St. Just Vigilantes

St. Just Vigilantes

St. Just Vigilantes is a folk and psychedelic music project built around Little Sparta’s Alan Boyd and Jonathan Twilight Orr. The pair meet in the rainforests of British Columbia and, after a long gap, begin working together in late 2007, when Orr travels to Roman Londinium and the two spend a week recording together.

Debut release

The project’s debut release is Pastor of Oaks, Shepherd of Stones, issued through Transparent Face and Static Caravan. The recording runs for 55 minutes and combines electronics with acoustic and other terrestrial instruments. It moves between songs and tone poems, with wide-eyed melodies and a shifting, collage-like structure.

Style and influences

The music draws on a wide range of references, including Turkish field recordings, pagan folk, and the skewed pop of the Flaming Lips and Grandaddy. The songs are described through images of ancient metronomes, ESP murmurs, broken instruments, and poetic and mystical imagery, and the work includes quotations from Rumi. The result is presented as a progressive and eclectic blend of pop, folk, and experimental textures.

Label context

Transparent Face is also described as a boutique label for home listeners and astral ramblers, and the release is presented as part of setting the trajectory for both the project and the label.