Utne Reader Music Reviews: November-December 2008

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This Portland-based instrumental duo will take a doltish banjo and run a beat under it at quadruple time, and the instruments still complement each other equally and naturally. Fearing no sound beyond or between mud-sliding digital drones or breathing accordions, they have a way of sneaking up on a groove with a light hand and a short attention span. They’ll build from gentle acoustic strumming to blown-out crashes and evil violin lines so fast that you wonder if something is lost in the rush. But front man Kevin O’Connor’s compositions reflect his love of spare, appetizing hip-hop beats, full of hidden emphasis and inventive texture. —Ty Otis

Twice the Heartache
Rattlin’ Bones (Sugar Hill)
by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson

Kasey Chambers is a platinum artist in Australia, which shows that Aussies have better taste in country music than Americans: Her rootsy, unpolished sound is miles away from slick U.S.-style “hot country.” On Rattlin’ Bones she duets with her husband, Shane Nicholson, on songs that smolder and steam with emotional power. The title track is a haunting death song in the style of an Appalachian ballad; “Wildflower” showcases the aching vulnerability at the core of Chambers’ appeal. She grew up singing campfire songs in the Outback with her nomadic family, and on Rattlin’ Bones she shows that she hasn’t wandered too far from the fire ring. —K.G.

The Rapture Is Here
Snake Charmer and Destiny at the Stroke of Midnight (Trekky) 
by the Physics of Meaning

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Hart begins Snake Charmer with a bracing violin overture whose last notes usher in a series of baroque pop songs as catchy as they are exotic, marrying abstract lyrics and intricate arrangements to arresting melodies and tight, organic grooves. Hart’s musical vocabulary is broad, incorporating strings, a huge drum sound, intimate lullabies, joyous sing-alongs, and expertly layered production. Most of the songs’ structures border on the epic without becoming pretentious, their intensity building gradually and exploding during cathartic refrains and rapturous finales. It’s a bewitching formula that Hart and his long roster of coconspirators execute expertly, using their prodigious musicianship and an extensive sonic palette to construct an ambitious opus. —Jake Mohan

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