HOLY SPIRITS | To The Shore (Video)

A new Holy Spirits video for the celestial “To the Shore” off a split 12-inch, “Mutual Spirits”, which also featured Mutual Benefit via Father/Daughter Records. I first wrote about the track back in May, but it still astounds. We’re all stuck with whatever frame of reference we have, but when I first heard this track it reminded me of the sound David Sylvian created on “Dead Bees on a Cake”, an album I listened to with frequency. “To the Shore” is a polyrhythmic blend of tribal percussion, Asian influence, wild melodic choral flights, and beautiful arrangements. Note: Video was created by BriAnna Olson. -- David D. Robbins Jr.

HOLY SPIRITS | To the Shore

Here’s a new track, “To the Shore”, from a Their Bated Breath favorite, Holy Spirits. It’s one half of a split vinyl 12-inch with Columbus, Ohio’s Mutual Benefit which will be released via Father/Daughter Records. It begins with an bit of Japanese flair, with what sounds like a xylophone or marimba. Like some of Holy Spirits’ other music, “To the Shore”, is a poly-rhythmic beauty with soft vocals, haunting textures and tribal percussion. The 12-inch is pressed on gold and clear-swirl vinyl and is limited to 250 copies, so pre-order quickly. Each vinyl purchase comes with a digital download and a button set. Or you can download both digital versions of the song for free at the Father/Daughter site. The album art is created by Nathaniel Whitcomb of Think or Smile. Read previous Their Bated Breath posts about Holy Spirits here. – David D. Robbins Jr.

Holy Spirits “To the Shore”

HOLY SPIRITS | ‘White Walls’ Video

QUICK POST: Another beautiful creation by art+motion master Nathaniel Whitcomb. Here is his latest video for Holy Spirits’ stellar track “White Walls”. Seems like Whitcomb must have been watching some Stanley Kubrick before making this vid. – David D. Robbins Jr.

VIDEO | Holy Spirits “Bridges”

IN BLOOM: Holy Spirit’s debut EP, “The Afternoon’s Blood”, is one of my favorites from 2010. (“Best Of … EP” list to follow in the next few days.) Even better, the Brooklyn band have created a video for “Bridges” — set to a hand-cut motion collage. The band says the images were scanned and digitally assembled from a pile of 40-year-old magazines clips, through the work of Think Or Smile’s Nathaniel Whitcomb. Oh, and by the way, the band also says it has other videos, made in a similar fashion, for all five tracks on the record. Keep looking for them in the near future. I couldn’t recommend this album more. It’s a fantastic blending of inspired vocal melodies as pretty Bon Iver, with ornateness instrumentation that feels like a trip back to the Renaissance. Holy Spirits create songs with a reverence. “The Afternoon’s Blood” is poetry amid cloud-soft chords. Get the EP for free via the band’s bandcamp page. – David D. Robbins Jr.

Holy Spirits “Tongues”

GROUP EFFORT | Collaborations

CAPTURING THE MOMENT: “Collaborations” is a project put together by a number of DIY artists and headed by the music blog Dead As Digital, with help from Stadiums and Shrines and The Road Goes Ever On. The musicians range from Los Angeles’ Rachel Levy (who has also collaborated with Blackbird Blackbird); New York’s Holy Spirits and Massachusetts’ Gem Club to Manchester, England’s Star Slinger and Texas’ Pandit. Artists began pairing off, or asking other musicians they admired if they wouldn’t mind joining forces to work on a track. The music will be released in tape format on October 1, 2010, but is available digitally for free. Those who pre-order one of the 100 limited-edition tapes will receive a download five days early and an exclusive track from Ghost Animal and Rachel Levy. You probably recognize a number of the artists from previous Their Bated Breath posts, including Holy Spirits, whose collaboration with Gem Club, you can hear below. This is the final track-listing: SIDE A: 1. Top Girls and Guerre  “Melt”; 2. Teen Daze and Jaded Hipster Choir “Low Glow”; 3. Weed and Foxes In Fiction “Teenage Dream”; 4. Closed Cassette and Top Girls “For Now”; 5. Ghost Animal and Rachel Levy “We Don’t Care”; 6. Ghost Houses “Ritual” SIDE B: 7. Holy Spirits and Gem Club “Fingertips”; 8. Seeing Suge (Star Slinger, Emay, Blackbird Blackbird) “Breaking”; 9. Pepepiano and Warm Waves “Air”; 10. Gay Boiz (Kumon Plaza and Rachel Levy) “High Level Alchemy”; 11. Star Slinger and Pandit “Self Love”. You can pre-order the cassettes here. – David D. Robbins Jr.

Holy Spirits and Gem Club “Fingertips”