Castro & the Young Elders, Nick - Come Into Our House
SKU
SAAH042
"It seems appropriate that California folkie Nick Castro has invitingly titled his new record Come Into Our House, since it's clear from the opening notes that he wants his listeners to feel comfortable. For his third album, Castro has again returned to the familiar climates of 1969-75 UK folk-rock, making certain not to allow any harsh outbursts or sudden movements that could disrupt his lush, classicist stride. Unlike other such fringe folk-related acts as Charalambides or Six Organs of Admittance, Castro seems disinterested in testing his music's improvisational boundaries, yet with the help of his talented supporting cast he is still generally able to work his affectionate folk recreations into something recognizably his own. Much to Castro's credit, however, everything on Come Into Our House sounds wonderful. The beatific "Sleeping in a Dream" cascades out from a simple Bert Jansch-like folk song into vibrant streams of mesmeric drone and percussion, drifting gracefully into extended pan-ethnic instrumentals like the North African-tinged "Alter" or the spacious Morricone interlude "Voices From the Mountain". Co-vocalist Wendy Watson takes the lead on the album's enchanting version of Jean Ritchie's "One I Love", while Castro's lively piano work underscores his further debts to progressive Irish folk-rockers Mellow Candle. The lengthy "Lay Down Your Arms" is laced through with a requisite dose of Avalon Ballroom acid guitar, its supple electricity helping to balance out some of the Young Elders' more florid New Age/medievalist tendencies."-Matthew Murphy/Pitchforkmedia.com