Thank you, strangefire:
Boletes ☂ Khaki
~Headlights aimed at the carsick horizon~
If you didnt know(I didnt) a Bolete is a general species of mushroom.
Boletes aka Roy Gornall is a unique human being from Edinburgh, Scotland who makes a particularly odd brand of atmospheric folk or “freak folk”(haven’t heard that term in a while).
Admittedly “Khaki” is a slight departure from his other material but I’ve been listening to a lot of Mascis and Barloe related garage/folk stuff over the weekend so this track seemed the most fitting for me to post.
I love how sullen and downtrodden it feels; like you gulped down a fistful of pills for the walk home, washed it down with some whiskey but never made it past the trailing blurry hinterlands your mind created somewhere along the way.
Heartfelt glum chord progressions, trudging drums and strange but very inventive experimental vocal takes in this song make “Khaki” the crowning jewel of Boletes’ debut album “FLAWS” for me.
The album shows a lot of heart but for me can falls short at times.. Which generally I would find fault with but in Boletes’ case and the aptly titled album “FLAWS” makes these little imperfections oddly poetic. It makes me think that Roy Garnall might be one of those musicians who fearlessly leaps into action without being phased by whatever second guesses might be buzzing around in his head.
He definitely seems to be one of those musicians who shows improvement every album he makes by correcting many(if not all) his previous short comings and flaws in previous attempts.
In this day and age these are the types of musicians that learn to persevere and continue to grow as artists as opposed to just fizzle out creatively after their first clash with the infamous “buzz”.
Here’s one more of the stellar tracks from FLAWS entitled “Creature”
Boletes - FLAWS - 02 Creature by boletes
It’s kind of an odd mix but it seems that you can catch Boletes opening for Unicorn Kid in June. For details follow the Boletes tumblr, and check out his bandcamp and soundcloud
I’d kill to be on Pitchfork, but I guess I’m just one of those guys with the mispelt, out of focus name.
Very proud of this review. It’s more or less exactly how I see FLAWS and i’m pretty amazed someone else see’s it that way too:
“I am a ghost and nobody’s scared / they walk straight through me.” The opening lines of ‘Sodium Light’ might lead you to think Roy Gornall aka Boletes has some confidence issues. Elsewhere on this eight track mini-album of spare acoustic freak-folk, the Edinburgh musician takes this a stage further singing of poison, burial, weeds, impermanence and death. Songs are just acoustic guitar and voice with added atmospherics and layered electric guitar with occasional placid drums – like a softer-hued Espers or a quieter Sunburned Hand Of The Man without the drones. In ‘The Pigeon In The Murder’, Gornall sings of flaws and difference and not fitting in but in a child-like, hopeful lullaby. In the more malevolent, ‘Creature’ he imagines himself as a slithering subterranean dweller “slipping down the wishing well.” The mood Gornall creates is one of gently oppressive creepiness and claustrophobia – sounding like a less highly strung David Tibet - as he navigates these different characters and experiences.
Most songs are without a chorus or changing time signatures so there is a steadfast progression through the gloomy world of Boletes (I first listened to this late at night, alone, on headphones. Spooky). But some songs also off-set the eerieness with some quiet beautiful instrumental arrangements or touches: that hopeful chorus in ‘The Pigeon In The Murder’, the soothing strummed guitar of ‘Creature’, lonesome harmonica on opening prelude ‘When The Swelling’s Gone’ and the jaunty rhythms and brushed drums of ‘Eaten By Light’. ‘Khaki’ takes a different tack: a sleepy but sure of purpose instrumental with disembodied, heavily distorted even disguised voice over the top. It’s simultaneously distressing and calming.
There is a slightly theatricality to Gornall’s delivery – a over-eager relish for the words and phrases that signal the gloom - but there is also something deeply affecting (yes and downright creepy) to the mood it creates over a not-quite-an-album running time of 25 minutes. “Flaws” finishes with ‘Fruitless’: “It’s all going to be [long pause] fine / It’s all in my mind.” It’s a poignant but ambiguous and sinister finale – is the gloom imagined or is the relief? Dark tales for dark nights – or false dawns.
So this week, FLAWS has really taken off; boletes has been featured on more blogs, had radio play, and started selling physical copies, with some in record stores!
Today ‘Creature’ has had well over 2000 plays on soundcloud. Things are looking up :).
Special thanks to the blogs below, check them out:
You can now buy signed physical copies of FLAWS on bandcamp
and don’t forget to like me on Facebook
Roy x
(Source: boletes.co.uk)
‘FLAWS’ the debut album by boletes is out now. The ‘name your price’ digital album is downloadable via bandcamp with 50% of the download profits going to bring back Edinburgh’s ‘Forest cafe’.
Limited edition physical copies of the album are available for pre-order with the release date still to be announced.
Download your copy here : http://boletes.bandcamp.com/ you can also listen below.
Forest cafe press pack: http://www.theforest.org.uk/forestpresspack.pdf
http://forestrecords.org/
boletes
‘FLAWS’ the debut album by boletes will be released on the 28th of March 2012. The digital album will be downloadable after naming your price via bandcamp with 50% of the download profits going to bring back Edinburgh’s ‘Forest cafe’.
Limited edition physical copies of the album will be available after the release date (details still to be announced)
Forest cafe press pack: http://www.theforest.org.uk/forestpresspack.pdf
http://forestrecords.org/
boletes
