C ryptacize - Mythomania (2009)

Genre : Indie,Pop,Experimental GOOD!!
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Tracklist

1.Tail & Mane
2.What You Can't See Is
3.Blue Tears
4.Mythomania
5.The Loving Sun
6.Gotta Get Into That Feeling
7.One Block Wonders
8.The Cage
9.Galvanize
10.I'll Take the Long Way
11.New Spell

Cryptacize deals in the unforgettable melody, the forsaken chord and the extravagant sentiment. It’s a distinct kind of pleasure they offer, not casual background or ‘lifestyle’ music. An unlikely synthesis of musical styles, Mythomania (Cryptacize’s second) is an album not quite like any other. Nedelle Torrisi’s surefooted and richly nuanced vocal arabesques, like a modern day Freddie Mercury or Ronnie Spector, strangely complement Chris Cohen’s guitar, maniacally sped-up a la Les Paul or staccato and funny like Roy Smeck or Adolph Jacobs of the Coasters. Michael Carreira’s syncopated drum corps rudiments and pit-orchestra rave-ups propel the songs with a refreshingly buoyant touch that never lapses into rock music cliches. There are also widescreen cinematic moments that take on a mournful and otherworldly pathos, like Henry Mancini’s “Experiment in Terror” but with vocals by Cambodian 60’s pop legend Ros Serey Sothea - or like Arabic diva Fairouz singing along to a psychedelic film score by Popol Vuh.

Mythomania is a revelation by anyone’s measure. The playing shows a new level of confidence and intent, as well as an artful sense of timing - it’s the sound of a band that’s found themselves and is growing by leaps and bounds. Patiently built ideas are brought to full fruition, and it’s recorded in fidelity that surrounds you. The music is thicker and more continuous; in addition to autoharp, guitars and drums there are now electric basses, keyboards, piano, even found or purely electronic sounds. And yet the same sense of space and suspense which guided 2008’s Dig That Treasure is instantly recognizable on Mythomania. In fact, the contrast between emptiness and fullness seems even greater now, just as the music’s emotional highs and lows have been brought into abnormally high relief.