Through the Trees

Description

1998 release, the third full-length from the Alt-
Country/Americana outfit. The Handsome Family were formed in 1993 by husband
and wife duo Brett Sparks and Rennie Sparks along with drummer Mike Werner.
The band, born and bred in Chicago before migrating to Albuquerque, play a
unique blend of traditional Country, Bluegrass, and murder ballads. Rennie’s
lyrics have a strong storytelling component, drawing on themes from Gothic
fiction, as well as American folk music, and often involving macabre subjects
as murders, suicides and ghosts. Through the Trees was nominated by Mojo
readers as one of the most important Americana CDs of the 1990s.
For their second album, Brett and Rennie Sparks take a more serious approach,
eschewing the jokier elements of their debut and concentrating on writing
country music with an urban sensibility and a post-graduate degree. It’s
doubtful that any previous country album included songs in praise of Cologne
Cathedral or Lake Michigan, but backed by the Sparks’ austere songs–often
just guitar, autoharp, and drum machine–with occasional help by Wilco’s Jeff
Tweedy, the music has an almost Appalachian simplicity and newfound depth of
feeling. Like coming across a brownstone in the mountains, the Handsome
Family’s music is simultaneously disconcerting and strangely beautiful.
–Steven Mirkin P.when(‘A’).execute(function(A) {
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Rennie and Brett Sparks write songs that defy easy labeling. . . . [Through
The Trees’s] best tracks are at once lilting and dangerous, like shiny toys
with sharp edges. . . . — Entertainment Weekly See more

Features:

Product Details:

• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.64 x 0.37 x 5 inches; 3.2 Ounces
• Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Carrot Top Records
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ February 19, 2007
• Label ‏ : ‎ Carrot Top Records
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• Best Sellers Rank: #339,688 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl) #2,393 in Alt-Country & Americana (CDs & Vinyl) #4,759 in Contemporary Folk (CDs & Vinyl) #5,035 in Traditional Folk (CDs & Vinyl)
• #2,393 in Alt-Country & Americana (CDs & Vinyl)
• #4,759 in Contemporary Folk (CDs & Vinyl)