"Krautrock
collective from Portland, Oregon. Multiple textures of music with
widespread arrangements. A humble but perfect journey through 70‘s
underground styles. Imagine all your favourite obscure German bands condensed into one album..."
"Led by Oryan Peterson-Jones, the musical collective known as Die Geister
Beschwören (translated as: Call Up the Ghosts) has been exploring
facets of world folk music while keeping true to the calling of
psychedelia. Recent recordings like Music Feeds Stars and The Great Defenestration—both
available on the group's Bandcamp page—are bewitching affairs that fold
in elements of droning Indian ragas, thudding gothic pop, and
shimmering pop songs that evoke the spirits of Syd Barrett and the Bevis
Frond..."
Robert Ham
Portland Mercury
"Die Geister Beschwören translates to "call up the ghosts." And I have to admit; I had to look up the exact meaning of defenestration,
which is: "The act of throwing a thing (or especially a person,) out
of a window." This Portland experimental folk ensemble certainly does
both in this intricate 17-minute sonic spree recently released on SQRT
Records. Laden with field recordings, aching string and bass clarinet
orchestrations, loops, haunting drums and vocals, it paints a lush, if
not eerie, mental picture. It's artfully-layered and quite well-paced.
Let me put it this way: I started out doing stretches and meditation
to it, but 4 minutes in, I found myself pacing the floors thinking,
"This would be an amazing soundtrack if I ever have a rapid descent into
terrifying madness and an eventual reawakening to my highest self!"
Both menacing and beautiful, The Great Defenestration is one intriguing
fall from a window..."
"When Oryan Peterson-Jones made contact to point me towards this album, he wrote “recommended if you like Six Organs Of Admittance, Sun City Girls, Ghost, Earth, Dirty Three, etc”.
Thus he established a record of sorts, naming an entire clutch of bands
of which – believe it or not – I never heard a note. Perhaps this lack
of material for comparison is what let me appreciate Drawn To The Investigation Of Shadows
more over the course of scattered plays in the last five months or so.
In fact, beyond illustrious reputations and stylistic dimensions, this
work was evidently designed with finely tuned ears and a definite taste
for instrumental abstraction of the purest variety; furthermore, as the
thing lasts less than 32 minutes, the risk of weariness is excluded from
the beginning. And, did you see how many people helped? In spite of the
numerous hands and voices, the music does not reveal itself as untidy
or wild: everything appears to be at the right place in the right
moment.
So, let the reviewer continue the game initiated by this Portland
artist, namely that of finding points of entry in the
psychedelic-but-not-too-much universe depicted by the two tracks.
Consider that the project’s name translates as “call up the ghosts”, and
that peaceful guitars, strings and theremins are prominent in
establishing atmospheres between dreamy and bucolic, in any case quite
removed from “urban” contaminations. However, keep also in mind that you
won’t find the witless trademarks of drugged disorganization: no
“warped nightmare” vocals, no low-cost replicas of Pink Floyd’s taped
laughs, no amorphous bullshit justified by third-rate “cosmic trips”.
The basic substances are predominantly folk-tinged, occasionally (and
intelligently) utilizing field recordings and anthemic streams with just
the necessary hints to remote latitudes and resonant auras, plus a few
unexpected solutions warranting the birth of authentic interest in the
listener. If anything, the lone entity to which I managed to relate
Peterson-Jones’ vision is my old buddy Mirko Uhlig (currently AWOL) in
his Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf embodiment. The genuineness of the intuitions
and the credibility of the orchestral vibrancy are indeed pretty
similar.
In a nutshell, this music is still innocent. Enough for me to sing its praises..."
Warsaw, Poland based label, SQRT Records, has just released Die Geister Beschwören's latest album The Great Defenestration.
SQRT Records has a great catalogue, lots of ambient, improv and drone... check them out!
