In 2008, the core trio that make up Woven Skull began gathering together in the home of two of the members, set deep in the bogs and forests of County Leitrim: an empty, sparse area in the northwest of Ireland known for its myths of shee, tales of lake monsters, and calls of otherworldly beings in the still of the night. Several years experimenting with combinations of instrumentation, kitchen utensils, seashells, footsteps, chimes, recordings of cats purring and frogs mating led to their current sound which combines densely propulsive guitar, distorted mandola and endless cyclical rhythms. Woven Skull strip and scrape what they can out of minimal instrumentation to teeter on the brink of total sonic meltdown creating engulfing, raw primal drones and damaged rock manoeuvres. This sound draws on the influences of the combined backgrounds of the trio with Aonghus (guitar) and Willie (percussion) born and bred in Dublin and Natalia (mandola) born in Ukraine and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Of their most recent LP, Isaac Olson wrote that it was, “More serious than Sun City Girls and more playful than Bardo Pond... a great introduction to your new favorite cult band.”
A selection of sounds that we brought to listen to in the van during our last tour.
Agathe Max—Gypsy In a Church (Greasy Trucker Records)
A Gypsy In A Church by Agathe Max
Agathe Max and I first met when we shared a bill at a Baba Yaga's Hut gig in London. She was with her duo Mésangeand I became completely bewitched by her playing. Live, whether with a band or on her own, Agathe creates a mesh of violin magic mixed through a mastery of pedals. No action seems superfluous. Her violin bow might thump off the neck during a section that is fed into a loop and you wonder if it was maybe an accident only to find that the build up of the rhythm created by that slight thump singularly drives the whole next passage. It is meticulous. The Gypsy in a Churchalbum is Agathe solo and acoustic with two long improvised tracks. It came out on cassette in 2016 on Bristol's Greasy Trucker Records. Side A is recorded in Bristol in St. Thomas's church and Side B is from St. Leonard's in London. The spaces creep into the recordings. It makes good driving music because you get lost in time as the violin bounces around the church walls and suddenly the day has faded, twilight is spilling across the sky and and that night's venue is just around the corner. (Natalia)
Patrick Farmer & David Lacey—Pell-Mell the Prolix (caduc. Recordings)
Pell-Mell the Prolix by Patrick Farmer & David Lacey
A really tightly structured, interruptive and continually surprising concrète-ish composition by this duo of percussionists. Beautiful wood-block and dub segments deserve a mention. I found ‘Pell Mell’ to be more accessible than their earlier recording ‘Pictures of Men’ (equally worth checking out but perhaps more dense and angular in places). Ephemera of personal obsessions lumber up against indistinguishable rumblings, a passage is carved between the figurative and the unknowable. (Aonghus)
When you're stuck in traffic on the M1 between Brighton and any other part of the UK and you start to wonder why in the hell did we come to this country on a bank holiday, it's time to fire up the dashboard kettle, make a press pot of joe and throw on some Classic 'Zamrock' from 1974. This is hard rock coming straight outta Zambia, thankfully made available on vinyl at an affordable price courtesy of Mississippi Recordsin Portland, Oregon. This has become one of my Desert Island records. Sabbath infused riffs dipped in some 13th Floor Elevators psych with an explosiveness that's purely African. Before you know it, three tightly packed lanes of English Midlands holiday makers turns into three lanes with one else around. (Willie)
Tadlaouia—moul el koutchi rouicha et tadlaouia
I like to play the same albums both in the shower and in the van. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe these activities send me into the same zone? This tape gets a lot of listens in both places. I love the melding of Tadlaouia's voice with Mohamed Rouicha's string playing action. I know nothing of Tadlaouia aside from this album but I keep on eye out cause I’d love to hear more. I picked this tape up at a stall stacked floor to ceiling with cassettes. I choose it purely based on the cover. It coulda gone either way but sure, look at that shimmer in her smile. You know it's gonna be gold. (Natalia)
Three super-focused improvisations for violin, piano and zither. Shimmering drones and creaks set against more melodic playing. Moves slowly from one area to another, acoustic instruments sound like electronics and at other times like themselves. Angharad Davies played at the same festival as us a few years back, performing a piece which consisted of her bowing a single tone while gradually unwinding the string accompanied by a really subtle tape element (or that’s what my hazy memory tells me), ruled! (Aonghus)
Miles Davis—On The Corner (Columbia Records)
Raw minimalist soul funk jazz. Totally stripped down. Enough hi-hats and trumpet wah wah pedal to keep you fuzzed out and yer head boppin'. It is such a ballsy record. But then again, Miles could get away with anything. Perfect for a morning drive on tour to get the brain aligned when you don't know what the day will bring. (Willie)
Creedence Clearwater Revival —”Sinister Purpose”
When in a vortex of stalled traffic that makes me feel like my life is melting into nothing in front of me, I like to put Sinister Purposeby Creedence on repeat (though, in fairness, any Creedence will do). Everything always just seems better then. And should the traffic never end and the van never move again, well at least there's Jon Fogarty to sound out our impending demise. (Natalia)
Bob Dylan—Self Portrait (Columbia)
Listen on Spotify
I’ve been listening to ‘Self Portrait’ a lot over the past while. I’m not hugely knowledgeable about Dylan even though I’ve heard a lot of the oeuvre over the years. A cursory google before I wrote this text tells me it’s regarded as one of his worst... not so sure about that. Opens with the sublime “All the Tired Horses”... Dylan himself not singing on it kinda blew me away as an idea for an opener when I first heard the album. Gets into weird country crooning... his version of “Days of 49” is another highlight. Things get patchy and weird but whatever... the “Blue Moon” cover is pretty funny. I’m second-guessing myself having just seen all the negativity surrounding it and started to spin “Blonde on Blonde” just to check... nah... I still think it’s good! (Aonghus)
Samandtheplants—Flaming Liar (Them There)
Flaming Liar by Samandtheplants
A few different names and guises flock from the incredible studio of musician, artist and producer Sam Mcloughlin. This album as samandtheplantsis such an absolute joy that you can have it on repeat for hours and it gets more interesting. Two disc set of almost purely vocals and harmonium. Very lo-fi, raw and total magic. Sam's Lancashire accent coming through and adding a genuine feel to the recordings as real English folk music without it sounding too twee or dated. I'd advise anyone to go looking for Sam Mcloughlin's work, including his sound sculpture work and his N. Racker project. (Willie)
‘Fort Evil Fruit’ Cassette Label
We here at Woven Skull are all big fans of Fort Evil Fruit. Label boss Paul has a keen ear for what's what. It's handy to stock up on all the newest FEF releases before a tour and gradually listen through them while zoning out on the revolving landscape outside the window. One of my favorite things that came out on the label in the last few years was Crevice’s debut album. The trio from Cork all play in a variety of other bands and solo projects, run labels, have radio shows and add to the general awesomeness of Cork City. Roslyn Steer's vocals on Black Box kept swirling around inside my brain for weeks after first hearing this so listener beware! It’s catchy business. (Natalia)
