The Odd River, by Helen Svoboda

The Odd River

by Helen Svoboda

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Alison Interactive in a sense, every time I listen to this album...always in full cuz it's that good...it makes my ears work to uncover what Helen Svoboda has masterfully placed into The Odd River. Dig it. Favorite track: Foreign Bodies.

𝕋𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝 Svoboda continues to explore unconventional sounds and ways to play her instrument. This new body of work is a 29-minute experiment with genres, sounds, textures, and moods. A true work of art. Favorite track: Pick Me.

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
beautiful gatefold wallet with cover art by Angus Kirby and design by Brodie McAllister

Includes unlimited streaming of The Odd River via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Apple Choir 00:33	buy track
2.	Pick Me 04:24	buy track
3.	Interlude 1 02:26	buy track
4.	Honeybee Warfare 02:40	buy track
5.	Blue (pt 1) 02:17	buy track
6.	Blue (pt 2) 03:44	buy track
7.	Foreign Bodies 04:20	buy track
8.	Loom (pt 1) 02:02	buy track
9.	Interlude 2 02:01	buy track
10.	Loom (pt 2) 02:02	buy track
11.	Oddities 02:40	buy track

about

“A musician who absolutely defies categorisation” The Music Show, ABC

The Odd River is Finnish-born Melbourne-based bassist vocalist composer Helen Svoboda’s surreal musical evocation of the collision of organic and inorganic, of the natural and unnatural.

Her driving inspiration is her environment, she is struck by the weirdness of what we have done to natural world - and happily admits to being obsessed with finding uncustomary sounds, and ways of playing her instrument.

The Odd River weaves moments of startling beauty, childlike playfulness and dense chaos. Featuring a large ensemble of Australia’s most intriguing improvisers/performers, Helen’s quirky compositional style cycles through a rapidly changing landscape, seasoned by the eclectic instrumentation of double bass, voice, prepared piano, harmonium, zither, trombone, piccolo trumpet, woodwinds, percussion and virtuosic whistling.

The Odd River is both a film, and this album you hear. Composed with each musician in mind, and conceived to be recorded together, the pandemic shifted the process to each musician sending recordings from distant parts of Australia and Netherlands, and Helen multitracking with sound engineer Jem Savage, in an extended immersion in the sonic and production possibilities.

The Odd River film, made with filmmaker Angus Kirby, will be premiered at Longplay Melbourne in September.
Deep in nature, out of time, through a river portal, a young woman discovers a genetically modified food source that gives her strange visions of the end of the natural world.

credits

released September 22, 2023

- All music composed by Helen Svoboda, except tracks 3 and 9 Jacques Emery & Helen Svoboda –

Musician credits:
Helen Svoboda double bass, voice tracks 1-11.
Andrew Saragossi woodwinds, apple crunching tracks 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11.
Flora Carbo alto saxophone track 2.
Niran Dasika trumpets) tracks 4, 6.
Erik Griswold prepared piano, toy piano, music box tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11.
Joseph O'Connor prepared piano, harmonium, zither, trombone tracks 2, 5, 7.
Mike Roelofs whistling tracks 4, 11.
Chloe Kim percussion tracks 7, 10, 11.
Jacques Emery production tracks 3, 9.

Recording engineers: Jem Savage (Rolling Stock Studios; tracks 1-11), Theo Carbo (track 2), Joseph O'Connor (tracks 2, 5, 7) & Sam Pankhurst (tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11).
Mixed by Jem Savage. Mastered by Joe Talia.
Album Image by Angus Kirby.
Album Design by Brodie McAllister.
Booklet photography by Daniel Rafet Grima.

Released through Earshift Music
EAR080
www.earshift.com

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about

Helen Svoboda Melbourne, Australia

Helen Svoboda is a double bassist, vocalist, composer, and nature-enthusiast.

helensvoboda.com

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