'sC' is the first ‘official’ release of
Soccer Committee or
Mariska Baars
from
Leiden
,
Holland
. She has been writing and recording songs under the  name
Soccer Committee since 2002. Her first self-released limited edition CDR was very well received, which a.o. resulted in a pile of raving reviews and an appearance at VPRO radio’s prestigious Dwars-festival. The experience of her live-shows, during which she strips her own songs even further, is omnipresent on
‘sC’.
Aart Schakenbos (from the band
Julie Mittens) managed to get the spaciousness of these songs on tape. The CD comes in a stylish cardboard gatefold sleeve, co-designed by
Rutger Zuyderveldt of
Machinefabriek. (Who also remixed the opening track
‘Carps’, to be found on his 2CD
‘Weleer’.)
Soccer Committee manages to build entire worlds with not much more than a few well chosen guitar notes and her soft voice. Delicate, beautiful and truly breathtaking! Recommended to anyone who likes
Julie Doiron, Richard Youngs, early
Catpower,
Annelies Monseré
, Anton Webern.
Old Things, by
Jessica Bailiff is a collection of rare and unreleased material, mostly recorded between the releases of her second and third album. As such, it can be seen as the
missing link
between the rather droney second record, and the starker
‘Jessica Bailiff’ album. This is more than "just" a collection of older material: this is what her third record could have been, if it
wouldn't have taken her three years to complete. Some of the songs have the familiar sound of her older material, but already hint in the direction of her more folky current sound. At other times however the tracks already lean towards her more direct approach, while still maintaining echoes from her freeform guitar songs. The best of two worlds. Most of the songs were recorded by Jessica at home.
Jesse Edwards, with whom she also records as the duo
Northern Song Dynasty, has contributed to two songs.
‘Crush’ was recorded by
Alan Sparhawk (of
Low), who also played electric 12-string guitar on that track. The CD comes in a beautiful full colour gatefold packaging.
‘Kleine’ by
Iditarod was released in 2002 on tape only. Though it was recorded over the course of five years, this probably is the band’s most coherent output. The record starts with mostly acoustic parts, mixed with more psychedelic sounds into a whole. Towards the end, the more direct songs merge perfectly with the tape and drone experiments, with impressive results. On this record,
Karin Wagner and
Jeffrey Alexander (also known from
Secret Eye Records
and
Black Forest/Black Sea) get support from an extended list of highly regarded guest musicians including the likes of
Alasdair Galbraith on violin,
B'eirth (In Gowan Ring) on harp,
Margie Wienk (Fern Knight) on cello and
Matt Everett (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy) on violin. ‘Kleine’ got released –for the first time- around the same time as their second CD
‘The Ghost The Elf The Cat And The Angel’, but shows a more experimental and personal side of Iditarod. Therefore, it’s probably the most surprising gem the band has ever put out. This CD re-release comes in a unique cardboard packaging, based on the original artwork.
All releases out on
Morc Records at 15 may !Â
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