Discovering new bands is, thanks to the internet, incredibly easy. The buzz that connects the world of music through laptops, mobiles and PC’s can often be louder than a South African vuvuzela. So when we feature a ‘new’ band we’re often conscious that the band aren’t ‘new’ at all. We can’t always be first. Claims that Alan McGee was the first to discover Oasis in front of a handful of people at Glasgow King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut are not particularly true - the reality is that there were others before him. For instance the promoter that booked Oasis to play that night, or audiences who saw them play other gigs before they hit Glasgow. McGee was just the person who offered Oasis a deal.
In the last few weeks we’ve written about very new acts such as Lite N Dark, Brilliant Mind and Spark. For many these will be totally new artists, but in most cases someone probably got there before us to help bring the artist or group to our attention - at least in two of the three cases mentioned.
Which brings us to Visions of Trees. To the discerning new music fan Visions of Trees will no longer be considered this weeks hype. This boy / girl duo put out their EP Sometimes it Kills back in February this year and have had significant exposure through blog coverage both before and after its release. However, blog exposure is just a starting point. Blogs may be the new-accessible-underground having virtually killed off the old-underground of the fanzine, but they rarely reach out to the mainstream. There’s a bigger machine to do that of which blogs are just a tiny but important part. However, another blog (this one) writing about another ‘new’ not so new band, will still find some readers who have yet to hear of Vision of Trees. Maybe they are new to you, and we may be your Alan McGee.
Vision of Trees are Joni Juden and Sara Atalar from London. Their sound is like a celestial rhythmic Mother Mary in a world of Cocteau-esque electronica. With songs shaped from reverb laden ethereal vocals, subtly danceable percussive elements and a trippy almost gothic come-down vibe, there is a hint of spaced-out mellowness to Vision of Trees that we haven’t heard since the early 90’s. A modern take on the work of ambient house pioneers The Orb but with more emphasis on tropical beats perhaps? Or distant groovy cousins of Esben and the Witch maybe ? Whatever their references though - their Myspace suggests psych r ‘n’ b - Vision of Trees provide a magic carpet of sounds that fly towards escapism but in a gentle, virtually seamless manner. Witness their live show to see this in full effect, where each song moulds into each other giving the audience no chance to applaud until the end.
Visions of Trees, like many other bands over the last year, started with an air of mystery about them, their initial press shots showing their faces covered in masks. As you can see from the photo above though, Visions of Trees have nothing to be embarrassed about in the flesh. Also like many other new acts these two have been keeping themselves busy with some remixing duties as well as forming their own songs, including mixes for Memory Tapes and the current Everything Everything single Schoolin’. They also have a few UK summer festivals booked including Glastonbury, Truck, Camp Bestival and Bestival. Here’s their track Cult of Cobras.
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