Giles Corey - Hinterkaifeck EP

Giles Corey - Hinterkaifeck

(All the songs are playable/purchasable through the bandcamp, linked below.)

Once again, Dan Barrett's 'Giles Corey' project emotionally conflicts fans by giving them a reason to be happy about something that will leave them in a wet heap of tears. The Release of Hinterkaifeck is to coincide with a tour that he’s doing in the states, and is a pretty decent release of his Giles Corey signature style of dark and sad experimental folk music. It’s a short, three song EP that you can buy off the bandcamp for $3 (Gee golly mister that’s a dollar a track!) and is well worth the purchase as he continues to prove that you can record great music from the safety of your house. Here’s a track-by-track rundown for your reading displeasure.

Winter’s house – This is probably my favourite song on the EP. It introduces itself in a slow and brooding manner, then kicks in with a lengthy and somewhat beautiful strumming progression that starts normal but soon turns dark. Dan sings over it in an airy fashion, and by the end of the song the lyrics pull you apart like tissue paper. It's pretty moving stuff. Just wish he’d thrown in another verse though.

Guilt Is My Boyfriend – It starts off brooding, lyrically forceful. The introduction of the crashing fuzz and subtle drums behind it work out well - maybe closer to what I’d expect from Dan’s music in terms of the use of effects and experimentation so I wouldn’t go as far to say it’s anything hugely ‘new’. It also works out vocally with clever lyrical wordplay and a decent use of change in vocal range, but all in all it’s not as good as Winter’s House in my eyes.

Wounded Wolf – This track really goes for minimalism, but I believe it could have been stronger. It relies a bit too strongly on what isn’t there rather than what is. The instrumentals and effects are good, but I’ve definitely heard examples of better use/creation on the self titled. Lyrically it’s pretty simple compared to the rest of the EP as well, and it seems like the track is hoping to hit home with the final line ‘somebody’s got to be the death of me’, but it doesn’t sink in. Usually the thing that hits home with the Giles Corey project is that it’ll either sting me lyrically or instrumentally, sometimes both ways. This failed to do either with me unfortunately. Strange because I know that he’s capable of it…

I’d pay 3 bucks for Winter’s House alone. That is a REALLY good track.

You can listen to the whole thing and read the lyrics before you buy it on their bandcamp. Here’s the link: http://gilescorey.bandcamp.com/album/hinterkaifeck

Fun fact – The album is named after a farmstead in Germany where, in the early 1900s, 6 people were murdered with a pickaxe. The murder remains unsolved. Have a read about it on the wikipeepeea page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinterkaifeck