April 26, 2006

LANTERNA -- FREE INSTORE

LANTERNA Friday April 28th 7:00pm

We are so stoked to have Lanterna back in the house, for his third visit. For those unfamiliar, or confused by the use of a multiple sounding band name and then a singular pronoun like “his”, Lanterna is Henry Frayne. Henry has released five albums of utterly beautiful, arid soundcape music under the Lantena moniker. Reading through the on-line reviews of the new album, Desert Oceans, it’s hard to find one that doesn’t talk about Henry’s music being perfect for road trips, real or imagined. (I prefer the term head trips for the imaginary ones, but whatever). There’s a lot of truth in the idea of Lanterna’s music lending itself well to journeying, I think it’s more suited to internal wandering, but if I were to get all cinematic, it makes me think of an introspective young outsider on a long dusty desert road, possibly heading back from another misadventure and juxtaposing the excitement of the unfamiliar that made the just finished journey so vital, against the predictability of the world that he is returning to: On Desert Oceans, Lanterna feels like somewhere much closer to the journey than the real world, but the introspective comedown part rather than the nervously excited anticipation part.

Check out a few songs on Henry’s mySpace page.

Here are a few reviews that don’t rely on the road trip metaphor:

Lanterna - Desert Ocean

"Of all the bands who have sounded like THE CHAMELEONS to me, this American instrumental band is the only one who has ever truly managed their feeling of timeless float in utter repose and endless beauty like a rainbow. This new LP is absolutely no exception. You don't even miss the vocals most of the time. Were I a filmmaker, I would film this band's albums. There are so many plotlines their music evokes." - "Top 10 Album of the Week" - The Big Takeover

"It's not exactly eerie, but definitely creates a haunting ambience. While no one track truly stands out above the others, the whispery "48th & 8th," complete with the drum brushing of Eric Gebow, paints a lovely, dreamy, jazz-tinged portrait. Another gem is "Surf," which rides the melody for over six minutes, a gorgeous melody that seems to blend the best of Coldplay and Neil Young's acoustic or country side. This softer, acoustic groove is revisited during "Cross County," with Frayne doing some nice picking. On the whole it is a record that is as vast and agreeable as anything Lanterna has produced or will." - All Music Guide