TAKEN BY TREES East Of Eden (2009 UK 9-track vinyl LP - Victoria Bergsman wanted to travel to record in a mysterious, relatively uncharted area, avoiding the usual clinical studio experience which she has always disliked and found to be an uncreative environment. She chose Pakistan. The rhythm, drums and flutes of Pakistani music had long captivated Victoria and this, coupled with a deep admiration for singers Abida Parveen and the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, helped her choose Pakistan as the place to record her new album. Another attractive factor was her interest in Sufi musicians who play in order to enter a trance like state, using music to transport themselves to another time and place. Victoria is one of very few Western women, if not the only one, to record in this region, and the bureaucracy, cultural differences and prejudices she had to overcome to see this project through almost beggar belief. It's therefore little short of a miracle that this album turned out the way it did. 'East Of Eden' includes a cover of Animal Collective's 'My Girls', which she has re-interpreted as 'My Boys', and AC's Noah Lennox also contributes guest vocals to 'Anna')