I don’t actually know who put this out, how long it is, or anything like
that. Dan Beckman handed it to me and there’s no indentifying marks
except for who is on it and on which side, that’s it. Nonetheless, I’m
going to try and write about it as cohesively as possible. Both of
these artists currently hail from Belfast, Maine and although they both
can be described as “experimental folk” (for the sake of putting names
on things), there’s definitely enough of a contrast between the two,
with Shep’s caterwaul opposite Caethua’s ambience, to make for an
interesting listen.
Shep and Me is the identity of Matthew Himes and friends,
howling balladry over low-volume, fuzzed-out guitars, dogs
barking, and electronics rattling. Himes’ voice is gruff yet
high-pitched, warm and inviting, like a campfire, you want to be near
it, but certainly not in it. This is full-on campfire music, sitting on
picnic tables underneath the canopy on a scout trip.
Caethua is Clare Hubbard, who can also be seen in the improv noise band
D.B.H. and her own totally fucked rap act,
Sports.
Although she shows her incredible singer/songwriter chops on both piano
and acoustic guitar in this format, she doesn’t leave the noise behind,
connecting all of her songs into one long track with garbled organics
of birds singing and water boiling (at least that’s what it sounds
like).
Comes with a one-color silkscreen insert. I don’t know
where you can find it, but I think this might actually be a preview of
songs to be put on an LP or something in the future. That’s totally
unfounded, but keep your ear to the ground because it’s worth hunting
for.