Digitalis
Theo Angell & The Tabernacle Hillside Singers : Auraplinth (US,2008)***°
This new album from Theo Angell, released in an attractive oversized mini-LP with fold-out cover, gives a more consistent and rewarding listen than the previous also promising but a bit more pick-out-and play album with mixed elements leaning towards weirdness but tuning into a vision with artistic and inspirations with beauty as well, here he compromised the vision of an outsider hermit artist, who turns things into weird, with his ear to combining harmonies, especially used with dedication in the vocal arrangements.
Just the first track reveals the outer range of his backing vocal band, as a make-a-weird-gospel-singing-vocal harmony-singers backing choir called ‘The Tabernacle Hillside Singers’ which have something weird, especially through the enthusiast participating with loud strummed psalters (except acoustic guitar, and echoing strings). This is I assume Theo himself overdubbed several times and with sometimes an effect on his voice, acoustically or distorted, I’m not sure. Anyhow, the quality of being capable of acting and singing with differently coloured voices suits him well, so that luckily the weird approach (and voice) never is too much predestined or milked out, (or not used too often), because most often the album shows a more (slightly introverted, in the art of performing) minstrel song balladry minstrel position, even when the style with use of odd sounds are present most often, sparsely used but everywhere, as part of the music.
The accompaniment is made a bit more complex with harmonies and combinations of comparable ideas by use of multiple layered recording, never the less often tends to use certain simple elements, like a repetitive string or parts with a simple tambourine rhythm used as a tension, or subtle texturing sounds or arrangements (flute, glockenspiel), and then suddenly adds more pickings. Part of the vocal harmonies includes humming like effects or tensions, or belated layers of melodies, a few times a sort of spoken word is added (with picked electric guitars even), so the method never is really repeated in all its aspects.
The album invites to listen more often, the lyrics are included, so that helps for different sorts of more concentrated listens (for me).
