February 15 2008
The Deadfly Ensemble – A Seed Catalog for Extinct Annuals
The Deadfly Ensemble returns with another album’s worth of dark whimsy. The experience of listening to A Seed Catalog for Extinct Annuals is a bit like blowing the dust off of a long-neglected specimen jar; you just don’t know what you’ll find floating in the formaldehyde. Sometimes you get rum-soaked pirates, sometimes you get a magic trick. Obscure narrative lyrics bob to the surface, only to submerge just when you think you’ve got a grasp on things. Galloping, churning melodies comprised of delicate guitar, sonorous cello, and lumbering bass weave delicate patterns that duel with the lilting voice of frontman Lucas Lanthier. Such is the stuff of dreams, no? Equal parts Olde Timey morbidity and neo-folkloric myth making, on their second outing the Deadfly Ensemble proves it’s place among art-oddity heavyweights such as Andi Sexgang, Sopor Aeternus, and Dame Darcy. This isn’t just an album, it’s a glimpse into a peculiar, visionary world of the fantastique. All this and a lecture on the pre-decimalized monetary system of Great Britain.
