Audio By Carbonatix
It’s not hard to get lost in the world of Vermont-based songwriters Matt “MV” Valentine and Erika “EE” Elder. The duo’s blanket of releases — dozens of tapes, CD-Rs, downloads, live tour documents, and long players for labels like Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace!, Time-Lag Records, and Three Lobed Recordings — unspools in all cosmic directions, sewing gentle rural folk, psychedelic ragas, and busted-ass soul into its tattered patchwork. There’s a lot to take in, but don’t worry — it’s an inviting place to be. The group’s latest, Space Homestead, recorded for Woodsist Records, is a perfect distillation of what the duo (and accompanying players) does best, with shimmering vocals and smoky guitars drifting in and out of “Moment,” a sidewise funk beat propelling “Workingman’s Smile,” and the beatific “Shit’s Creek,” where MV’s puffing harmonica gives way to wiseacre wisdom, singing, “Shit’s creek is a funny place to be / Out in the middle of life’s sea.” The group’s stop at Tempe’s Yucca Tap Room also is notable because local soothsayer Eddy Detroit, known for his collaborations with Sun City Girls and his own warped, spectral, ol’-timey folk, is scheduled to open.
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