Private cdr
American Myth : When Dead voices gather (US,2001)**°
(= Empty Cellar Prod.)
American Myth did send me a bunch of demo's claiming they played psychedelic folk music, so I should check this stuff out. Most of the recordings were so stifflystuffed stoned I could not figure out how to interpret such an approach. But when I heard "When dead voices gather" I saw a clearer spotlight. It was less stoned and bury-me-in-the-country styled, and it was more folk inspired. The additional vocals by Jolie Holland who also plays guitar and fiddle on some songs combines perfectly with the withdraw and dissolve-to-the- background music from the usual 'American Myth'. It awoke my attention. Now this is mostly psychedelic folk (and blues) indeed with this time all multilayered depths to make it interesting. The first song "Pretty Polly", is a traditional song whose interpretation I like very much. "Death By Misfortune" has a stoned and experimental mood and continues with a Julie Holland's song "Alley Flowers", a nicely performed complaint with sparse percussion and guitar. Also the traditional "Dark Holler", is nicely interpreted as a bluesy song reminding me of a lonely caravan somewhere near the road. It fit perfectly with the rest of the songs. Also the acoustic guitar blues song "Brother" has a warm campfires mood. No, we're not alone on this part of the road. With the slide instrumental evokes dinner at the campfire tonight, and the slide guitar on the "Barbecue" I can travel the road again with stomach filled with some joy, my melancholy transformed.
An overall nice and moody album. Worth checking out.
The title of the CDR refers to the title of the book by Nick Toches.
