Jennifer Castle - Castlemusic
Label.........................: No Quarter
Genre.........................: Indie
StoreDate.....................: Mar-06-2012
Source........................: CDDA
Grabber.......................: Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode)
Encoding Scheme...............: Lame 3.98.4 V0 VBR Joint-Stereo
Size..........................: 49.46 MB
Total Playing Time............: 31:14
Release Notes:
This is the first record Toronto artist Jennifer Castle has put out
under her own name. Previously heard with artists such as Fucked Up, The
Constantines, Doug Paisley and Elliott Brood, she has also released two
solo albums û confusingly û under the name Castlemusic. 2008Æs You CanÆt
Take Anyone sounded on the surface like a folk album, with guitar
arrangements that played with folk form but ultimately allowed her
ethereal voice to shine through in a more or less traditional way.
Castlemusic the album is an altogether more sonically complex affair.
Recorded with partner Dave Clarke and producer Jeff McMurrich, the album
is full of fuzzy electric guitars, sounding like a mixture of Velvet
Underground and a classic Æ60Æs folk sound: check out æPowersÆ with its
mixture of fuzz guitar and flute used to bring out a description of
cosmic forces in nature. æNeverrideÆ, the second track, sounds like a
fuzzy old recording of Æ60s Canadian folk singer Bonnie Dobson û her
voice has a similar quality and the guitar the tinny distant twang of
old records.
The soundscape of this record really does add something. From the
languorous opening of æSummerÆ the basic folk framework is rendered
jazz-like and psychedelic by the dreamlike arrangements. æWay of the
CrowÆ, which vocally references Dolly Parton, is a celebration of nature
that takes on an oddly twisted country feel, its country rhythm oddly
inverted and the sound menacing û even the slide guitar isnÆt the normal
comfortable accompaniment of regular country vocabulary. The ingredients
of country are there but mixed into something different.
æMisguidedÆ takes the spooky folk to new heights, with scary sounding
pipe organ closely providing a platform for vocals that are nearly
chanted û the chorus, ôI try to hold onö, taking on an air of quiet
desperation.
Three central songs of the album are æYou DonÆt Have to BeÆ,
æRememberingÆ and æPoor as HimÆ . The first is an ironic dealing with
what sounds to be a younger man û a callow nu-folk toy boy? û telling
him he doesnÆt have to live the part that she lives all too deeply. ôYou
donÆt have to sing/All the kinds of freedom/To understand the kind
youÆre never going to beö she says, crushingly, telling him that after
all this time he doesnÆt fit in to the folk singerÆs world, ending with
the command ôhoney donÆt be long with my drinkàö. ItÆs a strummed
country style song, with piano and echo-ey acoustic guitar and a bitter-
sweet vocal line.
æRememberingÆ, sung to a simple piano accompaniment, seems at first like
a sickly rather cutesy account of a nice day picking sage, tying
lavender, and giving herself a tattoo. But then it becomes clear û
getting through the day is all about getting over, and remembering, a
lost lover . The gentle revelation is quietly devastating.
æPoor as HimÆ is an uptempo, country-tinged reverb guitar-heavy song
about the depth of her love for poor ôhimö û poor ôhimö who loves her,
hence the need for him to be pitied. But she loves ôhimö too, and this
song celebrates that love and what sheÆll do for him even as the world
ends.
Then surprisingly the album ends with a straight, acoustic guitar picked
instrumental, æThe FriendÆ , with lovely guitar choruses, that is pure
timeless folk music.
This is a record that sucks you in and surprises in the way it plays
with folk and country, twists your expectations sonically and turns them
into something more otherworldly and even psychedelic with the sound and
lyrics. From the everyday to the cosmic û this piece of
folk/country/trance is well worth exploring.
Tracklisting
01. Summer 3:16
02. Neverride 2:51
03. Powers 4:28
04. Way Of The Crow 3:22
05. You Don't Have To Be 4:14
06. Misguided 2:13
07. Remembering 4:05
08. Poor As Him 4:44
09. The Friend 2:01
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