CASTANETS > Texas Rose, the Thaw & the Beasts

Updated:

September 23, 2009 9:15 am

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Often dismissed as little more than a niche songwriter futzing with the boundaries of his own woodsy, quasi-Americana palate, Ray Raposa (a.k.a. Castanets) has remained a sorely overlooked act.

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CASTANETS

Texas Rose, the Thaw & the Beasts

(ASTHMATIC KITTY)

[Rating: 4.5 stars]

Often dismissed as little more than a niche songwriter futzing with the boundaries of his own woodsy, quasi-Americana palate, Ray Raposa (a.k.a. Castanets) has remained a sorely overlooked act. This is partially of his own making, as last year’s City of Refuge was a fitful patchwork of processed synths, reveling in revamped spirituals and drowsy chamber folk. Whatever glass ceiling Raposa had hanging over him, though, has been neatly removed with his latest foray, Texas Rose, the Thaw & the Beasts, which is not only his most realized work to date, but one of the year’s best. Sprawling and innovative, this album is more than just another outing from a compulsive and interesting artist. This is what Castanets was meant to sound like all along.