Darla Farmer - Rewiring The Electric Forest (CD)
 

It’s a gloriously sunny day, and I’m driving home from a weekend with the folks at their home by the seaside – what better soundtrack to my journey than Darla Farmer, I wondered?

Well I can tell you, this CD took my by surprise, for sure. A manic, big-band/hillbilly style album, it’s certainly a journey – one I’m not quite sure my ears were ready for!

American group Darla Farmer took the inspiration for their name from a bank teller in Nashville, and, playing and recording since 2004, have been compared to a Tim Burton carnival sideshow!

Each track on this album, Rewiring The Electric Forest, is totally different, but the same, if that makes any sense at all…the live instrumentation is a really refreshing sound to those ears that have become totally used to instrument-synthesised, studio-produced tracks.

Track one, The Quotient, is a riot of sound and atmosphere. I adore the tempo changes, and the combination of dark and ‘jolly’ between the music and the lyrics. The intro to Track 2, History, is absolutely amazing..a crescendo of brass and drums that made me want to dance madly, wildly and with abandon like a drunkard at the best barn dance ever. I think that Darla Farmer deserve a special award for the title of Track 7 on the album – “The Cow That Drank Too Much” – genius! I think my favourite track of the entire album is Track 11, Tommy Bones – rolling, melodic, short and to the point.

I found the vocal really interesting, in that it was fresh and very different to anything that I’ve heard for a long time, but I did feel that, at certain points during the course of the album, the pairing of the slightly discordant instruments, brass, and the reedy voice of the lead singer (Clint Wilson) made me almost slightly uncomfortable. It’s not that the vocals are bad, or not on point, but I don’t think that the production has done the band any favours either, as in places the vocal is totally overshadowed by the other band-members and their instruments.

I loved the CD print and the album artwork (even the slightly strange “mask” picture!) was so funky. Although it wasn’t necessarily an album I’d listen to on an average day, I honestly don’t think this is the last that you’ve heard of Darla Farmer.