Tiny Vipers
Life On Earth

By Josiah Hughes

Aching, haunting, and ethereal, the music of Seattle songstress Jesy Fortino is surprisingly accomplished considering her relative newness. Performing as Tiny Vipers, she has now released her second proper album, Life On Earth, following 2007's fantastic Hands Across The Void. And while Hands was an intimate, softly sung collection of isolation music, Life On Earth expands on those ideas, doing more with even less. With just an acoustic guitar and Fortino's powerfully hushed voice, Earth leaves room-weighty atmospherics in her epic, sprawling compositions. Opener "Eyes Like Those" sets the tone with its plaintive picking and mournful singing, and it stays calm and down all the way through. It's the sort of minimalist approach that makes the subtle changes all the more endearing. The strummed guitars and pushed vocals of "Time Takes" and familiar pop structure of "Cm" are welcome changes, as is the addition of swarming piano on the ghostly centerpiece, "Young God." Life On Earth is a murky, brooding work that finds as much value in the negative spaces. It's also the most striking Tiny Vipers material yet.

How do you write songs?
I start with the guitar part. I'd say I'm more of a guitar player than anything else. The rest of it comes after. I used to write with stuff in mind, but over the years I just don't anymore. It's much more intuitive now. I just go with the flow. I don't try to make it anything. It is what it is.

What makes Life On Earth a different record from Hands Across The Void?
It's not really improvised, but it's less forced. The first one, I was still coming to terms with a lot of things. I wasn't really secure with myself or secure with what I was doing. I was staying behind some guidelines that I don't really have anymore. The structure is a lot more loose. There's a lot more freedom. It's a lot more mature in dynamic than the last one for sure.

How was the recording process different?
This time I did it analog. I recorded to tape, and the effects are real reverb chamber effects. There's no digital anything. The mic-ing techniques are different too. There are no double-upped vocals, which I wish I had never done on the first record. I was kind of hiding behind that on the first record. (Sub Pop)

Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
Mclusky is dead. It happened four years ago, get over it. Future of the Left, however, are alive and well. And to prove it, the Welsh trio have the album that should finally free them of their albatross. With their ace debut, 2007's Curses, FOTL may not have shook off all of the Mclusky-isms ...Read More
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Undergoing a significant renewal, Sonic Youth return with The Eternal, a relatively concise encapsulation of their bold, culture-altering aesthetic. It's no surprise that leaving Geffen for Matador to release their pop records has done little to alter the band's sound; like few other artists, ...Read More
We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
There's something in the loch water of Scotland, and no, I don't mean any monsters. Over the last couple years, bands like the Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit have confirmed that the region of Glasgow has found its own sound built on driving rhythms, shimmering guitar textures and uplifting anthe ...Read More
Arietta - Migration
Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light
Bachelorette - My Electric Family
Bachelorette - My Electric Family
Ben Lee - The Rebirth of Venus
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us
Bricolage - Bricolage
Chester French - Love The Future
The Church - Untitled #23
City Center - City Center
Clues - Clues
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - Outer South
The Curious Mystery - Rotting Slowly
Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Doll - Inside the Dollhouse
Eels - Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire
Ex Norwegian - Standby
Great Bloomers - Speak of Trouble
Great Northern - Remind Me Where The Light Is
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Hanne Hukkelberg - Blood From a Stone
Heat From A DeadStar - Seven Rays Of The Sun
The High Strung - Ode to the Inverse of the Dude
Hopewell - Good Good Desperation
HotKid - Someday Somehow
The Hundreds and Thousands - The Hundreds and Thousands
Ida Maria - Fortress ’Round My Heart
The Intelligence - Fake Surfers
Jack-O & the Tennessee Tearjerkers - The Disco Outlaw
Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter
Jeffrey Novak - After The Ball
Jets Overhead - No Nations
Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds - Dracula Boots
Lee Harvey Osmond - A Quiet Evil
The Lovely Feathers - Fantasy of the Lot
The Lovely Feathers - Fantasy of the Lot
The Lovely Sparrows - Bury the Cynics
Magik Markers - Balf Quarry
Marilyn Manson - The High End of Low
Matt Krefting - I Couldn’t Love You More
Maximo Park - Quicken the Heart
Most Serene Republic - …And the Ever Expanding Universe
The Novaks - Things Fall Apart
The Paint Movement - Our Eurythmy
Papa Roach - Metamorphosis
Paul “Snoflake” Taylor - Share It!
Pick a Piper - Pick a Piper
Pilot Speed - Wooden Bones
Polly Scattergood - Polly Scattergood
Pony Up! - Stay Gold
Rubies - Explode From the Center
Screen Vinyl Image - Interceptors
The Skeletones Four - Aaaaahhh!!!
The Soundcarriers - Harmonium
Sports - The Band
Still Life Still - Pastel
Still Life Still - Pastel
Thee Oh Sees - Help
Think About Life - Family
Tragically Hip - We Are the Same
Various Artists - Songs for Eric
Various Artists - Not Given Lightly: A Tribute to the Giant Golden Book of New Zealand’s Alternative Music Scene
Walk Off The Earth - My Rock
Wand - Hard Knox
The Warlocks - The Mirror Explodes
White Rabbits - It’s Frightening
The Wooden Birds - Magnolia
Wooden Shjips - Dos
Years - Years
Sitting in a Toronto coffee shop the week before the release of Little Girls' debut album, 20-year-old Josh McIntyre is a little worried. After an opening slot for crazed Israeli rockers Monotonix the previous night, the band's guitarist had his guitar amp repossessed. "He had it for a little longer than he was supposed to have it," he says dryly. A replacement needs to be wrangled before the band set out for their gig in Hamilton tonight.... Read More
Aside from deliberately misspelling their entire lyric book, there's nothing I dislike about Capade's Dno't Say It Mihgt Maen Somehitng. This record is everything a sophomore album should be; it's a much more developed effort stylistically and construction-wise than their debut, Wake Me Up... Full Review
Though recently implying that he's tapped out musically, Sufjan Stevens has never created something as pointedly ambitious as The BQE. Originally commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a 2007 performance, as a take-home release The BQE consists of an uncompromising essay ostensibly all about the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, a visually stunning film, a stirring orchestral soundtrack, a stereoscopic View-Master reel, and, in limited edition, a 40-page comic book about characters known as the Hooper Heroes.... Read More
Social Networking
• Be our friend on MySpace
• Be our fan on Facebook
Tweet us on twitter
Viewing the July 2009 Issue: Contents PageNewsClick Hear • Articles --> On the Cover  •  Front Five  •  Points  •  Questionnaire  •  Release Dates  •  Timeline  •  Videogames  •  Conversations • Music Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Aggressive Tendencies  •  Beats & Rhymes  •  Destination Out  •  Frequencies  •  Groove  •  No Future  •  Pop Rocks  •  Wood, Wires & Whiskey  •  Concert Reviews  •  NXNE Reviews • Motion Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Dvd Reviews  •  Film Reviews  •  Music DVD Reviews  •  Short Film Fest  •  Videogame Reviews • Music School --> Need to Know  •  Where I play Contests • Contact --> About Us  • Advertising  • Distribution  • Getting Reviewed  • Getting Published  • Letters To The Editor  • Partnerships  • Subscriptions • Exclaim! Radio --> Aggressive Tendencies Radio  • Beats & Rhymes Radio  • Destination Out Radio  • Frequencies Radio  • Groove Radio  • No Future Radio  • Pop Rocks Radio  • Wood, Wires & Whiskey Radio Exclaim! TV • Home & Latest Issue Browse Issues