In a world where any bozo with a laptop can loop together a few sounds and call it a day, it’s refreshing to hear a band like Color Cassette keep their electronics sounding lo-fi and in masterful control. Equal parts Campfire Songs strumming, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot scratchy field recordings and Microphones harmonies, this concept album is perfect for a quiet winter evening.
Two ambient-noise/folk musicians teamed up to form Color Cassette, and each of their strengths shine. Jason Corder (who also records as offthesky) adds a layer of serene vocals to the trembling, bleeping soundscapes contributed by Lendin Hopes (AKA Set in Sand). Their concept for the album is simple enough: a boy walks into a forest and becomes a sparrow. Plus, if you’re not drawn in by that, the album isn’t heavy-handed in its concept-ness. Half the time, the vocals are stretched and slinky enough that you might not understand what Corder’s singing.
Shapes and Sizes’ outstanding 2006 release Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner may be the perfect comparison for Forever Sparrow. Polyrhythmic recordings mesh with quavering vocals and astoundingly harmonious instrumentation. However, where Shapes and Sizes’ vocalist Caila Thompson-Hennant may sometimes stretch into a guttural yowl, Corder keeps everything in check, refusing to alter the mood.
There may only be two members of Color Cassette, but there are a bunch of guest musicians on the record, as one can pick out accordion, violin, vibes and others in various places throughout the album.
Corder and Hopes are the obvious stars, though, and warrant serious attention. The first line of opening track “Black Nest Waters” may be one of the best openers I’ve ever heard: “Please take my hand,” Corder swoons as low guitar picking and construction site recordings hang lithely in the background.
None of the electronics seem out of place or contrary to the acoustic guitar that stands tautly at the center of the album. The watery filter on the opening of “Fable Cinder” leads right into a slick, moving melody. And, wouldn’t you know it, the track ends with a recording of sloshing water, which leads into another slippery guitar part in “Lost at Least at Last.” This track adds a driving rhythm of slapping brushed snare and popping sound textures.
“Angels in Ashes” is a sloping waltz, complete with forest recordings and heavy chords. The melancholy is on full overdrive, as the piano and guitar drop to the ground like rain. Later, the ethereal slide guitar that lilts over the picked acoustic encapsulates the feeling of flight that the lyrics evoke.
Multi-tracked vocals and the scrape of fingers on guitar strings in “Glass Ghosts” is incredibly evocative of Microphones’ “The Glow, Pt. 2”, but Hopes’ additions of head-bobbing, rhythmic textures keeps it from being too stale. The title track’s Postal Service-y electro-percussion is the perfect combination of house-hold recordings (glasses clinking, coins rattling) and strange, distorted sounds.
Closing track “La Fin Du Monde”, or “The End of the World”, closes the album’s world out perfectly. The sweeping acoustic instrumentation is augmented by bursts of static and wordless vocals. An extremely Animal Collective sample of bursting electronic bubbles adds an extra rhythmic layer. “When will you let it go, just let it be” Corder croons, attempting to sum up the sparrow-boy’s narrative, as the album closes. Attempting to let their world of serenity just exist would be justified, as the sounds are impossible to ditch.
Check Out:
“Glass Ghosts”
