Rising – Married In Berdichev
I’m in love. I don’t mean with a person, or at least not a whole person. I’m in love with a voice, and it belongs to Brittany Gould, aka Married In Berdichev. Veteran of the incredible Denver art-music scene that also includes amaze-gaze musicians like Hideous Men and Alphabets, Gould has been putting sweet, angelface vocals together with noise and drone for a few years now, but her recent work has touched me in ways few other things have. Melding and multiplying her voice with echoing, noisy electronic loops and static, as well as more recent additions like bells and singing bowls, Gould has taken a concept long mined for harsh vibes and created some of the finest pieces of music I’ve ever heard. Getting my hands on some of this work has proven difficult; much of it is limited-edition cassette releases, and a lot of it is now out of print. This just makes finding each piece more of a joy, though. For an added blast of discordance but equally affecting vocals, you should also listen to her work with Eva Aguila under the name Caldera Lakes. For those looking for more than a taste, you can download her most recent album Readying for free on her bandcamp page. Be ready to fall in love too.
Published June 15, 2011.