samara lubelski
the fleeting skies
044 Lp

Released on CD by the Social Registry
TSR011CD

It's fair to say that alphabetizing one's record collection irrespective of genre has its advantages. After all, it can be difficult to figure out exactly how to file the oeuvres of those artists who ply myriad sonic trades. Take New York multi-instrumentalist, improviser, and singer-songwriter Samara Lubelski. As a onetime and sometime member of ensembles such as the loping communal-music ensemble the Tower Recordings, the quietly intense Sonora Pine, Germany's proggy Metabolismus, and the frenetic Pacer, Lubelski has found herself saddled with musical terms such as "lo-fi," "math rock," "slow core," and "free folk." Yet she has bridged much of this terminology with The Fleeting Skies, a statement that encompasses all of her previous work and also offers up significant new directions.

Released on vinyl (replete with handmade jackets) by Minneapolis's De Stijl, The Fleeting Skies is a far cry from Lubelski's debut album, In the Valley (Com 7--edition of 99), a Fluxus-inspired mélange of violin and feedback drones having more in common with the dense sound pieces of Takehisa Kosugi than the scrabbly heritage of solo violin improvisation (Philip Wachsmann, Leroy Jenkins). To isolate and extend the violin's possibilities is at once grand and elemental, an exploration of resonance and timbre that is anything but routine. The Fleeting Skies is nearly an about-face: For all intents and purposes, it is a pop record. To be sure, the intricate guitar parts found in the work of Tower and their ilk are still present; ditto the insistent yet off-kilter rhythms. But the difference is this: Rather than stemming from a freeform approach, these elements are used to bolster lush (and dare I say catchy) songcraft. The gauzy, dreamy pop textures in "Keeper of Beauty" exemplify this change of focus, as do simple touches like a duet for acoustic guitar and celeste on "Now Morning's Calling." In essence, this is an investigation of "form" to follow that of "sound." Lubelski hasn't often sung on previous recordings, so The Fleeting Skies is a rare treat, offering airy vocals similar to those of Linda Perhacs and other figures of the American psychedelic folk underground of the 1970s. With this synthesis of vanguard mettle and sunny-yet-melancholy orchestral folk, Lubelski has made the musical statement that many of her peers will wish they'd made.
-Clifford Allen
City Pages
January 19th 2005

An album more appropriately titled than this would be hard to come by. Samara Lubelski’s gentle folk-rock and sweetly languorous vocals don’t immediately demand attention and may seem slightly generic on first listen. But “The Fleeting Skies” will hover on the periphery of the memory and each listen strengthens the impression left by this masterpiece of understatement and brevity. These ten songs, ranging from two and a half to three and a half minutes long, bleed together into a tapestry of subtle psychedelia that is just perfect for staring into on a lazy afternoon.

Most of the instruments on the album are played by Lubelski herself. Ultra-clean electric and acoustic guitar lines provide the base for each song with assorted percussive embellishment providing differing shades of detail from tune to tune. Flutes and strings occasionally swoop down and wrap up everything in their warmth. But Lubelski’s voice is the real feature attraction. It’s difficult to tell if it is naturally so resonant or if she is double-tracking, probably a little of both. The background vocal harmonies are sheer beauty.

“The Fleeting Skies” sounds like a female counterpart to Nick Drake’s “Bryter Layter” without the embarrassingly dated saxophone solos and with a little more optimism. The timpani drums and string arrangement of “Crowns and Courts” especially recalls Drake’s baroque yet modest songs of hope and longing. The subjects of the songs are rarely as frankly personal as Drake’s, but it is somewhat difficult to discern exactly what a song like “Keeper of Beauty” is about. That hardly matters when the songs are as beautiful as these. It’s incredible that an album so seemingly simple can actually contain a universe of mystery.
Lubelski’s musical talent has already been made clear through her work with various NYC groups (Hall of Fame, Tower Recordings, as an engineer for Sightings). “The Fleeting Skies” should cement her reputation as an incredible solo performer, as well.
- Sean Witzman
Foxy Digitalis

After playing second fiddle (literally) for psych folk luminaries like Metabalismus and the Tower Recordings for the last decade Samara Lubelski finally steps out and releases her first proper solo record. And boy is it lovely. Dark meandering folk, with hints of psychedelic swirl and Appalachian twang. Ms. Lubelski's drowsy murmurred vocals are sorta reminiscent of the Pastels' Katrina and Aggi (but much more self-assured and in tune) or even more so Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley. Delicate chimes and fluttering flutes compliment her voice perfectly. Oh, and P.G. Six drops in to play along on a couple of songs.
-Aquarius Records