Rose Turtle Ertler – All for One From Now Til Dawn

“All For One From Now Til Dawn” is Rose Turtle Ertler’s fourth solo CD. In this collection of nine original tunes Rose not only sings and plays the ukulele (as in her previous releases) but also the banjo, piano, junk percussion, electric guitar, a broken one-stringed violin, organ and a Victalele – an autoharp made in Melbourne around the 1940s. She is joined by a swag of special guests including Declan Jones (trumpet), Ros Jones and Julian Chapple (trombones), Carl Pannuzzo (drums), Betty France (teachest bass), Steve Fraser (bass, slide guitar), Glendon Blazely (extra vocals), the Melbourne Ukulele Kollective as well as the East Brunswick Primary School Choir, who all play on two or three songs each. The album is packaged in a recycled cardboard cover (made by Rose’s sister, Cath) with a red rubber band around it. All these rubberbands were dropped on footpaths around Sydney and Melbourne by postmen and were collected by Rose’s friends to use on the album. This is referred to on the album in the Rubberband Song, sung by the East Brunswick Primary School Choir. (“I’ll soon have enough to build a house of red rubberbands for me”). Other songs on the album talk about the banning of the Mexican Wave at the cricket a few years ago (“You can’t stop the wave”) and singing for your rights (“Sing for our Supper”), while “18 Trucks” uses a piece of graffiti about uranium written on a wall in Sydney in 1977 as the words for the chorus. The album was recorded in Melbourne at Little Gold Studio with Steve Fraser as engineer. It was mixed by Rose and mastered by Michael den Elzen. The recording of this album was funded by Arts Victoria – Victoria Rocks. Rose Turtle Ertler has been involved in various theatre/music projects over the last eighteen years. She has composed and performed music for theatre shows in Australia and Europe as well as releasing four solo albums of her original ‘wonky-folk’ music. Rose is interested in community oriented work and has done various recording and song writing projects working with adults with intellectual disabilities. Track Listing: 1. But it’s alright 2. You can’t stop the Wave 3. Entertaining Structure of Calm 4. Rubberband Song 5. Be Kinder 6. Sing for our supper 7. 18 Trucks 8. Gee Whiz 9. Before Dark
Rose Turtle Ertler – All for One From Now Til Dawn by Chris Spencer
Turtle Ertler’s album kicks off with two tracks of discordant percussion, clatter in the background and crowd noises. The fi rst song describes an industrial wasteland, so I can understand her trying to make me feel uncomfortable. The 2nd uses a crowd complaining about the banning of the Mexican wave at sporting events. While I did not particularly ‘enjoy’ either song, I was pleased Rose was doing something different to set her apart from the myriad other female singersongwriters and performers. On track three, “Entertaining Structure of Calm”, Rose sings a song with a structure that I am familiar, a lone voice above a ukulele accompaniment. There’s also a very deep male voice harmonising. The second last chorus is sung as though Rose is outside the room or on a telephone. “Rubberband Song” returns to Ertler’s unusual arrangements of ad hoc percussion, children’s choir and incidental brass as she makes fun of people like me collecting red rubberbands that the posties use – just in case they come in useful – for something! (Mine all go gooey before I fi nd a use for them!) “Be Kinder” has a simple arrangement, strumming of the ukulele with a trumpet not quite in the background. An electric guitar introduces “Sing for our Supper” but this is juxtaposed by a harmonious choir – unlike the other backing vocals in the previous songs. “18 Trucks” is about graffi ti and we hear Rose play banjo – she also plays the ukulele, guitar, piano, autoharp, bass and organ. She also has a junk drumkit which explains the cacophony of noises one often hears. Her voice is appropriate for the songs, she’s no smooth soul singer, she’s out there – raw and brash at times! I was surprised that this is her 4th album! I also realised after almost completing this review why the unusual cd cover and lyric sheet – in keeping with her agenda – came with a red rubberband around the outside! Refer to “Rubberband Song” above! This cd is challenging: while on the one hand I fi nd it jarring, on the other there is enough unusual happenings in the mix that keep me interested. Rose has described her music as “Wonky Folk” which in many ways is an apt description. In the end, I ask myself, can I sing along with any of the songs, are there any melodies that linger? If I use this criteria the album fails, but if you want something different and challenging, give it a few listens. [Rose do you want some more red rubber bands? – I don’t want too much money for them…]