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The more frantic songs bookend the album while a bank of more reservedsongs populates the middle of it, where beats plod along with theexhalations of an accordion, or the pluckings of a banjo, or just thewhimsical humming of band members. Besides the frantic ends and themore placid middle, there are further dichotomies both between andwithin songs on 'Dark Falcon.' These contrasts are often exhilarating,and sometimes even exhausting (in the best possible way). "Cherchez leDragon" starts out stuttering wildly, trying to evince some statementbut only ejecting playful electronic spittle. It is not until theplacating guitar part comes in that the song is able to demonstrateclearly what it is trying to say. The guitar and the voice parts soothethe hyperactive beat better than a bottle of Ritalin; once they calmthe beat, the stutter decreases and the song is persuaded intoobedience. The opener, "Heartbreaker," features a field recording ofkids setting off Independence Day firecrackers with cars driving by insome neighborhood in Providence and the sound culled from thisrecording is undeniably urban. Later in the song, a gentle female voicecomes in and it sounds like it is being sung from the most remote logcabin in the backwoods of Montana, or maybe it was Kentucky. I canpicture the cabin, with one window illuminated by a gaslight in thedark, and the sound of a girl singing as it rises, just barelyperceptible, above the wind moving through trees. Somehow, thisunmistakably rural piece, which is clearly not part of the firecrackerrecording, is able to synchronize with the more urban sample, andtogether they create a perfected hybrid lullaby.
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