Customer Reviews

Feast of the Hunters' Moon

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this cd for the song "Red Rocking Chair", which I heard one night on the Folk Music Show on a local radio station. It was so powerful, haunting and gorgeous that I couldn't imagine living another day without it in my cd collection. The vocal prowess of the female singer is a force to reckoned with.

The rest of the songs are a curious mix of bluegrass, country and folk and some are imbued with a distinct Bavarian sound. I appreciate that no two songs sound alike; no repetitive monotony here. The mood switches from haunting to melancholy to lively to tap-your-toes with each song. Forgive me for my inability to write a proper review of this intriguing new music - I seldom write music reviews and am not an expert. But I know what I like when I hear it, and I like this a LOT.

I am LOVING this new CD from 3 Decemberists plus some talented musicians new to me. These are high quality instrumentalists, some of whom feel almost classical on this album, in a blue-grassy way. They've written some lovely, haunting music. Atmospheric. Some of it sultry. Some of it upbeat. There is a wide variety of "types" of music here, so it is hard to describe. It is soothing and energizing at the same time. I just listened to the CD, perhaps the third time I've heard it full through, on a drive through the desert. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. It was perfect.

Knowing nothing of this group, I bought this album after listening to the samples right here at Amazon.com. $5 later, I own an album that captured me. If I had to make a generalized statement to describe this ablum... this is it: This album could easily be a soudtrack to a modern version of an old west movie. The music is a blue grass, slowed to a 50's jazz pace with a traditional music feel without leaving the dirty side of life the old west had to offer. (i may have stumbled)

This release debuts the collaboration of three Decemberists (instrumentalist Chris Funk, bassist Nat Query and accordionist Jenny Conlee) and two players from the Portland scene (violinist/vocliast Annalisa Tornfelt and guitarist Jon Neufeld). Though the instruments are mostly common to Sugar Hill's bluegrass and string bands, the results are quite different. Tornfelt's violin slashes and haunts and together with Chris Funk's bazouki and Conlee's accordion adds gypsy touches to several songs. Tornfelt can also bow with the ferocity of a classical player and with Conlee and Neufelt creates a fetching invitation to the floor in "Tango Oscuro." Two traditional numbers (the moody "Red Rocking Chair" and the atmospheric closer, "Blackest Crow") are interspersed among mostly instrumental originals. The group gets downright rootsy on "Home Made Lemonade," but it's one of only a few tunes that will remind you this is released by Sugar Hill. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

This is a great CD. It is almost visually haunting. I heard their music on NPR and promptly bought the CD. I was greatly pleased. It has a gypsy/bluegrass feel, very moody and beautiful.

I loathe the Decembrists, so I didn't expect to enjoy this, but I was won over by some of the tracks. The pretentious and precious lyrics that make the former band so unbearable to me are absent, which may be part of it, as could the clean, enjoyable production. I have to say, though, his album is like aural Chinese food--I enjoy it, and then half an hour later, it's like I never listened to it. It has atmosphere, it has good musicianship, it has a certain amount of personality, sure, but none of it really sticks with me. I'd like to listen to future releases to see if they round out their sound a little more and play to their strengths which are, as far as I can tell, the tighter, quicker songs and not the more ponderous ones. Musically it's very traditional folk, too far outside my usual sphere of listening to really offer any useful comparisons, so take that for what it's worth; I'm writing this as a casual folk listener and musical omnivore rather than an aficionado. It's a good enough buy for $5, certainly.