Mulberry Harbour is an electronic artist based in London, UK, with noteable acoustic, modern classical and Hispanic influences, and a melodic sound which tilts between beauty and reverie, hope and tristesse.
Often combining live recordings on an old 8-track with digital software, Mulberry Harbour's methods include self-sampling fragments of finger-picked guitar, cuatro, bowed saw and theremin; recording ambient sounds and snatches of conversation on a mobile phone in lifts, bars and tunnels; and stripping randomly generated drum patterns into skeletons of their former selves. The result is an at times unusual, quixotic combination of sounds such as the Morriccone-esque harmonica vs. percussion of Electric Candle Machine and the fragile, haunting melody of bowed saw over metronomical beat on The Water Boatman.
Mulberry Harbour's music has been used on BBC3's Seriously Young documentary series and Channel 5's Extraordinary People series
While the guitar-led opening track serves as a bridge between first and second album, The Water Boatman offers a more overtly electronica sound, and a greater homogeneity resulting from many of the tracks being written and recorded together in a burst of sessions in the summer of 2008. The fingerpicked guitar which underpinned many tracks on the first album is entirely absent on tracks such as the ambient Blacktop and the brooding Brown Study, while strings enjoy a greater presence on this album, noteably the beautiful, ethereal viola melody of Wisp and Absence's yearning cello and violin duet. From bow on string to bow on metal, the title track showcases eerie loops played on a musical saw. The overall sound of this album is more cinematic than its predecessor, the stately Weaver reminiscent of Peter Greenaway films, and Roads offering a dense and atmospheric meditation. Guitar aficionados will not be disappointed, however, with the presence of a looping and self-harmonising guitar figure on The Tinker, and the out-and-out bucolic folk acoustic track Bryn's Bridge.
On this debut release, the first two tracks hint at the eclectic mix to come. Benito starts with a classical guitar progression, over which oboes repeat a minimalist figure and layers build before opening out in a soft electronic chorus; Becquer by contrast picks up a pulsating groove and synth line over a single-bar acoustic guitar loop, morphing into a Spanish spoken word and vocal based on Gustavo Becquer's poem "De lo poco de vida que me resta...". This diversity continues in the signature sounds of many of the tracks to follow - the sparse and dreamy piano of Jara, the shimmering electric guitar on Across the Sea, the woozy lysergic organ of Organillero and the lush and life-affirming strings of Meta, while the influence of the dancefloor can be detected on the 7-minute Electric Candle Machine.
Related artists & influences
Bibio - IDM, electronica and folk producer on Warp, with penchant for field recordings and found sounds
Max Richter - incredibly beautiful and moving modern classical with spoken word samples and hints of electronica
Paavoharju - almost unclassifiable Finnish collective of free folk experimentalists
Steve Reich - pioneer of minimalist music, speech melody and phasing
Sufjan Stevens - multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter with a plan to release an album about every state in the US. Loves a bit of banjo
Alarm Will Sound - 20 member chamber orchestra recording contemporary music, including acoustic arrangements of Aphex Twin
Lambchop - alt.country pioneers led by the irrepressible Kurt Wagner, who occasionally veer into soul, rock and lounge
Philip Glass - diverse contemporary classical music, with use of 'repetitive structures'. Rousing, epic soundtrack work on Mishima and Candyman
Iron & Wine - Sam Beam's alt.country outfit, with hushed songs founded on subtle and mesmerising fingerpicked acoustic guitar
Nick Drake - The epitome of the melancholy English singer-songwriter
Bert Jansch - distinctive and evergreen Scottish folk maestro
Hauschka - Dusseldorf composer who explores the possibilities of prepared piano
Goldmund - slow-paced, weightless, piano music from Keith Kenniff (Helios), close mics capturing every keysound
Aphex Twin - inventive electronica, IDM, ambient producer / DJ
Four Tet - Kieran Hebden's instrumental pot pourri of electronica, folktronica, jazz, techno
Sparklehorse - alt.rock, horses and home recording from Danger Mouse collaborator Mark Linkous
