Sharron Kraus - Beautiful Twisted (2002)

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

"After the big stroke realised with Goblin Market, whose last year’s album marked one of the most exciting moments of the whole musical season, C.O. reaffirm their presence in the gothic folk edge with Sharron Kraus. "Beautiful Twisted" was recorded in California with a small team of co-workers, who added violin, string bass, mandolin and few other timbres to the guitar and five-string banjo of Sharron, a very expressive instrumentalist besides being an essential yet excellent singer. It’s precisely Kraus’ vocal personality to bring "Beautiful Twisted" near the atmospheres of Goblin Market’s ‘Ghostland’, while the instrumental impact is dryer and of higher acoustic purity, close to Fairport’s more bucolic things and to an even greater extent to the Incredible String Band. As happens for the greatest storytellers of the folk tradition, a fundamental point of strength is given by the lyrics, often entering scabrous territories (the tender incestuous story of ‘Twins’, recalling the young Joni Mitchell in the soft blend of guitar and violin, is the most evident example), perfectly balancing between melancholy and bitter irony, with a deliciously destabilising effect in a light-hearted hymn to detention as ‘Song of the Unfree’, inserted on the noble poetic string of female minstrels going from Shirley Collins to Suzanne Vega, taking also advantage of the colouring seductions of a strong and persuasive bass clarinet. Exemplary murder ballads and really unorthodox cloister memoirs, dark reminiscences of Don Juan and startling funeral gigues, waver in a notebook of dramatic remembrances, only sweetened by an undefined feeling of time distance, also rendered with visual effectiveness by the sepia-tinged monochromatic appearance of the rich booklet. Tales always menaced by dense clouds invite to an intense and pleasant listening, given also the abundant melodic proficiency of Sharron’s writing. A precious disc."


Label:

Camera Obscura Records

Tracklisting:

1. The Peacock's Wing (5:06)
2. The River's Daughter (3:32)
3. Moonbathing (4:01)
4. The Family Tradition (4:30)
5. Twins (4:37)
6. Cold-Hearted Devil (4:49)
7. Death Jig (1:15)
8. The Wrong Man (4:53)
9. Godstow (2:56)
10. Beautiful Twisted (6:16)
11. Song Of The Unfree (4:11)


http://www.sharronkraus.com/

http://www.myspace.com/sharronkraus


http://www.cameraobscura.com.au/obscura.htm - Purchase the record

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/acideagle - I'm not sure, but this should be Camera Obscura's Ebay Shop


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