Harnetty, Brian / American Winter
Album: American Winter   Collection:General
Artist:Harnetty, Brian   Added:Dec 2007
Label:Atavistic/Truckstop Audio  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2008-01-27 Pull Date: 2008-03-30 Charts: Classical/Experimental
Week Ending: Mar 30 Feb 24 Feb 10 Feb 3
Airplays: 1 2 2 4

Recent Airplay
1. Mar 24, 2008: Emphysema For Emphasis
As I Lay On The Parairie, And Looked At The Stars
4. Feb 06, 2008: Brownian Motion
As I Lay On The Parairie, And Looked At The Stars
2. Feb 20, 2008: Brownian Motion
"We'll Look For You If We Come Back"
5. Feb 04, 2008: Emphysema For Emphasis
"Thank You, Vern Hanson"
3. Feb 18, 2008: Emphysema For Emphasis
As I Lay On The Parairie, And Looked At The Stars
6. Jan 30, 2008: Brownian Motion
Speaking To The American Farmer

Album Review
Your Imaginary Friend
Reviewed 2008-01-02
Archival recordings of Appalachian folk singers/radio broadcasts, with studio banter/outtakes, etc placed over soundbeds of piano, sometimes minimal, always dissonant. This mix is sorta obviously juxtaposed, but the recordings might not be listenable otherwise, relegated to novelty/historical archives. The sound beds are quite interesting and cool, experimental at times but mostly appropriate feeling banjo, out of tune piano, traditional instruments, feel. Its nothing new to create experimental collage out of old records/sound sources, but its pretty damn cool to have done it while maintaining an historical archival sense to it all like its done here. Great stuff.

1) old timey singer in the studio sings simple folk song, captured with banter, with sound bed of eno’esque sparse piano
2)
17 second radio promo/commercial
3) nearly creepy female vocals made creepier with piano and electronic soundbed
4) story telling by an old man layered with a capela folk song and player piano
5) radio excerpt of lovely 1940’s yodel style western, female duet, unfortunately brief, cut-off
6) radio news reports over soundbed of piano playing, introduces the president but he never appears, a perfect intro to a next song with Duh-bya or the like
7) woman singing simple folk song over toy pianos
8) brief harmonium and fiddle 9) similar to #3 but piano never turns electronic
10) recording of funeral story from 1928, over toy piano, electronic washes
11) radio sample intro, then banjo playing soundbed with field recordings of conversations with old timers and old woman singing minor toned folk song
12) snippets of radio program, farming subjects, with piano
13) very brief, Arthur Godfrey on the radio, “praise the lord and pass the ammunition”
14) doubled piano playing and dulcimer provides cool soundbed to more folk songs
15) wartime radio broadcast to start, then old woman telling stories, singing over harmonium and toy piano
16) minimal music with female and male folk singing juxtaposed
17) brief recording of toothless old man you cant hardly understand, weird


Track Listing
1. The Night Is Quite Advancing   9. While Pacing A Garden, I Paused For To Hear (I Listened A Moment, Then Turned Me
2. Its A Wintry Outside Tonight, But Inside   10. "I Was Interested In The Story You Just Told Me About The Funeral"
3. I'll Cross The Briny Ocean, I'll Cross The Deep Blue Sea   11. In London City I Used To Dwell
4. I'll Have To Go Off And Be Gone Tonight   12. Speaking To The American Farmer
5. As I Lay On The Parairie, And Looked At The Stars   13. "Thank You, Vern Hanson"
6. The Famous Goldfish Bowl (Which Is Really Just A Huge Jar)   14. I Am On The Gospel Highway (My Heard Has Brought Me Home)
7. "That's Drunkard's Dream, Nearly Everybody Knows It"   15. The Soldier Pulled Off His Uniform Of Blue
8. Instrumental With Fiddle And Harmonium   16. Soon We'll Reach The Starry Sky
  17. "We'll Look For You If We Come Back"