Phosphorescent / Muchacho
Album: Muchacho   Collection:General
Artist:Phosphorescent   Added:Mar 2013
Label:Dead Oceans  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2013-04-21 Pull Date: 2013-06-23
Week Ending: Jun 16 Jun 9 Jun 2 May 26 May 19 May 12 May 5 Apr 28
Airplays: 2 1 5 5 3 4 4 8

Recent Airplay
1. Dec 31, 2021: KZSU Time Traveler
Song For Zula
4. Mar 03, 2019: Radiant Airwaves
Ride On / Right On
2. Oct 09, 2020: KZSU Time Traveler
Song For Zula
5. Dec 10, 2018: regular school
A Charm / A Blade, Song For Zula
3. Oct 18, 2019: KZSU Time Traveler
Song For Zula
6. Nov 26, 2018: regular school
Song For Zula

Album Review
Francis D
Reviewed 2013-04-18
“Muchacho” Phosphorescent
Sixth full CD from Matthew Houck — aka Phosphorescent — is close to a masterpiece. Deftly weaving multiple genres — indie folk with a touch of trip hop, barroom blues rock, alt country, and even inspirational hymnals — every track on Muchacho bores into your soul. The lyrics, often vocalized with a rawness that hints at the desperation Houck felt when he created this CD, document a life in disarray. Themes range from determination, “See, Honey, I am not some broken thing/I do not lay here in the dark waiting for thee” (from “Song for Zula”) to resignation “See I was slow to understand/This river’s bigger than I am/It’s running faster than I can, though Lord I tried” (from “Muchacho’s Tune” — FCC, requires editing to play). The musicianship is excellent throughout. A wide array of critics are hailing this as one of the best releases of 2013. Give it a listen.
— Francis

Recommended: ALL — but start with 2 (fabulous!), 3, 5, and 8. FCC on 6

1. (3:10) Sun, Arise! (An Invocation, An Introduction) — Opening hymnal. Synthesizer with Chariots of Fire sensibilities and church-like vocals soaring on high.
2. (6:10) Song for Zula — Indie folk, underscored by synthesizer strings with trip hop beats. Houck’s plaintive vocals speak of lost love and a search for strength. *****
3. (3:45) Ride On/Right On — Blues rock. Growling guitar and rock and roll organ. Synthesized boots and spurs stomp out the beat, and Houck’s vocals are heavily reverbed.
4. (4:06) Terror in the Canyons (The Wounded Master) — Alt country with a light beat and more traditional instrumentation. Mournful steel guitar. Piano. Soaring vocals and intriguing lyrics.
5. (5:20) A Charm/A Blade — Starts softly with hymns, but evolves into an up-tempo folk-rocker with exuberant chorus, horns and honky tonk piano.
6. (4:20) Muchacho’s Tune — Feeling of a standard played in a bar in South Texas or just across the border in Mexico. Raw and real with steel guitar and horns in lead break. Warning! FCC. “I’ve been f-cked up, and I’ve been a fool.”
7. (4:04) A New Anhedonia — Weary indie folk. Vocals allude to Houck’s stark despair. Fleet Foxes harmonies in chorus. Piano-based with horns and just a hint of steel guitar at times.
8. (7:04) The Quotidian Beasts — Hauck channels Willie Nelson at his most desperate. Pounding piano, horns and scorching guitar rise and fall after each verse. Epic!
9. (5:16) Down to Go — Indie folk-rock ballad confronts aching reality of loneliness and wonders how one goes on. Hauck’s breaking voice “spins [his] heartache into gold.”
10. (3:19) Sun’s Arising (A Koan, An Exit) — Closing hymnal. Somewhat more hopeful lyrics and uplifting in tone, with an ending chorus that strains as it reaches for the heavens.

Track Listing
1. Sun, Arise!   6. Muchacho's Tune
2. Song For Zula   7. A New Anhedonia
3. Ride On / Right On   8. The Quotidian Beasts
4. Terror In The Canyons   9. Down To Go
5. A Charm / A Blade   10. Sun's Arising