Ghost Woods Rec.
Carbonic : Forest Creatures -cdr-(US,2007)***°
Carbonic is Benoit Guerroué, who spent most of his life in Brittany, France, but moved in 2003 to the US, to Rochester, NY. ‘Forest Creatures’ is already his 8th album.
The style on the 12 songs with improvisations are a mixture of simple, recognisable, natural (say also : as if living in the woods and thus creating its mood) dreamy moody psychfolk excursions and instrumentals build around a basic collection of songs (vocals, vocal harmonies, harmonica, acoustic strummed guitar, flutes, harmonium, hand percussion, and a few other instruments like piano,..) giving the impression they celebrate the quietness of a life near or in a house in the woods, perhaps dealing with cold now and then but always surrounded by something which is beautiful, because it gives an inner condition that makes us more peaceful inside, in a natural way. Besides, there still is the human person who has to deal with his own ghosts and realities with the surrounding real persons. So in this case, Benoit also sings, more clearly, about that, as a human being, finding his own place within this space, while the forest cures most easily most of the spinning thoughts.
Although most of it is recorded on his own (?), more than once, the songs sound as if performed by a duo/trio, even by two vocalists (with some cello on two tracks by Ian Downey).
Makes for a rewarding repeated listen, from start to finish.
