Cathedral & Rum- The Moon is Lord of Twisted Trees

The latest dark country folk communique from songwriter Chris Hartford is by far his best work, coming across like a combination of Neil Young at his darkest (but with better singing), with the shimmering chords and lush sound of Sun Kil Moon and the mysterious backwoods after dark feel of early Black Heart Procession. The first three songs-- "Ocean Light", "Through the Trees", and "Flowers in the Rain"-- are stunning, absolutely perfect pieces of straight-up country rock leavened with generous portions of pure spookiness, and considerably more straightforward than the material from his previous albums. Things start deviating into avant territory after that, though, with the found sounds and sample experiments of "Moonray" recalling the more peculiar moments of John Fahey's forays into sound collage, and the unnerving background noises and laughter of "Bad Morning" lending a creepy vibe to the song. The production on this release is really good, too-- wheras some of the earlier material was swaddled in a lo-fi sound, this is crystal clear throughout the disc and filled with plenty of ethereal flourishes (the liner notes list nearly a dozen other contributors to the sound). Good, brooding stuff. Other standout tracks include "Caroline" and "Angelina".

--from The One True Dead Angel, Oct. 2009