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LINKS [AB-OC-23] KATHLEEN BAIRD - Lullaby For Strangers  CD only SALE! $9 USA; $12 World 1. Traps 2. Breaking the Roofs 3. Morning Song #1 [MP3] 4. Myself as the Shore 5. The Last Word 6. Lost Anchors 7. Morning Song #2 8. With Which These Waters Swarm 9. Bury Deeper [MP3] 10. Storms Stay Fine Kathleen Baird, of Chicago's amazing Spires That in the Sunset Rise, returns with her second solo full-length for Secret Eye - this time dropping her Traveling Bell moniker. REVIEWS "I already knew that Chicago's Spires That in the Sunset Rise is an amazing band, but I was still blown away by their sheer brilliance at the recent Terrastock festival in Providence, RI. Given that, it was with great excitement that I received another solo disk from Kathleen Baird, this time dropping the Traveling Bell moniker she's been using before. Fans of Spires That in the Sunset Rise's eclectic, Comus-inspired free folk meanderings will enjoy this but 'Lullaby for Strangers' is despite its bleak tone not quite as disturbingly dark and fractured. Let's just say that this gently meandering slice of mystical folk for the most time has more to do with Incredible String Band than Comus and Current 93. Baird takes the late 60s work of ISB as a starting point and adds her own unique voice in the form of various exotic instruments (bells, mbira, guitars, flutes, synthesizers and more) as well as ocean deep female vocals that honestly is worth the price of admission alone. There's something deeply spiritual about Baird's droney folk arrangements and evocative lyrical phrasing that somehow completely transcends what we think we know. Her stories and worlds aren't just trapped in another time; they're born from another dimension. The end result is temple-like bliss of the highest order, easily ranking with the brightest hopes in the genre." Mats Gustafsson for Terrascope Online "With Baird's deep, commanding voice, Lullaby for Strangers is more likely to induce troubled sleep than peaceful rest. In fact, her hypnotic singing could very well induce trances, if not somnambulance. Baird is like a siren of the deep woods who can enchant travelers with a few well-chosen words. Songs like 'Breaking the Roofs' and 'The Last Word' remind me of folk tales in which faeries kidnap humans. 'Morning Song #2,' on the other hand, sounds like an organ that's played late at night in a forest clearing, while everyone else is fast asleep and upon waking cannot account for their disturbing dreams. 'Storms Stay Fine' is the song that's the most like a lullaby, with water and Baird's soothing singing. Baird's only misstep is 'Bury Deeper,' which is too overtly morbid and has a vocal melody that's a little grating at times, but the song is so brief that it subtracts very little from the whole. As further testament to her talent, Baird also plays almost all of the instruments on the album yet makes it sound as if she has many collaborators with their own communication styles. Although the album runs a little short of half an hour, I prefer Baird's economy of expression compared to an album that's padded merely to fulfill running length expectations. Lullaby for Strangers proves that she can bewitch in a short amount of time." Brainwashed [AB-OC-15] TRAVELING BELL - Scatter Ways  CD only SALE! $9 USA; $12 World 1. Scatter Ways 2. Untitled 3. Calm In Trees 4. Song For Eno 5. Treasures and Griefs 6. Indecision Song 7. Solving, Dissolving Forces 8. You Are My Blood 9. Through My Sleeves 10. Fog Of The Dust 11. Let You Go 12. Dark Hair 13. Claims (Ferry Song) [MP3] Scatter Ways is the debut solo album from Chicago-based musician Kathleen Baird, who is also a member of the Comus-channeling freak-folk outfit, Spires that in the Sunset Rise. Traveling Bell replaces Spires' hysterical ecstasy with a slower, slyer, subtler tone. Kathleen's voice is deep, sleepy and Nico-esque, her instrumentation loose and imaginative. Like if Brigitte Fontaine fronted Current 93. Her lush and exotic arrangements include bells, mbira, guitars, and other plectra, flutes, and synthesizers, all orchestrated to outline her careful, but never fussy, songcraft. REVIEWS "On her drony, elegant solo debut, Kathleen Baird of Spires That in the Sunset Rise sounds steely and fierce -like a dryad in a spiked tree waiting for a lumberjack to make her day. Think Nico's Desertshore without the desperation." - Monica Kendrick in The Chicago Reader (a best-of 2005 pick!) "Kathleen has a full, deep and wise woman's voice, and she writes and (very inventively) self-orchestrates evocative, emotionally rich, skewed but personal songs" - Michael Gira "Scatter Ways is a dark, rewarding and surprisingly structured listen that comes recommended both to fans of traditional folk music and followers of the so-called "free folk" scene." - Mats Gustafsson for the Ptolemaic Terrascope "Baird's voice is the most memorable aspect of this album; it is haunting in the way it will stay with you hours after you turn off the CD" -Brad Rose for Foxy Digitalis 
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