23 Productions
V.A. : The Davenport Family Boxset (1998-2005) (US,2005)***
This release is in fact an audioscrapbook, in no particular order, with five 3" cdrs and a small 10 page booklet, documenting the story of building up Davenport, while meeting similarly minded people or people that shared inspiration, stage and recordings, or groups.
On the first disc Clay Ruby, as part of Davenport and as the founder of the 23 productions label, shows how he developed his ideas in compiling some recordings and tracks along the road. This disc starts with an electric guitar of his with some nice flute-like feedbacks and acoustic percussion on a rhythmically upbeat psychedelic jam. It’s nice to be a child : fasten your voice, put some echo to it and jam on toyguitar and toypiano ; when you do this you might already have something like the perhaps charming ? rather "nonsense" track by Train Unit, or is this a real child ?* The next short track has somewhat psychedelic drones by Jesus Balls, like a being in between formation and in deformation. Fourth track is by Craig Microcassette System, recorded on tape with a primitive truly handmade loop and the use of its own specific recognisable effect, -recorded when the tape was put backwards a few times-. Next track after this is a short moody psychfolk song inspiration by The Lamb Called Light, with dual vocals (by Clay Ruby and Theresa Behnen) and played by something like guitar and some percussion. Drunjus after this is an example of compiling drones made ton idea of inspiration of a sound carpet. Teargas Tournament is an environmental recording in nature, which is a certain moment that has some natural rhythms and melodies. Buffy Sainte-Marie isn’t dead yet. But in Clay Kolbinger’s version of "The Vampire" she doesn’t come to life either. His version sounds like a spell with noise which is just slightly disturbing and ready to be buried under its own performance. In some way such a version can have its own charm too. Last track by Candiru is a combination of accidental environmental sounds and newly added sounds making its own musicality of a widened scope of expression in the environment. The way this compilation is compiled, I repeat, can have its own charm. Secondly it says also how and from where Davenport’s inspiration have come from.
Disc two has an improvisation with throat singing, flutes and shakers by db Pedersen, some trance ritual music with handpercussion, jew’s harp, violin-on-the-rum, kazoo improvisations, and at least some temple bells by the Mudslide Family, followed by a rather loose and free inspiration with Tibetan bells, and clacks and ticks on a wooden floor, sometimes echoed, by The Grass Magic. My favourite track of this disc might be the funny and perhaps great moment of Nic Stage with some Appalachian-Appachian blues on guitar, with the Indian-in-me singing, from an haleluia yahahowee hippie-be.
Disc 3 is more like a collection of "madman-moment" recordings. Such moments can become at least technically interesting. First track is an o God-“he’s still working on me” song by Wooden Wand, sung awfully and too close in the mike. Not mad, not sad, not drunk, not stoned, but just so bad people might and will confuse it with being ‘original’. Technically such tracks can be of course confused for each other, but I don’t think I’ll ever become a Wooden Wand fan. Maths Balance, also out of balance, goes into ritual in the backyard with a track called “Wanslammi Wonduri”. It sounds as if people had recorded it without his knowing. Here the “embarrassing” part is more like charming. It’s sung and percussioned with a “Play-the-(native)-Indian-in-me” stamping ground enjoyment. Mansfield Deathrap ReRecordings is also in the backyard with a mass dose of painkillers -so says the booklet-, and here are recorded bird whistles and a stamping heartbeat on a guitarcase, which means neardead in nature ‘for the sake of inspiration, and music’. Not really disturbing, and short enough for making its point. Next madman is Dan Woodman with some 2 note string plucks on guitar-blues, with a “oh baby listen to my fantasy” song -preferably sung when she’s gone-. Not particularly a love song, but more like a masturbation song for the impotent, equally charming in its minimalism. For over its 4 minutes it sounded perfect to make its point. The next track recorded outside by 'Pan to Scratch' is less understandable. We just have here a few bees, crows, birds, who express themselves on this recording for God knows why. Last track by Nico Kain with some echoed soft percussion by Woodman & Clay Ruby, is some short slightly bluesy / medieval guitar instrumenta (outro).
Disc four has one Davenport track of 30 minutes called “Blood and rum offering” with that kind of (wonderful to experience) spontaneous inspiration of the environment itself after having meditated a bit or having looked around carefully and then starting to improvise with whatever lies around and can make an interesting sound : instruments or objects. The first sounds is that of a recording as if recorded from inside a turning tin pot, the second sounds like a whirly instrument when a harmonium comes in and more spheres are thoroughly built up with pots, similarly droning and turning around sounds with chimes, bells and humming vocals. From sound document to environmental sound to a ritual of space environment in rhythmical song.
Last disc, nr° five, starts with a recording by Garage Indians which sounds as if some youngster goes Indian-wacko in a garage while a television is playing, while someone else is hammering (,why not). [It reminds me at a time when I wanted to form a band called Toilet Men, with a guy called No. We were only going to use toilet instruments and sounds recorded in the toilet room (the project was never grounded)]. Next track by Amnesis is an amnesian rhythmical noise with an organ drone, sadly not too well recorded. Third track by Postage is like a nice compilation of some shrieking swing sounds, as if directly from a catalogue of interesting sounds collections. The track after this, so called from ‘Clay’s Festering Lungs’ is built up similarly. It sounds a bit like electronic music, which I think it is not, with its own rhythm. Perhaps it is again recorded, and further on the track, a bit deformed and looped with the same primitive taperecorder system I mentioned earlier in this review, including some feedback and distortion evolutions. ‘Wolf In The Breast’ recorded another short track. I think it is some quiet fabric noises if you ask me. From then on the mistake on my cdr is too much (in some way I hate cdr’s for it : they’re so damn fragile, and here it has been spoiled by some tiny bit of airbrush paint on the wrong side I’m afraid), so I could only still hear that the 6th track was a song on guitar ; I have no idea about the last track by Wyoming.
Anyhow : the more or less three hours of music in this box is well compiled and surely has a lot to offer. It is strictly limited to 101 copies in hand painted and packaged boxes.
* seems it is !
