Off The Record Presents: A Carloman Christmas Special!

Carloman- A Carloman Christmas

Just in time for the Holidays! Class up your merriment this year with Carloman's modernized take on chants and hymns. In the spirit of Carloman (the band, not the King), spreading Christmas cheer to all who can hear, comes the gift of a new song to be added to their Christmas Classics already on Bandcamp, La Marche Des Rois. Scroll down to listen and click to download.

And bonus, we caught up with Carloman again to find out the latest news on the band's progression in the last few years. We're always impressed about their perseverance and philological style of music. Here is what the band has been up to and relive our previous interview with Carloman here.
 

UKN: Since we've last talked you released your second album in 2013. What has changed between your debut and your sophomore album "Carloman II"?

C: Hi Nichy! First of all thank you for your support, we really appreciate it! In terms of what has changed since Carloman I, mainly a lot has changed in our personal lives -- Elliot has moved to California (he misread the state name as “Carloman”) and Dominic had a son (Carloman III?). We also started up a post-production audio house called “House of Resonance” in which we do all manner of post-audio work.

UKN: You made an impressive video for "Quam Dulcis Vita Fuit." Can you tell us about the process behind it and the characters in the video? Did you collaborate with anyone in particular? 

C: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Although we edited all the footage together, the artwork was entirely from the mind of Scorpion Dagger. We stumbled upon his work one day and realized that he had unintentionally pretty much already made the perfect Carloman video! The only obstacle was forcing him to let us put it together. Thankfully, after a few visits to the torture chamber, he approved of the idea and the rest is medieval history.

UKN:  Will Carloman be making more videos in the future?

C: We hope so!

UKN:  Going back, what are the origins behind the band Carloman?

C: A passion for eclectic folklore, baroque, renaissance and medieval music, and a deep appreciation for history and culture. And for making up weird stories. We were also both coming off of more traditional bands and wanted to try something different, less electric, more raw and “free”... In the course of some random discussions, we pondered the could-have-been world of Carloman, the historical character. Throw a little bit of whiskey and old Belgian ale into the mix and you end up with Carloman, the band.

UKN:  Both of you (Dominic and Elliot) live on opposite sides of the US, now.  Does it have an impact on your music?

C: It does require more discipline and we are left with fewer spontaneous parodic outtakes at the end which is too bad, but it can be done! As for an actual impact on the music -- not too much I’d say. Regardless where we are, we each have our evolving musical lives and what makes any creative collaboration interesting is the merging of those sets of influences, which happens even 20 million miles apart (or however far NY is from LA). 

UKN:  Any chance of seeing Carloman live in the future?

C: He’s been dead for 1200 years but perhaps, just perhaps, on judgement day Carloman will live again. And who wouldn't want to spend the day of reckoning going to see a pre-baroque pop duo?

UKN: Dominic, what are your impressions of the live tribute to Gene Clark's "No Other" that saw you onstage with members of Beach House, Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes? 

C: Actually, I wrote up a little blog post about it on our House of Resonance website earlier this year. Since then, we got back together once more to headline the End of The Road festival near Bristol in the UK in August. It was wonderful to get to know all these guys a little bit and see that they are just as wonderful people as they are musicians. It was a very special event, full of positive energy and good spirits. It truly was a privilege to be a part of it. Pitchfork released a full concert video of one of our shows at the Music Hall of Williamsburg if you'd like to check it out!


UKN:  I am very fond of your sublime version of "Corpus Christi Carol". Are you planning to cover other artists or traditionals in the future?

C: Thank you! Well on that note, allow us to officially announce our new Carloman Christmas track right now! This newest track is called La Marche Des Rois and it has a wonderful history: the oldest known version is attributed to your very own Giovanni Battista Lully, court composer of Louis XIVth of France (though the melody may well pre-date as a Provencale song). Lully’s version, in a major key, was a military march, La Marche de Turenne. It seems that the Epiphany lyrics about the three kings, covered here, came about in the early 1700s. Later, in 1872, Georges Bizet reprised the musical theme for L’Arlesienne. In our version we tried to honor all of these little facets of the song’s history through our interpretation and orchestration. We like our Carloman Christmas overloaded with history.



UKN:  What's on the horizon for Carloman?

C: The story of Carloman is open-ended. We have a few ideas for follow-up releases. We enjoy treating them as generational lineage, ie. Carloman I, Carloman II (both real people). While there is technically no Carloman III, there are all sorts of bizarre relatives (also named Carloman) with whom the tradition can live on. Maybe the eventual twist will be that WE are the direct descendents of Carloman! (which we will sing about 75 albums later, at the peak of everyone’s interest).


UKN:  Where can people listen to your album and follow you?

C: Bandcamp and Facebook! Our music is always donation-based and our court marketing guy has also been dead for 1200 years so we truly rely on everyone’s word of mouth to spread the gospel according to Carloman! Thanks again for all your support, Nichy!

Carloman Bandcamp
Carloman Facebook
Carloman on Twitter
House of Resonance

(in italiano dopo il jump break)

Knifeville is back! Man on Wire live tonight at Cas'Aupa! Plus interviews to Stefano Pasutto and Fabio Arnosti

Last time I posted something on this sleepy blog was to talk about one of the best bands in our region, Garden Wall. In the meantime the band won the 16th edition of the "Darwin-Stratos" prize (do I need to remind you that we're talking about prog rock?) and has been playing a few dates around Northern Italy. We'll get to talk about them again pretty soon since the band is already working on their next record, which will be called "Psicomachie" (unless they change their minds)! Now I'd like to talk a little bit about two more bands from Friuli with a huge potential: Arnoux and Man on Wire. Italian speakers can listen to two interviews I recorded with their main men, Fabio Arnosti and Stefano Pasutto respectively. For non-Italian speakers I want to sum the two conversations up. Starting from Fabio and his trilogy of eps... The Magic of L'Amour, Makes Wonders, Dans le Living... Which of course form one long title. The central theme is the return to nature or, to be more precise, to the "natural" rhythms of life, criticizing the mechanical aspects of everyday life and the way we're living or, better still, surviving. The recording studio used by Arnoux (Mushroom) is set in the mountains, in the village of Poffabro (PN) and is managed by Enrico Berto. The setting is ideal if you don't want to be distracted by the city and its tricks (no internet available over there either, it seems!) Musically the three eps were divided in this way because of differences in style but also because graphics/design are central in this project too. Please make sure to check it out and listen to the songs for free! Classy avant-pop, sometimes turning towards rockier sounds and other times towards electronica. Sam Prekop and The Sea and Cake come to mind every now and then. Dans Le Living hasn't been released yet but should be out pretty soon. As for live shows, please check Arnoux' facebook, as there will be a few gigs soon. We can consider this a solo work, although a few musicians-friends are taking part in this and help re-arrange the tracks, the sounds, especially for the live shows. Live personnel will include Daniele Brandolisio (guitar), Enrico Poddighe (drums), Vita Zorat (keyboards).

As for Man on Wire..They released one of the best albums that I've had the chance to listen to in the last few months! It came out in late January 2012 for Knifeville records (Arnoux is also in the Knifeville roster).West Love is a must for fans of well... Love, the Smiths and Mercury Rev circa "All is Dream". I met Stefano Pasutto (guitar, vocals) a few days before the release date, at the annual record fair in Pordenone (great spot for an interview). It's really amazing how he admitted he had never written a full song or sung before. Stefano is a member of the Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti live line-up and has been in many other local bands for many years now. Having time on his hands because of a sickness two winters ago he started writing and then played these tracks to friends Nicolò Fortuni (drums) and Marco Pilia (bass guitar) that showed a lot of interest and enthusiasm about them. Cristiana Basso Moro completes the line-up, she plays guitar too and sings some backing vocals. You can listen to the album here. Their live performances seem to be pretty pretty good, they've been playing all over Italy... So don't miss them tonight at one of the best venues around here, Cas'Aupa, in Udine. You can check their website or facebook page. Their name refers to Philippe Petit, the French acrobat who walked on a rope between the Twin Towers in 1974!
And here is Knifeville's bandcamp page

Off The Record: Interview with Carloman

(Sotto per Italiano) 

Hmmm... I don't really remember how it happened... Carloman and I might have been stuck in a time vortex together. Maybe the band came from the past using some medieval time-travel machine or maybe I dreamt the whole thing. But a dream wouldn't explain how I found this codex on my kitchen table. Apparently Carloman hail from New York, (or will when North America is finally discovered). 

"An ancient story of bestiary, religious

and political strife drowned in the deafening whispers

of tortured souls tumbling through bileand chaos

into the beautiful nausea

that is the world of Carloman..."

I found them on the infinite spring of talents that is Bandcamp and became fascinated by their medieval baroque pop, mixed with a few more modern sounds. The songs that you'll find on their self-titled debut, released July 10, were written, recorded and mixed by Dominic Matar and Elliot Thompson. 

If this interview doesn't intrigue you then you must be a beslubbering, ill-breeding hugger-mugger. And if you have to ask what that means exactly, Carloman will be happy to tell you. I suggest listening to the streaming of this album while you read this interview:  

Listen to Carloman on Bandcamp

 
UKN: When did your band form, who's involved in it? Can you tell us something about the history of your band and former projects if there were any?
  
Carloman: Initially, our wish was to create an interpretive performance with our brother Charles, but his mind was on war and expansion. Therefore the responsibility befell us to tell our tale of woe, love, and fraternal betrayal. And scary monsters.
 
UKN: Your music and lyrics revolve around medieval times. How did this passion for all things medieval start?
 
Carloman: We do not understand the question. We are a man -- nay, a minor King -- of our times.
 
UKN:  What do you think about other bands from the past and present time that take inspiration from those tales and tradition? I'm thinking of Anthony Phillips, Pentangle, The Albion Band, Trees, Espers, Comus for example.
 
Carloman: Albions? We tend not  to associate with the plebian art of the north. As for the rest of your posse, from whence they came? Any and all Byzantine art is forbidden within our royal grounds or something. Proceed with caution with the pentangle, and heed our warning that in these lands pentangles are punishable by fire.

Nay, recant these obscure and dangerous references of yours and admire the knightly sentiments of Brihamoff the Fat and the polyphony of Brom the ‘Armless, as well as many of the well-known Gregorians of the day (Bryce the Mute and Leofrick the Indistinguishable).
 
UKN: Some of your songs are vaguely similar to those of another important American band, the Fleet Foxes. Do you feel close in spirit to them, are they a model for you?
 
Carloman: What fashion of fox is this? Is it a Lombard delicacy? We should very much like to obtain one. Please spare no expense and send us one presently. You will be generously rewarded.
 
UKN: In your songs I also heard, besides some traditional instruments, more modern ones like synths (if my ears didn't fool me...)  Was this your choice or an unavoidable fact, since some of these instruments are very hard to find in good conditions (like an harpsychord for example)?

Off the Record - Intervista a Travis Johnson dei Grooms

Travis, Emily e Jim dei Grooms

(English after the jump.)

Ho conosciuto la musica del trio dei Grooms pochissimo tempo fa  ma mi ha cominciato a prendere fin dal primo ascolto, a tal punto da spingermi a contattare subito la band per saperne di più; da lì l'idea dell'intervista era cosa inevitabile, vista anche l'estrema gentilezza e disponibilità del loro chitarrista e cantante Travis Johnson. Completano la formazione Jim Sykes alla batteria ed Emily Ambruso al basso. Il loro secondo lavoro "Prom" è uscito da una decina di giorni su Kanine Records ed è disponibile anche in vinile. Con l'augurio che possano farsi conoscere anche nel vecchio continente e che vengano in tour da quese parti quanto prima. Potete ascoltare diversi brani di loro produzione in streaming sulla loro pagina di Bandcamp, sul loro Myspace e non dimenticatevi di dare un'occhiata al loro Blog.

UKN:  La storia della vostra band, Grooms, è molto interessante. Innanzitutto leggo che tu, Travis, ti sei spostato dal Texas a Brooklyn, proprio come fece Aurelio Valle dei Calla diversi anni fa. Eri attratto dalla scena indie di Brooklyn? Avendo già menzionato i Calla, devo aggiungere che riscontro una certa similiarità di sound tra voi e altre band di Brooklyn (TV on the Radio, Yeasayer)...

Travis: Mi sono spostato a Brooklyn poco dopo aver finito il college, la stessa cosa vale per Emily. Visitai la città per la prima volta quando avevo 18 anni, pensando da subito che quello era il posto dove volevo vivere, a quell'età non avevo ancora visto nulla che si potesse anche lontanamente paragonare a Brooklyn. E poi c'era una certa storia musicale che Dallas, la città dalla quale provengo, non possedeva. Non stavo proprio pensando alla scena di New York o di Brooklyn all'epoca, volevo solo viverci e fare musica lì. Mi piace il fatto che tu abbia menzionato i TVOTR e gli Yeasayer perché quelle sono due band, insieme ad altre di cui siamo amici, che fanno le loro cose senza preoccuparsi delle mode o di andare dietro ad un certo "sound". Sono più interessati a trovare la loro "voce" vera e propria, come poi tutte le altre band di quà, penso.

UKN: La vostra musica fonde momenti dark e contemplativi con un'aura sognante che si sviluppa attorno ad un sound eclettico. La formula è quella della canzone da 3 minuti ed è già perfetta di per sé, ma immagino che poi improvvisiate dal vivo.

Travis: L'improvvisazione è molto importante durante il processo compositivo e ci sono parti costruite all'interno di ciascuna canzone dove abbiamo la possibilità di andare "fuori di testa" e fare ciò che ci pare. Alcuni di noi, per non dire noi tutti siamo estimatori del "free-form" in musica, dal jazz al noise. E' un fatto liberatorio. Ma apprezziamo anche il pop, così cerchiamo di ottenere il massimo da suoni pop/sognanti e dal materiale dark, giocando sui contrasti, combinandoli insieme.