Singing Bones

1. Forgotten Lake

2. Gail With the Golden Hair

3. 24-Hour Store

4. Bottomless Hole

5. Far from Any Road

6. If the World Should End in Fire

7. Shadow Underneath

8. Dry Bones

9. Fallen Peaches

10. Whitehaven

11. Sleepy

12. Song of a Hundred Toads

13. If the World Should End in Ice

Editorial Reviews

Product Description:
2003 album for husband & wife duo featuring 13 songs about Wal-Marts, lovers who chase the fire in the streetlights, the madness of very deep holes, a lake that can be visited in dreams, and the shadows that whisper inside a modern, office building. It is the Handsome Family's 6th CD with Carrot Top Records. Lyrics included in the sleeve.

Tracks:

Forgotten Lake
Gail With the Golden Hair
24-Hour Store
Bottomless Hole
Far from Any Road
If the World Should End in Fire
Shadow Underneath
Dry Bones
Fallen Peaches
Whitehaven
Sleepy
Song of a Hundred Toads
If the World Should End in Ice

Album Description

2003 album for husband & wife duo featuring 13 songs about Wal-Marts, lovers who chase the fire in the streetlights, the madness of very deep holes, a lake that can be visited in dreams, and the shadows that whisper inside a modern, office building. It is the Handsome Family's 6th CD with Carrot Top Records. Lyrics included in the sleeve.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Suprise.......2005-11-04

I came across the Handsome Family by way of an interview on National Radio(Radio New Zealand). I pulled into the motel car park dead tired after driving for 16 long hours, yet remained sitting in the car mesmerised by the strange and evocative music pouring into the car from the rain sodden night. Once in the motel room I logged onto Amazon and purchased Singing Bones.
The next morning I opened my eyes and watched the wardrobe sway around in a dreamlike fashion, much like the music I had heard the night before. Later on the news I discovered that I had experienced an earthquake. In the end it was my wife who claimed ownership of the CD, and she has played it constantly ever since and our 6yr old daughter knows the words to all the songs. What a great discovery, fresh pure music, greatly cherished by this family.

Some place not meant to be found.......2005-08-19

Somber and majestic tales of the West written as if H.P. Lovecraft, Jack London and Manly Wade Wellman shared a wagon with the Donner Party between the last hopeful days of (that) Summer and the coming awareness of Winter's ordeal.

Spooky and uplifting simultaneously, the stories float through themes which evoke spirits both otherworldly (ghosts and dream visions),as well as the natural haunts of desolate, forlorn geography visited by wandering souls.

There is a strong "sense of place" within these twilight landscapes...the Handsome Family brings them to life. After all, these realms DO exist,...sometimes. somewheres. really.

Total CD time is 38:47 min.

Murder Ballads.......2004-06-18

Husband and wife duo the Handsome Family has been making music for almost a decade that is somewhere between alt-country and traditionalist music. Brett Sparks is from Texas where he studied music. He moved to Chicago with his wife Rennie Sparks, a fiction writer originally from Long Island. Their music deals with dark themes and dark humor.

The Handsome Family's debut album, Odessa, was released in January 1995. This folk record was a home recording with a punk influence. Their second record, Milk and Scissors (1996), led to tours with Wilco, and more shows in Europe. Years later Brett was hospitalized with depression. Through the Trees (1998), the Handsome Family's third album was written and recorded in the aftermath of this time. This became their most successful record yet.

Around this time, they quit their day jobs and worked on their music full time. The result was In the Air (2000), which was another great record. The Handsome Family played several tours of America and Europe. A live record was released soon after. In the last part of this past year they released Singing Bones (2003). This record returned to early sounds and expanded their audience. It was voted as one of the best records of 2003 by Free Williamsburg.

Rennie Sparks is the Gabriel Garcia Marquez of alt-country.......2004-03-15

What else can I say? Her lyrics contrast visionary, sometimes somewhat morbid settings with closely observed, incongruous detail. My favourite narrative from this record is "Song of a Hundred Toads," in which a string of disasters ---

Round a hairpin turn
The wagon tumbled o'er
And down the jagged rocks
Bill fell with all I owned.

--- leaves a man stranded in a desert, only as his final night falls to be greeted by the epiphany of the title: the song of a hundred toads. "The Bottomless Hole" strikes an H. P. Lovecraft note, but Lovecraft with a difference: it seems it's -useful- to have a bottomless pit behind your barn, even if you end up obsessed with the urge to explore it.

Moving to New Mexico seems to have added some new, somewhat more upbeat "western" seeming rhythms and chord changes to Brett's music. There are occasional touches of Spanish guitars, and on one song even a trumpet. The musical saw on "24 Hour Store" is another instrumental highlight.

Support this band!.......2004-03-14

If you like your country music with rousing, beautiful harmonies and a gothic edge, then look no further! This talented husband & wife duo record in their home in New Mexico and find the time to respond personally to their fans. Use your dollar to support their "cottage industry" ...

Music Album:

Music Album