nederlands
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Moss & Memory is the third album by the American acoustic/ambient project Ruhr Hunter, and it celebrated the projects 10th anniversary. Hailing from the state of Washington, Chet Scott has been quite busy in his own special niche in the underground scene. Besides his releases as Ruhr Hunter and with The Elemental Chrysalis (together with James Woodward), he runs the Glass Throat label with his wife Rachel, who does all the graphic design for these releases. I shall get back to the design shortly.
This album presents six long tracks of a unique mixture of ambient drones, acoustic melodies, field recordings, vocals, and drums. This combination yields a very organic sound, that expresses the feelings of a modern shaman, and shows a world somewhere between culture and nature. The first track is the most varied, containing deep drones, a couple of different dulcimer melodies, and a shamanic invocation. "An Owl's Gift" is a nighttime piece, containing soft, dark waves and the sound of an owl. The title track is a meditative piece around one repeating dulcimer melody. "Denned Earth / Decay & Rebirth" is another shamanic journey, the first half being dominated by a heavy horn sound, the second half by low throat singing and drumming. The final two tracks, both excellent, show the vocal side of Ruhr Hunter. "Woodlore Communion" is based around a foresty guitar melody and Chet's pleasant high voice. "The Leaving Trees" is a beautiful, soft piano and guitar piece, with Chet singing a poem. A review is too short to be able to touch upon the fine detail in these tracks, but take my word for it, each has its own story to tell.
This review would not be complete without mentioning the presentation. I got the limited edition set of this release, called "The Den". The CD is already very richly packaged in its original version, in a 6x6" gatefold sleeve with relief printing. In the limited edition, however, it is buried in an actual piece of forest. A large carton box, with the logo printed on it, and bound with leather, holds a mass of sand, moss, feathers, fungi, bones and other objects, carefully gathered by Ruhr Hunter for this purpose. The smell of the whole thing is wonderful, and the whole is almost too frail to handle regularly, though that is definitely what you'd like to do, the get the full experience from this album.
Needless to say, this is a very special release, in terms of both music and design, proving that this husband and wife make a great artistic pair. This release is highly recommended to everyone who likes atmospheric ambient and acoustic music, or 'nature music'. If the description of the special edition piqued your interest, don't hesitate to get it, because it is ridiculously cheap, especially considering over half of the price is spent on shipping! I don't know how Chet and Rachel manage all this generosity, but I'd recommend everyone to support them, and get some great art in return.
O.S.
This album presents six long tracks of a unique mixture of ambient drones, acoustic melodies, field recordings, vocals, and drums. This combination yields a very organic sound, that expresses the feelings of a modern shaman, and shows a world somewhere between culture and nature. The first track is the most varied, containing deep drones, a couple of different dulcimer melodies, and a shamanic invocation. "An Owl's Gift" is a nighttime piece, containing soft, dark waves and the sound of an owl. The title track is a meditative piece around one repeating dulcimer melody. "Denned Earth / Decay & Rebirth" is another shamanic journey, the first half being dominated by a heavy horn sound, the second half by low throat singing and drumming. The final two tracks, both excellent, show the vocal side of Ruhr Hunter. "Woodlore Communion" is based around a foresty guitar melody and Chet's pleasant high voice. "The Leaving Trees" is a beautiful, soft piano and guitar piece, with Chet singing a poem. A review is too short to be able to touch upon the fine detail in these tracks, but take my word for it, each has its own story to tell.
This review would not be complete without mentioning the presentation. I got the limited edition set of this release, called "The Den". The CD is already very richly packaged in its original version, in a 6x6" gatefold sleeve with relief printing. In the limited edition, however, it is buried in an actual piece of forest. A large carton box, with the logo printed on it, and bound with leather, holds a mass of sand, moss, feathers, fungi, bones and other objects, carefully gathered by Ruhr Hunter for this purpose. The smell of the whole thing is wonderful, and the whole is almost too frail to handle regularly, though that is definitely what you'd like to do, the get the full experience from this album.
Needless to say, this is a very special release, in terms of both music and design, proving that this husband and wife make a great artistic pair. This release is highly recommended to everyone who likes atmospheric ambient and acoustic music, or 'nature music'. If the description of the special edition piqued your interest, don't hesitate to get it, because it is ridiculously cheap, especially considering over half of the price is spent on shipping! I don't know how Chet and Rachel manage all this generosity, but I'd recommend everyone to support them, and get some great art in return.
O.S.