Spiral Joy Band

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Bill at VHF writes:
Third VHF release for this southwest Virginia ensemble that specializes in transportational sound sheets. Derived from the extended Pelt/Jack Rose/Black Twigs family, Spiral Joy traffics in lengthy microtonal explorations rooted in the expansive tradition of beards like Taj Mahal Travellers, Henry Flynt, Theatre of Eternal Music, etc. The four tracks here are an evolution from the trance-like gong and percussion sounds of recent Joy Band releases, with the quartet putting more of an emphasis on heavily bowed string sounds. Gangloff’s fiddle, which plays it relatively straight in the Black Twigs (and occasionally Pelt), cuts loose here with some of the gnarliest string scratching this side of Tony Conrad’s “Four Violins,” giving the music a searing, visceral edge. The final track finds the band literally standing in the Atlantic Ocean, with their gongs and Tibetan bowls shimmering out a gentle lullaby. “No overdubs, No amplification, No effects.” Very limited edition, in elegant heavy card wallet with illustrations by Emily Keown. Fiddles, gongs, bowls, harmonium, srutis, spiral cymbal, crash cymbal, crank whistle, flute, bells, banjosticks played and recorded march-july, 2008, by mikel dimmick, amy shea, nathan bowles, mike gangloff.

From Adam Strohm at Dusted:
Like the slow tearing of sinew from bone, Little Sparrow, the latest offering from the Virginian outfit Spiral Joy Band, is a product of a delicate savagery. The album makes a largely sonorous sound, but the individual voices are often full of grit and gristle, true to the rather rustic aesthetic mined by this band and their musical kin. Recorded with “no overdubs, no amplification, no effects” (Spiral Joy Band’s standard manifesto), Little Sparrow is a hypnotically woven document of quiet clamor in which the beauty of the drone is almost secondary to the activity that takes place underneath.
Mikel Dimmick, Amy Shea, Nathan Bowles and Mike Gangloff make use of an assortment of instruments on The Little Sparrow. The fiddles and harmonium are perhaps the album’s most preeminent ingredients, but the key to the tone of the music often lies in the interaction of these more commandeering sounds with those that roil underneath. Shimmering cymbal rolls, the plink and patter of banjosticks, and some disguised elicitation of avian sounds (perhaps the bird who lent the disc its name?) all flit or flow underneath the drone, which isn’t so opaque as to overwhelm. The marriage of bow, rosin and string gives the music its most palpable texture; when the harmonium or sruti are added, they act as eggs in baking, binding the sounds into a denser whole.
There are certainly other groups making a similar sound to that of Spiral Joy Band (including Pelt, with whom Dimmick and Gangloff have played), but what sets Spiral Joy Band apart from the masses is the direction of their music. The sounds of the strings tilt and sway, and the percussion, bells, and whistles might meander in the background, but even at its most unhinged, Little Sparrow retains a focused feel, largely avoiding the feelings of aimless rambling that can mar music of this sort. “Tolling over the Rocks” is an anomaly on the disc, a sparse series of gentle ringing and clanging over the waves of the Atlantic. The track is minimalism of a different sort, though even here, Spiral Joy Band manages to convey a purposeful tone. It might not be the disc’s most memorable (or characteristic) track, but it’s an exemplar of the secret to Little Sparrow’s success.
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4911

From Matt Blackall at Foxy Digitalis:
Featuring members of Pelt and hailing from Virginia, Spiral Joy Band returns with another solid collection of analog drones and improvisations. The band blends up its intoxicating stew using fiddles, gongs, singing bowls, harmonium, srutis, spiral cymbal, crank whistle, flute, bells, and banjo sticks with "No overdubs, No amplification, No effects." Put together, these elements yield something that is at times very familiar to the ears and in other moments like something from another planet. With music based loosely in eastern traditions, rural American sounds, and experimental improvisation, the Spiral Joy Band creates something quite striking.

The biggest standouts on the album are the droning fiddles, as they cut most prominently through the mix and set the tone for all four pieces. On the opener, "Ridgeline Currents," the violins trade slow-rolling riffs and swirl above a background of cymbals, singing bowls, and harmonium. The next two tracks continue in a similar direction, but both yield their own surprises. For example, in the final stretch of "Flowers in the Dooryard," the band creates a powerful wall of drones with fiddles, flutes, and harmonium that grows and swells into something very intense, yet entirely pretty. For the title track, the band makes things a bit uglier, filling the mix with squealing and scraping fiddles. In the background, banjo plucks away, the harmonium continues its steady drone, and the piercing sound of singing bowls occasionally rises to the surface. The harsher sounds of this piece are a great contrast two the preceding two and do well to illustrate the dynamism of the group. The closer, "Tolling Over the Rocks," is unique, as it was recorded as the band stood in the water at midnight at Hatteras Island, North Carolina. To the sound of crashing waves, the band added their own singing bowls and gongs to create a beautiful, meditative finale for their album.

Throughout "Little Sparrow," it's amazing to think that such rich, layered, and hypnotic sounds come from such a no-frills recording process. Really, it enriches the whole experience to ponder how something so stunning and dynamic could come from such humble origins. Of course, this is all a testament to the musicianship of the Spiral Joy Band, as they make the most of their chosen sounds. "Little Sparrow" is truly great, but is also a limited edition, so do yourself a favor and grab this one soon. 8/10 -- Matt Blackall (23 June, 2009)
http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=4461