Music - Rhian Sheehan & Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Drowned in sound and emotion, Seven Tales of the North Wind is the latest release from Wellington’s Rhian Sheehan. A longstanding lover (and purveyor) of cinematic sound-worlds, Sheehan takes decaying field recordings of the outdoor environment (rain, wind, children’s playgrounds, etc.) here and layers them in textural strings, chimes and resculpted samples. The end result is a rich wash of sound, which simultaneously recalls the half-awake, half-dreaming mind-state and the faded nostalgia of childhood.

A freelance soundtrack composer by day, Sheehan worked on the seven pieces on this record in whatever spare moments he could snatch in his home studio (The Sky Parlour) in Miramar. The record feels most informed by Sheehan’s practice of taking an afternoon nap while listening to music, and his love of the old-school Dictaphone and associated sound–art process of field recording.

With this record, picking clear favourites is an exceedingly difficult task. After all, Sheehan has built a body of work that serves more as a journey through moods than the conventional narrative storytelling we often associate with music. Think of Seven Tales of the North Wind more as the sonic record of moments in a time now passed. This is a record you can really sink into, all the more rewarding and vibrant with every single attentive (or inattentive) repeat listen.

On first hearing, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s self-titled debut album seems overtly druggy and sub-cultural. Following repeat plays, however, the helium-voiced vocals, flailing psychedelic guitars, swamp-funk bass lines and propulsive breakbeat drums reveal a defined sense of pop classicism, delivered through unapologetically skewed songwriting.

This is the solo project of Ruban Nielson, best known as a member of seminal Auckland art rockers The Mint Chicks. Now based in Portland, Ohio, he has spent the last six months extensively touring Unknown Mortal Orchestra through America with assistance from drummer Julien Erhlich and bassist Jake Portrait. Although the live show is a three-man enterprise, the sequence of songs on which Nielson has comfortably (and quickly) built a niche international buzz was all his own handiwork, lovingly crafted at leisure in his living room during witching-hour recording sessions.

Built around looped funk drum breaks, this album explores the interplay between the weird and the accessible, placing Nielson in a tradition that stretches back to the chemically fuelled sound experimentation of The Beatles in the 1960s. Throwing fuzzy lo-fi recording tendencies into the mix, as well as the naked emotion of R&B, the outcome is a welcome melding of eras. Key cuts include ‘How Can You Luv Me’, ‘FFunny Ffriends’ and ‘Thought Ballune’, though this entire record, from front to back, richly rewards the ear.

Rhian Sheehan

Seven Tales of the North Wind

Self-released

[rating: 4 out of 5 FishHeads]

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Seeing Records

[rating: 4 out of 5 FishHeads]