DAWN SMITHSON
"EARTH MACHINE" CD
ME-2030
LTD TO 1000 COPIES
$15.00
ex-jessamine member dawn smithson's "earth machine" is a warm, fuzzy album full of beautifully crafted gems. good for the heart, soul and mind!
(EX-JESSAMINE)
Solo project of former Jessamine vocalist/bass player & sometime contributor to SUNN O))) & Ginnungagap. Current member of The Western Shore
Dawn Smithson, former bassist and vocalist with Seattle space-rockers Jessamine, returns with her second solo album, Earth Machine. With the aid of her home recording equipment and one glorious summer of unemployment, Smithson was able to retreat into her basement studio on warm days to craft new songs and sink into their clear waters. On occasion she would creep up to the surface to capture the sounds of a breezy afternoon, but their sunny mood is often tempered with omens of unease. Guests Ray Raposa (Castanets), Bill Herzog (SUNN O))), Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter), David Farrell (Southerning, Locate, Module), & Jussi Brightmore (Chrome Hoof, 1000 Pets,) add extra grit, grain and space, creating a heady cocktail of sounds.
Where Smithson's first album, Safer Here, was wounded and tentative in it's approach, Earth Machine is strong and sure of it's footing. Where there was deep melancholy with a glimmer of hope in the former, the latter reaches it's winding paths out to further hills and valleys, encompassing a wide range of emotion. Songs seem to tell one long story as they segue into one another. From the rounded nylon string guitar picking and gurgling synths to the pure feedback drones and sometimes Floydian electric guitar, Earth Machine has real continuity and a strong sense of being a true "album".