Album: David Karsten Daniels

Sharp Teeth, FATCAT

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
Arts & Ents blogs

Interview with ‘Being Human’ creator Toby Whithouse

The writer behind BBC3’s supernatural comedy-drama ‘Being Human’ speaks to Neela Debnath about serie...

Looking Forward To The Past: A chat with Poker Flat boss Steve Bug

One of the main reasons I became so obsessive with house and techno music was a live DJ set by Germa...

Mario & Vidis: An album makes you rethink what you’ve been doing

In 2007 Marijus Adomaitis teamed up with Vidmantas Cepkauskas to form Mario & Vidis – Lithuania...

David Karsten Daniels is another singer-songwriter tapping into the dark vein of sinister Americana mined by the likes of Bonnie "Prince" Billy, but with an added layer of discomfiting dread furnished by his interest in both avant-garde and antique brass-band music. The former is discernible in the slow, minimalist swell of shimmering strings that takes two minutes to become "Minnows", and in the mantra-like repetition of the two-line lyric over a slowly-expanding, violin drone-based arrangement that makes "The Dream before the Ring that Woke Me" recall Gavin Bryars' "Jesus's Blood Never Failed Me Yet". The horns, meanwhile, bring the mood of a New Orleans funeral to "We Go Right On" and "Scripts", both about stagnant relationships of one sort or another. The pace throughout the album is painfully slow, crippled with apprehension, but it allows Daniels to effect the blend of casual melancholy and casual malice in tracks such as "American Pastime" and "Beast". An intriguing debut.

DOWNLOAD THIS: "The Dream before the Ring that Woke Me", "We Go Right On", "American Pastime", "Minnows"

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Picture preview: Portrait of London

Portrait of London

Picture preview
No secularism please, we're British

No secularism please, we're British

Arguments about the role of religion in national life have recently acquired a new urgency
Harold Tillman: 'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'

Harold Tillman interview

'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'
Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Meet the former soldier who has joined the political prisoners he tortured in Turkey's Mamak prison by suing the generals who led a regime of terror
The local high street jet shop

The local high street jet shop

Got a spare $50m and can't stand the queues at Heathrow? Get yourself down to London's first private plane dealership
Do you like your doctor? It could be the death of you

Do you like your doctor?

It could be the death of you...
The mysterious affair of how Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

How Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

Twenty of the author's novels have been adapted and presented with learning notes and a CD
Six Grammys, five years off: Adele puts love before career

Six Grammys, five years off

Adele puts love before career
The 10 Best binoculars

The 10 Best binoculars

From no-frills to bins with digital cameras
Milan for £300

Milan for £300?

A cultural family holiday - on a budget - to Italy's most stylish city
'Black-hole' resorts: Turn up, tune out, log off

'Black-hole' resorts

Turn up, tune out, log off
New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

Remodelled since winning in Milan in 2008, for all their consistency – and prize-money – Wenger's side are yet to claim a European title
James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

City would be putting their desire to win title ahead of morals if Tevez plays for them
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?

Mark Cavendish interview

Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets