the critique of pure reason presents
sunday, june 26, 2005
9:30pm
$8 donation
nick castro
fern knight
in gowan ring
Nick Castro: “A Spy in the House of God” is the devotional songwriting headswirler you didn’t know you were after, with the personality, chops, magic, and utter magnificence to back it up. Castro is in full command of his sonic tapestries, and wowed all at the Million Tongues fest in Chicago this past August…” (Steve Krakow/Plastic Crimewave) Nick Castro is a psychedelic folk musician from California. Something of a self-taught musicologist, Nick began studying music at a young age. His music is an unusual and eclectic mix of styles spanning many eras of American and World music. His technical prowess as a musician lends itself to Nick’s unique songwriting style. This show will feature Otto Hauser of Espers on percussion and guitar.
One reviewer described the music of Fern Knight as: “folk-noir with a high spook factor from the woods of Providence…infinitely lonely tissue paper singing…with the devil of the blues in [singer Margie Wienk’s] throat…a mournful cello saws its way through the ears directly into one’s heart.”
“In Gowan Ring fits into the “apocalyptic folk” category, but at the same time is removed enough not to sound either derivative or too similar. . . . What strikes me most about this CD is its unwavering sincerity. The whole package. . . is wonderfully constructed. . ..B’eirth’s singing has a quiet lyricism, never forced in the least. The instrumentation is very organic, the drones don’t seem to be synthesized, and so have a very human quality to them. The music has a medieval flavor to it, but In Gowan Ring’s style is never overblown. Every note is carefully placed, and never hurried. There is also a delicacy inherent on The Glinting Spade which ties together its ballad and drone qualities. I’ll go so far as to call this album beautiful. Everything about it shimmers, and lets off a lovely golden glow.” (Ink19)
production: stacie slotnick / the critique of pure reason
info ((at)) thecritique ((dot)) org