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Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Northern Valentine is an experimental ambient/post-rock group that consists of husband and wife, Robert and Amy Brown, and a host of multi-instrumental musicians who join them from time to time.
With a wide range of musicians collaborating with them, a typical Northern Valentine live setting often features band members switching instruments several times during the performance. Their music is largely improvisational, blending traditional and non-tradtional electric and acoustic elements, allowing their sound to span from quiet and meditative drones and sound-scapes, to loud and fuzzy instrumental post-rock.
Their sound has drawn comparisons to artists such as Labradford, Windy and Carl, Flying Saucer Attack, Ennio Morricone and Eluvium, to Mogwai, Seefeel, Earth, Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Spacemen 3.
They have played clubs, bars, living rooms, churches, restaurants, classrooms, etc. If needed, they will stand on their amps or sit on your lap to fit into the space...no venue is too large or too small.
The group started recording music in 1997 and compiled countless hours of material, leading up to 2004, when they released their debut, "Pictures from the Lake", on their own label. It was followed shortly in 2005 with "Forest in the Sky". Both of these recordings feature a nearly percussion-less, often tribal / ambient sound that represents a more structured and planned approach to music, including some early "dialogue music", which provides instrumentation to conversations.
2005 also saw the first in a series of self-released Northern Valentine recordings, entitled "Rusted Gates", devoted entirely to field recording trips. The concept involves traveling with portable equipment to remote and natural settings; from abandoned buildings and ruins to fields and forests to capture spontaneous music that the group members create upon arrival.
The first field recording release of "Rusted Gates", entitled "Leopard's Mouth", was released in 2005 and was recorded largely inside an abandoned mental hospital using analog tapes and portable gear bussed in for the session. The selection of the location, and commitment to using analog tape as a recording medium, had an influence not only on the overall sound of the recording, but on the instrumentation of the group, as found objects and parts of the building itself are featured prominently as instruments. "Leopard's Mouth" was later repackaged and re-released in 2008 on Gears of Sand Recordings, as part of the "Suchness" series.
In 2006 the group started playing live shows for the first time and Robert released a solo recording, "The Unblinking Eye", still under the Northern Valentine name. The recording features two songs that turn heavily on drones, echo, looping and layered effects and are considerably longer than the groups previous releases.
2007 saw the start of some week long tours along the east coast of the United States and near the end of the year came the release of "Arasapha", which features live recordings from the first full Northern Valentine tour, with Austin, Texas ambient guitarist, P.D. Wilder (http://myspace.com/pdwilder) in the Winter. "Arasapha" includes the first incorporation of full drum percussion into Northern Valentine, as well as the foundations of the group leaning more heavily on improvisation during performances.
More shows and touring followed and during the summer of 2008, Northern Valentine had the honor of performing four shows in Iceland, including an historic show on June 8th, 2008, in which Northern Valentine played in Reykjavik, Iceland, with Icelandic band, For a Minor Reflection (http://myspace.com/foraminorreflection), at Višeyjarkirkja, on the island of Višey, The concert was the first musical performance to be performed at the church since it was consecrated in 1774. A self-released tour recording, "Adrift", was prepared and released around this event.
2008 also saw the release of "The Distance Brings Us Closer", on Silber Records. This recording represents the first Northern Valentine recording composed entirely of improvised music. The album features heavy effects layered on electric guitar and loops, as it delves into some powerful instrumental music that touches dark, industrial drones, and jazzy, piano laden sound-scapes. This was the first Northern Valentine release to receive global attention and a swarm of positive reviews, thanks largely in part to the ambient/drone network and distribution of Silber Records. A downloadable EP, "Stars Whisper", featuring three improvised songs, recorded live in Philadelphia, was released through Silber Records shortly after the release of "The Distance Brings Us Closer".
"Northern Valentine and P.D. Wilder", a split/collaboration was also released in 2008 on Gears of Sand Recordings. It features solo, improvised drone music from P.D. Wilder and Robert, again working under the name Northern Valentine, as well as two collaborative pieces which they recorded together during two live performances in Brooklyn, New York in January 2007.
In December 2008, Silber Records released "Clear Field", a free download of an improvised music session between Brian John Mitchell, from Remora, and Nic Slaton. The collaboration on this recording crosses ambient drifts with more abrasive tones and some noisy, sporadic glitch.
The Northern Valentine track, "Present Past", was featured alongside many other artists on "Winterizing: A Silber Records Christmas Compilation", which was released as a free download through Silber Records in December 2008. The song features some of the first recorded music from the origins of Northern Valentine, as well as analog tape audio from Christmas 1979.
In 2009 Northern Valentine stayed close to home, with Robert and Amy becoming parents to a baby girl (and she is such a cutie!).
With an increased use of available technology, all of the performances during this year were recorded in audio, video or both mediums.
For a year close to home, there were plenty of highlights...the band traveled to their first radio in-studio and interview with WRSU at Rutgers University...played an incredible show with yellow6 from the UK (and made a wonderful new friend in Jon)...
performed their first "festival" at Electro-Fest 2009 in New Jersey (and met a bunch of people who understand and are dedicated to some wonderful styles of music).
Perhaps their most ambitious project to date also took place in 2009. February 2009 began the writing, filming and orchestration of the first Northern Valentine
film, "Rusted Gates, Volume 1 - Leopard's Mouth". The film was created by Robert as a companion work to their 2005 album of the same name. Northern Valentine performed the entire body of their "Leopard's Mouth" album as a live soundtrack to the film, which was screened and performed
in September 2009...once at the historic Eastern State Penitentiary and twice at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, as part of the Philly Fringe Festival...and then a fourth time in November in Robert's hometown.
The year rounded out with the release of a new Northern Valentine song, "The White Mountains", on the annual Silber Records Xmas compilation (which was loaded with many great artists this year).
Their recordings are available through this website...go figure.
For booking, cds/downloads, distribution, interviews, questions, etc...contact:
Robert :: northernvalentine (at) hotmail (dot) com
Northern Valentine on Myspace --- http://myspace.com/northernvalentine
Northern Valentine on last.fm --- http://www.last.fm/music/northern+valentine
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