Andalucia, by Red Maids. Due October 23, 2009

From the opening notes, Andalucia fucked with my head in a good way. It drew emotions out of me like good sound is supposed to. This debut release by the Red Maids is on Victrola Songs’ label, due out October 23, 2009.

The first notes from an intro “Music Box” are a plea for you to drop your guard and trust that the rest of this album wants to be right there, where you are. Whether in your car, at your cubicle, studio or home, this album wants to roll with you as a silent partner. It wants you to think out loud in your own head. The lonely sound of Michael Corwin’s guitar will remind you that you’re not alone. The compositions will coddle you.

These sounds will help you think without making judgement or suggestions. Simply by “juxtaposing sonic layers of dust and debris with shifting contrapuntal canvases,” like a good friend should.

By track three you will be taken out of the embryonic state you fell into with “Cicada’s” upbeat tempo. Slowly, you will return to a desolate landscape of sound where everything is subtle and nothing is wasted in “Drone,” the most haunting track on this mini-epic. It finishes you off with a money-shot layer of sounds that sends you full circle to the outro, “Lullabye.”

I litterally played this album seven times in one sitting, if not more. Just shy of twenty-five minutes, it feels more like an E.P. than an album.

It will leave you sitting in your car wondering if you have time to listen to the whole thing again. If you don’t, you’ll still do it.

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Red Maids is the conception of Los Angeles-based guitarist Michael Corwin. He writes all the music himself. Variants of live incarnations provide the audience with a broad stylistic range, including Cuban-inflected post-rock, the delicacy of victrola-based guitar lullabies, and the aesthetics of No-Wave fragmentation.

Andalucia, features appearances by members of The Airborne Toxic Event, Killsonic, Mad Gregs, and The Parson Red Heads, and will be released October 23 in both limited edition 180 gram Vinyl and CD formats.

Previously of The Devils Romantics, Michael Corwin performs in Los Angeles with the east LA collective Killsonic, Correatown, Dorian Wood, Liz Pappademas, Jack Wilson Jr, Belle Brigade, and Detangler.

Find Red Maids on:
www.myspace.com/redmaids
on Facebook: search under Red Maids

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Rafael Cardenas can be reached at eastsiderwriter@gmail.com

You can also find his writing in the Citizen LA.
(Click image below to go to site.)