Magic Tuber Stringband - Tarantism (2023) Hi-Res

"The fourth release by this Durham NC-based duo is also their second on Feeding Tube. We did their excellent When Sorrows Encompass Me 'Round cassette in 2021 (FTR 378CS). The players, as always are Courtney Werner on cello and fiddle, with Evan Morgan playing guitars, banjo, pump organ, and shruti box. Tarantism came together in the depths of the Plague in the spring and summer of 2020 while the pair was living on a mountainside near Hayesville NC. As with their other recordings, the musical textures they play with have traditional Appalachian resonances, but their compositional approach often cuts against any orthodox grain. Courtney writes about the strange juxtaposition of the death throes going on in the world then, as contrasted with the bursting blooms of nature surrounding them in their rural retreat. And you can hear that on the album, as harsher globs of sound merge into softer edged drones that twist into Magic Tuber's more trad folk instrumentals. As with many good things, it's a journey. A totally wonderful record whether you suffer from Tarantism or not."