City of Refuge

by Castanets

Overview

Desolation is the canvas on which Castanets mastermind Ray Raposa chooses to present his unique brand of "experimental Americana," and City of Refuge does little to refute that notion. Recorded alone over three weeks in a desolate motel room in Overton, NV, Raposa (no stranger to depression, melancholy, and futility) populates his small corner of the country with a single electric guitar that conjures up images of a spaghetti Western gone all wrong. Similar in tone and timbre to bands like Calexico, Friends of Dean Martinez, and 16 Horsepower, but far more austere, Castanets' fourth album sounds like dust and tastes like rain. Sometimes running idly through myriad patches on an effects processor ("High Plain") or reducing a classic spiritual ("I'll Fly Away") to its last raw nerve, City of Refuge never succumbs to the silence that so obviously surrounds it. Even appearances (overdubbed after the initial field recordings) from Sufjan Stevens, Jana Hunter, Scott Tuma, Dawn Smithson, and Ero Gray feel unobtrusive, resulting in a strange, sad, but ultimately compelling collection of hopeless Western indie folk. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2008
Label:	Asthmatic Kitty
UPC:	0656605604121
Rank:	210455

Tracks

1. Celestial Shore
2. High Plain 1
3. The Destroyer
4. Prettiest Chain
5. Refuge 1
6. The Quiet
7. Glory B
8. High Plain 3
9. I'll Fly Away
10. The Hum
11. Savage
12. Shadow Valley
13. High Plain 2
14. Refuge 2
15. After the Fall

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Castanets   Primary Artist
Jesse Ainslie   Mandolin
Scott Tuma   Piano,Pump Organ
Sufjan Stevens   Banjo,Piano,Vocals,Pump Organ
Adam Mitchell   Bass,E-Bow,Keyboards,Guitar (Bass)
Dawn Smithson   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Jana Hunter   Vocals

Technical Credits

Raymond Byron   Composer,Lyricist
Dala Bent   Paintings,Layout Design
Yoni Kifle   Photography
Traditional   Composer