Phosphorescent - Muchacho de Lujo (Delux Version)(2013)FLAC-Cue

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Under the name Phosphorescent, indie country songwriter Matthew Houck has walked a drunken path, wobbling
closer to the indie side on some records and slumping more toward the country side on others, with the best
example being his 2009 collection of Willie Nelson covers, To Willie. With sixth album Muchacho, Houck
returns to some of the experimental textures that marked his early breakthrough album Pride, weaving ambient
tones and feral whoops throughout his sometimes shiny, sometimes grizzled Americana. The album is bookended
by tracks "Sun, Arise!" and "Sun's Arising," meditative drones with multi-tracked layers of Houck harmonizing
with himself, ushering the listener into and out of the record over arpeggiated synth tones and far-off-sounding
instrumentation. There's more implementation of electronic instruments here than most Phosphorescent material
that came before, with 808 drum patterns and dubby echoes in the forefront on some songs, but at no point
does the songwriting surrender the starring role. Whether the tunes are piling on pedal steel and mariachi
trumpet in the vein of Dylan's soundtrack work for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, as on the honky tonk hoedown
of "A Charm/A Blade," or finding some dreamy Will Oldham/early Animal Collective hybrid, as with the
ghostly "The Quotidian Beasts," Houck's use of simplistic but haunting chord progressions and world-weary
melodies always overrides any other sonic surroundings. The songs here are so strong, in fact, they're
sometimes cluttered by excessive instrumentation or detail-burying production. While the atmospheric string
loops and delay-doused bass plucks of "Song for Zula" help make it one of the best tracks on the album, one
can't help but wonder what the effect would be if it were stripped down to Houck's damaged vocals and a
simple guitar or piano figure. Throughout the album, lyrics peek through the waves like "I will not open
myself up this way again" and "Hey can this kill me? I don't know, but I've sure been finding out," hinting
at heartache and the possibility that Muchacho is some drunken-hearted breakup record, but it's never made
abundantly clear. What is clear, even through the sometimes heavier-than-necessary arrangements, is that
Muchacho has some of Houck's best songwriting since his early days, seemingly tapped into the grainy pain,
hard-living tendencies, and wandering muse of his subconscious with the most listenable results
Phosphorescent has produced in years.

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Track List:

1 - Sun, Arise! (An Invocation, An Introduction)
2 - Song for Zula
3 - Ride On / Right On
4 - Terror In the Canyons (The Wounded Master)
5 - A Charm / A Blade
6 - Muchacho's Tune
7 - A New Anhedonia
8 - The Quotidian Beasts
9 - Down to Go
10 - Sun's Arising (A Koan, An Exit)

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Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks:

11 - Muchacho's Tune (Live at St. Pancras Church)
12 - A New Anhedonia (Live at St. Pancras Church)
13 - Song for Zula (Live at St. Pancras Church)
14 - A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise (Live at St. Pancras Church)
15 - We'll Be Here Soon (Live at St. Pancras Church)
16 - My Dove, My Lamb (Live at St. Pancras Church)
17 - Terror In the Canyons (The Wounded Master) (Live at St. Pancras Church)
18 - Storms Never Last (Live at St. Pancras Church)
19 - Down to Go (Live at St. Pancras Church)
20 - Wolves (Live at St. Pancras Church)
21 - Mrs. Juliette Low (Live at St. Pancras Church)
22 - Los Angeles (Live at St. Pancras Church)

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General

File size : 574 MiB
Album : Muchacho de Lujo
Track name/Total : 22/2CD
Composer : Phosphorescent
Genre : Folk/Rock
Recorded date : 2013
Album/Composer : Phosphorescent

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Audio

Format : FLAC
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 843 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits