õhtul | TRS086
Back in 2012 we released on CD the amazing album “õhtul”, from the artist known as Strië . As this has always been one of our personal favorites here at the label, we are now every excited to be re-releasing this album in a double, 10”, 33rpm lathe cut record version, in a handworked gatefold jacket. TRS086 comes in an edition of only 40 copies.
All four sides of each record jacket have been covered with high quality, hi-res prints on Epson fine art paper, of photos provided by the musician for her original release, but not used then…including a portrait of the elusive artist herself at the time, on the cover! The inner two panels are holed, and have been mirrored in the center of each. Inside each side of each jacket is slipped a vintage classical music insert to add a bit of color and history. On the right inside landscape there has been added a three dimensional “fence of straw”. The spine of each jacket has been hand stamped, and each release is hand numbered.
The extremely clear and lovely sounding lathe cut records were individually cut by hand in real time, in the UK at Bladud Flies, by Michael Lawrence. Each of these transparent and also hand stamped records will come in clear inner sleeves, and the whole heavyweight beauty will come in a snug, 10” outer poly sleeve.
The music itself? In a beautiful review at his wonderful A Closer Listen blog, Richard Allen kindly took the words right out of our own mouths at the time when he wrote…
“There’s a heart-rending quality to much of Strië’s music, apparent in the downcast strings and low-pitched vocalizations of “HÑllilaul” (“Lullaby”) and the counter-balancing melodies of “Arabesque”. It’s unusual to be drawn into an album with sadness, but the clouds part a bit at the end of “Arabesque”, with piano, electronics and an additional pair of string sequences: like catching a glimpse of the moon before it disappears again. Elsewhere, swaths of forlorn sounds mask deeper elements: distant hammering, classical loops, a xylophone. Some sounds have been reclaimed from older sources. Most are new, composed for the occasion. But no matter how dark the evening gets, the artist remains tender, as if to acquaint a younger loved one with the dark, but not to frighten. Any hints of hauntology are likely unintentional; This Mortal Coil’s Blood makes a better reference point.
Õhtul attempts to guide the listener safely through the night, a time in which the liminal creatures emerge and shadows melt into a thicker darkness. The crackling of leaves and secret stirrings preserved within these pieces speak of deeper truths, of bigger secrets – not “Who is Strië?” but “Who are we?”, encased in a world we often ignore when the sun goes down. The inability to tell field recording from percussion and pure voice from pitch-shift adds to the disorientation.
If Õhtul were not out of step, it wouldn’t be as effective. We often ignore what we understand and dismiss what we don’t, but Õhtul has elements of both. As such, it’s impossible to abandon; it’s the word we’ve forgotten, resting on the tip our of tongue. Õhtul is not an album of darkness looking for the light, nor an album of darkness that folds in on itself. It’s an album in which a person’s darkness is a fox or an owl’s light, and it invites us to see the forest through their eyes.” (Richard Allen)
This release will be available here at the TRS website, as well as at our Bandcamp page where it is also available digitally.
Strië is the pseudonym of Polish multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Olga Wojciechowska.
Initial works released under this alias did not reveal her real name.The moniker was born of a desire to sever ties with her past musical identity, to make daring new music for music’s sake and to do so with freedom and impunity. The music explores the atmospheric and unobtrusive nature of ambient music, a style which has captured her imagination for many years.
Her endless curiosity and subtle electronic treatments of stringed instruments has also led to an involvement with various live ensembles. She has worked with contemporaries such as Greg Haines, Erik Skodvin, Pjusk and Alvaret Ensemble.
As Strië she has released albums with Soundscaping, Time Released Sound and Serein labels. With her last EP on Serein Strië ceases to be an anonymous project.
