The entire album is a rich and musty story unfolding in a sea of sound waves
by
Lee337
These Old Bones knocked me out of my chair. The entire album is a rich and musty story unfolding in a sea of sound waves and I would have never known it just by sampling the intro clips. The entire album starts with a morbidly minimalistic “Portraits” and builds up to leave the listener shipwrecked without a lifejacket in the final track “Little Darling”. IMO this album is proof that 30 seconds clips do not always say enough about a song or the arrangement of each song on an album. I hear hauntingly familiar elements in Kadman such as Arcade Fire, Simon and Garfunkel, Pearl Jam, Hum, and Sonic Youth. How do those elements come together? Buy this album and find out for yourself. Five Stars!
Gritty, grinding, layered deliciousness...
by
SchmittyJ
"These Old Bones" continues Kadman's tradition of developing layered beauty set to crashing drum rhythms, and incorporating new and unexpectedly pleasant aural delights.
Building flawlessly from their first iTunes-released album "Sing to Me Slower," Kadman continues to develop what is quickly becoming a hallmark knack for an intricately layered sound.
While the band introduced filtered toy piano in their last album, "These Old Bones" brings the listener in contact with the ubiquitous theremin in "Little Darling."
The eighth track, "Mountain Song" is perhaps the best example of the lyrical mastery of Kadman's song writing skills, while the achingly sentimental duet on "An Army Rises" adds another weapon to Kadman's already-prodigious musical arsenal.
All in all, "These Old Bones" is Kadman's best album to date, in my humble opinion. Fans of Iron & Wine, Low, any Mark Kozelek project, and the more minimal, honest harkenings of grunge rock should be hooked by the album's first track, "Portraits" and in love with the album by the opening chords of its final track, "Little Darling." It represents much of the same overall feel of Kadman's earlier efforts, while introducing a grittier, and at times, almost angry drive.
If I could give it a sixth star, I would...
