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Jana Hunter

Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom

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by Merlin on 09/29/2006

Jana Hunter's Blank Unstaring Heirs Of Doom is the first release for Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic's label, Gnomonsong. I suppose for that reason this release has been undoubtedly lumped into the "freak folk" catch-all genre. I'm still not exactly sure what freak folk is... It spans everything from Banhart's Bolan worship, Cabic's Vetiver and his recent move towards the 60's Laurel Canyon sound, the medieval folk of Espers, and even Brightblack Morninglight's hippy blues. Obviously, the label of "freak folk" wouldn’t tell you much about the sound of any particular artist.

Jana Hunter follows up her split album with Banhart on Troubleman Unlimited with this, her debut LP. (Check out an MP3 of her excellent "A Bright-Ass Light") Blank Unstaring Heirs Of Doom was recorded over the period of a decade, mostly on two and four track tape recorders. The 13 songs vary in style, but never in their effectiveness. I tend to liken this album to an early Guided By Voices album, but instead of the Who as a major influence maybe it's Nick Drake... or most likely some other more obscure folk band.

The haunting "All The Best Wishes" opens the album with a mostly a cappella performance -- accompanied only by monstrously deep organ bass notes. It's a beautiful track that almost at its core sounds like a nightmarish 50's doo wop song. It's a dark sound, but the message is loving and upbeat.

Highlights of Blank Unstaring Heirs Of Doom include "Farm, Ca." and "Restless." -- both bound for mixtape infamy on my stereo. "Farm, Ca." is a breezy folk song accompanied only by acoustic guitar and violin, featuring one of my favorite lyrics of the album, "Gold is not hip / Silver is in." "Restless" has to be one of the most accessible tracks on the album. It's just a plain, damn good folk song of poppy acoustic guitar jangle.

The real head-turner comes in the final track. "K" takes a complete left turn from the lonely organic mood of the album with a Casio laden 80's high-tech sound, a la The Magnetic Fields. The crazy thing is that it totally works. I guess a good song is just a good song -- no matter the instrumentation.

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Freak-folk (personally I share Devendra's opinion that it's a stupid name, New Wierd America captures the spirit of the movement much better) is just that, a movement, rather than a specific genre. It's more of a sensibility shared by a loose collective of semi-connected artists. It's like "Beat Generation", it doesn't really mean anything in itself, but a name applied after the fact to an organic phenomenon.

Posted by Dharmabatteries on 09/29/2006

Downloads

My Mixtape Farm, CA. [MP3]

Album Details

Year: 2005
Label: Gnomonsong
Producer:
Musicians:

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Folking it Up!! - GuidedbyStewart

seven songs a swimming through your tears - Kelly

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Tracklist

1	All The Best Wishes
2	The New Sane Scramble
3	The Earth Has No Skin
4	Christmas
5	Laughing & Crying
6	Farm, CA.
7	Heatseeker's Safety Den
8	Have You Got My Money
9	Restless
10	The Angle
11	Untitled (Hanging Around)
12	Angels All Cry The Same
13	K

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