The titles of multi-instrumentalist Barrett Martin's two solo records inform East of the Sun. This album could live in The Painted Desert of his first album and could be the message from the earth and spirits of his second, Earthspeaker. Some of these messages from Sun are declared boldly – "take religion out of the picture" — others are whispered and will only reveal themselves through repeated listens over time. Shifting from one vocalist to another might cause some records to feel disjointed and chaotic, but this diversity is one of Sun's strengths.
A palette of Southwest and Far East textures creates a sonic journey through different times, places, and spiritual planes, aided by the presence of different voices over the course of 15 songs. A cascade of Middle Eastern sounds surround a narcotic vocal from Mark Eitzel to make "A Spark in the Wind" a dense, hypnotic drone. It is one of the best examples of what makes this album so engaging, balancing the exotic and the familiar, the challenging and the accessible.
East of the Sun is not a concept album in the strictest sense of the word, but the story it begins will be supplemented in September (September 11th) by West of the Moon. Are East and West two different but related stories, or are they two perspectives of the same journey? We'll know more in three months. In the meantime, we have the first half of the puzzle and it stands brilliantly on its own. East of the Sun overcame my initial reservations about a Tuatara record with vocals. I'm looking forward to its companion.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
alright dammit, i'll buy a copy!
nice review josh. glad the vocal thing didn't turn out like we feared.
2 - Josh
Thanks, Mark. It's fun to be wrong sometimes. I just can't imagine you being disappointed by this record. This is a worthy purchase.
3 - Mark Saleski
i'm really looking forward to hearing Victoria Williams in this context.
4 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.