Customer Reviews

House With No Home

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

 

 

How this album escaped every year-end list I came across seems absolutely befuddling, bemusing, bewildering, and--with all due respect--just plain dumb (what? I said with all due respect). I was at their show in November ('08) and again in May ('09) and they produce America's most beautiful music. There's no doubt. Their music is just as hauntingly beautiful as Bon Iver, except it's got a cello and a violin... instruments that make almost any song better! :) "Curs in the Weeds" might be my favorite song from 2008. Just. Freaking. Beautiful. I also really enjoy "Working Poor," one of the faster-paced songs from the album.

Edit (6.07.10): Horse Feathers continue to get momentum on the national scene, at least from NPR after their most recent release, Thistled Spring, debuted in April. Please go check it out.

An album I find myself returning to many times after seeing them perform in their home area of Portland, Oregon recently. Violins and other strings along with guitar and banjo are the lead instruments which gives the backing almost a kind of new age sound with a little hint of bluegrass. On top of this, some gentle hesitant vocals and harmonies and some melodies which slowly take hold, make this an oddly compelling album.

"House with No Home," is a good example of a band successfully forging a fresh sound out of genre conventions. All the ingredients of folk are here: gentle harmonies, "unplugged" instrumentation and deceptively simple song structures. But somehow through it all, Horse Feathers manages to sound like it's own band.

Described by a number of critics as minimalistic (a label that is not completely unfounded), Horse Feathers is at it's best with as few instruments as possible cluttering up the arrangements. The opener, "Curs in the Weeds," and "Albina," (one of the albums strongest tracks) exemplify the age old adage of "less is more," both swelling in and out of emotional climaxes through a combination of acoustic guitars, minimal string sections and affected vocals and lyrics that convey a sense of quiet solemnity. But even when the band is sticking closest to it's roots - as in tracks like "Working Poor," and "Heathen's Kiss," - the songs still seem to transcend generalities and coalesce into something surprisingly honest and heartfelt (though perhaps not necessarily great).

So while every song may not quite stand toe-to-toe with the most impressive tracks on the album, as a whole it works very well as a nice, quiet way to spend a half hour. Horse Feathers has proven (again) that folk can sound new and fresh but still appeal to fans of the genre. Definitely recommended.

As a lover of Eastmountainsouth's music, I was sad to see that they stopped making albums. However, I am overjoyed to have discovered Horse Feathers which, to me, is like a revival of Eastmountainsouth. If you love Eastmountainsouth, I doubt that you'll not admire Horse Feathers. With the indie folk genre getting more mainstream attention than years past, Horse Feathers offer a solace for those who wish to listen to "grassroots" indie folk. Song picks include: "Curs in the Weeds" and "Different Gray" which are very heartrending and "This is What" which has quite stunning instrumentation.

It's obvious not a lot of people really really listen to music. Nanci Griffin is bland, bland bland. These guys are not. End of story. and yay Portland.

I'm surprised more people haven't written reviews about this excellent CD. I don't have time to write a detailed review, but I think justice will be better served if another individual (me) gives this CD and group another 5 star rating.

The music is OK, but it pretty much all sounds the same from song to song. Some of the music is very disjointed, like they decided to make a bunch of noise to see if you were awake.
The vocals are weak and the words are mumbled. The CD might have been better with some decent vocals.
If you need some music to sleep by and can get this for free - go for it.