2

Handnumbered repress. From the London based imprint, Hegoa, comes one of the most beautiful and striking records we’ve heard all year, the Basque trio, Carcáscara’s second outing “II”. Issued in a very limited vinyl edition of 300 copies, its elegant arrangements of tonality, texture, and cascading arpeggiations and drones, sculpt a stunning, acoustic middle ground between a number of Spanish folk traditions, American primitivism, and musical minimalism. A likely strong contender for more than a few year-end lists
Carcáscara is Fernando Aguirre and Iñigo Ugarteburu. The project released their debut LP in 2007 to tragically little notice. The project grew from the ashes of longstanding larger ensemble, Café Teatro, which released three stunning albums across the first decade of the new millennium – Aguirre, Iriondo and Ugarteburu were all members – which laid the rough footprint for the sound that would emerge as Carcáscara’s own. Ugarteburu also notably works within the more explicitly experimental trio, Liberez, with John Hannon and Tom James Scott, which helps tie Carcáscara’s efforts and underlying concepts to a larger network of activity within the field
Recorded between London and Basque Country in 2014, the sheer beauty of Carcáscara’s second outing will inevitably leave the listener slightly confounded by the fact that it remained shelved for the better part of a decade. It is, quite simply, a stunning bit of artistry that stands way out there on its own, sculpting a fascinating middle ground between the territories explored by projects like Town & Country (Ben Vida, Jim Dorling, Joshua Abrams, Liz Payne) and Pascal Comelade / Bel Canto Orquestra