Charalambides
Likeness

[Kranky; 2007]

Styles: psych, acid folk
Others: Buffy Saint-Marie, Bastard Wing, Grouper

Once upon a time, John Cage spun a zen koan about repetition, something about how the mundane becomes interesting if you repeat it over and over. I call bullshit, and I submit Charalambides’ catalog as evidence. For 15 years, the duo of Tom and Christina Carter has played repetitious music. They’ve run a lifetime’s worth of motifs into the ground. And the results have been good — very good, often. Their songs don’t work because of the mystical force Cage supposes is inherent to repetition, though; Charalambides’ songs are engaging because the peregrinating guitar strums on which they’re based are engaging. The whole structure is strong because the foundation is resolute.

Likeness, similar to last year’s A Vintage Burden, teems with simple phrases that can get a sensitive guy all goose-pimply. The clusters of notes are repeated simply because they bear repeating, affecting parts like the weeping piano figure upon which "Uncloudy Day" is constructed or the chiming bed of "Figs and Oranges." Stuff that, in the hands of lesser artists, would sound cloying.

With nine lengthy songs, Likeness is Charalambides’ most exhaustive work to date. That it never wears out its welcome is a testament to the mastery that Tom and Christina have over their craft.

1. Uncloudy Day 2. Do You See? 3. Figs and Oranges 4. Memory Takes Hold 5. The Good Life 6. Saddle up My Pony 7. Feather in the Air 8. Walking Through the Graveyard 9. What You Do for Money