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The Clearing [CD]

Bowerbirds, Bowerbirds Audio CD
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
Price: £10.10 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Audio CD (5 Mar 2012)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Dead Oceans
  • ASIN: B006WAF1B0
  • Other Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 104,777 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. Tuck the Darkness In
2. In the Yard
3. Walk the Furrows
4. Stitch the Hem
5. This Year
6. Brave World
7. Hush
8. Overcome With Light
9. Sweet Moment
10. Death Wish
11. Now We Hurry On

Product Description

BBC Review

Over their previous two albums as Bowerbirds, Phil Moore and Beth Tacular have tapped into a wonderful strain of Americana and created a world unto itself. Theirs is a space dictated by the changing of the season, the immensity of nature, and the power – and fallibility – of memory. Wrought out of sparse, organic instrumentation and expressive vocal turns from the pair, it is also palpably influenced by their long-term relationship, which collapsed for a while in the years between 2009’s Upper Air and this ambitious third album.

Recorded for the most part in Bon Iver’s Wisconsin studio with Brian Joseph at its helm, that ambition is most readily apparent on the slow-build of its opener, Tuck the Darkness In. "Oh my dear friend, everything falls to death," sings Moore over a sweeping, expansive thrust that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Arcade Fire LP; "we tuck the darkness in." The arrangements are bracing throughout – witness the clatter of percussion and ivories that permeates Stitch the Hem, the surging strings and electric guitar that bolster This Year – yet they feel like a natural progression from the comparatively threadbare production of the band’s earlier work.

Meanwhile, Moore and Tacular have grown in confidence as songwriters, and characteristically fine lyrical flourishes (and a couple of lines straight out of Dylan’s With God on Our Side) make up songs which often deviate from traditional verse-chorus structures, meandering and weaving their way to close in a manner as well-earned and intuitive as it is unexpected.

At some point during the gestation of the record the couple ran over a dog in their van; she emerged with a shattered pelvis and has been with them ever since. In a short film made to accompany its release, they refer to the dog (and her attitude) as the theme of the album, and it is not something they necessarily intend in jest. Rebuilding and restoration – whether that be of a home, a relationship or a sickly canine – are what The Clearing is really all about, and in fashioning it so lovingly and with such care, Bowerbirds have come up with their best to date.

--James Skinner

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Product Description

CD

Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Gannon TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Audio CD
For better or worse, most artists/bands have their edges knocked off when they make the leap from successful home recording to studio production. The Bowerbirds duo however have grasped the opportunity with both sets of hands, complimenting rather than confusing their rootsy folk with the backing of a full band.

Their third album The Clearing really benefits from this change in scope too. Where their last LP Upper Air was largely a verbatim re-tread of their campfire-friendly debut Hymns For A Dark Horse, here we find a confident evolution awash with piano parts, violin and/or vibraphone. As such, this won't be the only review to liken the noteworthy results to the less showman-like songs of Sufjan Stevens or those deliciously balanced compositions of Andrew Bird (with whom key Bowerbird Phil Moore also happens to share a vocal resemblance).

That the trace elements of cutesy smugness that come from working with your significant other have also been erased from the mix is a bonus too - though this could be due to the unwelcome dose of reality that fate recently dealt the pair when second Bowerbird Beth Tacular`s life was threatened by a unknown illness and her personal relationship with Moore suffered an on-off-on blip.

Previously acoustic poignancy was the Bowerbirds calling card, but things have become a lot more interesting with their newly expanded palette and consequently "Hush" is by far the most adventurous track Moore and Tacular have recorded. Backed by an atmospheric chorus and metronomic ticking, it has the pair singing in unison as Dirty Projector-like guitar interjections play all over the bedding.

Equally novel to the North Carolinian woods that these Bowerbirds call home is the conjoined, 10+ minute sound of closer "Death Wish" / "Now We Hurry On". Starting life with a heavy footfall courtesy of solemn kick-drumming and low-end piano, balance is offered by pretty keys and tremulous brass that then give way to a tearful bridge full of crying strings and an evocatively slow outro.

Rather than attempting to alter a winning formula, Moore and Tacular have built on one as "This Year" shows. Initially true to their earlier mid-Western folk, studio-softened drums then roll in and switch into an electric crescendo. The cinematic "Walk The Furrows" is more traditional still, reverting almost entirely to the finger plucking of older tracks like "Crooked Lust" - the arresting simplicity of "Overcome With Light" even does its best to out vocal-harmony genre figureheads Fleet Foxes.

Nevertheless, the confident arrangement of the new instruments within the band's core sound is where the real success of The Clearing lies. For example, comforting opener "Tuck The Darkness In" is downright resplendent with its ever-building, stately swoops of guitar and fully produced drums. It's an infectious sort of confidence too as Tacular's never-more-demure vocal on the lovely "In The Yard" perhaps confirms.

The next Bowerbirds album always seemed predictable. Though very agreeable, Upper Air didn't stretch the wings of anyone concerned, but with The Clearing Moore and Tacular have more than pleasantly surprised and their new plumage is really rather becoming.

Advised downloads: "Tuck The Darkness In" and "Hush".
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Amazon.com: 5.0 out of 5 stars  3 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Magical 17 Mar 2012
By Justin Pruitt - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Bowerbirds have been one of the most interesting things going on in the indie/folk world. No other band sound so organic, real no voices go along better with the style of music than with bowerbirds. With any of their albums you are immediately taken to a campfire setting, and their music is soothing to the soul in a way that Iron and Wine, Horse Feathers, etc come up short. The man and woman dynamics on the singing are unbeatable with this group. On "The clearing" the band continues to evolve, and this time around incorporate fuller instrumentation, giving the group's songs more access to a bigger audience. If you are new to the bowerbirds start with their last album Upper Air because it's a more middle ground representation of their music and is superb to say the least!
5.0 out of 5 stars New talent, nice production 29 Nov 2012
By S & J - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
I had never heard of this group, so I had little info to go on and buy. That being said,I listened to their mp3 cuts and liked what they produced. The group's songs are very soothing and I'm interested in hearing there next work. Good debut. 5 here means very good, not over the top. Always room for improvement some where, some how.
5.0 out of 5 stars Get this album now! Pure magic 30 Mar 2012
By S. Hirschler - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Heard of this band through a trusted friend and I am so grateful! This album in its entirety is magnificent, soul soothing, beautiful and mellow, but each song is profound and unique and super special. Highly recommend!!
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