Soul-Junk And Woven Hand: Together At Last?!?
According to a post on the Arts & Faith forum, this intriguing tidbit appeared in the latest Sounds Familyre newsletter:
...with the strength of ten men each, Soul-Junk and Woven Hand, like ancient Norse mythological deities, descended on Clarksboro, NJ to wrestle to two-inch tape songs almost too wild and beautiful to be contained. With the help, guidance, and expertise of Emil Nikolaisen of Serena-Maneesh and Daniel Smith, their efforts were not in vain. At the end of two extraordinary weeks of activity and very little sleep, there exist the strong foundations of two incredibly compelling records.
I did some browsing on the Sounds Familyre website, and there was no mention of this anywhere that I can see. But if this really is happening, than it’s pretty amazing—and crazy—news.
There are fewer voices in all of Christendom as unique as Glen Galaxy and David Eugene Edwards, and the thought of them working together, along with Daniel Smith (The Danielson Famile), immediately sets the mind spinning. The way I see it, a collaboration like this can only end in one of two ways: an absolute trainwreck, or an absolute wonder.
Soul-Junk and Woven Hand exist on completely opposite ends of the spectrum, musically, aesthetically, and tonally. Galaxy and his ever-changing crew dish out goofy, psychedelic hip-hop so abstract, it could send any b-boy into epileptic conniptions. David Eugene Edwards, on the other hand, has delivered one release after another of dark, haunted folk-rock that’s rife with the sort of brooding, Biblical imagery you’d find in a Flannery O’Connor novel.
On the surface, there’s little that’s compatible between them. But dig a little deeper, and the intensely worshipful attitude that pervades both artists’ music does provide some sort of common ground. And let’s face it, the thought of Edwards’ haunting wail appearing over Soul-Junk’s skewed beats, or Galaxy twisting and mashing up Edwards’ traditional instrumentation is pretty tantalizing.
Either way—trainwreck or wonder—it’ll be something glorious to behold, I bet. If you know anything more about this, please leave a comment for the rest of us.
Comments
Luke
November 6, 2007 6:53pmit’s true that this was in Daniel’s latest newsletter but, it’s been alluded to for some time on Glen’s blog (souljunk.com) as well. he also wrote about a “surprise artist” that would appear on it. my guess is either Sufjan or Glen’s son, Jude. there’s even a video of Glen “touring” Daniel’s sonic bunker in NJ. i realize that doesn’t really help too much - but, that’s not why i wrote. anyone that thinks Soul-Junk is about “goofy, psychedelic hip-hop” has probably missed the majority of his output - we’re talking over 10 albums and various eps that date back some 13 years now, covering (seriously) all sorts of musical ground… some even feature Danielson Famile, too. start at the beginning, “1950”, albums go up (1951,52,53..) eps go down (1949,48,47..) all stellar - as i’m fairly certain this latest release will be.
Jason
November 6, 2007 10:31pmWell, you’re right. I’m only familiar with Soul-Junk’s output starting with “1956” and on—all of which are solidly within the realm of “goofy, psychedelic hip-hop.” Which, BTW, wasn’t intended as a dig at all. I happen to think it’s very good goofy, psychedelic hip-hop. :)
Just Pete
November 7, 2007 12:09pmI also wonder how much of this is collaboration and how much is co-production, as the result is two albums. I’ll be interested to hear the finished products, fo sho.
Joshua Stamper
November 7, 2007 5:44pmHey Everyone,
Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but the Soul-Junk and Woven Hand sessions were separate: back-to-back, but separate. I agree with you all though, a joint project would be something to behold. I’ll definitely suggest it (thanks for the idea!)
Know though, that these two upcoming albums are going to be gooooood!
All the best,
Joshua Stamper
Sounds Familyre
Jason
November 7, 2007 6:36pmThanks for chiming in on this. The fact that there’s no joint project is something of a bummer, but hey! New Soul-Junk and Woven Hand records! That’s nothing to sneeze at.
Luke
November 7, 2007 7:11pmhey Jason, i gotcha on parts of 1956..and on ‘til ‘58 but, Glen’s latest release, 1959 is completely different (not hip-hop at all) actually, just the Psalms sung to abstract strums and sounds. further, all his material he’s been releasing on his site (for months) has been in the same vein. that was my only point. that Soul-Junk has finally returned to it’s roots (check 1950 & ‘51,’52,’53,’54) and it’s again mainly scripture based, even, abstract worship. nothing goofy about that. no offense intended whatsoever.
Valis
November 8, 2007 10:28amThis would have been interesting. I thought I had heard mention a few years back of a DEE/Daniel Smith collaboration, but that probably won’t happen either.