White Gourd – “Hermit / La Lune” – [Psychic Sounds]

Thurston Hunger   10/2/2014   12-inch, A Library

Nico-tine addiction, with plenty of new highs to ply here
as well, from Suzanne Stone aka White Gourd. Each side is
a walk on the wind-blown cliffs of her sonic imagination,
her voice either calling you towards, or warding you off
the rocks far below. Soft and ghosty, at times a wordless
whisper and other times a harrowing yodel cry, but her
cadence stretching the words out is what recalls Nico.
I try to latch on to her words, but they slip away into
an abstract place behind faces, nestled in chilly wisdom.
There’s a general fogginess here that draws the listener in,
the white on white, gourd versus gourd versus evil. She brings
in an instrument for awhile, sax counter-phrases to her chanted
vocals, haunted piano, spirits of seagulls. Two side-long
strolls with potential exits, but why leave? If you are keeping
score at home, your scorecard better be a tarot card as she’s
working her way through a hypnotic deck, with apparently the
Devil, Magician, Star and Tower cards to be revealed soon.

An exquisite corpse
lost in an excluded copse
cloaked in tarot cards

-Thurston Hunger