Odawas
Raven and the White Night
Jagjaguwar

By thinking of the records title and listening to the first track of Raven and the White Night I get some pictures on my mind of some vintage Hammer horror classic starring, say, Christopher Lee. Because Odawas sets up their album with a gloomy, doomy prelude, an instrumental called "The Maddening of Raven". Is it just to scare us off, or to tease us further into their song book? I'm teased rather than scared.

Odawas is a three piece with the song-writing pair of Michael Tapscott (guitars, vocals, harmonica, mouth harps, etc) and Isaac Edwards (keyboards, synthesizers, drum machine), plus drummer Brad Cash. Odawas put out their debut, The Aether Eater (Jagjaguwar also) two years ago, and it was said to be "a fiery space oddity detailing the brave, the lost, and the maligned". Well, here's the successor, and what's present is powerful but low-voiced psychedelic folk and mildly progressive pop escapades. The combination is neatly and very elegantly done, making a solid and appealing album. This is (in style) a journey back to the very early, early 1970s, if not the late, late 1960s. Don't hesitate to step inside Odawas' time machine. It'll be a journey you won't regret.

Raven and the White Night is a stunning album. It's an epic tale. And probably one of the top ten albums of the year on my list.

Copyright © 2007 Håvard Oppøyen