''Phylactery Factory'' is the second album by American singer-songwriter
Casey Dienel
Casey Dienel (born March 10, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She released her debut album, ''Wind-Up Canary'', in 2006 on Hush Records. Dienel has also performed and recorded as White Hinterland, whose first album, titled ' ...
, but the first under the
White Hinterland name.
Album release
The album, written by Dienel and produced by Adam Selzer,
was released on March 4, 2008, from independent label Dead Oceans.
Reception
The album received predominantly positive reviews. At ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'', the album received a 5.8 rating out of 10, one of its few mixed reviews, with
Stephen M. Deusner Stephen M. Deusner is an American music critic and part-time record store clerk who lives in Bloomington, Indiana. A native of Tennessee, he has contributed to Pitchfork Media (including ''the Pitchfork 500''), ''Salon'', '' CMT'', ''American Songwr ...
writing: "''Phylactery Factory'' is a more ambitious, more professional, and more complicated record" than Dienel's first record, "with dark jazz-pop flourishes and compositions heavy with words. It is, however, not quite as rewarding."
By contrast, leading French music magazine ''
Les Inrockuptibles
''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though every issue in ...
'' described the album as "the spirit of US songwriting in all its humble splendor"; like Deusner, ''Les InRocks'' critic Richard Robert described the project as "ambitious" but Robert found it "impeccably realized throughout the album, which, like Dienel's fluttering voice, breathes into every measure a fragrance of freshness rarely found in music with synthesizer."
At
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, Stewart Mason gave the album four of five stars, calling the album "a varied, endlessly listenable album" in which "the four-piece band is supplemented by perfectly deployed horns, strings, vibes, and other instruments (including, on 'Hung on a Thin Thread,' what sounds like a
musical saw
A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque f ...
), giving the album a musical depth that matches perfectly with thoughtful songs like the heartbreaking the-war-at-home narrative 'Hometown Hooray' and the jaundiced, romantic ruminations of 'Dreaming of the Plum Trees.'"
Mason as well as Matthew Fiander reviewing at
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
noted the success of ''Phylactery Factory'' as a second album for Dienel. Fiander wrote: "''Phylactery Factory'', and the move to White Hinterland, is a huge step forward for Casey Dienel. As a 20-year-old singer a couple of years ago, she showed promise with her first record. Here, by making the move to full band at the right time, she has fulfilled a good deal of that promise much earlier than anyone expected. This is a confident, well-executed, endlessly beautiful record."
Track listing
All songs written by Casey Dienel.
#"The Destruction of the Art Deco House" – 5:57
#"Dreaming of the Plum Trees" – 4:52
#"Calliope" – 4:50
#"Hometown Hooray" – 7:08
#"Lindberghs + Metal Birds" – 3:44
#"A Beast Washed Ashore" – 6:38
#"Napoleon At Waterloo" – 3:14
#"Hung On a Thin Thread" – 4:26
#"Vessels" – 5:00
References
External links
Official Website – http://www.whitehinterland.com{{authority control
2008 albums