Village Brethren

INFO

“Village Brethren” is a short, 3-track collection of songs that Deserter and Dante Augustus Scarlatti recorded in various locations over a 2 year window, each track displaying the duo switching instruments and genres seamlessly. Although they worked together on the recording/production of both Deserter tapes (Unsung Eulogies / Sister Cities) and would later go on to record a stunning collaboration with Tyler Damon (Auer Hall Sessions), these tracks remain the only compositions exclusively featuring the two close friends in musical harmony. For years they were unofficial and left to fade away on our hard drives, until we decided that wasn’t good enough – these needed to be shared.

“Village Brethren” opens with the eerie, guitar & organ-filled “Organic Inspiration,” a short prologue with droning subsonic bass notes from a vintage organ and a delayed guitar melody. “Cold Cemetary Mourning” slows the pace and fills the stereo spectrum with a haunting lo-fidelity piano progression reminiscent of GY!BE in its bleakness, with thunderous bass notes and scraping analog soundscapes. The collection ends with “Redemption,” a reverb-soaked Western dirge of bass, electric guitar, and tambourine that is both sparse and ethereal simultaneously.

Although short and admittedly random in their aesthetics & fidelity, the tracks of “Village Brethren” represent a unique sliver of the friendship between DAS and Deserter, and we’re sad to say this is the last Deserter material in existence. However! We’re ecstatic to finally put to use a packaging idea we’ve been saving up for almost 7 years. Each copy of “Village Brethren” is essentially a limited edition of 1 out of 2, as they’re made from the pockets of vintage western-style pearl snap shirts, of which each only had 2 pockets.

PACKAGING

• Vintage pearl-snap Western shirt pockets
• Black screenprinted art on front/back
• 4-panel folded insert on grey cardstock
• Transparent light blue cassette with black/clear labels

TRACKLISTING

A1/B1 – 01:47 – Organic Inspiration
A2/B2 – 04:45 – Cold Cemetary Mourning
A3/B3 – 06:06 – Redemption