I’m back! I can talk again…

Tracks played:
Don’t Lose Yourself (Laura Veirs); Raymondscott (Junior85); Sinai Dub (Mikus); Wild Flower Way (Table Music Meeting); No Trouble (Castanets); The Part You Throw Away [Edinburgh 28th July 08] (Tom Waits);  I Can Be A Frog (The Flaming Lips); Hold The Line (The Klangs); Divine [Danger Remix] (Sebastien Tellier); Dark Horse (Converge); Compass Comforts (Lonnie Walker); All The Kings Men (Wild Beasts); I Can See Your Tracks (Laura Veirs).

 Ox may be relatively unknown but they are definitely legendary……..

Dead Sound is extremely happy that this Canadian musical collective has finally revived not only dust bowls but their musical output with the release of their new album, Burnout.  The album is Ox’s first new offering since 2006’s American Lo-Fi but continues their history of heart-felt and candid story-telling as heard on,  the album’s title track and Ojibway Diner. The touring “econo” approach Ox takes has helped create a genuine Americana sound reminiscent of Neil Young and The Band. 

 On Burnout, Mark Browning’s weary vocals are perfectly combined with the harmonies of his fellow long-term Ox-er Ryan Bishops, and gives tracks  like the re-worked version of  Miss Idaho a beautiful layered effect sure to impress new and older fans of the band, familiar with the track from its original inclusion on American Lo-Fi.

Burnout is available now through indie label (weewerk) and given the album’s current success on Canadian campus radio, Dead Sound is not the only one glad of the band’s return. If you have the opportunity, ensure you catch Ox on tour as performances by either the whole band or the frequent solo shows by Mark Browning  are opportunities to hear their music become even more alive.

As you will no doubt want to rock n roll every night to the music of Ox after hearing Burnout, here is Dead Sound’s, favourite Ox tracks from American Lo-Fi and their debut album, Dust Bowl Revival.

American Lo-Fi (2006):

• Miss Idaho
• Surrender
• El Camino Pt 1
• Awkward Beauty

 Dust Bowl Revival (2003):

• LA City
• Stolen Car
• She Shot Me Down

 If you like Ox then also spend some time with other Dead Sound favourites Deer Tick, Castanets and early My Morning Jacket.

www.oxmusic.ws

(Weewerk)

So, finally my  2009-list is done, a bit later than last year. Listening to all the stuff from this year, I had a mixed feeling… there were not as much outstanding records as last year, and a lot of bands I really looked forward to disappointed me.

That being said, I’ve got a really amazing number one, which I will reveal in the course of the following weeks, hoping to have finished before or just after Christmas. I also will try to finish my best of the decade list by then, so I’ve got a lot of work to do.

Anyway… the albums that you won’t see in my end of year list (that you would’ve suspected in the first place)

- Islands – Vapours: Vocoders are there to be destroyed. This band is finally over for me. I won’t be trying any next stuff.

- Devendra Banhart - What will we be: Banhart’s first major label release, and you can hear that. All the fun is sucked out of his songs. The promising future turned into a bland present.

- Monsters of Folk: Though they gave a great show (and I got wronged by Oberst and James about how they suck these days), the sum isn’t nearly as good as the separate parts. At least on the record.

- Micah P. Hinson - All Dressed up and smelling of strangers: I like cover albums, but i have no idea what Hinson was thinking with some of these versions.

- Findlay brown: I don’t even wanna remember this. From superfolkie (and a high spot in my 2007 list) to Phil Collins’ evil stepbrother. Yuk. (I’m not even giving the name of the album, because I wanna spare you guys that).

- Misophone - I sit at open windows: I once asked them if they would release their old material, and i think this is one of the albums preceding “Where has it gone, all the beautiful music of our grandparents? ..” The bad thing is you can hear that they’ve not grown to their full potential on those albums yet. Guys, ignore my request and just start recording new stuff.

- Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest: i must say it was on the shortlist for quite a while, but in the long run it just wasn’t good enough to obtain a place in the top 50. The Same for Castanets, Casiotone For the Painfully Alone, Bonnie Prince Billy, Hallelujah The Hills, Why (my number one of last year!) and Noah & The Whale.

- Wilco – Wilco (the album): the last three albums of this band are probably all in my top 50 of the last ten years, and although this one has enjoyable songs, It’s just a bit below Wilco-standards. There isn’t one song no it that would end up on my Wilco best-of mixtape. This hurt probably the most this year. Ouch Wilco.

So, now you have a small overview on what’s not there. Keep checking the blog for the Yes-list.

Yes!

Friday. Air is cold enough to keep your hands in your pockets as you walk.

Welcome to the fall.

I understand i’m more than a bit late with the 5th of November celebration post but i’ve been genuinely busy all week, i’ve hardly had time to do anything since last Tuesday and the free time i’ve had since then has been spent trying to sleep or get things ready.

But without further delay i’ll introduce some 5th of November themed tracks i found lying amongst my collection…

MP3: Castanets – Worn From The Fight With Fireworks

MP3: Animal Collective – Fireworks

MP3: Dandelion Snow – Fireworks Display

MP3: Ryan Adams and Leona Naess – Rocket Man (Elton John cover)

MP3: Bonfire Madigan – Lady Saves

MP3: The Marshmallow Pop Orchestra – Mystery

I had to include these guys from my home city of Glasgow, the name alone is genius. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting them and seeing them live, they are definitely a bright spot in the future of Scottish music. They have the songs to do it, the main obstacle is getting them heard. Check out their MySpace and download some of the MP3’s below if you like them. Their debut album is out so if you like what you hear then please buy it.

MP3: There Will Be Fireworks – White Noise on the TV

MP3: There Will Be Fireworks – Foreign Thoughts

MP3: There Will Be Fireworks – Midfield Maestro

http://www.myspace.com/therewillbefireworks

And here’s another gem from another Scottish artist with an apt name for the 5th of November. I nearly forgot to add this. I seen him/them support Errors @ the Oran Mor about a year ago and bought the debut album pretty much straight after, it’s maybe not to everybody’s tastes but i’d recommend it for fans of Errors, Boards of Canada and the likes.

I’m actually gonna do a post soon on Scottish artists, there’s so much out there that needs to be heard..

S.I.T Wolf  X

ps. i spent the 5th in the ABC watching Mew, i had waited 4 long years to see them live again and it was well worth it. I’ll review the gig soon. I had planned to mix the review in with this post and call it “The Comforting Sounds of Fireworks” but i’m off to lie down and get some much needed rest after a hectic weekend so i’ll leave the review till tomorrow or tuesday.

Op de laatste twee Castanets albums ‘City Of Refuge’ (2008) en ‘Texas Rose, The Thaw and The Beasts’ (2009) laat singer-songwriter Ray Raposa een breed scala aan freak-country-folk songs op ons los. ‘City Of Refuge’ is een ingetogen fragmentarisch album met een mengelmoes aan op bluesriffs en elektronicariedels gebaseerde sfeertekeningen. (lees recensie in Gonzo (circus) #89) Met ‘Texas Rose, The Thaw and The Beasts’ zet Raposa een album neer dat bol staat van vervreemdende, maar wel volgens de traditionele folkregels gecomponeerde Americana songs. (lees recensie in Gonzo (circus) #93) 

In het Patronaatcafé geeft Castanets een stevige draai aan het materiaal van voornamelijk het laatste album. De country-folk stukken worden opgediend in een post country-rock sausje. Raposa wordt daarbij ondersteund door Jana Hunter, die de achtergrondvocalen en basisakkoorden op gitaar voor haar rekening neemt. Red Hunter voegt op gitaar de nodige psychedelische effecten toe en Lazarus ( Trevor Montgomery ), het boomlange voormalige Tarentel lid en verzorger van het voorprogramma, levert met de slagwerkster de basisingrediënten aan. Ray Raposa, die zelf de meest essentiële gitaarpartijen voor zijn rekening neemt, maakt er een waar muziekspektakel van. Kaal zijn de composities van Raposa eigenlijk traditionele country-folk nummers. Maar het aanwezige Castanets personeel maakt daar gelukkig korte metten mee. De set staat bol van muzikale ‘weirdness’. Qua karakter klinkt het totale optreden als The Black Heart Procession. In de uitwerking staat het dicht bij de podiumpresentatie van Akron/Family. De nummers vloeien ongekunsteld in elkaar over en worden hier en daar omlijst door verstoorde geluiden. Het éne moment vervliegen de klanken, alsof ze in rook opgaan. Even later slaat Castanets keihard terug in je smoel en staat het volume in de overdrive. Wil je net de handen naar de oren brengen om ze af te dekken, volgt er een sprookjesachtige passage. Opnieuw een muzikaal pareltje om bij te schrijven in de boeken van het Patronaat. Ja mensen, en geheel gratis, dus wat wil een mens nog meer in deze tijden van crisis.

.

Zola Jesus – Clay Bodies

RCRD LBL:Real Estate – Fake Blues

RCRD LBL:Former Ghosts – Mother

P4K:Viernes – Swimmer’s Ear

P4K:Real Estate – Green River

P4K:Letting Up Despite Great Faults – In Steps

GUM:Phoenix-Rome-Neighbors feat.Devendra Banhart

FACT:Jose James – Black Magic (Untold Remix)

GUM:Phoenix-Love Like A Sunset_Animal Collective Remix

No.9 -its little story

No.9- nueve y cinco

GUM: Laura Veirs – Wide-Eyed Legless

castanets_-_worn_from_the_fight_remix_by_lucky_dragons

GvB:Summer Camp – I Only Have Eyes For You

.PETER  CALLESEN.

Transparent God, 2009

Acid-free 140 gsm paper and glue, 350 x 450 x 170 cm

Lit

Breaking!  Nerd World scoops EVERYBODY and gets the “terms” that Warner Bros. and the family of J.R.R. Tolkien (above) settled on.

Stephen Elliott at The Rumpus on people who have read, who are perpetually reading Bolaño’s 2666.

Three Guys One Book review Beg, Borrow, Steal by Michael Greenberg.

Boing Boing posts an interview from 1987 with the late Jim Carroll

All the cool stuff you didn’t know the Boston Public Library had is going on display.

Granta is hitting up Chicago.  (Thanks Stop Smiling)

Politics

Oh look, that Republican guy who knows Chuck Norris is blasting the media.

Americans can’t handle a movie about Darwin (Gawker)

Music

Dennis Cooper revisits the glory days of early 1980’s industrial music.

Castanets have a new video for their upcoming release, Texas Rose, The Thaw and The Beast.

Jack White donates a bunch of cash so the kids can play ball.  (Thanks Daily Swarm)

Castanets is a sort of psych-folk project manned by Raymond Raposa of Portland, Oregon.

He has an album coming out September 22nd on Asthmatic Kitty Records titled “Texas Rose, The Thaw, & The Beasts”.


According to Asthmatic Kitty, this is Raposa’s most accessible album to date. I wouldn’t know, but from what I hear on today’s track, I am willing to take a trip down memory lane to trace this proposed growth.

Castanets – Worn From The Flight (With Fireworks)

Download, listen, and enjoy.

at Asthmatic Kitty Records
MySpace
Purchase

1. Tom Brosseau ft. Sam Cooke – Boothill
*Mp3: 2. D. Charles Speer & the Helix – Fossilized*
3. Beachwood Sparks – Sun Surrounds Me
4. Vetiver – Busted
5. Moviola – Spanish Moss
6. Castanets – This is the Early Game

* *Steel Away to the Country* *

Starting right now, a special ‘Johnny Disaster’ week is beginning, for it is my last. I’ll be posting three other mixes besides this one later in the week, so check back often.

1. Pete Seeger – Oh Mary Don’t You Weep
2. Joseph Spence – Out on the Rolling Sea
Mp3: 3. Religioneers – Come & Go to that Land
4. D. Charles Speer & the Helix – Bright & Glorious Morning Star
5. Loretta Lynn – Peace in the Valley
6. Castanets – I’ll Fly Away

*_*VA – Spirituals*_*

OK.   I have been meaning to start this blog  since December, But like everything post-tick tick I have been procrastinating!  I think I have commitment issues?  I think I just need something to start with that has nothing to do with me…Like this awesome show!!!!! and I needed a place to post info, so you could be in the know and come?!

My good friends at the Fifth Element are hosting a show this Monday (august 24th) at their space.  Info is as follows then I’ll dish all the cool info about the peeps playing:

Angioplasty Media Presents:

Blood Warrior (Featuring Greg Jamie from o’death!)

Brett Hughes (Burlington’s finest man about town!)

Shawn Grady (Burlington’s nomad beauty!)

Monday, August 24th

8ish till latish

a small donation will be expected! (like $5 tops!)

At the Fifth Element (Go to the bottom of Battery St and Maple St around and behind the diving store)

The 5th hasn’t hosted a show since the second to last tick tick show in April, which was an amazing time!  If you have’nt been there is a hugh basemnt space that lends it self to DIY events extremely well.

Blood Warrior is the new project from o’death front man Greg Jaime featuring our good friend Matt Berger from Portland, OR on drums. Matt has been through town a few times with his band Musee Mecanique and he attended UVM as a younger man for a semester or two.  Blood Warrior is less feisty then o’death but rooted in Americana just the same, the result is haunting beauty! If you like o’death, Viking Moses, The Castanets, or Beirut be there! (especially if you like O’death!)

They have nothing released yet but you can check out the link above for their myspace that has a couple of awesome tunes on it!

Check out this O’Death Video to get an idea!

Check out this Musee video because it rules!

Come and have one last summer blast at the fifth element!

if you have any ? you can email me at dale@ticktick.org

luv,

dale

If you are planning to host a Luau, here are some tips.  And if you need party favors ideas for the luau or Murder Mystery Party Invitation Ideas…

One week till deadline.

Finishing up my second batch of album reviews today. Castanets and Between the Trees were the easiest since I’d listened to each CD already, and I’m finishing Skillet and Hawk Nelson once I listen to them each another time. I’ll probably review The Glorious Unseen’s new CD on Sunday after I finish my gadget and book reviews. If so, that’ll make eight album reviews I did for this issue. So much for variety of opinion. I apologize in advance.

I filed a bunch of subscription cards while I was listening to music, and I came across one from my girlfriend’s relatively small birth town and one from a guy who lives on the same street as one of my good friends from home. No Rich Husbands today, though. Just thought you wanted to know that.

It’s been quiet around here with Doug gone so I’ve been quiet too, sorry. It’ll be down to the wire next week so I better get back to work.

Happy Birthday America,
Corey Erb

“Find a need and fill it.” – Ruth Stafford Peale

Hmm, let’s forget about this week, ‘mkay?

Every time I said “Oh yeah, I’m gonna start writing my three stories now!” or “Oh yeah, I’m gonna post pictures from Warped Tour!” those were lies. Always something to keep me from doing either of those.

So, I make no promises for this weekend. I might make it out to the He Is Legend/Drop Dead, Gorgeous show at Emo’s tomorrow night, I might not. I might watch the Cubs-Cardinals game tomorrow afternoon, I might not. Who cares if it’s the only Cubs game I’ll likely get to watch before going home?

I got music for four more album reviews: Between the Trees, Hawk Nelson, Castanets and Skillet. So those will need to get done too, though again, the no promises thing.

I got a bunch of album reviews, including U2, The Devil Wears Prada, Emery and The Chariot from the last two issues posted, so there’s some proof of an accomplishment from this week.

Lord Save Us From Your Followers alternated between making me angry at being an American Christian and giving me hope that maybe all’s not lost, so it at least did a better job than most commentaries on Christian culture lately at not being completely depressing.

Have a better weekend,
Corey Erb

“Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.” – C. S. Lewis

Raymond Raposa = Castanets.. For a while now i wanted to write something about that project.. This guy and his friends, musicians surrounding him from time to time have managed to create a unique sound that cradles my ears whenever i fall deeply into their tunes..

Not just another band or project of the long line of weird folk bands coming from the states these last years.. They have managed to stand their own ground and forced me to take all the time it needs to willingly drift into all these strange, slow drowning, defiant melodies..

A new album is coming up following the amazing in the vines and dub refuge from their Asthmatic Kitty label..“Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts” ..n joy.. i know i sure will.

First song i’ve listened of them was No voice was raised.. it’s still my favourite..

Castanets – No Voice Was raised..

Discography..

Castanets is set to release Texas Rose, The Thaw & The Beasts on Asthmatic Kitty September 22nd.  Ray Raposa has consistently put out great records that would defy any description or tag that I could attempt to place upon them.  However, there is something to be said about a rich textural backdrop that allows the song-written core of an album to blossom. A sonic environment, be it sparse or dense, wherein a song reveals itself in its fullest glory.

You can catch Castanets on tour this summer. Dates and download after the jump…

[download] Three Months Paid from In The Vines

06.30 New York, NY: Central Park Summerstage
07.03 Chicago, IL: Schuba’s
07.04 Detroit, MI: Garden Bowl
07.05 Bloomington, IN: Russian Recording
07.06 Cleveland, OH: Skylab/The Shelf
07.07 Buffalo, NY: Soundlab
07.08 Boston, MA: Middle East
07.10 New York, NY: Cake Shop
07.11 New York, NY: Silent Barn
07.13 Baltimore, MD: Talking Head
07.14 Charlottesville, VA: Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
07.15 Chapel Hill, NC: Nightlight
07.16 Charlotte, NC: Mileston
07.17 Knoxville, TN: Pilot Light
07.19 Nashville, TN: The Basement
07.20 Birmingham, AL: The Bottletree
07.23 Houston, TX: Rudyards
07.24 Austin, TX: The Mohawk
07.25 Lubbock, TX: Bash Riprock
07.27 Phoenix, AZ: Modified Arts
07.29 San Diego, CA: Casbah
07.30 Los Angeles, CA: Spaceland
07.31 San Francisco, CA: Hemlock Tavern
08.01 Santa Cruz, CA: Crepe Place
08.03 Portland, OR: Worksound

-kevin-

Today I went to the osteopath and had some deep tissue work and it hurt – the good hurt…

Today the carpet stretchers were in at work. They stretched the carpet.

I could do with a GF stretcher. Oh wait. That would be me. Remember to stretch G. Definitely going to source some yoga classes. Stretching needs to become a regular part of life.

I’m running around lakes, lifting weights and singing in pump classes, doing stuff on the rings with the personal trainer and managing to get to a balance class every now and again. While all of these involve some stretching, it appears that my body wants more. How much stretching is enough? When did the carpet at work decide it was time for the stretcher? Not a gurney, a stretcher.

I used to think that every work place would be enhanced with the addition of a karaoke machine, punch bag, jumping castle and a juicer. Now I think that a stretching machine would be good… kind of like a non-torturous rack… it could feature manacles that the manacled person could release… Hmmmmm… there’s a train of thought I’m not going to share… good it’s left the station…

Well I have a housemate who is a remedial massage therapist… no need for rack… but then she’s busy, busy, busy studying and I think will have to work on the stretching myself and not be reliant

So from now on I will stretch whenever possible… Remember to stretch G.

While stretching I will endeavour to focus on the movement and the sensation of the stretch and switch off the mind or at least slow it down… Stop thinking – if that’s possible… stop thinking:

• about whether there 6 or 7 colours in a rainbow – I reckon I always see 7,
• about a world where carrying castanets in your pocket and getting them out often and clicking out a rhythm is quite a common occurrence,
• about non-returned phone calls,
• about whether I need some self-regulatory legislation that limits my dumpling intake,
• about what 360 degree vision would look like,
• about why there isn’t blue food that is real – blueberries don’t count because I still think they’re purple,
• and about how life would have been if I’d joined the circus (maybe I did…)

And with all that stretching I will support my body and live a long and physically active life… and when I hit around 90 years old I will be dancing with my Zimmer Frame and with Sammy and her Zimmer Frame and anyone else who cares to join us… I know there are many of you…

No bingo for us, but lots of dancing, karaoke to the music of Pink and maybe card games from time to time… but definitely loads of dancing… if there’s no dance floor at the nursing home, I’m not moving in…

Castanets, In The Vines, Asthmatic Kitty

By Chris Brunelle

Castanets generally fall on the darker side of the musical spectrum, and In The Vines is no exception. The black hole of the Castanets is Ray Raposa, and it’s not hard to hear the struggle in his journey as the songs drift along gently towards a better place, and ultimately, a sense of resolution. With all the darkness and yearning in Raposa’s voice and lyrics, there’s a strong glow of hope and warmth that resonates very clearly throughout most of In The Vines, and with it, a slow, deliberate motion; there’s not a note in this record that isn’t meant to be there, and with slight movement the music swells and decays with restrained intensity.

“Rain Will Come” opens the record and sets the tone for all to follow, with a rambling acoustic guitar rhythm that drives along under Raposa’s stormy narrative and continues as the vocals yield and dissonant electronic shrieks cry out. “Westbound, Blue” is reminiscent of Tom Waits at his most country, telling his love she can have all of him that his surroundings don’t take first. “The Fields Crack” is ethereal and brooding and meanders along like a cross-country trip.

Raposa’s history involves a kind of modern nomadic living, and the music he makes with Castanets serves as a soundtrack to the film of that life. You hear a traveler at work in these songs, and the search seems to be more about understanding where he’s at than looking for something new. It’s this interest and reverence to his reality that gives the troubling task of sorting through it a subtle and haunted gleam. The instrumentation is sparse throughout, and Castanets use this space to let the tone and character of their parts fully resonate. In The Vines breathes and swells like a living human being and this darkly gentle record thus has a lot of life to it.

Originally published in Impose Magazine, it can be viewed here.

Cool Slide/Surf guitar hypnotic music. Plus “nice” truck driver look.

Castanets~Prettiest Chain from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Cover of Actor, released on 4AD in 2009

If I may indulge in some cred wankery for a moment, I’d like to point out that I’ve been a follower of Annie Clark’s from way back. No, no. I mean, way back. Before she recorded under the name St. Vincent even. Early 2004.

It turns out that Annie Clark went to high school with a college friend of mine, who talked up Ms. Clark’s talents and recommended that I review her EP for KVRX. However, Hollie also had another dark-haired, musically-inclined friend named Annie who I got drunk with at a party. This led to a rather embarrassing exchange between myself and Ms. Clark where I wrote a babbly testimonial on her Friendster page (remember Friendster, kids?) and . . . well . . . she was quick to point out that I got the wrong Annie.

That said, she was also quick to send me her three-song EP, Ratsliveonnoevilstar, which I promptly reviewed and put into rotation. I don’t think it got a lot of spin, but I wrote a glowing review of it. In it, I really got a sense for her love of shimmery strings, idiosyncratic and minute production, coy but confrontational lyrics, and putting her rich voice front and center.

Of course, her interim between this period and her debut as St. Vincent is well-documented. She played with folks like The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens, and I also caught her behind the cello at a Castanets show during SXSW 2k6. But when she finally released Marry Me in 2007, I was enlivened to hear all the promise I heard on that EP, distilled and glorious.

Cover of Marry Me, released on Beggars Banquest in 2007; photo taken from freewilliamsburg.com

Point is, while she may not remember me, I always believed in her.

And I still believe in her, because her sophomore release, Actor is wonderful. My dear friend Kristen hipped me to a certain national public radio station that was premiering it, and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it. And I was already in love with many of these songs, which I heard during SXSW 2k9, as I was fortunate enough to see her put on a delightful show at Central Presbyterian.

Still of St. Vincent performance at Central Presbyterian, found on Flickr

There’s a lot to love on Actor. For one, there’s her voice. As a choirgirl mezzo-soprano, I appreciate the hell out of her swoony, supple alto. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that high school me would have been all about St. Vincent. I also love her inherent properness — the girl’s diction is as immaculate as her posture and guitar playing — and how it creates an interesting tension with her frank, wryly sexy lyrics (a favorite of mine is the first line off opening track “The Strangers” — “Lover I don’t play to win/For the thrill until I’m spent,” but there are plenty more).

In addition, she’s a fan of vocal loops, doubling and tripling and quadrupling her voice until there is an entire chorus of Annie Clarks echoing, harmonizing, dialoging, and sometimes completing trains of thought for itself. I believe this to be a feminist act — using one’s voice as an instrument, noise, an assertion of the self, and an acknowledgement that it can be many different things at once, while still residing in the same throat.

On that tack, I love Ms. Clark’s production sensibilities. I put her in ownership specifically, as she meticulously helms her own recordings, serving here as co-producer and playing many of the instruments herself (homegirl did go to Berklee, after all). Her songs are luminous and exquisitly crafted, characterized by either jarring, exciting spurts of guitar feedback and distortion (“An Actor Out Of Work” and “Marrow” especially) or building, layer by layer and wave upon wave into bottomless sonic structures (the one-two punch of “Party” and “Just the Same But Brand New” do this nicely for me). But she owns them. Just watch her:

Thus, one of the main things I love about Ms. Clark is her assuredness. I wouldn’t fuck with the woman behind “An Actor Out of Work,” no matter her deceptive politesse, would you?

If this album isn’t much of a departure from her debut, I think it might be because she already has a very clear take on who she is as both an artist and as a young woman. It’s evident in her sturdy voice, her steady hand guiding the production, and her direct yet candid, florid lyrics. Even when her lyrics point to a very mid-20s, female sense of doubt and uncertainty (a sense many of us can identify with, I’m sure — listen to “Party,” “Save Me From What I Want”), there’s little doubt that Ms. Clark knows exactly what she wants and will learn more and share with us as she grows older. At 26, she’s already gotten a pretty good start to figuring it out. At 25, I can’t wait to hear more from her.

Annie Clark looks ahead, though slightly off-center

5. attraction.

he was warm.

this was why she wooed him,
her teeth, clacking castanets
under desolate skies,
her skin a kind of illegible Braille.

she was cold.

one night, he told her this.
they were covered in flannel
and bathed in black light.
his candor caused sleet
to slip from her eyes.

years later, they tepidly married.

6. gods.

there is only one You, yet
she has met facsimiles so compelling
she thought You were caught
in their sighs.

the dilettante on the dance floor
placed promise on her tongue.
they writhed within an arc
of nectarine light and
through her arms’ undulation,
she knew ecstasy.

the sadist in the sanctuary
insisted the welts were her worship
believed that his blood
was her blessing
and often, locked in his bathroom,
she heard him davening her undoing.

the pauper at the post
left her scraps of verse
as sweet and as gilded as foil.
he foiled the sadist,
made the dilettante disappear
paved the tracks on her arms
with the balm of his buss.
he did not trust.

she fled,
a crust of bread her only comfort,
an ephod her only embrace.
she hopes she can trace the white lines
back to You,
the template she knew all along.