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Roughin' It

by Ash & Herb

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1.
Zero In 11:11
2.
Jade Mirror 07:58
3.
4.
5.
6.
Solar Flair 10:25

about

Ash & Herb's new full-length album Roughin' It collects six free- improvisations recorded live to field recorder at various New England locales throughout summer 2019. Capturing the duo at both their most psychedelically mind-melting ("Ascension Tea", "Zero In") and their most organically, intuitively tuneful ("Mudra of Creation", "Solar Flair"), the set offers a peek into peak live Ash & Herb and honors the spaces--now mostly empty--that inspired these heady, momentary glimpses of Now time.

Roughin' It leads off with "Zero In" and "Jade Mirror", two spaced out deep-fried desert-psych boogies that begin in the sands and end in the stars. With layers of guitar and percussion setting the rhythmic chug, phased and droning organ meet fiery fuzz leads and wordless incantations to spiral off into distant constellations before gliding home. "Jade Mirror" leads into the slow motion gospel mantra "Mudra of Creation"; improvised into being at a rehearsal, the song took form seemingly of its own volition, appearing fully formed (complete with lyrics) in its channeled state. The version included here was the first ever live performance of the song in front of an audience, and as such communicates its message in uniquely free, open-ended cycles of melody traded off between vocals, guitar, and keys. As the pieces begin to layer into dense loops, a switch is flipped and the midnight train barrels down a new track that suddenly resembles Rainbow Road far more than Desert Hills.

Side B continues the lift with "Ascension Tea", one of the duo's personal favorite recordings under any name. Guided by an organ space-chord-cluster and simple looped arpeggiated guitar changes, the piece takes flight upon Ash's soaring widescreen vocal improvisation, as it enters into conversation with Matt's Frippertronic leads. More abstractly-yet-openly emotive than anything else in their catalog, it charts free-expression blossoming in real time like time-lapse photography. The relatively brief golden hour meditation "Master Margaret" constructs a natural bridge between "Ascension Tea" and the concluding sun hymn "Solar Flair", a track recorded outside during a rainstorm at a festival in rural Northern Maine. With an intent to encourage the sun to emerge through the cloud-cover, an extended 10-string guitar raga is lifted upon a bed of glowing synth-organ drone and sustained electric piano notes, ascending ever higher and freer with a performance that evokes the duo's work as Starbirthed more than any Ash & Herb release to-date.

Ash & Herb's spring plans to tour to Milwaukee Psych Fest and back in support of Roughin' It were abruptly canceled in mid-March; it is our hope that sharing these live highlights from last summer will hit the spot until we can all be sharing space in time together once again.

credits

released May 22, 2020

Ash Brooks: organ, synth, voice, bells, phaser, rotary
Matt LaJoie: guitars, percussion, voice, ocarina, tremolo, time machine, loops

Recorded live at:
1 - Zero Station, Portland, ME
2 & 3 - The Lilypad, Cambridge, MA
4 - Room 23 (Grime Studios), Portland, ME
5 - Sun Tiki Studios, Portland, ME
6 - Thomas Park (Arootsakoostik Festival), New Sweden, ME

Mixed & mastered by ML. Cover photo and filigree by Ash Brooks; lettering and design by ML.

Thank you to all who were "there".

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Flower Room Portland, Maine

Exploration & discoveries in improvisation & harmonization ☄ Tonal cosmology, virtual rurality, and hymns to the cosmos and the natural world, to heal and inspire a more harmonious You-We-All ☤ Welcome

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