Hello everyone, I recently discovered something very beautiful. Since 2005, Rice Cultivation Society has been one guy (Derek Smith) living in Long Island, putting out lo-fi DIY home recordings. On his latest album released back in January, Sky Burial, he decided to bring a few friends in. The result is this gorgeous extended daydream that begins with some truly lovely John Fahey style acoustic guitar strumming and layered vocals, and then goes off into a multicolored guitar, percussion and strings-driven kaleidoscope. Folk, experimental, space music, orchestral—whatever the hell it is, it’s beautiful. Oh, and there’s some achingly lovely fragile vocals (as on the closing “Fading Stars”) that brings to mind Elliot Smith. Bejeebers, this is good.
As for their/his band name, apparently it’s a reference to a Tibetan tradition of allowing predatory birds to eat a corpse, as opposed to the more traditional burial or cremation practices. Even better. Sky Burial itself is an examination of the mystery of death, inspired by the myth of Icarus.
As fate would have it, this had been sitting in my inbox for a few months and I finally got around to listening tonight. Lo and behold, they’ve just announced a tour! Sadly, oh so sadly, they (so far) aren’t coming to Boston, but I’ll let you know where they are going. Definitely check them out if you can. And run right over to their bandcamp page and scoop this up.
Midwest/East Coast Shows
Fri 3/22 Buffalo, NY – Nietzsche’s
Sat 3/23 Columbus, OH – The Summit
Sun 3/24 Chicago, IL – Underground Wonder Bar
Mon 3/25 Chicago, IL – Wise Fool’s Pub
Tues 3/26 Bloomington, IN – Rachael’s Cafe
Wed 3/27 Gambier, OH – Village Inn
Thurs 3/28 Pittsburgh, PA – Howlers
Fri 3/29 Philadelphia, PA – Church of the Advocate
Sat 3/30 Babylon, NY – Twisted Shamrock
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