The Metallic Falcons are one half Sierra Casady (CocoRosie) and one half Matteah Baim (Voodoo-EROS). I first became aware of this collaborative effort on The Enlightened Family compilation that was released last year on Bianca Casady’s label Voodoo-EROS. That cd was released in celebration of her new endeavor, and collected a series of previously unheard songs from friends and family, the first track being Berry Metal by Metallic Falcons.
Desert Doughnuts, their first LP, was released, very appropriately, on June 6, 2006. The fog began to lift and the mirage that was before me started to take shape, and upon first listening, I entered a world of baron lands and nocturnal dreams. I was blown away by the angelic howls of Casady and Baim as they soothed me with their lullabies. I conjured up images of a Lynchian world meets, what you might hear upon judgment day, or as the dawn breaks before the Holy War begins. I floated on clouds of incensed air from burnt offerings, while watching the actions below break before my eyes.
I see a dark world in which Desert Doughnuts lives, but I can also see in residing in a world of celebration and rejoice. Their myspace insists “Desert Doughnuts contains samples from Nicos last trip to Disneyland, pagan songs welcoming the solstice, small hearts waiting for morning, and a tender electric fire fanned to a smolder by the fevered longing of teenagers.” and “The saintly melodies are always close to your heart while the secluded drums buzz like a growing and waning desert hum; ringing loud in your ears from the absence of any other sound.”
From the smallest click to the whistling winds to the clangorous beats and haunting harmonies, Metallic Falcons have created a sound unlike anything I have ever heard, and with the assistance of Tarantula A.D. drummer Greg Cosgrove, Antony (Antony & The Johnsons), Jana Hunter, and Devendra Banhart, we get an album from start to finish that summons the lost souls within each of us. Simply put, Desert Doughnuts is one of the most breathtaking and, dare I say, life changing albums that I have ever heard. A must own and it sits atop my list of top 5 albums of the year hands down. |