Iconic and foundational bands in the history of alternative music certainly include Bauhaus, Love And Rockets, and Violent Femmes. San Francisco born artist Darwin Meiners was a fan of all three. A chance meeting 13 years ago with David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets) grew into a friendship, and Darwin not only became a bandmate, but David J’s manager. After reaching out to Victor DeLorenzo through e-mail, Darwin met the Violent Femmes drummer after the Femmes’ Coachella set in 2013. Soon after the three collaborated on Darwin’s 2014 release Souvenir.

As the pandemic took hold, Darwin was looking for a new project to occupy the lock-down time and approached Victor, who was keen to proceed and suggested that David join as well. The musical trust established between these three was immediate and Night Crickets were born.

All songs by S.Herbert and M.A Welsh
Chris Vibberts: sitar, Marxophone, Melodica, khim, and lap steel

Mastered by Rémi Richarme (from Satellite Jockey band)
©2023
Misophone Bandcamp

A FLOOdPlAiN MInD
Not ones to hurry things, A Floodplain MInd, Misophone’s latest album has been over a decade in the making but rest assured S.Herbert and M. A Welsh, the sole members of this reticent British group, haven’t been wasting their time. Indeed, in this carefully crafted set of songs, they have reached the heights that their earlier releases hinted that they could and captured in this wide ranging, ambitious collection something to savour: proper, truly grown-up songwriting.

Misophone have always found their place in the silent spaces between the world-weary and the whimsical - but here their songs reach a new-found focus and maturity - lyrics that seek solace in the woods, rivers and open countryside of a forgotten England, but that hint too at the darkness of the night, and meticulous melodies that evoke their wide-ranging and ever-expanding influences (the Elephant SIx Collective, the songs and music of Bagpuss, Daniel Johnston, The Smiths, Taraf de Haidouks and the incidental music of Randall and Hopkirk (deceased)).

​The range of collaborators has increased too - with beautiful guitar contributed by Robin Allender (Gravenhurst, The Allender Band etc) on Snow, and by bedroom pop provocateur Boys Age (on agoraphobic little nightmare Close the Door). Sublime vocals have been lent by Maja Lena (on Voices), Noa Mal (on Close the Door), India Blue (on Love lies Bleeding), Aubben Renee (on William and Mary) and Rachel Hayward (on Apricity)… hell, there’s even a mini-orchestra on The Flood, the album’s grand final statement (beautifully arranged by the wonderful Tom Rocton who once more contributes his own fantastic trombone playing across the album). Actor and kind soul Maxence Danet-Fauvel provides artful spoken word on It Snowed Today, as does Zazil Yakin Xipé on Sky (as well as adding trumpet, synths, bass and growling at other points). Light must also be shone upon composer Chris Vibberts whose magic is sprinkled across a number of songs (playing with exceptional clarity. sitar, lapsteel. khim, Marxophone and Melodica) - he is a master of his craft and the album wouldn’t be the same without his thoughtful contributions. There’s even hurdy gurdy on folk traditional William and Mary (courtesy of Dutch musician Matthew de Roode) and Nickelharpa lending a scraping authenticity to Voices (played with grace by Lewis Jones). It’s an undeniably international affair.
​
A Floodplain Mind is nothing less than Misophone’s masterpiece.
Time to get stuck in its silt-slicked tributaries. 

Chris Vibberts – Producer, Composer, Arranger, Engineer, Mixer, Piano, Cello, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Organ, Marxophone, Melody Harp, Tibetan Singing Bowl, Samples, and Sound Manipulation

Recorded at The Rabbit Hole Recording
​©2021 What Are We Records
Chrystal Für Website

Opening with a “Requiem,” Chrystal Für’s third album Elusion is an elegy to the cycle of loss, acceptance, and the promise of restored life. Christopher Vibberts' reflective piano interweaves with droning waves of sound and intermittent shards of static that is equal parts nostalgia and hope. The album also contains an unforgettable collaboration between the Portugal-via-US artist with the Belgium's Echo Collective (7K!) as well.

Elusion is set for a May 28th release on What Are We Records, with the album opener "Requiem" out now. The track operates in a mind-frame occupied by like-minded artists like Colin Stetson, Christopher Willits, and Tangerine Dream, and has a slow-moving pulse with building peaks that continues to propel the track throughout. 

​Vibberts pulls the curtain back on the new track: "'Requiem' is a soaring recognition of a year of trials and tribulations and an eagerness to lay it to rest. Slowly evolving tones defy gravity as they launch into space making way for an emerging synth that in its gentle pulsation reminds us how alive we still are. Requiem is an end, and a beginning."

Chris Vibberts – Producer, Composer, Arranger, Engineer, Mixer, Mastering, Wine Glasses. Tibetan Singing Bowl, Organ, Keyboards, Samples, Glockenspiel, GForce MTron
​​

Recorded at The Rabbit Hole Recording
​©2020 What Are We Records
Chrystal Für Website

Originally recorded at The Rabbit Hole Recording for ToneShift's Sound + Solidarity podcast event, "Rising Rain" is now available for download and streaming with all proceeds going to Color of Change to support their mission make the world a more racially equitable place.

I'm honored to have been asked by TJ Norris of ToneShift to contribute an unreleased Chrystal Für track to the Sound + Solidarity podcast being released tomorrow night. My track is called "Rising Rain" and is a contemplative, moody journey with a touch of hope sprinkled in. I'll be in the company of 29 other experimental composers...all exceptional...who have contributed unreleased material for this important cause! This musical event is to honor the victims of racial violence. 

Here is more information about the curation of this event from TJ Norris of Toneshift:

Sound + Solidarity.

July 4: Independence from Racism

To honor the memory of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Elijah McClain, Dominique Fells, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Fong Lee, Rayshard Brooks, Eric Garner, Michael Ramos, Erik Salgado, Eleanor Bumpers, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Willie McCoy, Alberta Spruill, Riah Milton, Kawaski Trawick and countless others who have been senseless victims of violence in the name of racial indifference, Toneshift reached out to some of the most incredible international sound artists to address this growing dynamic in our societies.

In an incredibly emotional time in our human history, we see glimmers of great hope as a new social wave, made up of several generations, coming together, standing up to the misuse of power. We see acts of kindness and peaceful protest. As an impetus for this we looked to the time signature of John Cage’s 4’33” to help assist in this effort to give a new voice to silence - as artists we can no longer be silent when it comes to the advancement of basic human relations. The basic structure was to submit a piece in the duration of "four minutes, thirty- three seconds"voicing the need for racial equality - here you will find that all but the opener and closer fit within this simple parameter.

Through the indelible creative empathy of the experimental music community Toneshift is so proud, and quite honored to present a collection of these thirty new tracks, several exclusive world premieres, all presented for the very first time, anywhere. Most of the artists here, despite an ongoing worldwide virus-based pandemic, have created works specifically for this call to action. Each and every contribution incredibly timed as a collective in the plight to end racism.

These times call for artists to come together more than ever. We are equals on this planet, each and every one of us, no matter what race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability - we are human - all with flaws and potential. Silence = complicity and that must end. Collectively we begin to embrace new traditions, seeking real change, through the vehicle of music and other sonic modalities. Here you will discover passionate work that responds in disparate ways. Today, and everyday we fight for the right to be in our own skin.

Listen, Breathe, Be.
For all, in solidarity. 
TJ Norris/Toneshift, Curator

Sound + Solidarity: An Elegy 

30 ARTISTS (all tracks previously unreleased)
Nina Hagen + Warner Poland - unity
Nickolas Mohanna - Untitled #6

Thomas Dimuzio - Abject Light 4'33 (I Can't Breathe)

Jim Haynes - untitled

Drekka - Before the gardens must come fighting

Tunnels Of Āh - The Birds Lay In Their Blood

Mia Zabelka - M (excerpt)

Tor Lundvall - Last Rays

Serge Bulat - Clouds Of Yesterday (Rework)

Jason Kahn - for all those

Keith Berry - Persistence of Memory

Tmux - State Of Exception (Toneshift Edit)

die ANGEL - 433

Massimo Toniutti - The Shangai Files - Spillikins - radio edit

Frank Bretschneider - Tactics 4’33

Nicolas Wiese - Versus/Nonversus (2020 Edit)

BLK TAG - the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice
 Adrianna Krikl - Unrest 4’33"

Darryl Blood - Abernathy

Occupied Head - Burning

Above The Tree - King Above

Gintas K - Pink G. Floyd

Nadja - The Noise of Unsilence

Giulio Aldinucci - Exodus Mandala (quattro e trentatré edit)

Marta De Pascalis - Her Core (extract)

Benjamin Finger - Afterthoughts

Chrystal Für - Rising Rain

Hïdrō - Dilaudnumb

Jared Sagar - Somnambulist_1

Francisco Lopez - untitled #389
 

It is always a wonderful feeling to look on iTunes, BandCamp, Spotify, or any of the outlets we use to consume music, and see the artwork for an album I put countless days, weeks, months, or even years of energy and attention into, for the first time. There is something to be said about the sense of completion and excitement felt once the music has been mixed, mastered, and bundled with wonderful images, finally ready to be shared with the world!

Over a year ago Patrick Kennel (aka WEST) walked into The Rabbit Hole Recording with an acoustic guitar, a handful of songs, and the desire to record them to share his voice with a larger audience. Over the course of nine months in fits and starts on stolen time we recorded and shaped his contemplative songs. While still keeping the intimate feel intact, we added harmonies and some additional instruments (bass, organ, cello, musical saw, percussion, ondes magnétique...) to help support his vision and expand the sonic world in which these songs live.

​I'm happy to announce that on May 10, 2020 The Constant Comprehension EP was released and is now available for all to enjoy. It was a fantastic experience working with Patrick and I am proud of the music we created. Please support Patrick by streaming and purchasing his new album. The best (and FREE) thing you can do to help all independent musicians is leave a (positive!) review of their album on iTunes, BandCamp, Amazon, etc... You have a huge amount of power to help your musician friends as the social currency you provide is more valuable than any amount of advertising they could ever do! 

To get the full WEST experience head over to: westmusiconline.com

Patrick Kennel - Co-producer, Songwriter, vocals, acoustic guitar, organ
Chris Vibberts - Co-producer, Engineer, Mixer, Drums, Percussion, Guitars, Bass, Cello, Musical Saw, Ondes Magnétique
Saphyre Kohl - ​Harmony Vocals on "Refuge"

Recorded at The Rabbit Hole Recording
©2020 Patrick Kennel
WEST Website

Thank you, thank you, thank you Chris Vibberts - there are so many ways in which I could not have done this without him! He is a truly talented musician and an excellent recording/sound engineer - I couldn't be happier with how my EP turned out. As we worked on it - this vision became so much bigger than just my own, and in a many ways and I consider this a collaboration - not a solo effort.

– Patrick Kennel (WEST)

By the time I was born in the early 1970's The Beatles' 10 year explosion of musical brilliance had already run its course, and each member was well into his own solo endeavor. My first experience hearing the sitar was in the Beatles song "Norwegian Wood" while playing with Lincoln Logs as a toddler. Growing up I was peripherally aware of their music via the radio, but didn't really "get it" until I dove deep into their catalogue after acquiring a treasure trove of vinyl in my early 20's. Being an adolescent at the dawn of MTV, it was Tom Petty's fantastic Alice In Wonderland-themed video for "Don't Come Around Here No More" that  ignited the "sitar spark" in me. 

The video features Dave Stewart of Eurythmics (who co-wrote/co-produced the song with Mr. Petty) as the caterpillar perched atop a mushroom with a hookah and an instrument that looks like it came from another planet. I was intrigued. What was that crazy looking instrument?! Was it responsible for that cool chiming sound in the song? Would I be that cool if I played one? What was he smoking? How do I enter this enticing, psychedelic world? My young mind started to spin...and expand.

It wasn't until I attended Berklee College of Music after high school that I actually got to see and hear a sitar in person. An Indian duo performed at the school and I was blown away. It reminded me of those feelings of awe I had in my youth seeing Dave Stewart with his crazy nails holding that sitar on my television set. Five years later I moved to Northern California, which happens to be home to a world renowned school of Indian music established by Ali Akbar Khan. I finally got my hands on my own sitar, found an outstanding teacher named Peter Van Gelder who studied with Ali Akbar Khan and taught at the college, and started taking lessons. I began (or continued) my journey.

My interest in sitar had always been to see how I could apply it to my own music. As a flavor to my rock songs or film scores. I had no ability (or desire) to compete with players who started as children practicing 18 hours a day chained to a tree by their "Baba" until they got it right, as is the lore of Ali Akbar Khan. I'm more of a "what cool sounds can I squeeze out of this instrument?...and this instrument?...and this instrument?..." kind of player. Though, I did really enjoy my studies and went deeper on the sitar than with any other instrument besides guitar...which is where I started learning music. Being that it is an instrument you play sitting on the floor while balancing it on your bare foot and knee, I went as deep as my 6'3" body with agonizingly tight hamstrings would allow!

​Last week George Harrison's The Material World Foundation, who has already donated $500,000 to non profit organizations who are helping those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced a challenge that would get others involved to help add another 100K to their donations. It involves creating your own interpretation of George Harrison's "The Inner Light" composition that was originally the B side of the "Lady Madonna" single in 1968. Sitar did not appear on the original recording, but it does feature an amazing cast of Indian musicians including sarod player Aashish Khan. Inspired by the cause, I decided to create my own sitar version to contribute to the challenge. As I started putting the pieces together, I felt it needed a little bowed bass and percussion to fill it out. The above video is the final version I created. So far there has been an outpouring of amazing musicians who have offered up their own versions including Daniel Lanois, Mike Campbell, Jim James, Jewel, Jeff Lynne, Richard Marx, and George's son Dhani Harrison. There have also been a number of fantastic visual art works made.

Thank you George Harrison and The Beatles for introducing the western world to Indian music, musicians, and musical instruments. And thank you George for  starting me on this lifelong journey of musical exploration. Your spirit lives on.

- Chris Vibberts

Learn more and join in at The Material World Foundation.

Without going out of my door
I can know all things on earth
Without looking out of my window
I can know the ways of heaven
The farther one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows

Without going out of your door
You can know all things on earth
Without looking out of your window
You can know the ways of heaven
The farther one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows

Arrive without traveling
See all without looking
Do all without doing
​
#innerlight2020

Now more than ever we need to stay connected with others as we practice social distancing. For many studio musicians and composers, social distancing is not a new concept. We practice this by default regularly and actually need to remind ourselves to make an effort to get some fresh air, exercise, and human contact on a regular basis. One positive side effect of this new reality is that creatives are reaching out more than ever.

My friend Gio Benedetti is a mind-blowingly fantastic bass player, musician, artist, sword wielder, and educator. His creativity is always inspiring and he has a wonderful way of uniting people. I've had the pleasure of playing in various bands with Gio since we were in our twenties. His skills span an enormous musical range, but he's always had a soft spot for metal. My guitar (and consequently musical) journey began in the 80's rocking out to Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest albums. So when Gio reached out on social media to collaborate on an impromptu metal track I jumped on it! Being one who doesn't like to be redundant I offered up some sitar to add to the mix.

My good friend JB Duff and drummer/percussionist extraordinaire, whom I've also played in several bands with (from Indian ragas to backwoods Americana songs about chickens), jumped in to rock the drums, and Alexander Leach brought it all home with a scorching Tele lead. I grabbed hold of the faders to mix the whole thing and Gio made this super fun video. 

Thank you Gio for inspiring me to come up from out of my Rabbit Hole once in a while to stay connected with our amazing musical community. Please watch, enjoy, share, and create music with others in any way that you can!

​Stay connected. Stay creative. It is our lifeline.​

Chris Vibberts - Co-Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Mastering, Bass, Drums
Christopher Lods - Co-Producer, Guitar



​Recorded at The Rabbit Hole Recording
©2020 Christopher Louis Lods
Christopher Lods Website