There’s a treehouse somewhere in the mountains, and inside, everyone wears plaid and plucks wobbly melodies on their banjos while singing in quiet voices about orchards and rivers and summer. Keith Wood (of Hush Arbors) and Dave Heumann (of Arbouretum) don’t hang out in this treehouse. Alive, Hush Arbors’ 2011 double LP, featured contrasting sets of live recordings — half acoustic tunes and half psych-country — and Arbouretum’s The Gathering (TMT Review) rambled through the fuzzy rumblings of folk-metal. Maybe, when Wood and Heumann met at a show in Baltimore, they decided to form a secret club complete with a handshake and code words. Or maybe they didn’t. However, they definitely decided to work on a split LP. Aureola will see an April 21 release via Thrill Jockey. No sweatshirts with woodland creatures allowed.
Aureola tracklisting:
Side A (Hush Arbors)
01. Lowly Ghost
02. Prayer of Forgetfulness
03. Up yr Coast
04. People & Places
05. The Sleeper
Side B (Arbouretum)
06. New Scarab
07. The Black Sun
08. St. Anthony’s Fire
• Hush Arbors: http://www.myspace.com/husharborsmusic
• Arbouretum: http://www.myspace.com/arbouretum
• Thrill Jockey: http://www.thrilljockey.com
