Bowerbirds

Sounds like: Music coming from an Airstream trailer in North Carolina...hippies.
Albums to listen to: Hymns for a Dark Horse and Upper Air
Songs to listen to: Hooves, Teeth, and Crooked Lust

In the woods of the Carolinas, Bowerbirds' Phil Moore and Beth Tacular wrote much of their music from an airstream trailer...where they both live. Their sound is undoubtedly a wonderful product of their environment; sincere, melodic, and organic folk. Joined by friend, Dan Westerlund, their sound remains as loving and tender on Upper Air as it was on Hymns for a Dark Horse. Moore's voice beautifully teeters on the line of jazz-blues and Will Oldham, while Tacular joins in with a clear and controlled tone, sounding like a bolder Vashti Bunyan. The two voices yield a rustic sound that is both natural and romantic. Relying mostly on vocals, guitar and accordion, the songs have the potential to fall flat in their lack of percussion, however, the guitar and dynamic melodies create all the momentum Bowerbirds need.
In the song "Teeth," Tacular's voice appears like a brilliant revelation when she first comes in to join Moore with the lyrics "Oh, through the teeth of life, a brilliant flame in a dark time." At the end of the song, the instruments drop out to leave Moore and Tacular's voices alone together, showing the command they have over harmony but also their intimacy. The delicate melodies in "Hooves," which is the first song on Hymns for a Dark Horse, sing the words "Back to when I was born on a full moon, I nearly split my mama in two, While she held me proud I had the thought: Well, there's no one more beautiful than you." It's lyrics like these, so personal and emotional, that are hard to pull off without sounding overzealous or even creepy. Bowerbirds embrace their sensual relationship to both human and nature, and somehow do it without sounding like dogmatic hippies. In the song "Crooked Lust" Moore and Tacular play around with a more adventurous beat, which becomes quite moving when paired with the almost desperate and pushed vocals that Moore sings with on this track.

Although the similarity of the two albums do not provide progression and songs like "This Day" are too bare, Bowerbirds present some beautiful things to hear. If any band benefits from sleeping with each other, its this one.