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Oh how easy to just wash our hands of this.
Easier than dealing with it’s trails of blood.
For with little more than opaque words you can conceal.
Such empty lies have so ably revised
the deeds our bodes have done
If we can’t deny it. then we will revise
and let time do as it may
how sobering it is to have the truth splayed out so naked and raw
such an animal thing unworthy of myth or song
so plain our lives born of random device that unfolds in cold and cruel ways
in we can’t deny it then we must revise it and hope time sees it our way
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you are the wind that has blistered the earth and scattered the seeds.
you are the salt in my wounds, but you melted all that froze.
you are the breath the cools my burns you are the breath that warms my cold, blue hands.
you are the drug that cripples me, but you are the only thrill I crave.
you are the weight that gives real substance to me, you are the weight that bows my burdened frame.
you are the wind that has blistered my world, but you’ve sculpted everything.
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oh how empty
oh how empty I am
oh how heavy
oh how heavy all this weight
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child let your heart be kind, May love never be scarce even in the leanest times.
it is all you control in this short and fleeting life.
child let your mind run wild. You are only young once and the world is shrinking down
remain weightless and free and dare life to hold you down
we are but an unclean thing find joy in the filth, joy in our unholy frames
for they are all that we have. so frail and debased.
remain weightless and free and refuse to be ashamed
so much is lost that should have been saved oh all that we've forgot because we were so ashamed of our animal ways
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how many thoughts we’ve just cast aside
how many dreams we’ve left to die on the vine
to watch the things you gave your life to broken and unrealized
and to hear the sounds that you thought to be true, twisted and out of tune
you must force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve you long after they are gone
and to hold on when there is nothing in you except for your will saying "hold on"!
if all you control is the love that you share and how you fill each unmerciful hour
then when you meet with loss or triumph or shame….. treat those impostors the same
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I want to laugh like I did when I didn't know better.
but I can't forget what I've learned
I want love like I've never know heartbreak and I want to give like I've never been taken
from.
can I forget all these burns?
oh to see again with infant eyes, to revel in such virgin sights.
I am too tired to start looking again
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a blight upon these crops a drought upon the soil. They are all Death's thankless deeds
that feed the shadowy things that bind this world to those unseen.
oh all the shadowy things that thrive in each fearful void. Oh death's thankless deeds must claim
every living thing, but so few go willingly.
at a distance denied and when faced begrieved. begging please no more drought upon
this soil, please no more blight upon these crops.
oh how we misperceive deaths thankless deeds ever feeding the dark.
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a bell
a bell
a bell must be
a bell must be hollow to sing
it rings
it rings; I am empty.
so still
so still
so still deep water must be to see beneath
to be hollow, with no marrow
light as a lifted wing
light enough to sing
so still
so still
so still
deep water must be
to see
so still.
I am empty
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'Revisionist', from composer William Ryan Fritch (Vieo Abiungo), brings an emphatic close to his incredibly prolific 2014. Mere months after the release of Death Blues 'Ensemble'—his powerhouse collaboration with drummer and new music ringleader Jon Mueller—Fritch has produced his most focused and dynamic work yet. Energized by the collaboration with Mueller (Volcano Choir), the otherwise self-sufficient multi-instrumentalist surrendered his auterist sensibilities, seeking creative alliances with Benoit Pioulard, D.M. Stith, Origamibiro and Esme Patterson. The results are scintillating. From the elegant minimalism of “Winds” (produced by Pioulard) or the exultant vocals of “Gloaming Light” (performed by D.M. Stith), these inspired partnerships take Fritch’s instrumentation and craft to new destinations, employ new techniques, and further it’s immediacy and appeal.
Fritch writes, “Our physical laws do not in fact generate anything. They serve only to describe regularities and consistent relationships in nature. I embrace the notion of there being no immutable truth, that in its absence is an endlessly nuanced and novel experiential universe which—by eclipsing our feeble processing—leaves us innervated, enthusiastic of our unknowing.” This echoes the aching shimmer of “Impostors,” in which he sings: “To hear the sounds that you thought to be true, twisted and out of tune/ you must force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve you long after they are gone.” Those of us who know Fritch from his explosive instrumental music will be startled by his fragile, supple voice, which glides and undulates over the compositions with melodious confidence, adding another compelling dimension to his ornate sound world.
He continues, “The record explores the psychology of revisionism: how we forget evil, distort it, skim past it, papering over those aspects of history we find uncomfortable.” This way the tense, physical, and oxidized “Infant Sight” lands like a blow to the gut: “Can I forget all these burns? Oh to see again with infant eyes, to revel in such virgin sights/ I am too tired to start looking again.” Fritch has gradually made a name for himself through his peerless ability to build strange, looming musical architecture, seemingly the Babel project of a dozen artists and processes, but indeed nothing more than the sound of one expert journeyman and his live acoustic instrumentation. His kaleidoscopic array of layered sound is still foremost, but now more than ever his savant’s orchestration serves the song structure, not the reverse.
The artwork adorning Revisionist’s deluxe vinyl art booklet is the work of celebrated Brazilian artist João Raus. His work Arachne depicts the Greco Roman myth of a great weaver who insulted and bested Athena with her great skill, only to have her work torn to shreds and be condemned to live out her days ever-weaving as a spider. Ruas’s work itself is ripped into ribbons and collaged into arresting imagery that beautifully complements and enhances the album’s unique musical amalgam.
Accompanying 'Revisionist' are two contrasting EPs that serve as illuminating appendices to its aural aesthetic. 'Heavy' and 'Empty' are raw and unfiltered explorations of the distinct contrasting elements at play in the LP. 'Heavy' showcases a dense and propulsive maximalism that marked so many of Fritch’s early recordings as Vieo Abiungo, but realized with the evocative production and ruddy, unkempt western sound pallet of his most recent work. While 'Empty' is a work of patience and restraint, a look forward in many ways to the expressive and dynamic power uncovered by simplifying and paring down his ambitious, large scale works. Together these recordings are a formidable display of craft and skill from a composer no longer stymied by his expansive range, but empowered by it.
released February 10, 2015
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Originally released on Lost Tribe Sound. See Catalog:
losttribesound.bandcamp.com
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"BEST OF 2015 : Music For Capricious Souls Adrift In Noir-fi" - HEADPHONE COMMUTE
“Revisionist [is] a grand and sweeping statement marked by staggering beauty and a careful patience” - STEREOGUM
"Fritch's haunting vocals and thumping percussion...evoke a sense of euphoric dread" - VICE
"Orchestral folk that rattles you to the core with its massive beauty" - FLAVORWIRE
"Equal parts melancholic, Americana-flavored pop and percolating, post-minimalist chamber music." - PITCHFORK
"Once you’re in, you’re in deep — it’s a hallucinatory experience, bursting with colour and immediacy" - FLUID RADIO
9/10 Stars - "A rare feat of immersive, affecting and explorative sounds and concepts, Revisionist is a bold, pioneering effort to be cherished and championed." - EXCLAIM
"Ranked #3: THE SILENT BALLET'S BEST 100 ALBUMS OF 2015" - FRAGILE OR POSSIBLY EXTINCT
"Fritch’s music is impactful and threatening, yet his lyrics remain delicate, rarely tempting concrete interpretation." - TINY MIX TAPES
"It’s a conceptually overwhelming experience, but Fritch’s gentle vocals feel warm and reassuring." - CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND
"BEST COVER ART OF 2015 - Despite its subject matter, the album doesn’t come across as a United Nations summit. Instead, the music echoes with the weight of prophecy." - A CLOSER LISTEN
"This is complex lyrical music. It’s bombastic without being overbearing, and there’s a vulnerability and innocence here that is nothing short of breathtaking. His ability to sew these contradictory elements together is the real key to this album. It really does feel like something definitive." - CYCLIC DEFROST
"Revisionist is to a large degree a song-based album that naturally situates Fritch's distinctive voice, an ear-catching instrument that undulates in tandem with the slow, dream-like flow of the music, at the forefront." - TEXTURA
"The album travels great distances in the span of its 10 tracks (often even in just one song), transitioning from finger-picked acoustic guitars and haunting choruses to echoing snares and fluttering string orchestras." - DIFFUSER FM
"This is the free-gan style of modern-baroque-classic that all DIY orchestral auteurs and musicians should take note of." - IMPOSE MAGAZINE
"There’s an impossibly gripping aesthetic to this..., a feeling that goes far beyond your headphones, your building, even the city that you’re in." - ART INFO
"A rich and soaring soundscape that envelops the listener in a beautiful ethereal haze" - THE BAY BRIDGED
"Best Album of 2015" - SON OF MARKETING
"Favorite of 2015" - HI54LOFI
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All Songs Written, Recorded and Mastered by William Ryan Fritch
Except "Winds" Co-Written with Benoit Pioulard (Thomas Meluch)
"Unholy Frames" Co-Written with Origamibiro (Thomas William Hill)
Vocals on "Gloaming Light" by DM Stith
Vocals on "Still" Co-written & Performed by Esme Patterson
Artwork by João Raus
Design & Layout by Ryan Keane
Additional Layout by Daniel Murphy
Copyright Lost Tribe Sound, LLC
Published by Settled Scores (ASCAP 2015)
williamryanfritch.com
losttribesound.com
settledscores.com
joaoruas.com