Carta

An Index of Birds

Label: Silber Media Country: USA

"Carta formed in 2002 as a studio project having a revolving membership around Kyle Monday & Jason Perez. In 2005 they recorded The Glass Bottom Boat with the band drifting into hiatus during a two-year search for a label (eventually released by Resonant in 2007). By that time, the band had undergone a complete transfor- mation, with all former members gone except for Kyle Monday & Ray Welter they regrouped with Oakland drummer Raj Ojha (who had just left electro-post-rock band Run Return) & bassist/guitarist Sacha Galvagna (Charles Atlas). The new version of Carta began to write entirely new material rather than trying to re-work the old songs.

Originally planning two separate albums (one song-focused & another made up of more ambient experimental tracks), An Index of Birds emerged as a cohesive body of work from the disparate sessions recorded at different times & studios. Cellist Alex Kort (ex-Subtle) returned to work on several of the songs & Lorealle Bishop took up the mantle as the band's new female vocalist. Former Continental drummer & Christo- pher Willits-collaborator Gabriel Coan mixed several tracks on the album, & eventually became Carta's dedicated drummer.

Recorded & mixed by Carta, Sean Coleman, & Eli Crews (Deerhoof, Why?, Citay) & following the direction to 'make things sound like they have been recovered from a sunken ship', the result is an album that recalls the debut in feel but has both a more pastoral & more sinister tone. Placing more importance on vocals this time out, "An Index Of Birds" was a dedicated attempt to move beyond the stereotyped post-rock idioms & investigate textures & composition. Tiny electronic landscapes, soundtrack bombast, krautrock-inspired psychedelia, & brooding melodrama all find a home on an album you might hear on an ambulance ride that could end in salvation be it life or death."-Silber Media