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Reviews:
I’m pretty new to the music
of Rivulets (AKA Nathan Admundson), having taken the opportunity to listen
to the acoustic version of Stead (from 2002?s Thank You Reykjavik) just
a few months ago. It was one of those songs that is so immediately easy
to love and inspired the quest to hear more, but I’ve been taking my own
sweet time about it. After a track here and there, Debridement finally
became my first proper foray into the Rivulets catalogue – which is really
quite wonderful and has been on high rotation the last couple of weeks.
Of course, it does further
the desire to hear more, so alongside putting all current releases on my
ever-growing ‘wish list’, I was happy to learn that not only was a new
album planned for release in the near future, but that a recording of demos
was recently made available to download via Silber Records, for the more
than reasonable sum of US$5.00. (I’m also quite looking forward to the
planned Stray Songs, which, according to a post on the Rivulets website,
will be a complete collection of singles, compilation tracks and covers
spanning 2000-2010).
Originally self-released
in 2000 on CDr and containing four tracks, the digital-only re-release
of d e m o s has been expanded by an additional 6 tracks. Unfortunately
for me, I’m not familiar with any of the later incarnations of these songs
yet, so it’s impossible for me to get the same kind of insight from them
that long-time fans might, but even without that history I can certainly
appreciate them – some really nice, occasionally raw, work.
From the Silber Records
website (for those a little more in the know than me ;) ):
“d e m o s” captures an
era of Rivulets that hasn’t been documented elsewhere. During the first
formative year of Rivulets, an important part of the band was bass player
Jason Seckel, who’s minimal long sustained notes style can finally be heard
for the first time by many fans. You get to hear early versions of songs
like “Four Weeks” & “Past Life” along with unreleased songs like “Sick
Love” & our personal favorite “Anyway.”
For my part, Rivulets is
assuredly recommended for fans of softly spoken, highly charged acoustic
slowcore – and quite likely to appeal to fans of Boduf Songs, Tiny Vipers,
Jessica Bailiff (who has, I see, been a collaborator on a few projects)
and Spokane.
~ Satellite for Entropy
In 2001, just before his
first album, I discovered Rivulets on MP3.com, a kind of ancestor of Myspace
and Bandcamp were musicians were able to feature this music.
He was offering a demo
ep of four songs. I reviewed this ep and followed his discography during
this decennia. Silber Media is now releasing the complete version of these
"d e m o s". The four songs I already know, along with six others, among
them a cover of Galaxie 500, "Tugboat" and a previously unreleased track
"Sick Love".
Just below my review of
the four song version of this release, written in French almost ten years
ago:
"Rivulets, originaire de
Minneapolis, MN, est Nathan Amundson, la petite vingtaine, parfois accompagné
d’un bassiste sur ce quatre titres qui est leur première sortie.
Un album éponyme produit par les membres de Low vient d’ailleurs
de sortir sur leur propre label, Chairkickers Union.
Essentiellement basées
sur la guitare folk et la voix de Nathan, les compositions de Rivulets
rappellent les instants les moins pop et les plus sombres de Nick Drake,
mais aussi ceux les plus apaisés et nocturnes de Palace, Cat Power
ou Red House Painters.
Quatre folk songs discrètes
et sombres de « bedroom pop nostalgia » qui grandissent au
fil des écoutes. D’humbles ombres de mélancolie qui imposent
la nuit comme climat d’écoute et qu’on laissera filer à bas
régime autour d’une simple bougie, d’un spot discret.
Un ep prêt à
rendre plus élevé, plus profond ce qu’on lui injecte. Comme
une léger creux le long d’un chemin où l’on peut se réfugier
quelques instants, quelques heures couché dans l’herbe sauvage,
afin de se reposer, de réfléchir, avant de repartir, régénéré
de l’intérieur, reprendre sa place dans le flux de la vie.
Chut pas un bruit, des
millions d’oreilles passeront à côté de ces treize
minutes. Quelques autres sauront y trouver leur chemin tels des papillons
de nuits égarés se fiant à ces quatres étoiles
scintillantes pour abreuver leur âme.
Sur « Past Life »
plane l’ombre de Nick Drake, filiation évidente dans les accords
de guitare et le retrait rêveur du chant. Deux minutes de folk en
noir et blanc mélancolique. C’est la seule plage que l’on pourra
accuser d’un petit manque de personnalité.
Une basse s’adjoint sur
« Swans » et confère une légère saveur
planante à Rivulets, qui gagne là quelques dimensions, nuances
d’ombres. Cœurs déchirés et mal d’être silencieux pavent
ces chemins de désolation et solitude où tombe, muette, une
bruine froide et anonyme.
Un frêle espoir se
dépose à la surface de « Creased » comme une
pluie de sable du Sahara certaines nuit d’été sur l’Europe.
Séduction à son apex, poussière d’étoile et
chemin d’éveil à travers la fatigue, ballade égayée
des rares bruits nocturnes naturels. A ces quelques instants on devine
que Rivulets est au-delà du simple musicien en autothérapie,
replié sur sa guitare, car on part en voyage nous aussi.
La nuit mène indéfiniment
à l’aube – c’est la même histoire – et quelques rayons de
soleil traversent le ciel dans la fraîcheur « Anyway.. ».
A peine éveillé, on marche en sandales, se mouillant les
pieds dans la rosée tandis que des brumes s’étiolent de ci
de là.
Une révélation.
"
Ten years later, these
demos seem already to belong to a long lost era, and as 7/10 of these songs
("Anyway", "Sick Love" and "Tubgoat" are only featured here) were recorded
later, often in more developed and nuanced version, "D e m o s" should
almost being reserved to the die-hard fans of Nathan Amundson, but once
that said, I'm glad to add this important missing piece to his discography,
and it's amazing to notice the constant quality of his songwriting since
the beginning, everything in place since the first song until now, Rivulets's
foundations are as solid and as deep as a rock half buried in a pale landscape
stuck under wintry grey skies.
And this re-release is
welcome to cut this four year hiatus as his last official release was "You
are my home" in 2006, it's good see him back in action and finishing as
mentioned on his blog a promised new album.
"D e m o s" is Nathan Amundson
with is voice and acoustic guitar playing bare melancholic poignant songs,
sometimes helped by a bassist for slowcore accent. His cover of "Tugboat"
is also a welcome reference and a proof of coherence with the artistic
family he belongs too.
It is also funny to discover
that ten years later I'm still enjoying this songs as much as before and
that I'm still looking for this kind of music considering some of my last
musical discovers like Vio/Miré or Deep Waters.
"D e m o s" is a territory
of nostalgia, and you get caught in the same type of emotions you can have
with Nick Drake's "Tanworth-in-Arden 1967/68" collection of demos, meaning
it is authentic and worth listening.
Of course a good number
of these alternate early versions don't have the glow and production quality
of their later album versions but just for the sake of "Anyway", one of
his best songs ever, "D e m o s" is a necessary halt.
~ Didier Goudeseune, Derives
Tous les fans de Rivulets
se demandent sans doute pourquoi Nathan Amundson n'a pas la reconnaissance
qu'il mérite. Et se réjouiront de voir débarquer Demos
regroupant des enregistrements datant d'avant son premier album, quand
il jouait encore avec le bassiste Jason Seckel. Ils découvriront
avec ravissement les versions originelles de titres comme 'Creased', 'Swans'
ou 'Lacklustre ainsi que plusieurs inédits et une reprise du 'Tugboat'
de Galaxie 500, le tout faisant sérieusement penser au chaînon
manquant entre Elliott Smith et le Low de I Could Live In Hope, rappelant
ainsi que slowcore et folk dépouillé sont des genres cousins.
Un must pour ceux qui le
connaissent et un joli point d'entrée pour les autres, ces démos
simples et touchantes trouveront leur place dans toute discothèque
un tant soit peu fournie en musiques calmes, acoustiques ou introspectives,
d'autant que sa voix n'a sans doute jamais été aussi expressive.
~ Dans le mur du son
Une voix, une guitare –
la nuit chuchoterait-elle toujours après minuit ? On pourra toujours
chercher : rien n’arrive à la cheville de Rivulets lorsqu’il s’agit
de ne faire chanter la solitude qu’avec ces deux instruments. On peut crier
à l’injustice. C’est depuis dix ans l’un des secrets les mieux gardés
d’Amérique. On peut aussi prendre le train en marche, partir à
la découverte des futurs compagnons de route que seront à
n’en pas douter Rivulets, Debridement ou You Are My Home, trois albums
tellement intimes et universels à la fois que le temps lui-même
ne parviendra pas à les défaire. Il en va de même pour
l’anecdote, ces toutes premières démos rééditées
ici sous forme digitale. Tout est déjà là, au creux
de l’oreille : dix chansons nues sur la branche, un arrache cœur minimum
(Four Weeks, toujours aussi poignant). Cet homme-là chante la mélancolie
comme personne, exactement comme si c’était la première fois
qu’on entendait ça.
~ Autres Directions
Interessantissima
proposta della Silber per tutti i seguaci di Nathan Amundson,
cantautore che anche in Italia è riuscito a guadagnarsi una buona
schiera di seguaci, grazie alla sua essenziale e coinvolgente proposta
chitarristica in grado di fondere lo slowcore con il Nick Drake più
amaro. La serie di demo contenuta nell'appositamente intitolato
'Demos' risale al primo periodo di Nathan, quattro di questi pezzi
infatti finiranno nel CDr s/t uscito nel 2000 quali Four Weeks e la
straordinaria Past Life. Ovviamente non è finita qui: per la delizia
dei fan, ci sono un paio di inediti, tra cui un'interessante cover dei
bostoniani Galaxie 500, Tugboat. Tutto questo rende la release della
Silber davvero intrigante, Nathan non sembrava sbagliare un colpo,
riuscendo a mettere in fila dei momenti straordinariamente sentiti, pur
nella loro produzione piuttosto cruda e spenta; d'altronde son stati
registrati direttamente nella camera da letto di questi. Sarebbe
inutile e fin troppo lungo elencare tutti i momenti notevoli che
troverete in 'Demos', a partire dalla conclusiva e quasi shoegaze
Lacklustre, la malinconica Four Weeks, l'amara e risentita Happy New
Year... insomma, per appassionati o meno di Nathan, anche 'Demos' è da
sentire tutto d'un fiato, intriso com'è di atmosfera notturna,
coinvolgente quasi come qualsiasi altra sua release. E infine
potrei parlare di Anyway..., di come riesca a superare con un balzo
qualsiasi canzone realizzata negli ultimi dieci anni perfino da un
pezzo da novanta come Mark Kozelek. Davvero non ci sarebbe altro
da aggiungere. Grazie Silber. ~ Damiano Gerli, Kathodik |