Snow Magic, The

Dark Dark Dark, “The Snow Magic”

Gipsy flavored pop-folk that incorporates a plethora of instruments (guitar, violin, cello), but a focus on banjo and accordion… Lots of waltzes and an overall very rich sound, with distinct Eastern European influences. Sounds like Beirut, Devotchka, with a bit of Americana mixed in. Really lovely stuff that feels like it is from another time/place.
No FCCs, recommended tracks: 2, 7, 10, 11, 13.

1. Upbeat waltz with plenty of violin and percussion. Rough-ish female vocals. [3:07]
2. Sweet, slower male/female duet. No percussion, but lovely accordion (starts midway through track) w/ banjo rhythms. [3:55]
3. Starts slowly w/ haunting echo-y voices, then breaks into an upbeat and very Beirut-esque waltz. Nice accordion-infused outro. [4:30]
4. Another nice male/female duet, but darker and with chaotic, swirling accordion. [4:49]
5. Pensive, accordion-rich track. A bit slow/dramatic. [5:15]
6. Soulful track with great accordion/cello instrumentation. Sounds almost like klezmer at times! [3:49]
7. Playful shanty w/ bouncing female vox. Lyrics a bit morbid… [2:43]
8. Darker waltz, harmonizing male/female vocals. [3:33]
9. Ballad that picks up slightly as the song progresses. Cool key change near the end. [2:58]
10. A soulful yet eerie song that walks the line between cheerful and creepy. Mostly piano and cello w/ some other oddities (theremin? you tell me…) [3:30]
11. Pretty ordinary, plucky banjo beginning, but leads to very cool ending with chorus and hymn-like feel. [4:39]
12. Male vox sound a lot like Sondre Lerche on this track. Simple, melancholy love song. [3:00]
13. Lo-fi accordionful waltz, with slow addition of other instruments (strings, piano). Reminds me a bit of Yann Tierson by the end. A rather nice track, if sparse at the beginning. [4:01]