Split

We Say...

Review by Mike McGonigal

This release is a reissue of the first and only split release between Eva Saelens aka Inca Ore and Liz Harris aka Grouper. Originally released as a cassette in 2007, the split has been remastered and sounds remarkably good. Longtime friends (and onetime housemates in Oakland, CA), Saelens and Harris create echo-laden, smudgy songs that seem to disappear at the same time that they materialize. Both musicians seem to draw equal inspiration from the gauzy, dreamy sounds of the 4AD label; the gorgeous psychedelic folk of Christina Carter and her compatriots; and perhaps the way an AM radio stuck between static and some forgotten pop song playing down the hallway can sound better that way. Regardless of where their inspiration arises, what's really interesting is how much complexity and diversity both are able to wring from such a seemingly simple process. Saelens' material was reportedly recorded earlier in Mexico, though the cassette was assembled in 2007 when both artists lived in Portland, OR. Her songs are more fractured, many of them shorter, and she displays a more playful approach. Harris's "Poison Tree" consists solely of multi-tracked vocals, while on other songs she digs deep into the droning capabilities of layered effects. Both artists are so similar it can be difficult to tell where one artist's work stops and the other starts. The best songs for each show that when engaging, often pretty sounds loop in on themselves they morph into the kind of experimental psychedelia that exalts and confuses at the same time: it's a bit like déjà vu and a lot like dreaming.