We’re big fans of Tucson experimentalist Karima Walker, going so far as to name her tape Hands In Our Names in our favourite releases of 2016. The really good news is that the album is in the process of getting the re-release treatment from Owen Ashworth’s Orindal Records, which will hopefully spread the music a little wider and introduce yet more people to what we think is a special record. As we wrote in our review, the release “sees Karima Walker reconstruct an array of varied elements into something larger and more meaningful than they could ever be alone… When atomised into separate parts, the album is impressionistic, blurry and strange and difficult to describe, though when listened to as a whole, a blanket of stitches, it becomes something vivid and intuitive. As such, Hands in Our Names is able to convey things normal songs cannot.”
Today we have the pleasure of unveiling the video for ‘Indigo’, made in preview of the Orindal release and as way of kicking off a US/Canadian tour that Walker has just embarked upon (see full dates below). In our review, we described the intimate track as possessing “hospitable quiet… calm and serene yet laced with sadness,” which seems to sum up the atmosphere quite nicely. From the ambient background noise and Walker’s counting in to the gentle guitar and crooned vocals, every element feels organic and sincere, like some dateless hymn made familiar on early evening porches and sang from memory. Equally, the lyrics feel both immediate and well-worn, like words for heartbreak handed down through generations, imprinted in the mind and no less relevant for it.
“I’m too tired to throw stones
to hold this memory alone
too stubborn to ask you
to come back home”
The entire album achieves this delightfully paradoxical effect, sounding at once personal and communal, timely and timeless, being neither folk nor ambient yet an enhanced version of both. To return to our original piece, “[Hands in Our Names has] a freedom not just born of trope-avoiding experimentalism but somehow inherent in the very combinations of sounds, as though arranged into secret patterns or codes, magic spells that trump postmodern convictions. Rather than dying in open air upon leaving her mouth, Karima Walker’s communications bubble from within, stirring that dormant empathy that lies somewhere near the centre of us all.”
Hands in Our Names is to be released on Orindal Records on the 24th March and you can pre-order it now via Bandcamp, including a mystery colour vinyl edition complete with heavyweight, full colour Stoughton jacket, a full colour 11×17 poster and a Risograph-printed insert. As we mentioned above, Walker is just setting off on a rather extensive tour of North America, playing with some excellent acts along the way, so be sure to browse the list below and check out any show within your area.
March 14, 2017 – Springfield, MO – Front of House Lounge
March 15, 2017 – St. Louis, MO – House Show >
March 16, 2017 – Rock Island, IL @ Rozz Tox =
March 17, 2017 – Iowa City, IA @ Public Space One =
March 18, 2017 – Ames, IA @ Vinyl Grind =
March 19, 2017 – Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall =
March 20, 2017 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Total Drag =
March 21, 2017 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium =
March 22, 2017 – Duluth, MN @ Red Herring =
March 23, 2017 – St Paul, MN @ Amsterdam =
March 24, 2017 – Eau Claire, WI @ Oxbow Hotel =
March 25, 2017 – Madison, WI @ Frequency =
March 26, 2017 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club =
March 30, 2017 – Chicago, IL @ Gman Tavern =+
April 01, 2017 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Sage House =
April 02, 2017 – Kalamazoo, MI @ TBA =
April 03, 2017 – Windsor, ON @ The Rondo =
April 04, 2017 – Toronto, ON @ Silver Dollar Room =
April 05, 2017 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place =
April 06, 2017 – Nyack, NY @ Kiam Records Shop =@
April 07, 2017 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Hall ?
April 08, 2017 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theater *=
April 09, 2017 – Portland, ME @ Oxbow /=
April 10, 2017 – Boston, MA @ Atwood’s Tavern *=
April 11, 2017 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA =#*
April 12, 2017 – Baltimore, MD @ EMP Collective =
April 14, 2017 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Roboto Project *=
April 16, 2017 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Comet
April 17, 2017 – Bloomington, IN @ TBA
April 18, 2017 – Louisville, KY @ Dreamland
April 19, 2017 – Knoxville, TN @ Pilotlight
April 21, 2017 – Marshall, NC @ Marshall High Studios
April 22, 2017 – Atlanta, GA @ Mammal Gallery
April 26, 2017 – Houston, TX @ Notsuoh
April 27, 2017 – Galveston, TX @ Galveston Artist Residency
April 28, 2017 – Austin, TX @ Lemon Lounge
> w/ Dubb Nubb
= w/ Advance Base
+ w/ gobbinjr
@ w/ Amy Bezunartea
? Orindal label showcase w/ Advance Base, Lisa/Liza, Hello Shark & secret special guests
* w/ John Davis
/ w/ Lisa/Liza
# w/ Hello Shark
Photograph by Eugene Starobinskiy