THE IDITAROD -
The Ghost, the Elf, the Cat and the Angel CD (INRI065)
'The time-frozen feel of their slow processionals are further heightened by the subtle use of chimes, tamboura, singing bowl, viola and banjo, which cast little shadows beneath Jeffrey Alexander's guitar picking. Vocalist Carin Wagner sings in a half-monotone as if lost in reverie. She's joined for two tracks by the German folk duo Fit & Limo who play bouzouki, dulcimer, organ and glockenspiel as well as providing vocals. The Iditarod's reading of "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" closely monitors Pentangle's recorded version, while their take on a droning lament "Unfortunate Lass" - the set's highlight - echoes Steeleye Span's masterful "When I Was On Horseback".'
- David Keenan, The Wire, 2002
'So Boards Of Canada has a connection with folk? Even better: strictly speaking they sometimes even make folk, but then putting it thoroughly in an electronic merry-go round? Funny, because already there have been voices raised to see Autechre and Aphex Twin as a new kind of traditional music. I want to agree with this view, but I don't expect soon to see the average "spacehead" enjoying a record of The Incredible String Band. This "The Ghost, The Elf, The Cat And The Angel" coming from the Americans The Iditarod however could function as the ideal ear-, eye- & mind opener. In a beautiful place out in the country different kinds of (apocalyptic) folk fade out into drones full of melancholic sounds, where further and further in the distance forest sounds, troubadour guitars and carefree flower children are echoing. The cat lays in your lap. But where are the ghost, elf and angel? In devilish details, like the slightly exorcising woman's singing, the medieval themes and the almost sublime application of minked electronics, that keep you constantly in a state between being asleep and wakeful. No where it is cheerful, pleasantly melancholic on the other hand always and everywhere.
- OOR, Netherlands, 2002
'There's no way I can count them all, the stories and legends I made up as a kid while I was walking in the forest right next to my family's house. It wasn't necessarily one of those mysterious forests with ancient trees, rather a green area that some clever city planner thought it'd be a nice idea to save from exploitation. No matter that, I always felt at home there. That was where I found solace at dark times and those gigantic silhouettes seemed like the perfect setting for my imaginary stories. I have a feeling Providence ensemble The Iditarod shares my affection for trees, as their folky soundworld in a strange way brings me back to those innocent days. In "The Roots Of The Butterfly Bush" an acoustic guitar slowly finds its way through the trees and in its footprints Carin Wagner's vocals envelope fogbanks of spectral mystery. As the cello comes and goes the roots of the tree I'm staring at seem to be moving right before my eyes. The album is overflowing with intensely beautiful folk songs that have probably existed all throughout musical history, but it takes musical geniuses like these people to know where to find them and make their own unique interpretation of the style. In addition to this, we get the instrumental masterpiece "Raga (In D#)" which would have fit perfectly on Pelt's milestone double album Ayahuasca. Given my praise of that recording you should know that you are in for some serious inner mind exploration if you turn this one up loud, which I fully endorse you to do. Other tracks find them getting lost (in a good way) and found somewhere in-between the structured and the droning. This is one of the finest recorded musical moments of 2002. Dark and majestic yet fragile, just like nature itself.'
- Mats Gustafsson, Broken Face, Sweden, 2002 (4/5 stars)
THE GHOST, THE ELF, THE CAT AND THE ANGEL
INRI065
• The Roots Of The Butterfly Bush
• Black Strung Bow
• Afternoons Like This Are Hard To Come By
• Raga (in D#)
• Cycle Circle
• The Falling Of The Pine
• Ich Tanzte Weit
• New Magic In A Dusty World
• Let No Man Steal Your Thyme
• The Nameless One
• Unfortunate Lass
RELEASED: April 2nd, 2002
MP3: more tracks available in the SOUND section
also available:
search: THE IDITAROD