Bright Works and Baton
June 15th, 2009 by Mag
Being a big fan of Maps & Atlases, it was a pleasant surprise to receive a copy of Cast Spell’s upcoming EP, ‘Bright Works And Baton’ in my mailbox.
Cast Spells is Maps & Atlases frontman David Davison’s new project, teaming up with producer Jason Cupp (Nurses, The Elected) to record twenty-eight songs in the basement of Davison’s childhood home. They selected six of these songs to become Cast Spell’s debut EP release.
Upon first listen, any similarities I expected between Cast Spells and M&A ended once I got past Davidson’s unique vocals. It’s musically very different. There’s no spazzy guitar and math-rock elements here at all! They cite Brian Eno as one of their main influences, alongside Bill Callahan and Cat Stevens, but I smell a little Bright Eyes influence in there, especially in ‘War Story Hellos’ with its overall folky style.
The songs are somewhat short, clocking in at around 2 minutes each, but what they lack in length they really make up in effort. There’s a lot of depth and layer crammed into each song that you become slightly enchanted. There’s a big mix of instrument work, from acoustic guitar to strings, all entwining to create a collection of genuinely delightful and captivating songs.
Overall the EP is a wonderful listen and has some charming songs. I do hope this isn’t the end for Maps & Atlases, since they’re one of my favourite bands, but I’m pretty excited to hear anything new from David Davidson, so I’m sure this will be on repeat a lot for me.
Cast Spells will be touring the US with So Many Dynamos through July after the remainder of Maps & Atlases June tour dates and festivals. Hit the jump for both Cast Spells and Maps & Atlases tour dates.
Mp3: “War Story Hellos”
Maps & Atlases
June 11 – Valentine’s – Albany, New York
June 12 – M Room – Philadelphia
June 13 – Hangar 84 – Vineland, New Jersey
June 14 – Sonar Baltimore – Baltimore, Maryland
June 15 – Garfield Artworks – Pittsburgh
June 16 – Al’s Bar – Lexington, Kentucky
June 17 – Russian Recording – Bloomington, Indiana
July 03 – Western Gateway Park – East Stage – 80/35 Music Festival w/ Broken Social Scene and Public – Des Moines, Iowa
July 04 – Outdoor Street Festival – PBR Fest w/ Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
July 12 – The Riverfront Belvedere – 8th Annual Forecastle Festival w/ and Widespread Panic – Louisville, Kentucky
Cast Spells
w/ So Many Dynamos
July 13 – Holy Mountain – Seattle, WA
July 14 – Backspace – Portland, OR
July 15 – Hemlock Tavern – San Francisco, CA
July 16 – Luigi’s Funhouse – Sacramento, CA
July 17 – Cellar Door – Visalia, CA
July 18 – Spaceland – Los Angeles, CA
July 19 – Modified – Phoenix, AZ
July 21 – Emo’s – Austin, TX
July 22 – Mangos – Houston, TX
July 23 – The Exchange – Hot Springs, AK
July 24 – 529 – Atlanta, GA * also w/ Cinemechanica
July 25 – The Flatiron – Greensboro, NC
July 26 – DC9 – Washington DC
July 27 – Danger Danger – Philadelphia, PA
July 28 – Union Hall – Brooklyn, NY
July 29 – Great Scott – Allston, MA
July 30 – TBA – CT
July 31 – TBA – NYC
Aug 1 – Majestic Cafe – Detroit, MI
Aug 2 – Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL
Tags: Cast Spells