I'll admit that I first spun this one 'cause it's got a Lolita connection. As I've read every thing Nabokov wrote in English -- at least all the fiction -- I was intrigued by that connection. But, really, that connection doesn't matter.
What matters is that Slim Twig's A Hound at the Hem, out now on DFA, is an odd and delicious collection of chamber pop. It's Sparks filtered through Pulp's This is Hardcore as re-arranged by The Divine Comedy. It's a thoroughly strange record but also an unexpectedly tuneful one. Ornately produced, the album charms even as it perplexes and defies easy categorization.
Owen Pallett did the string arrangements and those add immeasurably to the success of the record. Spin a few of these and you'll hear what I mean. "All This Wanting" is the bastard of Van Dyke Parks and Jarvis Cocker. "Maintain the Charade" is Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy having a stroll through the underworld with Barry Adamson soundtracking the thing. The record is just nearly impossible to explain and yet easy to love.
Slim Twig's A Hound at the Hem is out now on DFA.
Follow Slim Twig on his official blog.