Castanets (Patronaat Café, Haarlem 29-10-2009)

Castanets (myspace) is the act from Ray Raposa. Under the wings of the famous Asthmatic Kitty records (were more amazing artists can be found, like My Brightest Diamond and ofcourse the founder of the label Sufjan Stevens); his dark, hypnotic, intense and even chilly style is a perfect mix between folk/americana/country/psychedelica.

I've seen him before last year in the Paradiso and this time it was a much different experience. The concert in the Paradiso was very intimate; he was accompanied with only one band member (violin). This time he had an entire band with him (including Lazarus, so it was kind of an awkward moment due to his previous show which wasn't really a crowd-pleaser)!

The moment they stepped on stage I knew it would be a wicked concert: 3 guitars, 1 bass and 1 drum! I was correct, it was far beyond my expectations: truly an amazing show with lots of dark and psychedelic moments! Too bad that the live experience is much different when listening to him on cd though. At the end I've bought all of his LP's and I really like the last ones ('City of Refuge' and 'Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts'); they are excellent for deep in the night, when I'm alone or while driving long distances in the night which I really love!