Ida
The Braille Night
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Ida
The Braille Night
Tigerstyle, 2001
RiYL: Low, Red House Painters, Nick Drake |
The Braille Night was recorded simultaneously with Ida's last record You Will Find Me, but it is not a set of leftovers. Rather, it is a group of 10 songs that are melodic, textured and often haunting. The slow tempos and pensive qualities of these songs make them seem like the appropriate soundtrack to a late-night drive or walk. But, no matter how the guitars and pianos veer off of easy-to-follow paths, the vocals, in their beautiful simplicity, serve as a skilled and soothing guide that effectively leads the listener through loose and experimental instrumental terrain.
The opening guitar strum of The Braille Night cues the listener into the atmospheric nature of the entire album. After a nebulous moment, the bass and sparse drum work fall into place behind the guitar and the opening track "Let's Go Walking" emerges. Daniel Littleton's soothing voice blends perfectly with Elizabeth Mitchell's over the winding guitar terrain that touches upon finger picking, strumming and harmonics.
On the folk/pop strum-a-thon "Blizzard of '78," the piano line provides a more up-tempo base on which strings and percussion are layered. The vocals sound less mournful than on other tracks of The Braille Night, and Littleton and Mitchell's voices bend towards and away from each other while expanding and contracting. After nearly six and a half minutes, the vocals cease and a multi-layered instrumental crescendo pushes the celebratory nature of the track just a bit higher.
The only downside of having such a dynamic track in the middle of the album is that it lessens the impact of the simple acoustic guitar and male vocal reflection that follows ("So Worn Out"). Daniel Littleton's understated proclamation, "I want to be strong in the face of what's wrong," sounds mildly unconvincing following the stronger and more dynamic artful defiance that is "Blizzard Of '78."
The Braille Night is a beautiful, thoughtful and often mournful album that is most successful when Ida makes use of its members' fantastic vocal harmonies and expansive, multi-instrumental musicianship.
A.K. GOLD | A.K. Gold lives in Washington, D.C., where she slaves away for a non-profit organization and constantly compares everything to New York City or Chicago. She's earned her "cred" as a college radio and pre-1960 country music DJ, committed indie label street teamer, sporadic zinemaker/contributor, retired mail-order filler and occasional freelance writer. From time to time, she publishes Anecdotal Evidence, a per zine that will some day be considered for the National Book Award, or possibly not. If you want to buy a copy, or desire to write to her for some other reason, email criticgirl@hotmail.com.