Mia Clark, The Wire, January 2005
"[A] thing of delicate, atmospheric beauty.... [R]eminiscent of the real time improvisations of Supersilent and their exploitation of space within sound."
Nic Bragg, Discorder, January 2004
“(T)his latest recording carves a flawless arc between reflective acoustic repose and crackling chaotic noise.”
Album Description
Princess Builder is Lee Hutzulak’s seventh album and first under his own name (he released six as leader of the semi-legendary country noir ensemble Dixie’s Death Pool; Angel Trumpets Clicking Death is also available on Amazon). A guitarist, singer/songwriter, composer, performer (Infinity Mattress, Blim City Planners), and producer, Hutzulak works with a wide range of musicians on his albums, creating miniature studio epics characterized by a startling variety of atmospheres, evocative vocals, melodies, and quirky pop hooks, all suspended in a drifting cloud of sound, static and silence.
From the Label
The serene clarity of a tenor saxophone — a clear blue morning. Hope. A declaration of faith slowly wakes up, stretching skyward with strings pulling bags of cloud and wax wing. The soups of harp and warm guitar. Clarinet breath, sticky keys sputter wheeze splinter plunge into sublime chaos and repose. Into a static dance with wooden sticks and razors. Abstracts hiss and zip across the starry night, jarred by sharp piano chords left to decay in an electrified sound field refrigerator drone portrait.
About the Artist
Performing from 1991–2001 as leader of Dixie’s Death Pool, Lee Hutzulak produced miniature studio epics, characterized by a startling variety of atmospheres, evocative vocals, melodies, and quirky pop hooks. Moving from Victoria to Vancouver in 2000 was the beginning of the end for DDP, and after the release of “Soon” in 2001 the live ensemble pretty much ceased to exist. Work in the studio continued though: numerous sessions with DDP regulars and a few special guests were crushed, sifted, stirred together and over the course of a couple years crystallized in what the Wire called “a thing of delicate atmospheric beauty”: Princess Builder. Lee’s music has always struck a balance between song and sound, combining electro-acoustic ambience, musique concrète, and improvisation. This process generates an ever-expanding library of sounds, focusing on texture, tone and space — essential materials of future recordings and mixer based performance. On the flip, a desire to keep it immediate, and perhaps as a reaction to increasingly complex set ups, Hutzulak continues to explore, both as a soloist, and in small improvising ensembles, the acoustic guitar, a few choice effect boxes and all manner of extended technique.
Masa Anzai (tenor saxophone)
Nathan Gage (double bass)
Julian Gosper (laptop, Virus & electronics)
Madoka Hara (hum & whispers)
Lee Hutzulak (accordion breath, electric bass, CD player, cymbals & sticks, Farfisa Fast 3, field recording, guitars, Korg X5D, piano, Roland SH32, violin, voice & words, xylophone)
Todd Hutzulak (clarinet, electric guitar & bass)
Stephen Lyons (drums, electricity)
Todd Mason (Korg MS2000, Kaos Pad, drums)
Ryan Mitchell Morrison (electric bass)
Thomas Shields (slide steel guitar, Korg Poly 6, Electro Beat)
Matt Skillings (marimba)
