CHARALAMBIDES - Likeness

Likeness is the newest release from the duo of Tom and Christina Carter. Recorded over a period of several weeks during the Spring of 2006, the album is a return to the spontaneous composition of previous Charalambides records such as Houston and Union. With the exception of The Good Life, which appeared in a primitive version on the Wholly Other CDR Home, all of the tracks on this release sprung forth after record was pressed, and were fleshed out via overdubs, editing and a malfunctioning space echo over the course of the next few months. Lyrical content largely derives from public domain, American popular song from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, edited, rearranged and largely deconstructed by Christina into abstract protest songs for the century at hand. Musically, the album departs from the warm psych of A Vintage Burden in favor of the lush and layered vocal strata of Christinas later solo works, and a chillier, more abrasive guitar sound that favors The Velvets over The Byrds. Though containing much of the compositional concision that gave A Vintage Burden much of its appeal, the sound here just as frequently turns the corner into the abstract echoing spaces that characterize the more discordant sounds of Charalambides at the dawn of their Kranky residency. - Kranky.