Author: Christopher Hoffmann Jacob

Dayton Ohio’s Coppice Halifax brings us two long-form projects to ease us into the coming summer. Springthaw is a unique and robust project, utilizing live recordings and improvisation to create vivid soundscapes. With all 4 tracks from the 2 EP’s played back to back, it results in nearly 2 hours of dense sonic exploration, reaching into the dark corners or ambience, electronics and dub tendencies.

Both EP’s are available via bandcamp either as Digital Downloads or Compact Discs.

Initially conceived as a more open-ended project, Springthaw manifested itself as four near-half-hour pieces that herald the arrival of Spring. This second volume contains the third and fourth pieces recorded for the project – Dark Room and Wind Hues – both bubbling over with organic textures and floral hiss. Deep dub techno basslines and rhythms anchor a drifting pastoral landscape of melting ice, blossoming color and bounding green hills.

Springthaw was improvised and captured live in the White Pillar Workshop, using a Gemini PDT-6000 turntable to select sides of heavily processed vinyl (solo piano pieces and chamber music) which set an atmospheric tone above/below a Korg ER-1 drum machine, Yamaha QY-70 sequencer, Grass S10CTCMA and a Unisonic “Chippendale” 8-track receiver (channeling local AM radio stations), augmented by FX units including three Moogerfoogers, Alesis Quadraverb, Pioneer spring reverb box, Boss RV-3, SL-20 & RC-20 and a Behringer US600. Everything was mixed on a Peavey FX24 hybrid mixer, and resident collaborator John-Paul Kramer (Coal, Casio Commander) assisted with pitch and modulation of the vinyl sides during three of the four performances.

Springthaw is (at present) a two-volume set, much like the previous Earthworks, Autochromata and the as-yet-unpublished Cedar Mastodon. Time, and seasonal change, will tell whether or not there will be further installments next year. The two volumes make a solid companion/postscript to the recently reinstated 24xCD-R set Dripping Earth, which also venerates Spring in its own way.

released May 30, 2017

W/P by Brian Grainger. Recorded live at White Pillar Workshop, March 2017. Assisted by John-Paul Kramer on “Dark Room”. Mastered by The Analog Botanist, April 2017. Photograph by Brian, Dayton 2017. This is Milieu Music number ABX63.