By Dan Willging (Denver, CO)
Tammerlin-Lee Hunter
& Arvid Smith
Wind Horses
Binky 1030CD (2002)
Having a namesake that's often associated with devil worshippers is hardly recommended, especially when you're based in the Bible-Belt Southeast. The band formerly known as Tory Voodoo is now Tammerlin, the husband-and-wife team of Lee Hunter and Arvid Smith. Though the new name might be more palatable to the right wing, the couple still fuses Celtic, Old English/Scottish, and Appalachian stylings with a medieval bent and a steeped historical appreciation. Smith plays all things strings, ranging from innumerable conventional and unconventional guitars and a Dobro that, combined with various electronic devices and looping techniques, provides for an infinite array of textures. The crystalline-voiced Hunter completes the mystical montage by shading in arty world percussive effects for a mind-inducing surrealism about the proceedings. The effect is often meditative, even when sorrowful tales relate how a murderer was cursed to watch the widow of the man he slew ("High Above the Hills of Sligo") or a Welsh school engulfed by a landslide ("Teacher David Beynon"). There are fascinating Civil War treatments ("Hiram Hubbert," " Rebel Soldier"), as well as the sweet, soul-cleansing "The Last Battle that's based on the poem "The Grave of Bonaparte." Hunter sings a couple in French (one is in Middle French), while the lilting English-sung "Magnolia Waltz" is so innately gorgeous, it's a challenge to keep a dry eye. One of the best kept secrets in America.