one full length album. If the drummer/vocalist format has been a tad overdone in recent years, husband and wife Andreas Werliin (drums and percussions) and Mariam Wallentin (vocals and percussions) have developed quite a unique take on experimental pop music in the two years since their debut, Heatcore, was released. At once tribal and visceral on one side, and deeply emotional and oddly cinematic on the other, the duo’s songs have widened in scope ever since. Recorded in Reykjavik in just a few days last January, Retina and Iris, the two EPs making this album, gather some of the band’s most ambitious and impressive songs to date.

The first of the two EPs, Retina, was recorded with the Schola Cantorum Reykjavik Chamber Choir and arranged by cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir. Featuring five particularly dense and epic songs, this is Wildbirds & Peacedrums at their most evocative and cinematic to date. Opening piece Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood in itself is a masterful piece on which the choir provides a stunning backdrop for Wallentin’s copper undertones by accentuating each nuance in the melody and giving it an overwhelming sense of space. This is also very much the case on Peeling Off The Layers, and here, Wallentin’s voice becomes at times much more fragile than ever as slips into confessional mode for part of the song. With no interaction from Andreas Werliin for the whole song, the choir also plays a central role in Under Land And Over Sea in accompanying Wallentin later. Here though, the mood is much more restrained and the choir much more toned down. On the remaining three songs, their is a much more subtle connection between the band and the choir. On Tiny Holes In This World, and even more so on Fight For Me, the drums are placed much more toward the front of the mix, giving them a slightly prominent position over the choir, and while this doesn’t quite threatens the fragile equilibrium of the vocal layers on the former, it isolates Wallentin for part of the latter, at least until the ensemble rejoins her on the chorus.

Iris, the second EP, sees Wildbirds & Peacedrums return to a more usual diptych setting, with Wallentin playing steelpan and occassionally adding organ to her vocal performances. Against the vast reaches of Retina, Iris appears somewhat understated and intimate, despite the constant presence the of the drums. Nuances in the melodies and percussions are particularly subtle, especially on The Course, which ebbs and flows with grace throughout, or on The Lake, which, although seemingly gaining momentum through its all course, never actually gets to a point where it is so intense that it is at breaking point. The songs here have the urgency of some of the pair’s past work, especially on closing piece The Well, which sees Wallentin engaged in a pretty dizzying performance on the steelpan.

With these two projects brought together, Wildbirds & Peacedrums show very different sides of their musical persona, and reveal a much more ambitious vision than they had until now hinted at. These songs, especially those on Retina, have the capacity to turn into something much more grandiose when performed live, but here, they undeniably steal the show by focussing on the emotional scope of the band’s music and amplifying it, but the more understated songs featured on Iris are equally as effective, and continue to assert Wildbirds & Peacedrums as a totally unique band.

4.2/5

Wildbirds & Peacedrums | Wildbirds & Peacedrums (MySpace) | The Leaf Label
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood from Leaf Label on Vimeo.

On Friday night, Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums took part in A Ritual For Elephant & Castle, an event held at the Coronet Theatre, in the heart of Elephant & Castle, which also featured sets by Septic Heart and Chrome Hoof. For the occasion, Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin invited amateur percussionists and drummers to join them for a one-off performance.

In just two albums, the brilliant debut Heatcore and its follow up, The Snake, published in as many years, vocalist Mariam Wallentin and drummer and percussionist Andreas Werliin, who are also a couple, have established their particular blend of primeval avant-pop based on Wallentin’s wonderfully warm and colourful vocal tones and Werliin’s omnipresent drumming, occasionally reminiscent of The Creatures. Their live sets have long gathered praises all over Europe, not only on the traditional rock circuit, but also in jazz circles.

For this performance at the Coronet Theatre, the pair set themselves a challenge with a somewhat unpredictable outcome. Surrounded by amateur and would-be musicians of all walks of life, for which they had advertised through their website, the pair chose to perform in the middle of the crowd rather than on stage. The set kicked off without preliminary announcement, and with only sparse drum patterns, progressively gaining momentum as the formation settled into the groove, and with Wallentin, wearing a black dress and black make up, giving her a slight air of a young Siouxsie Sioux, finally joining in, her voice, in turn gentle, harsh or primal, the usual Wildbirds & Peacedrums tribal sound took a much meatier turn. During the most energetic parts of the set, the band’s dynamic undeniably gained considerable strength with the addition of multiple layers of percussions, but, while there was, at times, an almost trance-like feel to the performance, both Wallentin and Werliin appeared to remain perfectly in control of it all.

In between the three main pieces, the ensemble also performed a couple of much more subtle songs, which unfortunately got rather lost in crowd noises, the size of the venue working against the band during these particular moments. These were however largely compensated by the totally hypnotic and energising rest of the set, which despite lasting just over forty minutes or so, received a heart-warming ovation from the crowd.

There is nothing quite like Wildbirds & Peacedrums, and the pair’s music seem to come to life when performed live. Wallentin and Werliin share a strong bond which materialise through moments of surprising gentleness and sheer energy. With this particular performance though, the pair have stumbled upon something quite extraordinary. By reinforcing their usual drums and percussions arsenal, the music became more primal and visceral than ever, and it is only to be wished that this will, with time, infuse their records too.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums (MySpace) | The Leaf Label

WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS
The Snake
BAY65
The Leaf Label 2009
10 Tracks. 42mins59secs

Buy: CD | LP

A year ago, the excellent Leaf Label delivered Heatcore, the debut album by Wildbirds & Peacedrums, a Swedish duo formed of husband and wife Andreas Werliin (drums/percussions) and Mariam Wallentin (voice). The album, originally released a year before in their homeland, had been gathering considerable praises in the whole of Scandinavia, resulting in the pair pocketing the prestigious Jazz In Sweden 2008 prize, a considerable honour for a band evolving outside of the jazz canon. In addition, the pair’s deeply organic and incendiary live shows helped established them as one of the hottest acts to have emerged from Sweden in a while.

The Snake, recorded in Gothenburg and originally released in Sweden a year ago, sees Wallentin and Werliin considerably developing the scope of their collaboration. While they still rely greatly on the contrast between the warm flow of Wallentin’s voice and Werliin’s pretty omnipresent drums and the resulting tribal groove that ran through the almost entirety of their debut album, most prominently on There Is No Light, Places or Today/Tomorrow, the pair carve more refined and richly ornate compositions by working additional layers of instrumentation, ranging from xylophone, marimba and steel drums, to piano, flute, autoharp or harmonica, into the mix. But, far from disturbing the fragile equilibrium that holds the songs together, these new sounds allow the pair to explore a much wider range of emotions, not constrained to fill in the gaps in any way. At times, drums are totally absent, as on the gentle a cappella Island, which opens proceedings, or so discreet that they may as well be (Who Ho Ho Ho).

On Chain Of Steel or Liar Lion, the relentless force of the drums is, at first, tempered, then channelled, by softer percussive brushes, bringing some welcome new textures and, as the pace is more controlled, Wallentin’s vocals greatly gain in clarity. At times, things take a turn for the truly visceral, but not in the way they did on Heatcore. On So Soft So Pink for instance, Wallentin sings through a harmonica for a moment before returning to a more conventional form as the drums, right at the back, kicks in gently, and layer upon layer of steeldrums, cymbals and other instruments are added. Here, it is not the sheer force of the song that hits, but the intricate combination of sounds and the way they grow into a dense cloud. Great Lines is more minimal, at least in its first half, but then grows into a surprisingly light angular pop song, caught up in a shimmering whilwind on windchimes. The album closes on a deeply touching note with the wonderful love declaration that runs through My Heart, building up to Wallentin’s poignant concluding mantra: ‘I’m lost without your rhythm’.

In the year that separate Heatcore from The Snake, Wildbirds & Peacedrums have toured extensively and, if this sophomore effort is anything to go by, gained considerable experience and maturity along the way. Far from de-rooting their sound, the much wider range of sound sources used here has strengthened it and given it a new relief by adding grace and elegance to the pair’s original blistering élan.

4.5/5

Wildbirds & Peacedrums (MySpace) | The Leaf Label
Buy: CD | LP

Swedish ensemble Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin, whose debut album, Heatcore, was recently released outside of their homeland by Leaf, graced Kilburn’s Luminaire for a somewhat short but perfectly formed headlining set.

First to take to the stage was London-based Banjo Or Freakout, who has gained a bit of a reputation in recent months with the tracks posted on the act’s MySpace page and was featured on Drowned In Sound’s artists to look out for. Relying on a mix of folk textures, noise and electronics very reminiscent of early Animal Collective, Banjo Or Freakout opted for a much heavier textured treated electric guitar drapes in which Natalizia’s vocals, sung through two different microphones, one of them vastly reverbed, appeared, at most times, drowned, adding to the Animal Collective clear influences some My Bloody Valentines/Seefeel brushes. While the majority of the songs seemed to fit the treatment, the execution felt at times sketchy and the vocals, when at their most audible, were somewhat hit and miss, especially on one particular song. Despite this, Banjo Or Freakout’s performance showed some promising moments and should soon become a familiar name on the UK scene.

Brother and sister Joe Giddeon & The Shark presented a resolutely more rock-based set. With Giddeon on guitar and, occasionally bass, and his sister on drums, piano and bass, the greasy blues and rock of the outfit sounded slightly out of place with the rest of the line up. Despite being hampered by a string of technical problems, the first half of the set proved much sharper and upbeat than the second half, which developed into a much slicker set, yet the pair seemed to loose at least part of the audience as they descended into much more sombre and gloomy grounds.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ debut album, Heatcore, was originally released on Swedish imprint Found You Recordings last year and was consequently licensed by Leaf and re-released earlier this spring as the pair were gearing up for the release of their follow-up album, The Snake, currently still only available in Sweden. Wildbirds & Peacedrums operate on a diet of drums and vocals, with the occasional brushes of zither. The pair opened with two songs taken from their latest offering, showing an increase in nuances between quiet moments and visceral tribal eruptions, before focusing entirely on songs lifted from Heatcore, dominated by a stunning rendition of I Can’t Tell In His Eyes, before the pair wrapped up their all too short set with a new song as an encore. While Heatcore showcased the band’s interesting approach and the elegance of their songs, there is an undeniable mix of fragility and energy totally unique to their stage performance which gives their music an entirely different dimension. Wildbirds & Peacedrums are a truly original and are set to continue to fascinate with their minimal leftfield and organic pop music, and their live incarnation gives the opportunity to appreciate it in all its flamboyance.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums | Banjo Or Freakout (MySpace) | Joe Giddeon & The Shark (MySpace) | The Leaf Label

WILDBIRD & PEACEDRUMS
Heartcore
BAY61CD
Found You Recordings/The Leaf Label 2008
12 Tracks. 40mins50secs

Like a less exuberant Creatures, singer Mariam Wallentin and drummer Andreas Werliin piece together a surprisingly compelling collection of visceral vocal-and-percussion-based songs which find their feet somewhere between free jazz, afro beat and Nordic tribal tradition.

Formed in 2004 after Mariam and Andreas met at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothemberg, Wildbirds & Peacedrums began performing live a year later, and, after publishing two limited edition CDR albums, started working on Heatcore in 2006, using a mobile studio, which allowed them to record in a variety of locations and use a wide range of sonorities to support their rudimentary formation. The album was originally published last year on Swedish label Found You Recordings, and now finally gets a well deserved worldwide release, just as they are gearing up for the release of their sophomore effort, The Snake, in their native land.

The album opens with the sound of a microphone rubbing against something undefined. A somewhat insignificant noise defect which actually highlights, right from the start, the raw nature of the record, and if the song that follows, Pony, relies on very little more than a zither and Wallentin’s voice, there is an undeniable fragility and urgency which transpires through the rarefied atmosphere of the piece. Urgency is the fuel of this record, characterised equally through primal moments and through more introvert pieces.

The raw nature of Wildbirds & Peacedrums is perhaps best captured on the dense and tortured Bird. Here, the melody appears largely freeform and improvised, running over a primal drum sequence like a wild torrent over a bed of rocks, finding its way with increasing difficulty as Werliin’s drumming becomes livelier. In contrast, the following track, I Can’t Tell In His Eyes, shows incredible restraint and beautiful musicality. Here, and on The Battle Of Water later on, the sound is at its most ambitious and accomplished, the latter song featuring a piano and additional vocals by Andreas, and reveals an element of pop influences in the band’s work.

The introvert aspect of the pair’s music is best reflected in the extremely delicate A Story From A Chair, Lost Love and Nakina. On the former, Mariam hangs crystal clear vocal droplets over a light backdrop of glockenspiel, while on Lost Love, Werliin’s percussive interjections become even more minimal as the voice comes into focus more prominently. Nakina is built around a steady drum thump, sounding surprisingly like an over-sized clock, which serves as sole setting for Wallentin to build upon. As the song builds up, duplicates of her voice appear to eventually harmonise toward the end

In between these are songs like The Way Things Go, Doubt/Hope or The Ones That Should Save Me Get Me Down which, while not reaching the incandescent heights of Bird, are still examples of the primitive fire that inhabit the work of the band.

It is difficult to find clear relations or influences to Wildbirds & Peacedrums. Of course, traces of jazz, rock, pop and folk can be found scattered all over these twelve songs, but it is tricky to pinpoint exactly how these affect and inform the music. This is undoubtedly part of the attraction here, as Wallentin and Werliin craft one of the most original records heard on Leaf since Asa-Chang & Junray’s magnificent Jun Ray Song Chang.

4.3/5

Wildbirds & Peacedrums | The Leaf Label
Buy: CD | iTunes