Debut album by this long running but until now undocumented Virginia group. Founded in 2001 by Pelt members Mikel Dimmick and Mike Gangloff with Karl Precoda (Last Days of May, The Dream Syndicate), the Joy Band concentrates on live performances featuring marathon unorthodox drone treatises for acoustic instruments, including Tibetan singing bowl, gong, sruti, and esraj. The bowed, rolled, and (usually) gently struck metal percussion anchors the sound with rich, resonating tones. The music is a cousin to Pelt's explorations on (Untitled) (vhf#90) and Keyhole & Keyhole II (both on Eclipse). Lullaby 1 is almost entirely built on the gongs and bowls, a slowly building narcoleptic trip. The 41 minute epic Lullaby 2 begins with Gangloff on esraj, building up a trance before the shenais and sharply struck gongs take over at the climax of the piece. Lullaby 3 throws some surprisingly melodic and active piano into the mix, evoking a long-form version of Popol Vuh's "Die Nacht Der Seele."
credits
released September 12, 2018
Spiral Joy: Mikel Dimmick, MikeGangloff, Karl Precoda w/Mick Simmons and William Stevenson, tongue drum and dumbek at end of Lullaby 2
Lullabies 1 and 3 recorded Aug. 4, 2004, at Virginia Tech's Squires
Recital Salon in Blacksburg, Va., with VHF mobile studio. Lullaby 2
was binaurally recorded April 9, 2004, at the XYZ Gallery, also in
Blacksburg, during a monthly series of Joy Band events that
included other bands, art exhibits and a small group of audience
members experimenting with directed dreaming throughout the
performances.
Thank you: Emily, Amy, Tycho, Willa, Bill, gallery staff, Mick and William, Sue Nees, Hellcats, Suchard, Plop, Christian Conrad, anti:clockwise, Rotten Piece, Son of Earth Flesh on Bone, Jeff Dean and the others who listened.
Photographs by Matt Gentry, used courtesy of The Roanoke Times
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