So I wanted to do a post on the new Red Hot Organization's latest benefit compilation, Dark Was the Night. Problem is, I've only downloaded like 1/3 of it.... (ran out of my monthly eMusic tracks...) I heard that Sufjan Stevens, Decemberists, Bon Iver, Arcade Fire and others had all contributed original recordings to this 31 track monster and couldn't resist. I'm especially desperate for any new Sufjan stuff..... (come on man! I'd even settle for some Know your Rabbit outtakes!!!) I don't believe I've bought a RHO comp since No Alternative (mostly for Smashing Pumpkins' "Glynnis" and the Nirvana hidden track "verse chorus verse"), but from what I've heard so far- this one's freakin' awesome. So look for a DWTN post in the somewhat distant future.....for now I'm impatiently awaiting my emusic to click over to April.....
So if you're my wife, you may have already navigated away from this page before reading this far (or maybe you've turned the volume down- the opening dissonance doesn't last long...promise). Also- some of you probably check the blog while at school or work and miss out on the soundtrack. Anyway, when you get the chance- listen to these three tracks and I think you'll be glad you did. Sufjan Stevens' contribution to DWTN is a 10 minute cover/reimagining of "You are the Blood" from the Castanet's Athsmatic Kitty debut, Cathedral. Thoroughly enjoying it, I set out to aquire the original.... This album has been in my eMusic "Save for Later" file forever and though I'd heard a couple tracks, I'd never pulled the trigger. Having used my last download for DWTN, I popped over to my favorite Portland music store, Everyday Music and grabbed a used copy.
How to describe them? Gothic Americana? Folk Noir? Psychedelic Folk? Some people lump these guys together under the umbrella of "Freak Folk," but besides finding most labels inaccurate and constricting, I really hate this one. I've read Joanna Newsom (I'm doing a post on her next), Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective (neo-primitivism, no?) and Panda Bear, even Sufjan as being lumped into this construct. Banhart (perhaps the only real "freak")prefers "Naturalismo," but that sounds like you're hawking herbal supplements (Teamocil !!!). I guess labels are inevitable even if you successfully defy categorization, you become the label, the point of comparison.
Anyway...
The Castanets are basically Raymond Raposa and whoever else he can get together. Originally from San Diego and since relocated to Brooklyn (....yawn....), they've put out a handful of disks on Athsmatic Kitty since 2004. Cathedrals was their debut and today's first two tracks are the 4th and 5th on the album and though "You are the Blood" (sounds a little Velvet Underground, don't you think?) is quite the standout, the album is best listened to as a whole. I love the dusty sound- the acoustic guitars, reverb, chattering and plodding percussion, baritone sax.... electronica? Yeah, it's a rich soundscape. The lived-in feel makes me think of the crackly analog recordings of Phil Elvrum, picking up sounds from the street below... people walking through the studio.
The third track is, of course, Sufjan's 10 min plus cover. Word to your moms. Take a listen, ey.
You Are The Blood (Castanets)
No Light to be Found (Castanets)
You Are The Blood (Sufjan Stevens covering)
No Light to be Found (Castanets)
You Are The Blood (Sufjan Stevens covering)
