The post-Americanan kicks of Castanets
By MICHAEL BRODEUR | November 24, 2008
Raymond Raposa a/k/a Castanets |
What with all the Devendras and Bonnie Princes and Phosphorescents and wanna-Beams dragging their unruly beards around the nation lately, it's getting harder and harder to keep your post-folk dudes with guitars straight. This shouldn't be too much of an issue with Raymond Byron "Magic" Raposa, a/k/a Castanets, who here and there could be mistaken for dealing exclusively in typical (gag) "freak-folk" fare but whose specialty is feedbacky fits of all-American post-apocalyptica. This Tuesday, November 25, Raposa comes to T.T. the Bear's with a pair of like-minded Brooklynites, and that could be reason enough for you to recalibrate your expectations of this ostensibly rogue genre that just won't go away.Castanets, “Glory B” (With Jana Hunter)
City of Refuge (Asthmatic Kitty), the latest release from Raposa, was recorded over three weeks in a shitty Overton motel room that he spotted while stopping for gas on tour. As you might expect from its Nevada inspirations, this track is as sparse as it is harsh, barely comforted by its odd traditionalist bent, and barely warmed by the distant Las Vegas neon.
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, “Summer of Fear Part 2”
Castanets fans who didn't quite get their expected share of rootsy pop with City of Refuge, meet Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. His homonymous debut is a road-ready slab of folky rock recorded with Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, and his appearance this Tuesday will likely find him revealing bits of an album he's finishing up with Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio.
The End of the World, “I Don’t Wanna Lose”
Sometimes, they sound like a more heavily batter-fried Strokes; other times, they're a grubbier Walkmen; still others, they fit their own description just right: "Listening to Another Green World on some country road in Texas." "I Don't Wanna Lose" is a winner among winners off their newest LP, French Exit.
Scott Tuma, “New Joy”
Chicago's Scott Tuma joined producer Ero Gray, label head Sufjan Stevens, folkstress Jana Hunter, and Dawn Smithson of Sunn O))) as one of the handful of trusted extra hands on City of Refuge — and it's easy to see why he made the cut. This track off his third full-length, Not for Nobody (Digitalis), is radiant, broadening like some naturally occurring musical zeitgeber.
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