Charalambides - Joy Shapes
(Kranky)
Wandering across the much-vaunted field of American outsider/psychedelic droney folk or whatever, you might surely stumble upon Charalambides. They have been at it for over ten years, but Joy Shapes comes as a milestone, as their first studio-recorded album for a while released by a more recognizable record label. I am sure Charalambides would despise any sort of pigeonholing, and with good reason, because Joy Shapes really stands out on its own six spindly legs.
Mostly, Joy Shapes is a terrific journey through fields planted with pricked guitars, reverberating strings and some of the most haunting vocals released on record. Christina Carter, Tom Carter, and Heather Leigh Murray dive headfirst into the messy undergrowth—there is no holding back here. Spare moments are completely barren, vocals are often sung at a piercing shrill—the soft, loose production is a perfect complement to the instrumentation. "Voice for You," one of the highlights of this 5 track dice, is at once intoxicating and aggravating, building to an amazing string led crescendo.
Its unfortunate, then, that album opener "Here Not Here" will be the first track that listeners meet. The howling vocals are a just a tad too self-consciously "unusual" for these ears; it is hard not to picture a twitching wailing-woman singing lines like "The rain shines/And the sun falls" over and over again on a lonely stage—the sitcom version of outsider folk.
Such is life on the range in modern America. Skip to track two and hear one of the finest pieces of music to be released this year.
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