23 Threads - Conspicuous Unobstructed Path [Zoharum - 2015]23 treads are a Polish three piece now relocated in New York City- the band summon-up a macabre, at times wonky & darkly psychedelic blend of neo folk, which is often repetitive & sonically locked down, with wordy female spoken word vocals on top. Conspicuous Unobstructed Path is band first release after a 15 year slumber, and I must say I was quite taken by its fairly edgy, stark & often experimental edged take on the neo-folk genre. The band brings together: Ingrid Dawn Swen – vocals. Marek Marchoff - music foundation( which I’m guessing is everything from guitars, synths, effects pedals, onto programming). And Rafa³ Janus - electro-acoustic bass, aruban flute, djembe. The album offers up ten tracks, and these run between just over a minute to nearing ten minutes a piece. All of the tracks are mainly fairly low-key affairs, which are built around the base of repetitive & often angular stripped back guitar riffs, and Ms Swen’s dramatic & darkly theatrical spoken word/ sing-song vocals. Around these base elements you get subtle trails of dozing & hazed flute, moody & spacey feed back ebbs, murky bass wonderings, sudden burst of more electrified guitar craft, and a host moody of sonic debris; such as subtle field recordings, layers of effects, synth simmer & ambient ebb, & the odd avant jazz honk, etc. The mix of the wonky & often angular guitar riffs, and Ms Swen’s vocals is really most effective in sending you to a fairly distinctive & often subtle unsettlingly/ macabrely psychedelic sonic place. All in all Conspicuous Unobstructed Path is one of my surprise discoveries of 2015. It’s a consist, and often subtle nightmarish release that managers to give it’s own odd/ distinctive take on the neo folk genre. Lets hope new material is in the pipe-line, as it be a really pity to have to wait another 15 years for another release. Roger Batty
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