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Jakob Battick & Friends, "Bloodworm Songs"
This is the latest EP by Jakob Battick’s group combines folk and psychedelic experimentation with slow motion arrangements; the group wear their influences on their sleeves but manage to distinguish themselves from their musical ancestors and their peers through their mixing of styles. Bloodworm Songs is by no means perfect (the recording quality is distinctly low fidelity and the more experimental segments are rather tame) but there is certainly diamonds hidden amidst the rough.
 
The opening piece, "My First Bloodworm Song (Up in the Sky)," reminds me very much of Thee Silver Mt. Zion’s "Broken Chords Can Sing a Little" from their first album; both groups combining shortwave radio broadcasts and haunting, minimal music to great effect. However, I was a little worried that Battick and his group might end up following this formula for the rest of the EP as there are only so many scratchy radio sounds I can take in one sitting. Thankfully, the remainder of Bloodworm Songs sees Battick and his friends creating gorgeous songs in their own style, moving away from the template set out in the opening piece.
As aforementioned, the recording quality is not exactly the industry standard; "Leper K" sounds like it was recorded on an answering machine but this blurred and dusty recording suits the vibe of the song as a collection of voices merge together over some gently strummed guitars and insistent violins. "Three Orphans" continues this thread as the group sounds like The Angels of Light if Fleet Foxes were in charge of the reverb pedal and vocal harmonies. Yet, as nice as this sounds, I feel Battick is holding back. His voice stays in a monotone when it sounds like he should be able to put potency and variation into his delivery.
The only piece I do not particularly enjoy on the EP is "Our Second Bloodworm Song (Fed Through Isinglass)" where the group create a noisy din out of scraped violins. It should be right up my alley but it seems a bit forced (especially with the comments in the sleeve notes about "Most people will stop listening before the end of this song"). The memories of this interlude are thankfully blotted out by the EP’s final song "Nine Brothers & The Wolf" where all my criticisms above about Battick’s voice are addressed which shows that he is as capable as I expected he was.
While this is not a perfect release, Battick and his colleagues show promise. With a more focused approach they could definitely put together a far stronger recording and hopefully their forthcoming full length release will build on the foundations laid here. That is not to denigrate Bloodworm Songs, despite its flaws it has a lot more character than many of the CDs that end up coming through my letterbox.
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