Pocahontas and the Ribs - Self-Titled (CDR)

It is a crime that Pocahontas and the Ribs are unsigned. Pocahontas and the Ribs are actually two people, Jennifer Deihl is the vocalist, and Mark Berman contributes the instrumentation. The instrumentation itself consists of a number of old electronic machines, including keyboards (yes, there's a Casio), synthesizers (wow, a Prophet 600!), and drum machines. But, surprisingly, the music is not upbeat or poppy at all. It's far from Plone and Add N to X. The music is actually surprisingly similar to bands like Low and A Northern Chorus. Deihl takes a very unique approach to her vocalwork. Occasionally it almost sounds like she is yawning the words, but this creates a mystic, rather than uninterested, effect. Berman utilizes a number of styles to creating his part of the music. He usually has a repeated synth-and-percussive background accompanied by various electronic blips and bleeps throughout the piece. The synthesizer work accompanies the vocals to help build upon, rather than deplete, the eerie and haunting feel of the album. "Eve of December" is a quiet, churchlike piece, while "Think" is a more upbeat number, favouring an uppity drum machine beat and a nice bit of trumpet work contributed by Kevin Murphy. "Think" also is marked by having a wonderful, enchanting synth melody. Stay tuned at the end, because after the vocal-only "The Fence," comes a menacing instrumental number that brings the album to a fantastic close. Beautiful, and unlike anything I've heard in a while. I cannot comprehend why they aren't signed to a label yet, I can only hypothesize that it is their choice. Maybe Matador will come a-knocking one day.

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