Vlor Six-Winged CD

Following up on the previous Vlor album, A Fire Is Meant for Burning, Six-Winged acts as a similar flag of convenience for Silber labelhead Brian John Mitchell to get a wide variety of fellow travelers to jointly participate in a group effort, halfway between supergroup jam, label sampler, and remix project. The resultant 16-song collection has Mitchell's guitar and bass parts and occasional vocals as the core for each track, with various collaborators working together or separately to add vocals, beats, other parts in general. Mitchell's work is fairly straightforward -- understandable given that they were meant to be the skeletal beginnings of further work -- but they allow the often-brief tracks to flow together quite well, even as each may take distinctly different roads all together. Thus, the Seefeel-like, fall-and-rise loops of "Guided" make for a much different piece than "She Goes Out with Boys," with its suddenly charging bass shifting into a moody melody and lyric that Mitchell sings, backed by Rollerball/Moodring vocalist Mae Starr. Meanwhile, little could be more significantly different than the near-ambient, lengthy flow of "Tolerate the Wicked," one of two tracks Aarktica's Jon DeRosa appears on, the a cappella "Will I See You Again" sung by Annelies Monsere, and the backwoods/garage stomp of "Watch Me Bleed," featuring backing from Jessica Bailiff, with guest vocals from Michael Wood and Magen McAvenney. It's a wide variety of sound that still works on one album, and very well at that -- especially when showing a sense of humor by calling one of the loveliest instrumental tracks "Maybe You Should Chew on My Fist." ~ Ned Raggett

“...a purely artistic endeavor in which the musicians communicate with one another. This communication translates into the substance of the music. Confusing, soothing, abstract... an interesting trip into the minds of those involved in the real undercurrents of modern audio art.” ~ BabysueVlor started as a short-lived moody pop band in 1992 & was revived as an acoustic shoegazing duo in 1997 releasing the EPs Lavished & Luxate before falling apart again in 1998. In 2006 the posthumous Sacred Places in the City was released & Vlor was relaunched as a group of musicians collaborating through the mail to record A Fire is Meant for Burning. The new album, Six-Winged, is Vlor’s second album as a collection of Silber all-stars working together.Six-Winged started with Brian John Mitchell (Remora/Small Life Form) recording guitars & bass lines & sending them out to friends to augment & complete. Returning with Mitchell (bass, guitar, vocals) to Vlor are Jon DeRosa of Aarktica (guitar), Jessica Bailiff (guitar, percussion, keyboard), & Paolo Messere of 6PM (guitar, bass, percussion, keyboard) to be joined by new members Annelies Monseré (guitar, cello, vocals, melodica, piano), Martin Newman of Plumerai & Goddakk (guitar), Mae Starr of Rollerball & Moodring (vocals), Jim DeJong of Infant Cycle (strings), Michael Walton of mwvm (guitar), Brian McKenzie of Electric Bird Noise & Something About Vampires And Sluts (guitar, bass, percussion), Michael Wood of Something About Vampires And Sluts & The Wet Teens (vocals), & Magen McAvenney (vocals). Yeah, we know, it’s a ton of folks.Through sixteen tracks Vlor goes through several musical styles, from slowcore (“i have left home,” “she goes out with boys”) to garage rock (“watch me bleed”) to drone rock (“damage the land & the sea”) to moody pop (“not the one for me”) to aggressive ambient (“tolerate the wicked,” “maybe you should chew on my fist”) to cinematic soundscapes (“guided,” “statue of jealousy”). Despite being recorded in six states & five countries, delving into a half dozen genres, & having twelve creative voices; Six-Winged maintains its focus as a cohesive album always maintaining the dichotomy of sound that is so distinctively Vlor – brooding, searching, angst-ridden, & celebratory.

Audio M