MUSIC REVIEWS

Reviews of our second CD-r, New Crusaders of the Eleventh Commandment.

We get a mention in the Ptolemaic Terrascope's online version of Rumbles in August 2007: They're nice people.

Finally, for Digitalis, I’m pretty certain, Anvil Salute offer a live set recorded in 2005. Filled with drifting psychedelia, and primal percussion as well as creaking, rumbling improvisations, the music is intense and alive, the players showing a great understanding of dynamics with the music flowing and building with charm and flair. Very percussive in nature, the band make great use of their skills on both “Snaps and Claps” and “Jive Talking”, the latter being particularly vibrant. From the same band comes “New Crusader Of The 11th Commandment”, a studio recording the runs joyfully through the blessed pastures first discovered by the Jewelled Antler collective. Filled with hypnotic acoustic playing and underground rustlings, the album is 44 minutes of instrumental wyrd-folk happiness, just let it wash over you. (www.maritimefist.com). To end this trio of albums, Anvil Salute have released another live recording “All The Animals Of The Forest”, which continues the quality with “Golden Spiral” and the title track being strong examples of the bands sound, the latter reminding me of United Bible Studies in its structure.(www.lofishit.com)

Posted at Animal Psi on May 1, 2007 along with a review of our self-titled cassette:

'New Crusaders of the 11th Commandment' is the band’s second “proper” full-length (the first being the 2005 Foxglove ‘A Discreet History of Bone’) and the first for their own label, Maritime Fist Glee Club. Through the album’s eight tracks, the band continues to supplement their wordless compositions with evocative names such as onomatopoetic opener “Whirlpool, Tortoise & Hare”, a folk tune of a sailor’s mandolin strings, lurching jugband rhythms, and clip-clop percussion. However, unlike the previous cassette (recorded in the midst of the sessions cropped for this disc), the music of ‘New Crusaders’ breaks from the jazz-leanings to embrace an Americana sound akin to Town and Country, Charalambides and its many offshoots, and (again) most prevalently, Jackie O Motherfucker. The gleeful weave of strings and keys in “Plushies Unite” lull the senses to rest, thus allowing even more power to the onset of “Krofftland”, a one-two dance of sinewy strings, didgeri-drones, and repressed saxophone impervious to the swift motion of polyrhythmic hand-claps; dark and ritualistic, the song begs the ominous Shalabi Effect at their most grounded. While none of the songs quite reach the double-digit sprawl of “Ghosts of Forgotten Winters”, central tracks “A Word With Every Apple” and “Platt National Forest 1919” push 8 and 9 minutes respectively, and together form a folksy string suite poised on acoustic guitar and banjo, as well as some eastern timbres, with the delightful addition of subtle arrangements cognizant of Copland and Ives. Purported wedding song “Hidden Language” expands a simple guitar melody with piano flourishes and gongs (it works!), ham-fisted timpani, cello and more, realizing a firm harmony in many unlikely sounds. Traditionally-performed traditional “Sugar Baby” features the first emergence of vocals, recalling the everyman vocals of Tom Greenwood and Jackie O more than ever – banjos, acoustic, harmonica, Quaker Oats drums – a nice diversion before the grandeur of “Stylish Cope”, a final string-layering stunner of the progressive sort they do so well, this one ornate with shrieks of high-fret fiddling and sweeping bass vibration, with additional color of harmonica and xylophone. Just what that 11th commandment says remains a mystery, though it may be something like “make really good albums, but take your fancy time”. I kid. Stamped CDr comes in a labeled cardboard sleeve with neat artwork and text. Limited to 300 pieces. This band is really great. Highest recommendation.

Michael Snyder wrote a nice review that appears in Skyscraper #24 (Spring 2007):

This intriguing obscurity, the Oklahoma band's second full-length, is recommended for more contemplative, drone-oriented listeners. Stretching out horizontally, this pastoral album takes its sweet time in getting where it's going; it is about the journey, not the destination. Building their songs upon ostinatos played on various acoustic stringed instruments, Anvil Salute play droning, sometimes Eastern-inflected music with a distinctly organic feel. Iterated riffs are heard on banjo, bouzouki, dulcimer, mandolin, cello, and lesser-known "ethnic" stringed instruments. The album, mostly instrumental, frequently lends the feeling of languid, peaceful movement across open spaces, perhaps inspired by the prairie landscape lying beyond the city limits of Norman. "Plushies Unite" is an especially warm, fluid, inviting track, wending its way around a pedal point. Other songs evoke a raga-like feel, drawing the listener into trance. "Krofftland," surely a tribute to Sid and Marty's surreal children's programs, features weeping, avant-garde saxophone, and was previously released on a split-cassette by Norway's Gold Soundz label. Anvil Salute's sound is quite unique, though they could possibly be called "free-folk" in their expansiveness, droniness. and organicism – Six Organs of Admittance and Charalambides are reference points. Indeed, Anvil Salute will appeal to the New Weird Americans out there looking for something tastily arcane from the heartland underground. Yet such labels cannot delimit such expansive, open-ended music as this.

Lee Jackson posted a review at his Womblife blog on March 6, 2007. Good on him, and good on us.

This OK (as in Oklahoma) unit's transformation is now complete. I've not heard their earliest albums, but it appears they've evolved into full-on psychedelic roots folk ensemble with this excellent CD-R meandering its way through a thick tangle of thorny branches and colored foliage, stripping away all the artifice of life to reveal shimmering undeniable aural light. Meditative and completely handmade in the same breath. "A Word With Every Apple" is the most soaring, hair-standing-on-the-back-of-the-neck instrumental I've heard in at least a three weeks. And just in time for Spring too.

A rather longish, but very nice/thorough reviewed appeared at Foxy Digitalis on Wednesday, January 30, 2007. It's damn swell.

For their second proper full-length, this Oklahoman sextet has crafted a song cycle that subtly incorporates many disparate musical elements into a melange of bucolic folk bliss. Anvil Salute’s sinuous soundscapes straddle genres and ethnomusical boundaries, embracing drone, repetition, and beguiling melodies. This is music for late night desert campfires, the hazy cloud of guitar strum masking the frightening calls of mysterious beasts. And when the banjo coaxes the sun to rise Anvil Salute stand alone, crusaders of a revelatory eleventh commandment.

Leadoff track “Whirlpool, Tortoise and Hare” sets the mood with harmonium drone and layer upon layer of guitar strum. A deep low-end throb drives the track down into your subconscious, ensuring that you’re hooked from the get-go. The ocean of shimmering guitar that is “Plushies Unite” is an example of the lighter, folksier side of Anvil Salute’s cornucopia of sound delights. Its airy interlocking melodies provide perfect cloud-gazing material.

Dedicated fans of Anvil Salute will recognize the somewhat sinister stomp of “Krofftland” from the Pink Gold cassette compilation released on the Gold Soundz label. A baleful drone soaks a guitar in whiskey and sets it ablaze, while a gang of madmen clap and stomp with glee. Somehow a saxophone gets worked into the mix, courtesy of Kasra “George” Ahmadi.

Purity, bliss, and wistfulness – this is as best a description of “A Word With Every Apple” that I can muster. It’s a folk-pop gem, plain and simple. “Platt National Forest 1919” brings on the banjo, and is an energetic romp through the fields that lay beyond the back porch. For some reason whenever I hear this song, I picture a group of drunken revellers dancing around in a circle, smiling and laughing and spilling their drinks in some bar somewhere in the Southern U.S. It reminds me of beer and whiskey and good times – in other words, it’s a damn great song!

“Hidden Languages” a very pretty song, imbued with sentimentality. Originally written for the wedding of band member Todd Fagin’s sister, the track is decidedly lush, swaying with the summer breeze. The only song to feature vocals, “Sugar Baby” is a gregarious take on an old standard, loosely based on a version by Dock Boggs. “Stylish Cope” closes out the record with a roiling sea of stringed instruments and bells. It’s mesmerising.

Anvil Salute chose to release this album on their own Maritime Fist Glee Club imprint, which has a handful of releases to its name. However, most of their music has been released on other labels. At any rate, I’m looking forward to hearing more from these talented Oklahomans in the near future, and this record is highly recommended. 9/10

Sort of an honorable mention in Kevin Moist's 2006 Year in Review over at Deep Water Acres. Mighty nice of him.

Finally, I'll end on a note of promise (one to grow on, as grandpa used to say), and another ltd release. One of my pleasant musical surprises this year was a fine slice of home-grown drone from Oklahoma: New Crusaders of the 11th Commandment is the mysteriously titled second CD by the increasingly fine Anvil Salute, and the first on their own Maritime Fist Glee Club label, & it sure is mighty nice to hear. A deceptively simple collection of lovely instrumental folk with a full but also rustic sound, rhythmic drones strummed and sawed and plucked and percussed (w/ very occasional voice and horns), a thicket of sound that subsumes individual instruments into a flow larger than any of its parts, intricately twining yet still free to stretch beyond. While the roots are deeply American - a take of Dock Boggs's "Sugar Baby" pays proper tribute but maybe doesn't come off as strong some of their own pieces - the branches stretch far enough to incorporate everything from Eastern sounds to bits of jazz; dustbowl Sufis enacting plains devotionals to the four corners. In a time of rampant excess, this is music that captivates by subtlety and restraint and really gets somewhere as a result. I feel like these folks are just starting to figure out what all they can do, and if they keep searching I think they may come out with some pretty swell sounds in '07.

This appeared in The Oklahoma Gazette on Wednesday, Sepember 13, 2006 as part of their local artist review section Soundcheck written by Preston Jones:

As left-field a folk record as you’re likely to hear in 2006, Anvil Salute has picked up the remnants of Devendra Banhart’s empire, kidnapped Joanna Newsom and scrambled toward the hills — it’s more self-described “semi-improvised droning fractured folk” for this talented sextet (Gabe Wingfield, Todd Fagin, Jesse Butler, Brad Fielder, Kelly Stevens, Rebecca Loftiss and Kasra “George” Ahmadi) to gleefully explore.

The inexorable drone of “Whirlpool, Tortoise & Hare” nevertheless reveals an elegiac undercurrent, while the vaguely ominous “Krofftland” builds piece by piece, culminating in a nervous, uncertain breakdown. Over these eight tracks, Anvil Salute delivers a precise blow to your senses, holding you captive while unleashing this exceptional wave of oddly beautiful compositions.

Per the group’s Web site, Wingfield elaborated on the aims of “New Crusaders of the 11th Commandment,” Anvil Salute’s second full-length album: “It includes ‘Krofftland,’ which was originally on ‘Pink Gold’ released by Gold Soundz, and ‘Hidden Languages’ was originally written for Todd’s sister’s wedding. Sentimental, really.

“The album shows off the slightly folkier side of the band, features banjo, acoustic guitars, bongos, esraj, bulbul tarang, and a bunch of other things. There’s even a cover of ‘Sugar Baby’ loosely based on Dock Boggs’ version. It’s good stuff if we do say so ourselves.”

This was sent to me by George Parsons from Dream Magazine. Appeared in issue #7.

Anvil Salute "New Crusaders of the 11th Commandment" (Maritime Fist Glee Club) This is my favorite release yet by this improvisational sextet from Norman, Oklahoma. A beautifully mesmerizing mix of mantra, acoustic folk, jazz, tribal, trance, chamber music, and lullabies. They present eight mostly instrumental tracks, except for a rendition of Sugar Baby based on Dock Boggs’ version. A circle of strumming and percussion allows a sax to float, dart and weave above them like an errant moth attracted to the campfire light. Gently repeating motifs lull the listener into a light dream state. I hear willow trees and cattails in the background.