AroarA

Photo by Adrienne Amato

Twelve years ago, rock ’n’ roll couple Andrew Whiteman and Ariel Engle released their debut album as AroarA, a haunting piece of DIY electro-folk strangeness entitled In the Pines.

Adapted from Alice Notley’s 2007 book of poetry of the same name, In the Pines is an attempt to repurpose Notley’s words as music in much the same way that the author repurposed as poetry fragments of the vintage folk and blues recordings she listened to while undergoing arduous treatment for hepatitis C.

The resulting album finds Whiteman (of Broken Social Scene/Apostle of Hustle fame) and Engle deconstructing and reconstructing Notley’s verses as a series of febrile sighs, howls and incantations composed on a laptop, yet designed to feel rustic, raw and adrift in time.

Read More: The Star (Ben Rayner)

SUPPORT POETRY: Don’t just listen to the album. Read the collection that it came from. Buy Alice’s In the Pines here.

AroarA - In The Pines2013
1. 14
2. 7
3. 8
4. 10
5. 3
6. 4
7. 1
8. 12
9. 9

Produced, recorded, performed, written by Andrew Whiteman.
Performed, written by Ariel Engle.
Poems written by Alice Notley.
Recorded by Myles Turney.
Mixed by Sandro Perri.
Mastered by Harris Newman.
Artwork by Derek Broad, Adrienne Amato, Michael Baumgart.

AroarA - Five Song EP2012
1. 11
2. 6
3. 5
4. 2
5. 13

Produced, recorded, performed, written by Andrew Whiteman.
Performed, written by Ariel Engle.
Poems written by Alice Notley.
Recorded by Myles Turney.
Mixed by Sandro Perri.
Mastered by Harris Newman.
Artwork by Derek Broad, Adrienne Amato, Michael Baumgart.