50 For 2010: No. 4

‘Ancestral Star’ marks the evolution of the Barn Owl sound into a territory where it has become wholly its own…

Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras met in San Francisco in 2006 and immediately started playing music together. Over the next four years, the two gradually sculpted a vast collection of hazy desert sky meditations – ominous, barren expanses of music for desert walks at dusk, and dark, pastoral passages embellished with psychedelic and atmospheric wash. A mixture between devotional ragas and dusty stomp with atmosphere and production that references shoegaze and black metal influences.

Recorded by The Norman Conquest in the fall of 2009, “Ancestral Star” is the first time that Barn Owl have been able to take their time in a professional studio, fine tuning and honing the pieces over the span of a couple of months. The majority of the tracks were recorded live to tape and were a mix of composed and improvised elements. The near limitless options, as far as equipment and microphones were concerned, allowed the band to shape and fefinene the definition of their sound.

The album as a whole is a monolithic, broad and unrepressed beast of manifold temperaments – it has a meditative core, but is also balanced with a restrained aggression that hovers at the edges with seething distorted bass and plaintive guitar lines. Tracks like ‘Light From The Mesa’ and opener ‘Sundown’ have scorching outers that peel away to compliment less abrasive tracks, the consideration given to tracking evident. ‘Light From The Mesa’ in particular sounds like the harnessing of a dying sun, and as album closer totally encapsulates the vibe of the record.

Those with any interest in the recording of amplified guitars are well advised to visit ‘Visions In Dust’. The track, overdriven picking and voluminous bottom end, is a gut punch of abrasive but well placed guitar tones that still creates a space inhabitable and hospitable.

‘Ancestral Star’ is the centerpiece and title track of the record (at ten minutes, the longest) and is best characterized as drone; sepulchral bottom end and reverberant feedback dripping down the sides, white hot.

Caminiti’s other project Higuma plows similar territory, but with a less organic and more cultivated edge – this brasher and louder iteration has considerably more character and a warmer glow.

The care that has been lavished on this record is evident in all areas – the artwork, the sound, the mixing and mastering are all first rate and the album is holds up more than favourably over repeated listens. In fact, I’ve had it on constant rotation since it was given to me and it actually reinforces its character on each listen. The overarching theme of the record becomes more apparent as time goes on; as the initial impressions taken from the tracks are forgotten, they are recalled in a differing light and context.

In addition to having put out several releases on labels such as Root Strata, Digitalis, Not Not Fun, and Blackest Rainbow, the band also has a collaboration album called “Barn Owl and the Infinite Strings Ensemble” coming out on Important Records. Caminiti continues to work in visual art (illustration and printmaking mostly) and release records under his own name as well as with Lisa McGee in Higuma. Porras is a photographer and also releases solo material and has another project called Elm. The band will be touring in support of the record this fall on the East Coast and early next year in Europe.

Cerebral, dense and broad in scope, this could well be one of the albums of the year.

“Ancestral Star” wass released November 2 through Thrill Jockey. The CD version comes in a 4-panel mini-LP style gatefold package, and the LP version includes a DRM-free MP3 download coupon and is packaged in a full color gatefold LP jacket. The artwork is a blast, and would no doubt look great on full album scale.

Read the in depth discussion with Barn Owl about the project

- Review by Alex Gibson for Fluid Radio

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www.thrilljockey.com