Thursday, January 04, 2007

The Book Of Knots

Traineater, The Book Of Knots' follow-up to their 2005 self-titled debut, will be out in March on Anti-. It features appearances from Tom Waits, Mike Watt, John Langford, and others. On it you'll find waves of dissonance, bursts of noise, spoken word, and things that sound like the kitchen sink. That's not to say that it doesn't have tender moments, though.

Traineater (mp3) reveals the result of an angelic voice paired with acoustic guitar chords from beyond the grave. It's a marriage of the sweet and the bizarre, the same elements that characterize the rest of the album, except that "sweet" is mostly replaced by "harsh."

At first listen, Pray (mp3), which features the great Tom Waits, comes across as impressively ugly, but let it play for a little while, and you realize that it's damn catchy. The song has a rhythm and force that drive you past the harsh note combinations. Part of you will want to turn it off. But you won't. It's like drinking hard liquor. None of it goes down easy, yet you keep raising the glass.

Own Traineater in March.

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