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April 25, 2005
Harmonicandada
A while ago, there was a piece in the Believer about the strange but compelling aesthetic appeal of abandoned, crumbling factories (n.b. it was in Believer 11, and the piece was called "The Acropolis of Northern New Jersey", by Angela Starita), and the industrial archeologists who do not just appreciate but cherish these structures. Ray Raposa, the talent behind the Castanets, seems like he could be one of those people for whom an old, semi-windowless tire factory would be a thing of beauty.
The song starts off quietly, just Raposa and his guitar: "all buried in the industry and snow I saw you, they're breathing down the backs of all those hills". He sings very matter-of-factly, as if he were stating a case to the crickets outside his porch. Then there's a small and awesome interlude with a toy piano, which gives the song a weird, delicate, missing-tooth feel. The ending of 'Industry and Snow' is bracing- like a bucket of cold water dumped over your head unexpectedly (slide guitars, squealing static, revelrous drums).
Interestingly enough, Raposa, like Sufjan Stevens, is also a fiction writer, and is said to be working on a novel that will explore many of the themes that "Cathedral" (the debut LP that 'Industry and Snow' is taken from) addresses. [BUY]
Posted by matt at April 25, 2005 08:20 AM
Comments
dude, you are on such a roll lately. this record is so effing great. i still don't know why more people don't comment on the (smog)-iness of castanets. raposa is a sonic/aesthetic dead-ringer for bill callahan.
Posted by: matt at April 25, 2005 11:54 AM
Thanks Matt- you're right though, Raposa definitely has got some Callahanness working around in his music.
Posted by: Kevin at April 25, 2005 10:11 PM