I Conjure Series

On the follow-up to her much-lauded debut Sweet Heart Fever, Scout Niblett has pretty much wiped the slate clean. A collection of songs that are minimal in their structure and arrangement, but complex in their passion of execution, I Conjure Series is a raw and bold excursion into the poetic universe of a vagabond of the new world. Comprised of seven songs on which she performs all the instruments (four are drums & vocals songs, two are guitar and vocals songs, and one is vocals-only) this mini-album was recorded live in Glasgow, Scotland at Chem19 Studios, just a train ride from Ms. Niblett’s hometown of Nottingham, England. On “Gymnastic (Fall Over)” she kicks open the saloon doors screaming “Let’s go! Let’s go!”. She’s on the drum-kit banging away like a chimp in a sandbox talent show. But how best to experience this playground romp? Walk too close to the sandbox and you might get goosed — yet if you’ve got the gall to stand like a voyeur behind the fence-line of the yard, you might get a cat-turd hurled in your direction. And she’s all teeth & smiling! With a record like this, it’s probably best to just jump on in whole hog without deliberation. A new drummer, Scout Niblett comes from the Half Japanese school of music-making, one which heralds the amateur’s capacity for imaginative experience. The result is a record that sounds like it takes as much from blues legend Elizabeth Cotten as it does post-punkers Huggy Bear. I Conjure Series is a playful record, but also a very serious one. Songs are dressed innocently, but bear heavy emotional tidings. The album is being released by Too Pure in Europe. Her second full-length is being recorded by Steve Albini in Chicago, IL and is slated for an early 2003 release.