Albums
aus
Aidan Baker
Big Farm
The Black Dog
Blackshaw & Melnyk
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Clockwork
Matthew Collings
Coma
DJ Koze
Djrum
Eluvium
Fredda
Freska
Hanging Up The Moon
Jenny Hval
Jimpster
Rena Jones
Mark Lorenz Kysela
Leonhard + Red
Naph
Petrels
Piano Interrupted
Pursuit Grooves
David Rothenberg
Saltland
subtractiveLAD
Terminal Sound System
Andrew Weathers

Compilations / Mixes
Joy
Kumasi Music Volume 1
John Morales
One Point Three (A & B)
Maceo Plex
Soma Compilation 21
Steffi

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Alter Echo & E3
Amiina
Badawi VS Ladyman
Bunnies & Bats
Diffraction of Sound EP
Gerwin
Heligoland
Hibea
The Monroe Transfer
Chris Octane
RSD
Katsunori Sawa
Andy Vaz

The Monroe Transfer & Her Name Is Calla: An Enclave
The Monroe Transfer

Combine the members of The Monroe Transfer (Rhiannon Armstrong, Nick Gill, Susie Gillis, Ed Howard, Nicole Robson, and Neil Walsh) and Her Name is Calla (Sophie Green, John Helps, Tom Morris, Nicole Robson, and Adam Weikert) and the number you get is eleven, which would lead one to think that a collaboration by the two outfits might result in dense, multi-layered music. How refreshing it is to report, then, that no such excess weighs down their five-track EP—if anything the material is often noticeably scaled-back. The release is described as “a little aperitif” that the bands recorded in August, 2010 and then added overdubs to between 2010 and 2013. A casual and ego-less approach informed the collaborative process, with all involved simply coming together to knock around some ideas and see what happens. The results, however, seem anything but slapdash or unpolished.

The EP begins arrestingly with “#5” (all tracks are identified by number only), a brief, vocals-only setting that finds the members chanting a dirge-like sea shanty (“Hands tied, into the sea / Rocks for your pillow / Dream for eternity / On your bed down below”). The vocal melody carries on into “#1” (the longest piece at eight minutes) but now voiced by guitar and strings. The arrangement fills out, with percussion and vocals (lead and background) joining the guitar and strings and deepening a mournful, requiem-like tone that's also reflected in the song's lyrics (“Everything ends up as stardust / I'm out of breath, I think I'm out of luck”).

May 2013