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LP
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FTR 316LP
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"Rusalnaia is an incredible duo, formed early in the century by England's Sharron Kraus and Philadelphia's Gillian Chadwick. Their exquisite eponymous debut album was issued as a CD by Tony Dale's Camera Obscura label back in 2007, and we did it on vinyl last year (FTR 235LP, 2016). People pretty much swooned when they heard it. So when we learned the pair was recording a new album, our ears were immediately alert. Time Takes Away shares elements with its predecessor in terms of song construction, vocal overlay and general mystery action, but certain tunes manifest a bit more of psychedelic rock aspect, bespeaking antecedents such as the Trees. All of the wild electric string presence is provided by Sharron and Gillian, although Mark Wilden (who has previously backed Sharron) shows up as a steady percussive element. But, for all the band-like elements, this is primarily a vocal album as strong as their debut. None of the instrumental works flashes more prominently than the voices, and Sharron's decision to employ more of her Denny-register than she has in the past definitely colors the proceedings. Time Takes Away is a classic slab of UK folk invention. Like all of the best examples of the genre, it's impossible to tag the music to a year or even decade. It just sounds great and timeless. As though it has existed for aeons before you'd ever heard it. Even though the Cambrian CD only came out last year. At a rate, we suggest you relax and enjoy. Full lyric insert and printed inner sleeve provided for your additional pleasure." --Byron Coley, 2017
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LP
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FTR 235LP
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"Originally issued on CD in 2007 by the late Tony Dale's superb Camera Obscura label, the debut album by Rusalnaia is one of the lost classics of contemporary folk music. This is Rusalnaia's first appearance on vinyl, and we believe it will spin a lot of heads who missed out on it the first time around. The duo is made up of two formidable solo performers -- England's Sharron Kraus and Philadelphia's Gillian Chadwick, both of whom have unleashed massive solo recordings over the years. Neither of them has ever sounded quite as weirdly rural and psychedelic as they do here, however. Something about the way their voices and instruments combine with Greg Weeks's production (and occasional instrumental additions) give this album a bewitching aura that recalls a host of trad/psych folk-rattlers of the early '70s, from Trees to Comus to Spriguns and even the Watersons at their most whacked. Having listened to this album maybe 50 times, it's still hard to figure out how exactly it creates its celebratory fog, but it does. The songs sometimes have the feel of traditional pagan hymns, at others they could almost be outtakes from a lost, early Sandy Denny album. There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the great overlooked gems of the last twenty years. It is our pleasure to help you rediscover it. Liner note insert by Ptolemaic Terrascope's Phil McMullen" --Byron Coley. Edition of 400.
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