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Strange Tapestries

from Urthen Web by Rain Drinkers

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Originally released by Brave Mysteries on 100 black on reflective red, professionally duplicated cassette tapes.

"Rain Drinkers is the duo of Wisconsinites Joe Taylor and Xavier Kraal, creating evocative chamber music that flows through a wide range of contrasting movements with a cinematic ease. From spaghetti western-esque horn arrangements through hypnotic electric piano dirges overcome by adept hand drumming and delivered unto comforting cosmic resolve. Moments bring to mind an ecstatic yet equally patient take on the early Popol Vuh albums, but radically dynamic and steeped in a wide variety of organic atmospherics and fidelity. Another kindred vision is a specifically northern and wintry rendering of the soundtrack to Jodorowsky's "El Topo". Unknown to majority of the sonic voyager scene in the midwest, for the last two years these isolated mystery men have conjured and realized a inspiring new world of spiritist sound and we are proud to present this document as a small window into their astounding pocket of the universe."

- Brave Mysteries
www.bravemysteries.com
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"Rain Drinkers is a semi-mysterious duo of Wisconsin’s Joe Taylor and Zavier Krall (which turns to be an alias of Troy Schafer), who like to settle for monumental, folkified ambient in their work. Always appearing in a different scenery, dressed in old-school clothes, the duo bring the sort of intimacy alien to most psychedelic projects in the tape scene; the cover of Urthen Web sees the two people dressed in plain winter jackets and wearing hats (containing feathers), overlooking a vast, frozen winter landscape. The music on the landscape reflects this mood.
The opening “Strange Tapestry” creates an ominous, mournful vibe with a bassy drone and dead man style bluesy desert guitar passage in the style of Barn Owl. The funeralistic atmosphere is further developed with dual trumpets, which play hymns for the dead cowboys somewhere in the desert between the US and Mexico. The track then delves into a more ritualistic/pagan territory with fierce tribal drumming set to first an acoustic guitar and later to a series of undulating and relaxing electric organ drones (Hammond? Rhodes?) very much in the style of Popol Vuh’s In den Gärten Pharaos. The sound is deeply spiritual and almost New Age-like in style and the comparison of the two Wisconsinites to the work of the German master of atmospheres is more than apt.
The flipside’s “In the Central Loom”, like the previous track, begins with a bassy, cavernous drone, like thunder clouds rolling over a plain. A distant, faint sound of a flute emerges, calling the lost wanderers to the nearest village to find the shelter from the rain and the night. A simple, ululating electric organ melody plays while the wordless choir shapes the walls of the cave, bringing even more Barn Owl to mind. The scattered field recordings and a spacious acoustic guitar add the ritualistic feel to the music, conjuring dreams of might and unknown ancestors and the wildlife so rich before the white man came. The following string suite is a sort of a conclusion, a mourning soundtrack to the death of a million buffalos, who were once roaming the great plains and whose skulls create artificial mountains along the first transcontinental railroads.
Once again, the Brave Mysteries cassette label proves to be one of the masters of atmospheric music, releasing incredibly atmospheric and intricate music by projects like Burial Hex, Kinit Her, or Rain Drinkers. The cassette is stunning in its cinematic power, as if it was trying to be an alternative soundtrack to a Western movie revolving around the plight of Native American under the new white rule or the rituals of Native Americans before the whites came. Aesthetically, Rain Drinkers’ Urthen Web can be placed in the same area as Ajilvsga or Barn Owl, but musically it’s much more – more ornamented, eclectic and evocative. Highly recommended."

- Weed Temple
weedtemple.blogspot.com/2011/08/review-rain-drinkers-urthen-web-brave.html
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"Rain Drinkers are busy this week! Not only do we have this new tape in, there’s a pretty ace CD on Reverb Worship that just dropped too. That one had almost a kinda Godspeedy vibe to it, but this one’s a bit more introspective and measured, I suppose. It has a kinda spaghetti western vibe going on…I guess you might call it “chamber drone” or something if you were desperate to categorise it. These guys expertly create moods and textures that take you to new and unexpected places. It kind of feels like a midpoint between Popol Vuh’s organic and meditative spiritual grooves and the cosmic drift-and-chunter of Expo 70. On the second side it gets quite horror soundtracky, too, with spooky piano arpeggios and high pitched creaks alongside an ominous pulsing bass drone as choral one-note vocals drift in and out. I think I !
can hear trumpets and guitars in the distance in places, there’s some really interesting things going on with the texture in this track. I think these guys would do a great score for a survival game, actually. One of those ones whose objective is to keep you constantly on the verge of shitting yourself. They build tension beautifully; always melodically, but with the focus really being on tones and textures…I wouldn’t exactly call this a drone tape, but it certainly shares a lot in common with the best of the drone crop. Another fine release that probably won’t stick around for long."

- Norman Records
normanrecords.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/4-urthen-web-by-rain-drinkers/

credits

from Urthen Web, released June 1, 2011
Joe Taylor, Zavier Krall & the Creative Spirit
Photography and Design by Dani Dahlke
Mastered by Clay Ruby

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Rain Drinkers Madison, Wisconsin

Rain Drinkers music is made with a heady passion that keeps them moving forward, continuously expanding their pallet of sounds and stylistic touchstones. Yet, no matter how adventurous or exciting the musical terrain may be, the listener remains safely strapped in and always guided along by a familiar and benevolent presence. ... more

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