8 musicians, 7 days and 1 experimental folk record from scratch.

Remorae formed from the 2017 pilot Folkatron project, an annual Upcycled Sounds residency where folk, jazz and electronic musicians produce an experimental folk record in a week. Following the pilot debut EP Mais C’est Quoi Maman? the Folkatron residencies continued with different musicians, but the pilot group met again in April 2019 under Folkatron Sessions to work on a second release - Skiver. As with the pilot session, an intense week was spent choosing trad tunes and songs, arranging, performing and recording them. However, unlike the more centralised production of their first release, this round saw two musicians lead the recording and production for each track. With 4 makeshift recording studios to work from, they created a total of 8 tracks and a live session.

The tunes and songs in Skiver were chosen from collaborations, travels and compositions of each musician in the last couple of years. The album explores traditional Swedish, Estonian, and Irish numbers, and music written by Greek and Scottish composers and band members. As well as music, the group also exchanged techniques, with some learning production and recordings skills for the first time and others pushing their skills to experimental levels, such as using DIY hydrophone mics or recording drums through 50 metres of rubber tubing.

The result is an album with its own unique sound world, refracting trad folk through electronic, jazz, ambient, sound art and prog rock lenses to create something truly genre-defying.

TRACK LISTING

My Son John

‘My Son John’ is an Irish folk song first published in 1876, about the thousands of young Irishmen who became cannon fodder in the Napoleonic Wars. There are many versions of this song, including as a marching song for Irish Volunteers in World War I and a protest song against injured soldiers being cheated out of their benefits. The arrangement interprets this traditional song with a close pairing of string, electric guitar and synth textures.

Musicians:

Lauren Spiceley - Vocals, fiddle
Hannah Jacobs - Vocals, synth
Joe Woods - Guitar, synth
Martha Wiltshire - Cello

Slang (Slängpolska efter Axel Sjölander)

This track features a Swedish Slängpolska known as ‘Slängpolska efter Axel Sjölander’ which Lauren learnt from Anna Gustavsson, nyckelharpa player, in Croatia in 2017.

The Slängpolska initially takes centre stage, pairing traditional dance instrumentation with modern dance synth sounds. Gradually the tune unravels into a chilled synth and cello outro with double drum kit. The drums for this track were mic'd using a hose pipe, a large stretch of tubing and a stairway reamp recording.


Musicians:

Hannah Jacobs - Synth, keyboard
Lauren Spiceley - Fiddle
Philippe Boudot - Drums
Martha Wiltshire - Cello
Nicholas O’Brien - Synth and sound design


Skiver

‘Skiver’ is a tune composed by Jack while he was noodling about in an attic practice room in Rathmines, Dublin. In a toss up between the impending arrival of final year exams and the commencement of the Folkatron Sessions 2019 the following week, Jack decided to ‘Skiver’ a vital lecture in favour of seeing the tune through for Folkatron. It was then presented to the Folkatron gang in Paris, where it quickly took on a life of its own, adopting unexpected prog flavours.

Musicians:

Joe Woods - Guitar
Rémi Alain - Bass Guitar
Philippe Boudot - Drums
Nicholas O’Brien - Clarinet, sound design & mixing
Jack Ó hAonghusa - Flute
Hannah Jacobs - Keyboard
Lauren Spiceley - Fiddle
Martha Wiltshire - Cello

Sien Drahmas

‘Sien Drahmas’ is a popular Greek song originally composed by Panagiotis Toundas. It was later adopted by the Jewish Sephardic community in Thessaloniki, where musicians Sadik Gershon and Moshe Cazes (Gazoz) shaped it into a Sephardic love song by creating a new set of lyrics in Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) and publishing them in 1935. These lyrics evoked the horrors faced by the Jewish community during World War II and tragically ended up mirroring the fate of Sadik and Gazoz. The double bass part was originally inspired by the guitar playing of Aviv Bahar in the ‘Yamma Trio’ version of the song.

Musicians:

Rémi Allain - Double Bass
Joe Woods - Guitar
Jack Ó hAonghusa - Flute
Martha Wiltshire - Cello
Philippe Boudot - Percussion
Nicholas O’Brien - Sound design

Resistance Reel

This tune emerged from experiments with close miccing of a bodhrán in different areas with contact mics and tiny condenser mic - a bit of a joke to see what it would be like to be inside the drum. The resulting sounds reminded us of water and Nicholas then spent what should have been an evening off creating a hybrid beat - part giant bodhrán and part swimming pool. Resistance reel, a tune Lauren learnt from its composer David Milligan at Folkworks, was jammed alongside this beat and an unexpected bonus track took shape.

Musicians:

Jack Ó hAonghusa - Bodhrán, flute
Lauren Spiceley - Fiddle
Joe Woods - Guitar
Nicholas O’Brien - Sound design & field recordings

Crossing

Crossing was originally a tune composed by Joe for his space-folk collective, ‘Jay Sunaway’. Over the course of the week, Joe found himself humming a vocal outline and a song then began to take shape. The lyrics feature an amalgamation of the common lyrical impossibilities found within Folk repertoire in a nod to such key songs as ‘The lovers ghost’, ‘The Butcher’s Boy’ and ‘Edward/What Put The Blood’.

Musicians:

Joe Woods - Guitar, vocals
Lauren Spiceley - Fiddle
Rèmi Allain - Double Bass, vocals
Martha Wiltshire - Cello, vocals
Philippe Boudot - Percussion
Jack Ó hAonghusa - Flute, vocals

Lyrics:

What will you do now my love?
Oh my love, tell me
I’ll put my foot aboard a ship and sail to a far country
When will you return again?
Oh my love, tell me
When the sun and the moon rise in one sky
And that will never be

When will you return again?
Oh my love, tell me
When fishes fly and the sea runs dry
And apples grow on an orange tree

Return again feat."Juhan Maaker’s tune nr 22"

This track deconstructs an Estonian tune by the name of ‘Juhan Maaker’s Tune Number 22’, which Lauren learnt from the Estonian piper Merike Parbets. The phrases which make up the original tune are layered and explored as overlapping elements. An arrangement soon developed in partnership with field recordings of the Parisian Metro mechanism taken by Hannah and Phil during the week.

Musicians:
Lauren Spiceley - Fiddle
Philippe Boudot and Nicholas O’Brien - Sound Design

Coachman’s Cottage

‘Coachman’s Cottage’ is a Slow-air composed by musician Kip Pratt. Kip, as part of folk duo ‘Duck and Weave’, collaborated on an arrangement of the Air for fiddle and piano with Martha’s father. Martha first remembers hearing this at a very young age and it made a lasting impression on her and the rest of the Folkatron crew. The beautiful atmos around the tune was made by looping clarinet, cello and double bass parts to make a Mellotron-style instrument, played via faders of a mixing console.

Musicians:

Martha Wiltshire - Cello
Lauren Spiceley - Fiddle
Nicholas O'Brien - Clarinet and sound design
Rèmi Allain - Double Bass