So discussion can flow freely from the various rolling psych/drone/freak threads. And also because they have enough releases now to warrant some further attention.
Anyway, a touch of background -- as little as is known. Visitations are a band from Portland, Maine, where the labels that have released their work so far are based. They're a trio, with at least one guy (Brendan, owner or co-owner of the Strange Maine store) and one woman -- all sing and, presumably, perform -- and perform they have, at various shows opening for other touring acts, but only every so often and by no means regularly. (Most often they appear as part of the running series of Strange Maine events, as the schedule of past and upcoming shows demonstrates.) There are no further credits at all on their releases so far -- no songtitles, no names, nothing. I've talked to Nemo at Time-Lag and he says that they're by no means recluses, but they are extremely wary about talking about their art and so far have not. This may stay this way for the immediate future, at least. They have no webpage, no MySpace profile, nothing providing any info on their label pages, and apparently no interviews have ever been done. It's just them and what they choose to put out, which by default makes this very thread the closest thing to a webpage they have, yet.
There have been three full-length releases, each titled after the band, one single and one spin-off album so far to my knowledge, and so here we go:
The first, self-released CDR, from 2004:
http://kuci.org/~nraggett/VisitationsFirst.jpg
Self-released but distributed by Time-Lag -- Nemo said something in a mailout that summer about how he had a stash of these, and I forget his exact wording but was intrigued, not to mention taken by a nice low price, admittedly. There are apparently multiple covers possible with this thing, possibly each unique -- you can see another one via the only major review I've noticed on-line for any Visitations release, Steve Rybicki's take in Fake Jazz from October 2004. As the review breaks down the album almost completely I'll refer you to that for more information, but I'll just add that this is a lovely listen, some kinda combination of acid folk, uplifting country gospel, rough-hewn rambles and just alien enough shades and tones to intrigue for every new hearing.
The second CDR, released via Time-Lag, 2005:
http://kuci.org/~nraggett/VisitationsSecond.jpg
I wish the scan could show it better, but the paper sleeve has an embossed 'Visitations' just below the drawing, which is actually printed directly on the enclosed plastic sleeve, while there's an owl on the disc and a small piece of paper showing a human figure (or two?) and the beautifully scrawled line "I wish we could look into the future" (presumably the album title but I've never found actual confirmation of this) along with the band name.
Again, Steve Rybicki steps to the fore with a detailed review on Foxy Digitalis. It is indeed definitely more serene in comparison to the sudden jumps back and forth on the first album, but is no less compelling for that, not to mention nicely ragged around the edges.
The third CDR, released via Kraag/Mang-Disc in 2006:
http://kuci.org/~nraggett/VisitationsThird.jpg
A flying squirrel at night on the front, a gravestone on the back, and a slip of paper about Kraag on the inside. As simple as that:
To quote Nemo:
three well placed boglins uttering vision and prophecy in the pines whilst staring out into the new england woods wishing each wind blown tree were actually some perverse, drooling cryptic come to deliver an important message, wishing each irregularly twinkling star in the night sky be their inevitable ufo taxi come to take them to their proper home in the cosmos. irregular stomp and bumpkin guitar strum twangs with futuristic laser blast, dinosaur scream, apoclyptic swirl, weaving in and out of song and space, and sprinkled atop are cracked voice sermons and echoy space girl softs and shrieks... killer new releases by our fave local mind-melters. untitled, with no info, as always. features guest id m theft able. nice totally handmade packaging.
id m theft able is in fact the feller what runs Kraag, where the Strange Maine site is hosted, so the alliance makes perfect sense.
The single was a very limited edition run in a lathe-cut 78 RPM format on Time-Lag in 2005, and I've no information about it beyond that.
Finally there's the side project from Brendan, under the name Garm, The Acid Skull 205:
http://kuci.org/~nraggett/AcidSkulls.jpg
To again quote Nemo:
sweet dose of ultra-cracked acid folk from b.r. garm of visitations. supremely warped, totally overblown home recorded lo-fi song gush strait from tongue to tape. riding with ease the fine line between irony and revelation... makes most of the new folk weirdos sound pretty damn strait, so you know its hot enough to melt yr face right off... packaged in a color paste-on fold-out poster cover, with one-of-a-kind ink damaged orange cdrs. also includes the tread-bound, 24 page comic book ‘the life and times of the seven seas’ which is the perfect fried counterpoint to the sonic goo. it all makes perfect sense somehow...garm recommends listening with the speakers pressed to yr skull for maximum effect.
Unlike the Visitations albums, this does have a little more information, namely some song titles (and yes, the "Symptom of the Universe" performed on here is indeed that very one, and a brilliant version it is). Handily there's an extensive review of it over at Kid Shirt which I commend to yer attention, while there's a shorter review over at the Unbroken Circle, quick but thoughtful.
Availability of all these is sold out or (in the case of the Kraag disc) close to it. Alas...
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 24 February 2006 06:47 (eighteen years ago) link
one year passes...
two years pass...