Album Review: “Wild Strawberries” by Eternal Tapestry

Recorded over a week within a cabin in the woods of Zigzag, Oregon, Eternal Tapestry’s latest release Wild Strawberries is an autonomous exploration of sonic landscapes. Like their albums before, songs have structured rhythms and lots of calm, controlled ambience with guitar, synthesizers, and organ–all leading the listener into a realm of discovery.
In true Eternal Tapestry form, some songs sustain sounds for great lengths of time.

The reverb heavy title track, “Wild Strawberries,” and the groove and guitar picking of “Enchanter’s Nightshade” are upwards to sixteen minutes. This means Wild Strawberries’ eight tracks are enough to fill a double LP. Each track is named for the local indigenous fauna, from the raindrops dripping down the “Lace Fern,” to the rocky experimental chugging of “White Adder’s Tongue.” Most songs are devoid of vocals, and when they are present they are not in the forefront, but rather embedded as a part of the spellbinding effect, such as the emergent quality of “Maidenhair Spleenwort,” which ends in brushy field recordings, and “Mountain Primrose,” a slow burn that unleashes into hypnotic chords and jangly, unrestrained percussion.

There are some surprises, such as the twinkling synth play of “Woodland Anemone” at under two minutes, and “Pale Green Sedge,” which takes bluesy guitar into a solid wide-open atmosphere before ending abruptly. All of Eternal Tapestry’s work is recorded completely unrehearsed and unwritten, with hours of music going on tape. The extra recordings of Wild Strawberries are unwasted as a bonus album, Lolo Pass Drifters. It’s a sweeping soundtrack to adequately provide guidance for spiritual journeys. »