THE CRANE WIFE

I heard of this band from a non-progger friend, and it tooked me a while to ask him what was playing on the stereo. 'The Decemberists, he said.' Okay, the song is 10 minutes more, with interesting acoustic guitars.

After a while, I asked again 'Great song, wow. From who?' 'The Decemberists, John', same record (sigh)'. Not long after: 'What's playing Dave?' 'The Decemberists, man, told you half a minute ago!' 'What?! that's the same record all along? It's from the 70's right?' 'No man, just arrived. Why don't you buy it and quit buggin' me?' Okay, it was worth asking those questions and getting yelled at by an irritated Dave.

To me, the richess of this record is definitely the voice of the singer; a mix of Neil Young, Brian Molko and Neil Tennant (weird mix but really soothing). Just a great folk voice that makes you wanna sing along close to the fire, perfectly blended with the musical arrangements a la Dylan, America,The Wallflowers, The Beatles, Elliot Smith with some Pixies. The whole thing is not entirely bolted in the 60's, but it's so good not to hear another (boring) metal-opera that the clean production and commercial approach are quickly forgiven; although this album deserved a bit more lo-fi approach to me.

If you're a fan of 60's-70's acoustic guitar/hammond, you'll have a ball with this album, promise.

I'm not a fan of folk prog, but what a great catch to ease your soul; this is my choice for this summer rainy days.

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