Castanets
In the Vines (Asthmatic Kitty)Brooklynite Ray Raposa flirts with the darker side of human emotion; 2005’s First Light’s Freeze was wintry in its ethos, to say the least. With his third release as Castanets, Raposa emerges on new songs set in the key of fear. In the Vines is a spare, unhurried blend of raw instrumentation and experimental electronic noisemaking serving as a chronicle of crippling depression and death’s imminent domain. Raposa wrestles with the elements on opener “Rain Will Come,” evoking thunder with his guitar, thrumming portentously until an electric squall thrusts itself to the fore. And if it’s possible for music to be onomatopoeic, “Sway” certainly does the job, the slow plunks of the reverb-soaked strings emulating the rhythmic movement of hips, although the effect is more menacing than sexy. We all eventually return to the earth; we can only hope to do it as gracefully as In the Vines. (Friday, March 14, Central Presbyterian Church, 1am.)
This article appears in March 14 • 2008.