When Euridice dies, Orpheus descends into the underworld where he plays a love song begging the god of death to restore her back to life. The song is so great and touching that for a few moments even Sysiphus takes a break to listen. Hades is moved to consent under one condition: Orpheus is forbidden to look upon his beloved’s face until they’re all the way up and out. Sounds easy, but at the last minute, Orpheus turns to check if she’s still following. She was, but now he’s lost her forever.
Imagine that instead of returning home where a love-maddened mob of women jealously rip him limb from limb, the bereft Orpheus just stayed there, unable to move on, inside the mouth of the cave, neither dead nor fully living, playing rockabilly blues to a growing cult of dirt and worms.
It might sound a bit like Timber Timbre’s Timber Timbre (2009), which I’ve been obsessive-decomposingly listening to for the past week. Taylor Kirk’s combination of old-timey American blues with eerie reverb, a ghostly chorus, and morbid lyrics makes this album sad without being saccharine and nostalgic without being dated.
Timber Timbre – Demon Host
Timber Timbre – Until The Night Is Over
His voice is tremendously similar to M. Ward’s, but even though M. Ward has been rubbing me the wrong way since I saw him live and he made me feel old, I’m pretty into this. You might want to check out Sam Amidon’s All Is Well. He’s a friend of Mel’s from school, and I saw him last year in a round robin show with neo-classical duder Nico Muhly at the First Uni’s sanctuary. Wicked awesome, old apocryphal ballads. Very highly recommended.
That’s cool stuff. I like when the horn and winds sneak in. I see he’s got something new coming out March 1.
Makes me think of what a Joanna Newsom & Chan Marshall love child might be like, + sex change. Beautiful.
This is terrific. Sounds to me like what Billy Childish might have done had he grown up in the American South. I’m picking this one up immediately.
Glad you like it. I’ll have to check out Billy Childish, though. Anything in particular you recommend?
I’m finally listening to the whole album . . . and it is really fabulous. Love it.
Yeah, it retrospect it should have been on my 2009 best of list. Also, “Magic Arrow” was in last night’s episode of “Breaking Bad.”
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