Borne! Rec. 
V.A. : Leaves Of Life (US/..,2009)****
I almost overlooked this album because I thought I knew most artists and songs, but the Arborea band who produced this album pointed me back to this release telling me there were only original tracks recorded for this album. And now I’m glad I didn’t miss out. It truly is a perfectly compiled, 75 minutes long album, which is a perfect introduction to the moods and influences of the more clear-minded acid folk scene, providing a chance for the sort of atmosphere this brings along.
Some people asked me before to introduce them to some Vasthi Bunyan like singers. I guess they needed this sort of singer/folk atmosphere as a reference point. Well, I can point these people also in this direction, for here are some of the gentle heart female voices gathered. We have first of all Alela Diane with her soul sister Mariee Sioux who delivered their version of the traditional “The Cuckoo” sung with their nice sister voices, followed by Rio En Medio with Israel Cilio which surely fits this reference frame, a song with a hushing, sweet and story-telling vibration, with accompanying guitar and texturing percussion/Rhodes/harp. The first track I heard from her. A bit further we have Marissa Nadler guided by Myles Bear on different instruments, who became recently a known figure within the scene. Also fitting within the same frame is Arborea’s track with mostly rich coloured picking instruments and lead female vocals with some overdub voice recordings (with an effect on the voice) and slide guitar. Another sweet voice in the same atmosphere, with lots of people helping for the arrangements, is the nicely arranged Larkin Grimm’s track. A more sad sweet voice is heard by Mi and L’Au, breathing its song more slowly, accompanied by acoustic and electrified acoustic guitar.
A different sort of voice is Ora Cogan (although I notice more voices like this more and more), who is able to break up her voice in timbre, with a blues-soulful quality, while remaining within a folk-flavoured area. She contributed a home recording accompanied by guitar picking mostly.
While these sort of voices can be heard on the first part of the compilation mostly, I noticed that more richly coloured picking instruments like banjo are used more often than for instance guitar. Whenever the band arrangements dominate the mood is slower, hypnotic, almost like a heart-felt lullaby. Several of such songs touch a mood just slightly, then fade away. These are like perfect intermezzos in between the songs. Singer-songwriter and arranger Fern Knight delivered such a track. (Expect a new Fern Knight soon). Arranged with Jim Ayre and Jesse Sparhawk (harmonic voices, harp, harmonium, drums, percussion, electric guitar), this is such a, beautiful, ritual-alike emotional-rhythmic intermezzo. Another track in this category is heard by Starless and Bible Black which starts with a for me almost Pentagle-alike intro (acoustic pickings with double bass) before evolving with a rather improvised high female voice like some sweet dreamy folk-flavoured intermezzo. Citay’s track is with dreamy series of notes on guitar with some rhythmic droning effect, some vocal harmonies.
I realize that whenever performing such tracks with more members I quickly get a feeling of brother-and-sisters communal energy, also due to the sing-together harmonies in singing, and almost ritualistic improvisation on some breathing rhythm. Cursillistas’ track for instance sounds like a by no-subject inspired ritualistic lullaby group improvisation with banjo, voices, hand claps and shakers and drone effect. Also Silver Summit’s sort of intermezzo track is a dreamy short track with a psychedelic drone, chords on baglama, and the singing swaying on top of some series of mood chords. Also Big Blood, a weird-folky offshoot of Cerberus Shoal (featuring Colleen,Caleb,Nixsa), provided a sing-along post-hippie brother-and sisters singing song. And also Magic Leaves uses fine harmonic group voices along wth texturing arrangements of melancholically slow accordion, shore water sounds, slide effects, evolving on the rhythm of seashore waters, slowly singing with low voice, with backing vocals.
In between those are some male artists mostly guided by their own guitar, like Devendra Banhart with overdubbed voice and guitar and Micah Blue Smaldone on guitar and voice with a track taken from a WMFU recording, and Mica Jones on banjo with American accent, with a song melody following at first more closely the banjo-rhythmic pickings, then with a second more strummed part with some bass keyboard/guitar/drums arrangements.
David Gardland’s track still fits better with the group feeling moods, having its own backing vocalists providing its brothers and sisters feeling rhythm of singing around some dinner table. Basically a post-Americana folk song, through its arrangements (accordion, glockenspiel, flute, slide guitars, banjo,..) this becomes more communal, in a comfortable way of feelings.
Eric Carbonara’s track is just a moody finger picking instrumental.
It is incredible to see how much worthy material certain artists still have in their archive for release.
All proceeds from Sales are being donated to the World Food Program and Not On Our Watch agencies.
