This recording is a great example of why I got into hi-fi in the first place.
Every once in a while I hear something new that is a revelation. I remember the first time I heard Dead Can Dance (or King Crimson, or Laurie Anderson, or...). The music suggested a deeper meaning, and I listened to it over and over to try and figure it out. We used to call it "Head Music". I just had that experience with The Books "Lost and Safe".
I don't know much about them. They are a New York/Mass area duo. They create a collage of sound, using guitar, cello, banjo, percussion (real and found), a little singing, spoken word, and a healthy dose of sampled voice and sounds. The result is something like listening to a dream, where you know there is meaning to what is happening but the context changes rapidly and themes come in and out of focus. I don't know how else to describe the effect.
This sounds like a truly new music to me. Just when I think I have a point of reference (a little Eno-like vocal, a bit of Laurie Anderson storytelling, Steve Reich "Different Trains") it evaporates as the music transforms into a new direction. It is not very complicated music, but it manages to sound like it is, if that makes any sense. I'll be interested to see how it holds up over time.
Oh yeah, the sonics. This will have to be a new reference disk. First off, the percussive dynamics are startling. And the soundstage is wide, deep and wraps around so you feel immersed in the piece. I listeneed in PLII music mode for a while and felt like I was getting hypnotized.
Did I say I liked it? I have another of their disks "Thought for Food" queued up. Time for a martini and a serious listening session. I had to turn someone else on to this first.
