Christina Carter - Orignal Darkness [Kranky - 2008]Original Darkness ten songs are acrawl with a tangible feeling paranoia; 4am sweat drenched panic and claustrophobia. All to make a very human, pained and what’s life all about album that seems to hypnotise the listening into bleak state Carter users a mixture of shimmering and gloomy acoustic guitar that takes in bleak encloses, darken Spanish like strolls or soured blues. Barren white-neon clean electric guitar doomy strums and folds, stuck & at times discordant organ/ keyboard drones that weave out gone wrong children songs purrs or sinister music box loops. All topped off of course with her gloomy at times warbling female American folk meets grimy indie singing voice, which goes from darkly sweet and suicidal, to barren 50’s Americana and at times feels like it’s barely moving as the weight on the world and internal pain pressers down on her. This is music for very low ebbs, for sitting in dusk embroaching rooms unable to move with cigarettes turning into bent ash poles in unmoving hands. Yet for all it’s grim, gloomy and hunched shoulders demeaner it seems to suck you deep into it’s depressing and half-light world wonderful and completely A wonderful introspective, hurt and gloomy album that embraces the listener under its black tattetted wings in melancholy wonder. One of this years bitter, pained and gloomy masterpieces- Let Carter pull you well and truly into her original darkness Roger Batty
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