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woodpecker wooliams



Last Updated: 12/29/2009

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Status: Single
City: Brighton
State: South
Country: UK
Signup Date: 12/11/2008

Blog Archive
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October 30, 2009 - Friday 
Hi folks-

two choice reviews have i seen today...

the first, a very warm and lovely review @ bearded magazine:
http://beardedmagazine.co.uk/wp/?p=1324

the second, only a 4/10, but a hilarious read (for me). I think it's quite sweet... ;)  


Andrew Williams, Americana Uk says:

Drowning

I don't think I'm really qualified to review this. I know that there's something interesting going on here - lots of harp, bells and whistles, flutes and reed instruments of varying types. These songs have a very oriental feel to them, as if you were listening into nine very personal Haiku delivered from lover to lover. That's probably why I feel all at sea if you get my drift. I feel like an intruder on someone's personal journey which is a bit disconcerting.

'The lamentable love of the barometer' appears to be a discourse on the feelings of the barometer for the weather it is monitoring - it does this in a metronomic beat with layered vocals and what appears to be flute and glockenspiel. 'Perm' at least provides some sanity with a delicate harp adding structure to a rather lovely melody. 'Diving Down' is all chuch organ and suicide by drowning. There's some sort of rattling which I will identify as being an attempt at replicating the creak of a ships rigging and rope. 'Out Walking' justifies the destruction of all recorders regardless of age or whether used in school. 'I Shot You' at least balances the need for experimentation with something akin to a song. There is a hidden song - we'll call it 'Bert' - and at last here we hear a voice without all the other fluff. Gemma Williams has a lovely voice, just a rather unconventional method of dissemanating her vision to the general populous.

Vocally, others have said there's a Kate Bush thing going on. Maybe. A bit of Bjork as well. Definitely bonkers in a lovingly endearing sort of way. For someone, somewhere, there will be pleasure to be taken from this.
8:07 PM 
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August 21, 2009 - Friday 
Diving Down was released yesterday on Autumn Ferment Records. We had a great gig last night and sold lots of CDs.
 
It's gone straight into Norman Records recommended list, and has recieved a 4-star first review from Psyche Van Het Folk (below). There should also be a track on BBC radio 6's Stuart Marconi's Freak Zone too on Sunday. Coolio!

Also, super-excitingly, we've got a gig on 24th September at the Union Chapel, London, supporting Nancy Elizabeth. Bring it on! xx

Autumn Ferment Rec.  :  Diving Down (UK,2009)****
This wonderfully arranged (with a professional sonic quality) privately recorded album has all the charms you can imagine from a psychfolk related artist, including the colourful dreamy fantasy state the songs are in. Just the first song reminded me a bit of the early Kate Bush, with the dancing around overdubbed vocal harmonies and the beautifully coloured lead voice in the singing. Other instruments are kora, omnichord, clarinet and recorder, clickclack woodblocks and high notes of glockenspiel with the odd feeling of the instrument’s limited range and high pitches giving a strange effect like a coloured fence around the songs (keeping Alice’s rabbit in). After the beautiful overdubs of multiple harmonies with voice and recorder on the first two tracks, “Perm” is just one voice with the harp-like kora. Being nearly half way, at this point the mood in the arrangements changes a bit. “Diving Down” sounds like a droning salute where the organ sounds are used like droning pipes in British Isles folk music, recalling a bit older European minstrel traditions, presumably without having meant to be so. Additional cow bells are like the previous glockenspiel additions added like equally oddly surrounding sound effects, mixed with water bottle arrangements. Around the time of “I shot you” I understood pretty much why Gemma’s voice and release was accepted on the same label as Lisa O Piu. The last two tracks increase the droning effect of the arrangements, and also the songs become more repetitive swinging, with more a ritually droning-lullaby sort of arrangements, with a certain psychedelic, if not meditative-towards the dream effect for the instrumental part. After a silence we hear a sparse acoustic song referring to a personal association made around the time of this creative circle of songs. Another beautiful to listen to album, a welcome addition to the sparse amount of psychfolk related albums.



What we say about Diving Down, by Woodpecker Wooliams: Norman Records 

This record left our Business Lady feeling happy.
'Diving Down' is the debut album from multi-instrumantalist/singer/songwriter Gemma Williams Woodpecker Wooliams. Taking retreat in an 800 year old cottage below a castle in Devonshire Williams has crafted a album of wondrous traditional folk and magical sea shanty's. Williams vocal is both beautiful and haunting where required but it's the balanced mix of chimes, bells, harps and dulcimers that give it a timeless quality that belongs to ancient folklore. Easily comparable to Joanna Newsom, Kate Bush and Coco Rosie at her most whimsical, 'Diving down' bridges the boundary between traditional folk and experimental pop that has been effortlessly archived by the likes of Bat for Lashes. A beautifully impressive collection of songs from an emerging songwriting talent with a great voice.
4:33 PM 
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May 2, 2009 - Saturday 

Current mood:  sneezy
well.. .the woodpecker has landed in london, and discovered the big smoke to be quite a fun place after all, and not so scary.

many thanks to both let's go baboon and wupadupa for having us at their nights, and to laurence of the diamond family archive for helping the gigs run smoothly. Having enjoyed myself so much- let's start booking more!

the first CD for this year is out now- a cute little felted pocket, handmade in Denmark, limited to 50 copies- I have some this end if Beard of Snails run out! It has 25 minutes of music- 4 little songs and a mighty 15 minute sound-adventure, featuring afore-mentioned laurence of DFA. In the mastering suite is debut UK full-length album 'Diving Down', due to be released by Autumn Ferment Records this July.

a track from Diving Down will be aired on Tom Robinson's BBC 6music show this weekend, late on sunday if you're a night-owl, and on listen-again for a week after that...

cheery-bye for now then...
tmwp xx
12:57 PM 
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March 13, 2009 - Friday 
as it says on the box:  BBC radio devon 'introducing' show with Paul Moxham, 30/03/09, 6pm- i'll be there, squeaking and twanging and tooting and talking. if you miss it, you can 'listen again' on the i-player. see ya there x
5:50 PM 
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March 9, 2009 - Monday 
one of my songs is going to played tonight on the BBC radio devon 'introducing' show. it also looks like i'll be heading in to record a little session for the show later on in the year. cool!

1:33 PM 
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