Ecstatic Peace!
MV & EE with The Golden Road : Gettin Gone (US,2007)**°°
MV & EE is Matt Valentine (from former free/experimental psychfolk group ‘Tower recordings’) & Erika Elder (Heroine Celestial Agriculture). They have already numerous LP’s, cdrs and CD’s and a whole history behind them, with something in them that seems always on the road while leaving traces of their existence, never really complete at ease.
Many songs have rather emotional pedalled electric guitars (no less than Neil young’s Crazy Horse). The electrified bit is like mostly slow cry outs, full disappointments and carrying-ons (“if the blues don’t kill me than the livin’ will”), psychedelic frustrated post-rock. When such expressions occur one time too often (like around the ninth track, “Speed Queen”) it reveals also something of self-destruction. Hidden behind all that are very few acoustic angels, which don’t show up their heads and inspirations that often any more (“I got caves in there” makes Erika’s voice echo like Fit & Limo, but only here). I just wished they were there a little bit more frequently to balance out the emotions. It is as if there’s liquor involved in the sound, bringing its portion of hangovers. “Country Fried” after some time is the first real quiet, still sad moment “…and every stone that is thrown must fall”, in fact not different from the guitars expressions, only in a much more quiet tone. It is logical that some acoustic guitar rhythm here makes a slight return to the electric guitar cry at the end of the song. This is followed by a great, more song-driven somewhat conclusive track called “Home Comfort”, before a last rocking track with sympathy for the bars they were performing in with the band.
Matt Valentine plays guitars, harmonica, bantar (modified banjo into a sitar), swarsangam, bass, octave, divider bass, mellotron, vocals ; Erika Elder plays cocacola firebird, lap steel, bowed dulcimer, mandolin, vocals. Golden Road is Willie Lane on guitar, J.Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) on drums, Ron Schneiderman on bass, Samara Lubelski (Hall Of Fame,..) on bass, John Moloney on drums, Doc Dunn on pedal steel, resonator, bass, drums, vocals, Luisa Reichenheim on harmonium, Zuma on bells. These musicians do not cooperate as one constant entity, but appear within the idea and concept of that group entity.
