Month: February 2009

For the Handsome Family, upcoming album Honey Moon—a collection of love songs due April 14—is a startling left turn. The husband/wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks still deals in spectral bluegrass and noirish folk forms on its ninth album, but gone are the ghosts and murder ballads that had painted them into a gothic-Americana corner. (Trust us, the album is still plenty weird. Love is weird.) The Handsome Family is guest editing magnetmagazine.com this week. Read our Q&A with Brett and Rennie about Honey Moon and a host of other topics.

Brett Sparks: A Scottish poet, songwriter and weirdo, Ivor Cutler (1923-2006) became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, in particular his numerous sessions recorded for John Peel’s radio show. The Glasgow-born Cutler appeared in the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour movie; he also recorded sophomore album Ludo with Fab Four producer George Martin the same year. For live performances, he would often accompany himself on a harmonium. Cutler’s work is filled with a childlike surrealism. (He spent a good portion of his life as a teacher in both English boarding and public schools.) He recites his poems in a gentle Scottish burr, and this, combined with the absurdity of his subject matter, makes for unforgettable, head-spinning moments.

Photograph (c) The Estate of Ivor Cutler

For the Handsome Family, upcoming album Honey Moon—a collection of love songs due April 14—is a startling left turn. The husband/wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks still deals in spectral bluegrass and noirish folk forms on its ninth album, but gone are the ghosts and murder ballads that had painted them into a gothic-Americana corner. (Trust us, the album is still plenty weird. Love is weird.) The Handsome Family is guest editing magnetmagazine.com this week. Read our Q&A with Brett and Rennie about Honey Moon and a host of other topics.

Rennie Sparks: Salamanders need a moist environment, so it’s not surprising that they like to live inside rotten logs; it is startling to throw an old log on the fire, however, and see a salamander leap out of the flames. Such occurrences, and the fact that salamanders are able to regenerate lost limbs or tails, are perhaps the reason that medieval alchemists believed the salamander to be an immortal creature forged out of fire. I wish I lived in a time and place when it was easy to believe in magical creatures born of fire. Still, it took my breath away when I once spotted a tiny salamander perched on a wet stone at the edge of a stagnant pond littered with old beer bottles.