Here’s a new video for you! “Acappella Instrumental” is on the new album Alaska. The synth-like sounds are actually psychedelic layers of phased vocals.
I recorded the footage at Tanalian Falls, in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska. The audio was written and recorded at Chulitna Lodge. A bird sampled throughout the album is Swainson’s Thrush. The males defend their breeding grounds by singing a series of spiraling notes inflected upward, which to me sounds like a flute through phaser pedals.
… “Take Uno Lady, for example, and her newly released “Alaska,” the result of a residency at the off-the-grid solar-powered Chulitna Lodge, a wilderness retreat in Lake Clark National Park & Preserve. Here, Cleveland transplant Christa Ebert has captured field recordings of herself doing things like banging on a log out in the forest, or birds swooping past her tent at night, and remixed them digitally into background atmospheres, over which she layers what sometimes sounds like dozens of her own vocal tracks. Maybe there’s a bit of keyboard once in a while.
The results are warm and organic, sometimes even catchy, as on “Today’s the Day,” which wouldn’t sound out of place on a Magnetic Fields album. Ebert’s lead vocal is lower register and resonant — “I’ll conjure up some urgency and mend all of the emergencies” — while a chorus of angelic vocals shimmer in the background, accompanied by bugs and birdsong, like Snow White wending her way slowly through the forest. Her vocal range is sorta bonkers.
Her “Venn Diagram,” too, from the “Osmosis” album three years ago, is a delicious bit of indie pop, and she even covered Tom Petty in her early releases. But there’s always something subversive, something new and interesting in the way she constructs her recordings and releases. Her previous release, “Le Flux,” recorded largely in Switzerland and then edited here in Maine, features vocals that are lyricless, and more found sounds turned into beats. Only possible, really, with today’s digital recording techniques, it still manages to transmit an intimacy that should tickle that desire for authenticity….
Maybe you can’t picture them in the room, but you can understand what they’re feeling, and that’s something no machine will ever authentically do.”
Alaska is released in partnership with Softseed Musicin British Columbia on limited edition cassette tapes (32), each with one-of-a-kind swirl art made by Dave Norman of Softseed Music. The tapes are available at Softseedmusic.bandcamp.com and UnoLady.com.
Dave asked about collaborating on a tape right after my Alaskan adventure. The Wax Mage Records, Single Rider release was how I was introduced to Dave. He runs Softseed Music and Zegma Beach. Red Spade Records created a limited run lathe cut 10” and Dave hand dipped the swirl art.
ALASKA, Uno Lady’s 9th release, was recorded at an off-the-grid solar-powered arts fellowship at Chulitna Wilderness Lodge in Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Alaska.
These songs were written in the moment and inspired by the landscape. You can hear the tranquility of the place within the songs. The percussion was made by drumming on trees and the beats are comprised of bird calls I recorded. These nature sounds pulse along with layers of vocal harmonies. These truly unique compositions are atmospheric and mesmerizing.
The album artwork is a photo I took on summer solstice. Taking advantage of the 22 hours of daylight, we zipped around by boat visiting different islands within Lake Clark and sipped on sun soaked teas made from flowers we foraged.
The art fellowship in Alaska was life changing. I was as enthusiastic as an eight year old over new plant discoveries. I didn’t anticipate creating an album. Being disconnected from social media and online distractions allowed me to absorb and be influenced by the atmosphere. I would record when I felt inspired, which was often. At the end of the 6 week adventure, I had 10 recordings and a new album. All the songs on ALASKA were a product of this once in a lifetime experience. Thank you Chulitna Lodge for sharing your space, good company, and delicious food. This album is dedicated to you and the artists involved (Here are related posts about my experience at the fellowship if you want to learn more 1 & 2).
In these coming weeks, I’ll share stories from each song and videos. Subscribe and follow to see. Here’s a link to all the streaming sites.
By Karol Kamiński, IDIOTEQ.COM -“Uno Lady‘s new album, titled “Alaska,”showcases her unique approach to music composition, which involves layering ambient vocal textures with classic doo-wop and jazz styles using experimental techniques. The album features a few tracks that incorporate effected vocals similar to the White Lotus theme, while the final two tracks are meditative and calming in nature.
Recorded at an off-the-grid solar-powered arts fellowshipat Chulitna Wilderness Lodge in Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Alaska, this isUno Lady’s ninth release.
The album will be available digitally and on cassette viaSoftseed Music, with 32 swirled cassettes being released on March 21st, 2023 at 7am PST / 9am CST / 10am EST.
Commenting on the new single “Today’s the Day”, Christa’s explains that the music came to her first and she struggled to come up with lyrics until she decided to write about the very thing she was experiencing – being stuck and trying to get moving.”
The new album will be available on 3.21.23 at the following links:
I’m delighted to share the songs and videos from Le Flux with you. For the last 3 years, I have put a lot of time and love into these tracks and look forward to telling the story behind the music. More blog posts coming soon (subscribe at UnoLady.com)
“Le Flux” is a 9-song video album created in a flow state in France. The songs are spellbinding, ambient arias, mostly lyricless. The film, taken across Europe on the same trip that spawned the album, follows Uno Lady through France, Switzerland, and Germany. All songs were composed at an artist residency in the small town of Orquevaux, France at Chateau Orquevaux. The footage is from the same trip and features scenes from Switzerland and Germany. The compositions, videos, and editing involved following flow.
The short film airs at 9am EDT 11/22/22
I picked this release date because it’s my lovely mother’s birthday. Happy birthday, mom. You’re the best and I love you so much. You made me so you indirectly made this album! Great job! This album is dedicated to you.
November 22 also is the 15-year anniversary of my first Uno Lady show!(RIP Pat’s in the Flats and the incomparably tough and supportive Pat Hanych). Time flies! Thanks for your support all these years.
Thanks to Chateau Orquevaux for providing me with the opportunity and a truly unique place to create. I am forever inspired by the atmosphere and the other artists who attended (Miss you!) Huge thanks to The Ellis Beauregard Foundation in Rockland, Maine for providing me a residency and the opportunity to spend last winter editing, mastered, and making the videos. Thank you all for your support.
I had the honor of composing music for Massillon Museum‘s virtual tour of “A Thrilling Act: The Art of Anthony Eterovich.” Thanks Karen Eterovich, John, and Alex Coon at Massillon Museum for inviting me support such a lovely project. It turned out amazing! Watch it here.
A Thrilling Act: The Art of Anthony Eterovich was on display at the Massillon Museum from June 12—September 26, 2021. I was honored to perform at the opening.
I loved writing songs specifically for the virtual exhibit. Inspiration for the songs were derived directly from experiencing Anthony Eterovich’s art. I love the vast variety of styles and the playful and vivid colors he uses. The paintings and sketches provided endless inspiration. It was wonderful to learn more about his life as an artists.
Thanks again.
In other news, I leave soon for the off-grid artist fellowship in Alaska. I’m developing a project that focuses on the forests. I will be in the wilderness, without phone and limited email. I am taking a break from outside work and reconnecting with nature. if you’d like to work together on a composition in the future, I’ll be available to write again mid-July. Take care!
The Well, based out of Cincinnati, offers programs that combine aspects of mindfulness, arts, social-emotional learning, play, movement, and poetry into practices for regular use within schools, hospitals, and communities. The Well’s Mindful Music Moments program delivers music and mindfulness daily to schools across the country.
Each week, entire schools listen to a single piece of music, repeated for 5 days, with creative, mindful prompts preceding each day. The Field Recording/New Music Project, supported by a grant from the Ohio Arts Council, hired 4 musicians to record sounds in their area and create new music with the sounds during the 2021/22 school year.
I am delighted to work on a piece that shares calm with students. The sounds of Lake Erie and surrounding wildlife were the theme and inspiration to this composition.
Notes about the recording
Erie Serenade samples sounds from the Lake Erie region. For this project, I recorded environmental acoustics at five different locations. Wave sounds were sampled from Magee Marsh and Edgewater Beach. Bird, bug, and frog songs were recorded from Old Woman Creek, Rocky River Reservation, and Columbia Station Reservation.
What amphibians, animals, birds, and insect calls can you identify? I can hear blue jays, chickadees, cicadas, crickets, and woodpeckers.
The percussion is made entirely of environmental field recordings; the melody is voice. All the vocals are my own. The natural percussion was clipped to fit 79 bpm and designed to be supportive of slow, steady breathing. Once the background beat was composed I meditated on what tone would fit the emotions and intentions of the song and started recording vocals. I wanted the piece to be uplifting, repetitive, and hypnotic, yet enough variation for engagement. There are many layers to the song that can serve as cues to breathe deeply. Please follow the pulse that best serves your breathing practice.
This project increased awareness of manmade sounds. Recording the natural environment is challenging because human-created cacophonies dominate the soundscape: running engines, ringing phones, passing planes, power and yard tools are much louder than wildlife. Even traffic lights hum. This project made me curious to hear the sounds of old-growth forests of the past.
I was asked, “What else do you want students to know, hear or think about when they hear this music?”
I hope this song helps students meditate in the present moment.
Listen to the layers. Breathe with the music. Let worries melt away and envision a calming happy space. Feel at peace. Today is an exciting new day. May it bring joy. Thanks for sharing this moment together.
