Mamiffer

An experimental outfit spearheaded by Seattle-based musicians Faith Coloccia and Aaron Turner, Mamiffer fuses ambient, drone, and post-rock textures with otherworldly singing. Emerging from Coloccia’s earlier activities in Everlovely Lightningheart, the endeavor initially drew upon a fluid lineup of contributors, with Turner—previously of Isis—gradually assuming the role of her chief artistic ally and, eventually, spouse. From the late 2000s onward the project has issued a steady stream of full-lengths, EPs, split releases, and joint efforts, among them the widely praised 2013 album Bless Them That Curse You, the 2015 set Crater, and the atmospheric 2019 full-length Brilliant Tabernacle.

After Everlovely Lightningheart disbanded, Coloccia redirected leftover material toward a fresh undertaking designed around continual guest participation. Mamiffer’s earliest document was a 2007 live recording made inside the derelict Hell Hole tunnel in Desert Hot Springs, California, where Coloccia and two associates performed with altered tape loops; their official introduction, however, arrived with the 2008 studio album Hirror Enniffer, issued on Turner’s Hydra Head imprint once he had already established himself as a core member. Three years later Mare Decendrii became the first title to appear on SIGE Records, the experimental imprint Coloccia and Turner had founded to house their various ventures, including joint releases with House of Low Culture and Pyramids. The band’s initial collaborative album, Bless Them That Curse You, surfaced in 2012 and paired them with Chicago drone outfit Locrian to considerable acclaim. Seeking a more austere, cyclical approach for their third proper record, Mamiffer tracked 2014’s Statu Nascendi without percussion; part of its budget derived from royalties earned after fashion label Prada licensed one of their pieces for a commercial starring Ethan Hawke. Another partnership arrived in 2015 with Crater, recorded alongside Portland sound artist Daniel Menche. The following year’s The World Unseen adopted an introspective stance, bringing Coloccia’s voice into greater prominence. After the 2017 sample collection Recordings for Lilac III, the group resurfaced in 2019 with the profoundly atmospheric and meditative Brilliant Tabernacle.