amredthelector | this cd is amazing (Reply)

I PROMISED TEH ART! HERE BE TEH ART! Hitaro Maldrake is a character that's been rolling around in my head for a while now. But no matter what, I just couldn't get him down on paper. The first few attempts looked too young and pretty, and the later ones made him look too nice. But this is finally it. :) I'll talk about him more later.

I got a chance to really listen to the new DeVotchKa CD, A Mad and Faithful Telling, today. A few days ago, I'd read a review of it in a local paper, which said that the band has 'more of a pop rock feel' in this album. That's bunk. A single song has a more rock type drum beat in it, but the rest of the song (and the rest of the CD) is DeVotchKa's signature eastern european mariachi fare.
This album is the first one in which the band has included liner notes with lyrics, which is really nice. Sometimes it gets really hard to tell what the lead singer is saying. Having read the lyrics, I've started to pick up on what I think the album is about. The band never out right says what their message is - they like people to decide for themselves. I personally see it as a story of a struggling musician in the 1930s/1940s, living in some large city like New York, or San Francisco. Trying to support a family far away, and making less and less money, he gets involved in an organized crime syndicate (like Zoot Suit meets The Godfather). It's about his regrets, his love, his music.

Of course, I'll never know what it's REALLY about, but that's okay. And in short; I like this album. Very nice, with this howling vocal moving throughout that just haunts you. It tends to lean more on the mexican instrumentals, but occasionally brings in the very gypsy sound. Find it, give it a listen.