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Bowerbirds

Hymns for a Dark Horse

  • AMG Review of Hymns for a Dark Horse

    Amg
    Stewart Mason
    All Music Guide

    Originally released in 2007 on the band's own Burly Time label and reissued the following year with two additional tracks, Hymns for a Dark Horse is that rarity, an album from the modern acid folk scene that doesn't sound like a hipster put-on by an act that five years before would have been trying to sound like the Strokes. Written when singer and guitarist Phil Moore and his girlfriend Beth Tacular were living in a remote rural cabin while Moore was working for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, tracking and cataloguing local birds, these songs are suffused with avian and other natural imagery, but in a very natural way that doesn't smack of the classic old rock band cliché "getting our heads together in the country, maaaaaaaaaaaan." Songs like "Bur Oak" and "The Marbled Godwit" have enough of the verbal mystery of vintage folk tunes to connect them to a larger musical continuum than the likes of Joanna Newsom can manage. Though the hipsterish oddness of the songs' arrangements -- alongside Moore's vocals and guitar, Tacular plays accordion and wallops on an old-fashioned marching band-style bass drum to keep time -- and Moore and Tacular's typically unlovely indie rock voices keep Hymns for a Dark Horse from sounding like a new generation Dock Boggs, Hymns for a Dark Horse stays close to the folk side of the acid folk label. However, the two new songs on the Dead Oceans reissue, recorded after producer Mark Paulson joined the band as a full-time member, adding bass and drums to the duo's previously spartan sound, show that this vibe may now be a thing of the past. Though the dark, droning "Matchstick Maker" merely sounds like a slightly fuller and more menacing version of the rest of the album's signature sound, the full-band "La Denigracion" sounds straight out of Beirut's faux-European playbook.

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Bowerbirds - Hymns For A Dark Horse
about 1 year ago

When listening to Hymns For A Dark Horse you get the feeling that these songs are physical objects as much as they are ephemeral waves of vibrations, a holistic set of songs that glimmer brilliantly.~~

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New Video : Bowerbirds : In Our Talons
about 1 year ago

We've expressed a deep love for the Bowerbirds on numerous occasions...we love 'em. Plain. Simple. Great. Just like their music. They've released a new video for the excellent In Our Talons...Bowerbirds - In Our TalonsPrevious:The Bowerbirds - My Oldest Memory (live in the MOKB studio)The Bowerbirds - Dark Horse (live in the MOKB studio)The Bowerbirds - Slow Down (live in the MOKB studio)...

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My Old Kentucky Blog
My Old Kentuc...
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New Video : Bowerbirds : In Our Talons
about 1 year ago

We've expressed a deep love for the Bowerbirds on numerous occasions...we love 'em. Plain. Simple. Great. Just like their music. They've released a new video for the excellent In Our Talons...Bowerbirds - In Our TalonsPrevious:The Bowerbirds - My Oldest Memory (live in the MOKB studio)The Bowerbirds - Dark Horse (live in the MOKB studio)The Bowerbirds - Slow Down (live in the MOKB studio)...

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New Bowerbirds Video - "In Our Talons"
about 1 year ago

thumbnail: New Bowerbirds Video - Warning: If you hate the environment, animals, and/or crying, please don't watch this. So, Bowerbirds. So good. The earthy folkers have always deeply impressed in concert, song, vocation, and now in video. They strike me as an authen...

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MMN
The Line Of Best Fit
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Bowerbirds - Hymns For A Dark Horse
about 1 year ago

When listening to Hymns For A Dark Horse you get the feeling that these songs are physical objects as much as they are ephemeral waves of vibrations, a holistic set of songs that glimmer brilliantly.~~

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MMN
Strange Glue
Strange Glue
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Bowerbirds: Upper Air
6 months ago

Releasing their second L. P to date on their new label home of Dead Oceans, Bowerbirds have successively crafted something that sounds simultaneously fresh and aged. Like the best of contradictions, it doesn't seem to make much sense at first but it's difficult to explain the overall 'feel' of the record without constantly referring to its fresh yet authentic opposing aspects.

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runobodyii
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Bowerbirds
about 1 year ago
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jenny
jenny
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Bowerbirds, "Hymns for a Dark Horse"
over 2 years ago

What I learned about Bowerbirds from Nova: Bowerbirds are the only known avian species in which the male builds elaborate, ornately decorated nests in an attempt to attract the female. Their nests are so carefully ornamented that some people consider them "art" in the mostly-confined-to-humans sense. These birds are, er, doing it for the chicks. What I learned about Bowerbirds from Hymns ...

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runobodyii
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More Bowerbirds
about 1 year ago
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ookpik
ookpik
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Killer backups: "dee dee dee" beats "doo doo doo"
over 3 years ago

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JP's Blog
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Bowerbirds Record Daytrotter Session
6 months ago

The Bowerbirds, who have recently released their second album "Upper Air", have recorded a session for Daytrotter. They performed three tracks from their new album "Upper Air" and one from their debut "Hymns for a Dark Horse". You can download all the tracks from the...Click the link to read more

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mysiann
mysiann
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dee dee dee dee dee dee deeeee
over 2 years ago

wow.i'm trying to place what this is a mix between.obviously there's some devendra banhart. and maybe jana hunter. and maybe even donovan. i don't know.but i want to do things with it. like share it and add it to soundtracks.i'm a sucker for accordions too... the reason i liked beirut so much was for this fact... although beirut's music can get a bit boring after a while. this is promising d...

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Hymns for a Dark Horse Album Cover
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  • Avg Rating 0.0 (25 ratings)
  • Release Date 2007
  • Label Burly Time

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