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'The Spaghetti Western String Co.'s new EP, Quiet Mob, clocks in at just over 20 minutes. It's the rare album that leaves you pining for more. The four-piece string band's commanding idiosyncrasy is amply displayed on the second track, 'Luna Marinara.' The only non-instrumental, it's a cover of an Italian ballad previously sung by the likes of Pavarotti and Carlo Buti. Hearing their versions remains on my list of things to do, but I feel confident in proclaiming that Spaghetti singer Nicholas Lemme more than holds his own. His mournful tenor is set against a dense mélange of guitar, cello, and violin, with the former adding a mariachi flair to the tune. I'm pretty sure the song translates, 'Red Sauce Is Extra Yummy on the Moon,' though I'm only in week three of my Berlitz class. Seriously, though, it pulls at your guts. The next tune, 'Merton's Woods,' sets off in a completely different direction. Here the banjo gradually comes to the fore, providing a lazy country gait for the other instruments to rally around. It sounds like an outtake from Bill Frisell's Nashville, with the violin and clarinet dueling for melodic position. This is the part of the review where I'm supposed to point out the flaws in an otherwise superb piece of work. But I can't think of any. --Paul Demko '~ City Pages, Mpls, Oct 12th, 2005 'They're the string quartet for people who usually ignore string quartets, but their cinematic instrumental music wasn't really inspired by old Spaghetti Western movies. Not even close.'~ Minneapolis Star Tribune 'By the end of the evening I completely understood why the audience was so quiet, so gracious of every detail; it was worth every second.'~ Howwastheshow.com / writer - Andrea Myers |
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