I like it when it starts like that. I realize that this record is 16 tracks and 29 minutes long. Should be fun or, at worst, short. It is fun. Old Fashioned, naive analog pop reminiscent of good ol' Daniel Johnston, except more arranged and just less demented. There's a real lo-fi aspect here, it sounds like more pop-oriented Microphones, or a sunnier M Ward, with cool 15 seconds tape experiments, short pop songs, harmoniums, freak-folk moments, do-do-dooos and miles and miles of enthusiasm. After Sufjan Stevens' revistations of folk and Castanet's haunting Cathedral, Half-Handed Cloud's Thy Is a Word & Feet Need Lamps is a great record for forthcoming Summer, perfect for sun-sensitive skins.

-Barbara H

/apr 1st 2005/