Griff says; Encounter with the shadow - Luna Moth

Tonight we're having an encounter with the shadow. Prosaically, I'd simply like to introduce you to the latest release by long-time Streetlamp favourite's Luna Moth (see 'here' and 'here' previously), entitled 'Shadows Casting Trees'. More fancifully, as befits an album which is mythic in provenance and intent, I use the term to subliminally remind you of the work of CG Jung (for, surely, subliminally is how he'd like to be remembered). I'm thinking here of his concept of individuation - the journey of transformation which is the mystical heart of all spiritual change. What has this got to do with music?, you're probably thinking. Well, let me explain.

Luna Moth is a music/art collective based in Norman, Oklahoma and has been operating since 2003 under the direction of main operative Joey Paz (pictured above with unkown chicken). Prior to this latest album, Luna Moth has recorded 8 albums of material, ranging in sound from minimalist lo-fi folk, to traditional Mexican ballads, to noisy psychedelic garage rock. All of the previous Luna Moth albums are available for free listening and download from the cllct music collective. You can also find them on bandcamp where, if you are inclined to support independent music financially, they can be downloaded on a 'name your price' basis. The Luna Moth bandcamp page is where you will also find this newly released work.

But what has this got to do with Jung and individuation?, the impatient amongst you are, no doubt, already asking. Let us allow Joey to explain:

"Thematically, Shadows Casting Trees is a concept album in which the ancient epic poem 'Metamorphoses' by Ovid is superimposed onto the canvas of the past year of my life, which has been defined largely by the discovery of previously unknown territory of mind through shamanistic plant healing in the Peruvian Amazon and the subsequent recognition of unconditional love. The idea behind Shadows Casting Trees is boundaries and forms shifting, the juxtaposition of sea and sky, the interplay of shadow and light, cosmic paradigms reversing, the simple beauty of all things reverting to their source. 

Aaaaah, now do you see? It's about the journey of transformation which is the mystical heart of all spiritual change. It seems that Joey in his travels arond the Americas and through his political battles closer to home in Oklahoma, "the most ultra-conservative state in the conservative U.S.", has had something of a metamorphosis himself, such that the doors of perception have been not so much opened as flung wide. So, what effect does this have on the Luna Moth music? It's difficult to say, to be honest, the Luna Moth sound has always been so diverse and wide-ranging. I'll setle for saying that, in general, 'Shadows Casting Trees' has a heavier, rockier sound than much of Joey's other work. But that's not the whole picture here. While the pounding drum intro and reverbed, distorted guitars of opening track 'Trees Casting Shadows' create a  fierce and ominous introductory energy, the mood of the album ebbs and flows to allow profound changes in atmosphere and  vitality - as witnessed by the enigmatic, spooky country-music of 'Lupine Blooms Voluminous'. I've embedded both these tracks below to demonstrate:







Lyrically, Joey is tilling in the abstruse soil of symbolism here and it probably helps to be familiar with Metamorphoses. This is a book which has lain untouched on my own bookshelf for quite some time now - probably as a result of having it forced on me at a tender age by an over-enthusiastic teacher. Funnily enough, when I pulled it from the shelf the other night, in order to reaccquaint myself with it, it automatically fell open at the tale of Arachne's tapestry, something which I believe may be referenced in some of the songs. Now, what would old Jung have made of that co-incidence?

I mentioned earlier that Luna Moth is a music/art collective. The striking artwork for this latest album was designed in collaboration with Oklahoma artist Tiffany Nachelle Edwards. The music and visual art are symbiotically connected so that the lyrical themes of the album inspired the creation of the painting that would soon become the cover, and vice versa. Tiffany Nachelle Edwards is also responsible for the other artworks used throughout this piece. You can view much more of her work 'here'.

Enjoy!
Griff
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Griff say; Death to Poshlost! Da zdravstvuet Luna Moth!

Avid readers of 'The Streetlamp' will by now have noted Gordon's repeated attempts to shoehorn in references to the European canon of classical literature, and my own oft-expressed wish to include more visual artists/musicians ( à la Colorform and Top Montagne). Happily, today's article hits both targets squarely.
Hopefully, you will remember when I wrote enthusiastically, last year, about El Vagabundo de Quetzalcoátle by Luna Moth? You may also remember that Ray provided two Mexican-themed videos to accompany the piece. That album, released on CLLCT, contained 10 lo-fi, acoustic nuggets, which were heavily influenced by Mexican indigenous and traditional music, in line with where Luna Moth singer-songwriter Joey (pictured) was in his life at the time.



Since then, Joey has maintained his prodigious rate of output and has released the noisy, garage-rock influenced Shamanic Youth album (released last summer but a little raucous for a 'Griff says' piece) and last week gave us the latest Luna Moth album; Russian Novels. As usual, this is exclusively available and, of course, freely downloadable 'here' on CLLCT. Russian Novels is an altogether more restrained affair than Shamanic Youth and Joey says of it:

"I wanted to write something a bit more subdued after the 'Shamanic Youth' freakout, and the result is 'Russian Novels'. These songs came to fruition during the autumn, which was quite conducive to the more introspective and reserved feel that I was going for."



Interestingly, the album was recorded as a collaboration with talented young artist Sarah Capshaw of Norman, Oklahoma, US. Joey had originally approached her to provide the cover art (above) and, not only did she agree to this, but entered so enthusiastically into the project that it became a fully collaborative process in which the songs themselves influenced the artwork and vice versa. Of this, Joey says:

"Sarah was the first person to hear these songs in their embryonic state and the first to hear them upon completion. I was, as well, able to witness the painting as it became ever more layered, complex, and dreamlike throughout its stages of manifestation. It was a very illuminating process, and I felt that it added a welcome new dimension to my own creative process as well."

More of Sarah's artwork can be viewed here and throughout this article. Also, Ray has produced a video ( see below), which showcases the talents of both artist and musician rather nicely.
I asked Sarah how the creative process differed from usual when making visual art in conjunction with a piece of music. She replied:

"I'm unfamiliar with indulging in a creative process without music. Something is almost always playing when I work; in this way it is easier for me to paint, because I can block the distracting, pesky parts of my thinking and typically (hopefully) channel something "pure"... if the music is right."


Obviously, in this case, it was. Russian Novels ranges from gentle, folky pieces like 'Some Birds Sing' to more experimental and intense pieces such as 'Nikolai Gogol'. I asked Sarah what feelings Joey's music evoked for her. She replied:

"Many of Joey's songs made me want to drink tea and go outside and fall in love and nap under a tree, all at once. I think he sings about all of those things in one song, maybe? And some of them are creepy and playful and groovy."

I can understand her difficulty in defining the Luna Moth music as it does encompass a broad range of sounds and emotions. My own personal view is that on Russian Novels, and in particular on 'Nikolai Gogol', Joey occasionally introduces an almost aggressive energy that's quite unlike the feeling his songs usually convey. I asked him where that had come from. He replied:

"I think the tense energy in 'Nikolai' is more vicarious than anything else… I wanted to try writing a song from the perspective of an actual historical figure. Although I’ve probably embellished and mythologized his story quite a bit, If you are familiar with Gogol’s life, it was quite intense. He was a genius and a satirist, and like all truth tellers and exposers of hypocrisy, he was alienated, shunned, and ridiculed by his society and finally exiled by the country that he loved and called home. He ended up burning most of his life’s work , going insane, and starving himself to death. I wanted to convey the sense of impotent frustration that he must have felt in that situation."



I also asked Joey where the interest in Russian literature had come from. He replied:

"My interest in Russian literature is just one facet of a search for something more meaningful and substantial in the intellectual desert of our shallow consumer culture. In their quest for truth, the Russians always seemed willing to dig just a little deeper than most, even to a level of discomfort. They of course felt nonplussed by the hypocrisy of their own society as well, and their words conveyed this in such a way that their intended meaning has retained its moral power to this day. This is what I’m referring to when I sing that ‘Tolstoy is a gold mine’, in 'Pseudo San Francisco'."

Keen readers will recognise the sentiments above as being something with which I can heartily agree. So, if you want to indulge in something more meaningful than the commerce driven pop-pap fed to us by the record industry, I suggest you go to CLLCT and have a listen to, and download, Russian Novels. Also keep an eye out for the work of Sarah Capshaw. Dare I suggest that now might be the time to snap up an 'early work'. To whet your appetite, Ray has provided the following two videos for 'Nikolai Gogol' and 'Charlotte Wears a Scarf' respectively. The images in the 'Nikolai Gogol' video are Marc Chagall's illustrations for 'Dead Souls'. Enjoy!





Griff
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Griff says; ¡Viva Luna Moth!

I've got another, largely undiscovered, gem from CLLCT for you all tonight. The band, from Oklahoma in the US, is called Luna Moth and they've been around for a wee while now; at least since the release of their eponymous first album in 2005. The music is a bit folky, a bit psychedelic and has the charming lo-fi bedroom pop feel that is common to most of the bands I champion on this blog.

The reason I want to bring them to your attention now though is that they've recently released an album entitled 'El Vagabundo de Quetzalcoátl' and in my opinion it's by far the best thing they've ever done. The songs were written during a year-long sojourn in southern Mexico, and are heavily influenced by Mexican indigenous and traditional music while still maintaining the folky psychedelia of previous Luna Moth albums.

The album contains 10 tracks, all of which are available as free MP3 downloads. We've taken the liberty of giving our two favourite songs the 'Streetlamp' video treatment to give you a flavour of the 'El Vagabundo' sound. We recommend that you stop what you're doing, sit back and relax, and let the music send you drifting off down the narrow cobblestone streets of a pueblo, resting at last at a shady spot in the plaza under an ancient Bougainvillea, the rich scent of campanilla fragrancing the air. Well, you get the picture!

Griff
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