Stale Smoke And Indecision

Fruit of Forest “In Memory of J. Stokes #2 (Nesting Birds)” – Both of today’s selections are from artists on the tiny Sorbet label from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Fruit Of Forest is a collective of local Halifax musicians who adhere to two rules: improvise everything and never be photographed or filmed. Fruit Of Forest create an ephemeral, living sound that is at one with nature as well as technology. This track sounds like a beautiful campfire song, with the sound of digital crickets and birds mingling with some kind of mystical force as the band gently sing their modern spirituals. (Click here for the rather cryptic official Fruit of Forest webpage.)

Blood Peach “Gwendolyn Shakes Off The Snowflakes” – Though I cannot deny that this song is maudlin and melodramatic, I think that it speaks to the emotional truth of being a young person trapped in a nowhere town. This is a (self?)portrait of a lonely small town kid – he’s got a job at a cannery, he drinks too much wine, he knits a scarf for his girlfriend, and he’s overcome with jealousy and selfloathing any time another man so much as looks at her. But I understand that jealousy – it is born of a desperate desire to hang on to the few connections one has, and of being fully aware that losing anyone you love could lead to an even more profound sense of loneliness. (Click here to visit the official Blood Peach site.)