Dark Day is the project of Robin Crutchfield, a New York City based musician, performance artist, and writer, whose musical journey is exceptionally adventurous and diverse. Robin’s creative path began in the mid-1970’s when he started out as a performance artist and got immersed into the no-wave scene of New York. Together with Arto Lindsay and Ikue Mori he started DNA, an experimental no-wave punk project merging sparse and angular experimentalism with raw punk energy and noisy improvisations. After parting ways with DNA Robin started to construct sounds that were more synthesizer-based, and thus Dark Day was formed together with Phil Kline and Barry Friar. The first “Hands in the Dark / Invisible Man” 7” was still indebted to punkish/noisy textures, but there was a much stronger element of synth-laden melancholy. This was further developed in “Exterminating Angel”, the album balancing between noirish pulsations and rougher post punk moods. Before delving into meditative and hypnotic psych/folk/ambient moods, Dark Day released “Window”, which was a surreal and strangely haunting affair, played with sparse toy-like instruments, and mixing the worlds of eerie poeticism and mellow ambience. “Window” serves as a nice summary for a certain period in Robin’s work, as well as a nice entry point into his catalogue. Later Robin became preoccupied with experiments in psychedelic folk and exotic musical excursions with his ethereal acoustic soundscapes, at times echoing The Incredible String Band or Robbie Basho. Apart from the 1989 album “Darkest Before Dawn”, he keeps constructing his daydream fairyland sonic landscapes under his own name, employing various classical and exotic instruments. He also wrote a book containing several stories, that develop the sound further. It is a beautiful escape into an idyllic and rustic peace. Robin’s recent output has been released on Important Records while most of his early material was reissued by the Dark Entries label.
Secret Thirteen mix 160 showcases Robin’s ongoing journey in its entirety, but is more focused on folkish and pastoral sounds, and presents a diverse mixture of classical and contemporary folk music. Starting on an intense point with Yoko Ono’s bouncing rhythms, and Dark Day’s hit “Hands in the Dark”, it creeps into mellow dramaticism with the haunting balladry of Nico, and the early psych wanderings of Tyrannosaurus Rex. It turns towards more exotic and meditative realms with Moondog’s hypnotic experimentalism and Atrium Musicae de Madrid’s interpretations of Ancient Greece’s traditional music with their crystal flute sounds and vocals, before building up again with the Scottish freak folk classics of the Incredible String Band. The selection continues its rural path with the forgotten beauty of Deux Filles, the calmness of Vashti Bunyan, and the laid-back melancholia of Colleen. The sonic narrative shifts between different moods with the autumnal ambient softness of Roger Eno and the tropical madness of Bimbo Jet. This selection is an exercise in simplicity, depth, and beauty which the modern world sometimes lacks. The finishing miniatures from Robin’s solo material prove to be a nice finishing touch that transfers one to a place of whimsical beauty. The end of summer is about the right time to dive into these myriads of sounds. The mix resembles the dreamy haziness of Marc Chagall’s vividly beautiful and surreal picture, “The Carnival, Scene II of the Ballet “Aleko”, where light colors and shades interconnect into a wide open space with strange figures and country landscapes.
01. Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band - Greenfield Morning I Pushed An Empty Baby Carriage All Over The City [Apple Records, 1970]
02. Dark Day - Hands In The Dark [Strike It From The Records, 1979]
03. Nico - lt Has Not Taken Long [Island Records, 1974]
04. Tyrannosaurus Rex - Organ Blues [Blue Thumb Records, 1970]
05. Dark Day - Darker Days [Nigh Eve Productions, 1989]
06. Moondog - Down Is Up [Columbia, 1971]
07. Atrium Musicae De Madrid, Gregorio Paniagua - Plainte De Tecmessa [Harmonia Mundi, 1979]
08. The Incredible String Band - The Iron Stone [Elektra, 1968]
09. Deux Filles - The Letter [Papier Maché, 1982]
10. Feathers - Old Black Hat With A Dandelion Flower [Feathers Family, 2005]
11. Robin Crutchfield - Gnomes Underground [Nigh Eve Recordings, 2009]
12. Roger Eno - The Frost [Opal Records, 1988]
13. Bimbo Jet - El Bimbo [EMI, 1974]
14. Dark Day - Sinister Minister In Seaweed Tweed [Not On Label (Dark Day Self-released), 2003]
15. Vashti Bunyan Window Over The Bay [Philips, 1970]
16. Colleen - Floating In The Clearest Night [Leaf, 2005]
17. Robin Crutchfield - Summoning Spell [Robin Crutchfield, 2007]
18. Robin Crutchfield - Springs Gone Loose [Robin Crutchfield, 2015]