And The Wiremen

Jazzy ballads that seep through your skin with penetrating darkness. Stellar male vocals courtesy of NYC-based singer/writer/producer Lynn Wright. Brushed drums, horns, and lovely, sparse arrangements give this album a southwestern Calexico feel in some spots… although there's some gorgeous discordance and rhythmic complexity, too. Eclectic… motifs from Australia, Arizona, Nashville, New Orleans, Ireland, and Bavaria… combined and intermingled masterfully.

Play with John Parrish, Dirty Three, Mark Growden, Friends of Dean Martinez, Calexico, Lee Hazelwood, Nick Cave, The Czars, Tindersticks.

Amazing album. FCC clean. Start with 7, 11.

1. Amazing juxtaposition of musical motifs… slow/fast, sparse/chaotic, melodic/discordant. (There's an accidental, slight similarity here to Rocket Man by Elton John but if you perform a segue between that song and this one, a thousand angels will be waterboarded by abused midgets.)
2. Waltzy 2/4 lullaby feel. Powerfully evokes traveling by train, asleep in the middle of the night.
3. Swaying and dynamic with great vocal arrangement. Starts with discordant guitar arpeggio.
4. Bouncy, Kurt Weill/polka (by way of Mark Growden) feel.
5. Instrumental… bass clarinets. Short.
6. High energy, all instruments percussively-played.
+ 7. Nearly acoustic prog/math jazz. Twists & turns. Stunningly cool.
8. More Kurt Weill bounce (e.g. Alabama Song). Quite sparse.
9. Very jazzy & slow with brushed drums mixed low.
10. Mid-slow and amelodic. Unlikely juxtaposition of sounds create a funky art jazz piece. Reminiscent of Scott Walker!
+ 11. Irish jig rolls along underneath warm, enveloping, Pinback-style vocals… morphing into a positively krautrock groove (although, with handclaps) before getting jiggy/warm again.