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Phenomenal Handclap Band’s diversions don’t hide the truth

“THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND,” The Phenomenal Handclap Band (Friendly Fire)

When it isn’t literally tripping, the Phenomenal Handclap Band goes on improbable aural excursions on its new, self-titled release.

The New York City collective’s track “All of the Above,” for example, sounds like it’s on the road to a 2000-something Burning Man festival by way of a 1970s Castro Street disco and a 1980s Santa Fe New Age compound — complete with a harmonica solo and positive-energy lyrics. And windswept opener “The Journey to Serra da Estrela” plows through a would-be rock-opera foundation with a swerving interlude and an electronica dust-up.

In contrast, “You’ll Disappear” establishes a hypnotic groove as mellow mind-control singers warn, “We’ll tell you what to think, and you’ll disappear.” That cut is subsequently followed by the funky jump-rope ditty “15 to 20” featuring inescapably persuasive chants.

Club DJs Daniel Collas and Sean Marquand founded the act apparently with the intention to surprise and entice with rhythm-oriented music, kitschy vocals and wry shifts.

Yet no matter where the Phenomenal Handclap Band goes, it can’t get away from the basic fact that it’s a jam band with progressive-rock tendencies.

Even on the better tracks, the jam meanderings and prog self-indulgences lead the group astray, if only temporarily. Although TV on the Radio guitarist Jaleel Bunton slices up “Testimony” with psychedelic blues, for instance, the group attempts to keep the song buried in haze.

The act puts up a good fight against its enervating inclinations for the first half of the release, but ultimately the Phenomenal Handclap Band gives up and accepts its jam/prog self, dispatching a half dozen fairly undecorated cuts that conclude with the draining “The Circle Is Broken.”

There are a few lyrical sparkles — such as “The Martyr’s” line “If you ever see a martyr ... You could do us all a favor and drive the last nail in” — but the release essentially fades into a dim din.

Rating (five possible): 3

Christina Courtin’s voodoo works for a while

“CHRISTINA COURTIN,” Christina Courtin (Nonesuch)

Christina Courtin is impossibly enchanting in the early going on her new, self-titled release, but the spell eventually fades as she and her fellow producers and musicians stop conjuring magic and settle into something more mundane.

Courtin, a violinist and graduate of the Juilliard School, is introduced in dazzling style on opening track “Green Jay,” her odd and spritely vocal intonations beautifully matched by a whimsical arrangement of jazz instruments. The carefully constructed “Bundah” follows, Courtin’s dulcet voice and a florid acoustic guitar swaying through the lullaby that builds naturally with the addition of a string quartet.

Although the songs are generally precise, they don’t feel fussy. And Courtin’s earthy delivery on “Foreign Country” — which matches the gritty chug in the rhythm — helps humanize her ethereal vocals.

“Christina Courtin” is generally low-key, frilly and eccentric, an unusual culmination of the work of talented musicians such as guitarist Marc Ribot, keyboardist Benmont Tench and instrumentalist Jon Brion plus producers Courtin (who also is the songwriter), Greg Cohen and Ryan Scott. Several strings add a chamber-pop feel to the atmosphere (although Courtin plays viola, she’s not among the violinists), yet the release also harkens everything from rock opera (“Laconia”) to riverboat waltz (“One Man Down”).

The quirky and unlikely progression of sound is all the more enigmatic with Courtin’s lyrical musings, delineated by her obscure enunciation.

Unfortunately, “Christina Courtin” eventually loses its vivacity and settles into a somnolent mode that collapses into the closer, “Unzipped.” But at least its ephemeral appeal is intoxicating while it lasts.

Rating: 3-1/2

Lily Storm rains down music education

“IF I HAD A KEY TO THE DAWN,” Lily Storm (Songbat)

Lily Storm’s “If I Had a Key to the Dawn” is a project that blends academia with art, and unfortunately, Storm comes off as more scholarly than imaginative.

Her concept is enticing: She offers her renditions of traditional folk songs of Eastern Europe in their original languages (about 10 of them), an impressive chore for the American singer. And similar themes thread through the collection’s mostly grim tracks — including grief, despair and foreboding — plus repeated imagery of flora and fauna (especially birds).

The continuity is further solidified with fine instrumentation, especially Dan Cantrell’s accordion, with less frequent appearances by the likes of bouzouki, harp, duduk, kaval, violin and frame drum. And against the gentle gray strains of evocative music, Storm sings in the native tongues of the Ukraine, Greece, Russia and even Albania as she imparts tales of death, loneliness, aimlessness and doom.

The CD insert gives brief background information on each song plus the lyrics in their original language as well as in English translations. It’s all as exacting as a textbook and can be marveled at as such, but what doesn’t translate is soul. The ambience is wonderfully chilly, yet the singer often comes across as more of a professor of music (and language) and less of a performer. Exceptions include two melodic Hungarian songs (“The Peony” and “Love, Love”), the lively Romanian “Green Leaf of a Pear Tree” and the gorgeous Bulgarian “Years, Heavy Years” — perhaps because these songs are better than the others or perhaps because Storm projects a connectedness to the material she lacks elsewhere.

Whatever the case, even a more charismatic singer than Storm might find it hard to make listeners relate to songs from remote cultures in unfamiliar languages, though it would be interesting to hear someone else try.

Rating: 3-1/2

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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