To mark the 20th anniversary of The Iditarod's "The Ghost The Elf The Cat and The Angel", FEEDING TUBE RECORDS has now reissued it, for the first-time-ever on LP, lovingly re-mastered by Caleb of Big Blood. I'm super pleased to finally have this classic recording on vinyl ! It looks and sounds SHARP.
Pick up your copy here:
feedingtuberecords.com/releases/the-ghost-the-elf-the-cat-and-the-angel/
To celebrate this epic epoch, please enjoy this FREE live video !
jeffreyalexander.bandcamp.com/video
Yes indeed, super RARE camcorder footage of The Iditarod, live in Boston in 2002 (camera operator unknown). The audio was captured from the camera mic only, in delicious MONO. It's surprisingly listenable for its age and source. Feel free to download, if you wish - or just dig this shaky footage.
"Few words can describe the gorgeous sounds and sparse complexity of Providence, RI's the Iditarod. Spacey, yet medieval, the Iditarod suggest the past while embracing the promise of the future. Mixing lovely female vocals over an aural backdrop painted from acoustic guitar, bass and found sounds, the Iditarod craft mysterious songs that are as elusive as they are personal. Live, the band is a wonder to behold - few can convey the honesty and emotion that Carin & Jeffrey do while performing their songs - and their 1998 Baltimore appearance with Alastair Galbraith and the Mountain Goats still ranks as our favorite live show of all time." Tina and Jeff, Washington, DC
“The Iditarod were very much a pioneering psychedelic folk group although for some this took the benefit of hindsight to realise as alongside the likes Stone Breath their music pre-dated the arrival of Freak Folk and mainstream breakthrough acts such as Banhart and Newsom.” (Folk Radio UK)
“Now often viewed with the benefit of hindsight as a precursor of the so-called ‘Freak Folk’ movement, they developed quite an idiosyncratic version of folk music that combined sparse song structures, spectral vocals and experimental arrangements and atmospheric sound textures…bringing to mind Shirley Collins’ work with the Albion Band or the spookier side of Cat Power and the music sounding like a slightly catatonic Pentangle one minute and The Dead C jamming on some found acoustic instruments the next." (Norman Records UK)
from
Terrastock 5, Boston, MA - October 11, 2002,
released July 1, 2021
Jeffrey Alexander - guitars, loops, talking book phonograph
Fursaxa - casio, tambura, shruti box, vocal
Alec Redfearn - accordion
William Schaff - drums, bass
Carin Wagner - vocal, omnichord