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Reviews

The Tunnel Singer — Inner Runes
(Tunnel Singer Records LES-0001, 1995, CD)

The Tunnel Singer — Ravens in Moonlight
(Tunnel Singer Records LES-0002, 1997, CD)

The Tunnel Singer — Water Birth
(Tunnel Singer Records LES-0003, 1999, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 1999-11-01

Inner Runes Cover artRavens in Moonlight Cover artWater Birth Cover art

The Tunnel Singer is Lee Ellen Shoemaker, a vocal improviser who has been actively performing in the San Francisco area for almost a decade, singing in tunnels, stairwells, parking garages, and other resonant spaces, utilizing their natural acoustics and reverb as an extension of her voice. These three releases are her recorded output to date. Using no electronics or amplified instruments, the spaces become instruments in themselves, resulting in a tonal content that is at once spiritually charged, introspective, and relaxing. What on the surface seems to be utterly simple is hauntingly beautiful and acoustically complex. One might recall Paul Horn’s Inside or the work of Gilbert Artman’s Urban Sax as reference points for this kind of acoustic work, but applied instead to the female voice. There are no lyrics, and there are no compositions — it’s all on-the-spot improvisation. There are a number of bunkers and tunnels in the Marin headlands north of San Francisco that were built during World War II in anticipation of an attack, but were ultimately never used. These tunnels remain, there are many of them, each which has it’s own unique acoustic properties. Each Saturday afternoon, Shoemaker performs live in one of these tunnels, Construction 129. For Ravens in Moonlight she is joined at Construction 129 by two other musicians on didgeridoo, hand drums, bells, and other percussion. The resulting collaboration offers an often trance-like sound weighing in somewhere between Dead Can Dance and Trance Mission. Inner Runes, on the other hand, was recorded live in the Sound Column of the Exploratorium, at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Art. Using only solo voice and occasional Tibetan bowls, the resulting effects are stark and stunning — sometimes it almost seems as if some electronic sounds and processing were involved, but we know better because Shoemaker is an acoustic purist.

Water Birth is perhaps the most intriguing of the three recordings, and definitely the most meditative. This one was recorded live in the ‘Cistern Chapel’ at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington, a two-million gallon cistern that has a 45-second natural acoustic reverberation. Voices ebb and flow, blending and bending with the natural acoustics that shape the tones, drifting slowly from a complex chordal purity to what could best be described as gray noise. The slow movement and evolution of the sounds suggests an underwater environment, and the slow currents and undulations therein, hence the title. Like Inner Runes, the primary source is entirely solo vocal with no accompaniment. This is one of those discs you put on and just float away with. Definitely check out the website for the story on how this one was recorded, and to hear some audio samples. All three discs are definitely worth owning and come highly recommended.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 18, 1995 releases, 1997 releases, 1999 releases

Related artist(s): The Tunnel Singer (Lee Ellen Shoemaker)

 

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