psychedelic Folk Pop review page : Travelling Bell / Kathleen Baird & Tar Pet (Taralie Dawn)

Secret EyeTraveling Bell : Scatter Ways (US,2005)***°

The only thing I know about this group is that this is a solo project from Kathleen Baird, who is a member of the Chicago weirdo-chamberfolk group, Spires that in the Sunset Rise (see review above). This CD recorded late 2003-summer 2004, is more folky (say “psychfolky”). It follows harmonic developments with an acoustic guitars fundament, with some touches of percussion, and some bits of additional arrangements, (like keyboards or flute) and is built around songs. It continues the old tradition of psychfolk, creating an item which sounds like a new classic if you ask me. Never the less I find it hard to describe these gentle and beautiful meandering songs. I thought at first I could hear a second, male voice, or male/female duo. Only somewhat later I realised Kathleen is so complete and balanced with this release in every detail, including her own voice arrangements, she had just made me believe, that this must have been an entire group performance but it's all done by herself. In that way it is rather brilliant. Great to listen from start to end. Recommended !

I have since found out that Traveling Bell has another release, called 'Lullaby For Strangers' (2004 : Eclipse Records).

Audio : "Solving, Dissolving Forces", "Breaking The Roofs", "The Last Word"

Label info : http://www.secreteye.org/se/artists/travelingbell.html & http://www.secreteye.org/se/a15.html

Other review : http://terrascope.co.uk/Reviews/Reviews_April05.htm#TeavBell

& http://spidey.kfjc.org/index.php?p=501 & http://www.conspiracyrecords.com/...

the newer 2006 release under the name of Kathleen Baird is reviewed next->

Secret Eye Kathleen Baird : Lullaby for Strangers (US,rec.2000-2001,re.2006)**°°

When Secret Eye released her 2003 CDR recording officially under the name of Traveling Bell, there was in fact another, previous recording which had to wait until now to be released on CD. For some reasons it was chosen to be released under Kathleen’s own name. It is also a much more loner/closed-up personal expression, more loosely intuitive and a bit more monotonous than the second album. The inspiration territory is often very safely balancing between a few notes, creating a veil of a sweet-beautiful moody vagueness, with soft and pleasant harmonies and vocals, but with mostly only sketches of directions of momentous inspirations, not really leading to more structural ideas except with some of the harmonies. Kathleen stretches her voice like Nico with the harmonium, intuitively focusing on the notes themselves. Suddenly on “With which these waters swarm” she sings softly in a more cabaret direction, like a feminine Pierrot, with piano, which gives some extra expression. Her keyboards improvisations are interesting and nice and add another element. But as quickly as they were created from the spontaneous supposed-to-become-a-unique moment, they are dissolved back into nothingness in their evolution. After the album was finished I wasn’t sure if anything real, more than the briefly ethereal, had happened.

Audio : "Breaking the roofs", "Morning Song #2"(here), "With Which These Waters Swarm","Storms stay fine"

Review of demo version : http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/travbell_lullaby.html

Review of demo release of this (under the name of Traveling Bell) :http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/travbell_lullaby.html

Info : http://www.secreteye.org/se/travelingbell.html

Other reviews : http://brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5072&Itemid=64

Private / Eclipse Rec.Tar Pet -cdr- (US,2002)*°

Taralie Dawn’s release under the name of Tar Pet, predates her membership and contributions to Spires That In The Sunset Rise. It was released on a private cdr and on LP (as an edition of 500). The music is calm and very loosly improvisational experimental acoustic music with wabbling voices and guitars and other strings, with some loose and free melodic contemporary cello. Here and there it is slightly deliberately atonal, like some looped dulcimer-like strings. Just here and there words come through, as if from a dreamy inspiration, and here and there a “real” song emerges.

Enjoyable, if one can stand the really very loose, stoned and lull-to-sleep evolution.

Contact : tarpet408@hotmail.com

Info : http://www.spiresthatinthesunsetrise.com/ & http://www.geocities.com/spires_that_in_the_sunset_rise/sounds.html

Catalogue entry : http://www.eclipse-records.com/catalog/t_1.html

Review : http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/tar.pet.html

& http://www.fusetronsound.com/label.php?whomart=TARPET

& http://www.volcanictongue.com/tarpet.html