Review: Harvestman ‘Triptych: Part One’
Steve Von Till has had a prolific solo career, both under his own name and the Harvestman moniker. This multi-dimensional musical alchemy explores sounds across the spectrum from the acoustic, folk-laced Americana of the former to the ambient drone and psych that marks out his explorations in the latter.
This diversity is reflected in his approach to Harvestman where the underpinning philosophy goes hand in hand with psychedelic instrumentation to tap into the underlying consciousness distilled from primal, elemental forces that modern life tunes us out from, and the latest album, Triptych: Part One, marks the start of the most ambitious release under the banner yet.
Starting a three-album cycle, all to be released on three of 2024’s full moons – April 23rd’s Pink Moon, July 21st’s Buck Moon and October 17th’s Hunter Moon – Triptych is consumed with the exploration of ‘ancestral resonance, residing in that liminal space between the fundamental and the imaginary, the intrinsic and the speculative’. This lofty concept of transition manages to call back in time, consider the present and look to the future, waving together ideas that form the narrative for what we have been, who we are and where we are going.
Musically Triptych: Part One was formed by music recorded at home by Von Till over two decades and is a diverse affair with his old friend and OM/Sleep bassist Al Cisneros featuring on the opening track and later Yob’s Dave French adding percussion in the form of a rusted, torn open stock tank outside Steve’s barn to add an organic and non-traditional instrumental sound. Throw in old reel-to-reel recordings, bagpipes, documentary narration, loops, Moog synth and mellotrons which will repeat throughout Part Two and Part Three, this creates an otherworldly sound that somehow stands apart from time, yet seeks to tap into the primordial vibrations that resonate through the universe. However, Triptych’s real success lies in the musical heart of Von Till and how his vision translates.
Psilosynth opens with looping sounds like complex, futuristic machinery cycling up, part feedback and part sensory tension. This is soon joined by deep dub beats and the hypnotic bass of Cisneros. For those familiar with the megalithic sounds and cultural influence of British folk, entwined with lysergic rites and arcane articulations, this dark musical progression is mournful and powerful, evolving out of simplicity, each passing moment adding layer upon layer to the seemingly ambient drone to create a mediative state of consciousness as the journey begins.
Featuring the work of poet Robinson Jeffers, Give Your Heart To The Hawk starts with gentle strings and crosses into downbeat folk territory. The warmth of the guitar and gentle, repeating refrains form a backdrop for the distorted reading of the poetry giving the track a dreamlike, drifting feel. Jeffers dense, naturalistic prose, a section taken here from the much larger piece, relates to the unworthy sin of guilt and its impact on human consciousness. The fading world talked of in the poem speaks to embracing the spiritual rather than the fleeting human emotions that threaten to devour us.
an otherworldly sound that somehow stands apart from time, yet seeks to tap into the primordial vibrations that resonate through the universe…
The twinkling sounds at the beginning of Coma sound like the opening shots of a sci-fi movie dizzily panning over a vast galaxy, the pulsing sounds like the lights on the control deck of a slow-moving ship as the reverberating drone flex and morph throughout this instrumental. Once again featuring loops that keep the listener anchored as the track expands, it is a peaceful and delicate moment that allows the mind to wander meditatively through this vastness, considering our seemingly small place in the universe.
The second take on Psilosynth (Harvest Dub) is also bass-heavy after the off-kilter noises of the beginning tease out the redux of the opening track. Continuing with the theme of evolving and reinterpreting what has gone before, the track skitters with electronic stabs and sounds as the knocking percussion drives the listener on. Probably the most striking and insistent groove on the album, the reappearance of Psilosynth takes elements from the first iteration and deepens them adding to the drama.
How To Purify Mercury once again conjures images of a sci-fi journey, this time darker and more unsettling as the violent, low notes contrast with the high-end and pulse out like a warning message from the stars. This strange mixture of the futuristic, coupled with the album’s muse that lies in the ancient sites littered across British and European mainland’s psychic and geographical landscapes makes this a mix of styles and cognitive ideas from a far-reaching range of inspiration that sees Von Till citing names such as Fairport Convention, dub master Adrian Sherwood, Steeleye Span and Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch. Even ignoring all that and simply sitting back and absorbing Triptych: Part One there are times when it bears little resemblance to anything outside of the world he has created.
Featuring David French on the previously mentioned stock tank, Nocturnal Field Song returns to a more organic sound. With electronics mimicking the chirping of insects and the real clank of the rhythmic banging swelled by droning ambience, this is a low-key passage that brings down the previous scope of the extra-sensory to a dark stillness that hints of darkness just beyond the glow of the campfire.
Mare And Foal brings Part One to a close with John Geoff (Cascadia Bagpiper) contributing Northumbrian smallpipes that rise and fall like a gentle breath over the guitar and other assorted instruments to once again drift into quiet contemplation.
Recorded and mixed at The Crow’s Nest in North Idaho by Steve Von Till himself and mastered by James Plotkin, Triptych: Part One forms a multi-sensory piece, even down to the artwork of Henry Hablak, that creates a bridge between the ancient civilisations of the world and the outward-looking, cosmic aspirations of the soulful heart of Harvestman. Part One is a beautiful and thought-provoking start to what promises to be a highly rewarding new period for Von Till.
Label: Neurot Recordings
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Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden
