Castanets - First Light's Freeze

First Light’s Freeze follows last year’s Cathedral as the second record from Raymond Raposa and Castanets. The cabin-friendly experimental folk/country music wouldn’t be too out of place on stage with Devendra Banhart or Will Oldham, but Raposa, as the other two, has his own agenda and his own ways of getting things done. Fellow Asthmatic Kitty label-mate and 2005 indie superstar Sufjan Stevens lends his talents to the album, as well as a slew of others. According to Raposa’s bio, he “traveled the US via Greyhound bus on and off for the next four years” after high school, and the on-the-road experiences are obvious in his lyrics, as well as in the music, which truly brings together the spirit of wandering and wondering American—Tom Waits isn’t an invalid comparison. Of 13 tracks, four are sub-minute interludes/postludes, which come in between each piece of sparse, folksy arrangements, with Raposa’s voice coming in at undeterminable intervals. Vocally, he’s similar to M. Ward, but the two are obviously different in technique, as Raposa focuses more on soundscapes than on simply writing a song. Often sounding archaic, First Light’s Freeze has its fair share of electronics, keys, and drum machines, but the backwoods element is always at the forefront of the onslaught. Creaky like a rusty barn door, beautiful and dreary like watching the moon rise on a mountaintop, First Light’s Freeze is exemplary of the atypical American spirit—the lonely travelers who hop trains and strum acoustic guitars for entertainment—but with a modern twist. Unique in most aspects, this record is essential for anyone who enjoys any of the other artists mentioned, and I fully endorse it if you’re looking for something different. [www.asthmatickitty.com]