Castanets on Asthmatic Kitty

Played this last night to get a feel for it and it's freaking bizarre...in an entirely different thing then just rocking the fuck out with a shitload of distortion, this is like somewhere in Xiu Xiu world, at least the remix....which isn't that accurate of a representation I think of his style, but it's nothing like I expected.
Raymond Raposa has an insane falsetto, I'm still having trouble believing this is actually his voice and not auto-tuned or fed through one of those harmony/vocorder pedals. It's warbly and really controlled for being in this range, then it drops back to a lower whisper you strain to hear, but it's the high parts in a anti-meldoy that get your attention:
she's such / a strong animal / just as strong / as me
That's what can be so interesting about super produced stuff like this, it really sounds like aliens made it, it's so foreign, so opposite from the no-fi I've been used to. This fills the space in a minimal full way. It's the way you should go for work like this...don't just enhance what's there like Steve Albini, make it On vinyl all those little plastic imperfections sound so wrong in this compressed silence.
Now this remix is the first taste I'm getting of the Castanets and I don't think it's represntative of his style...it lends itself to a remix ...being so unique. The rest of his work sounds very somber Will Oldham kind of just heartbreaking, pushing the alt-country envellope all over the place with non traditional instruments and arrangements, but lyrically driven. He's a great vocalist and you can't help but sympathize immediately with the emotion...the sadness of course...and you might just want to prepare yourself.

From Asthmatic Kitty:
This limited edition 7” includes a remix of “Strong Animal” from Castanets recent In the Vines full-player, as well as “Golden”, an outtake from that same album. The remix was part of a series of remixes given out via the interweb to help promote In The Vines. This one was too deliciously geared for dance floors so we felt that not putting it to wax was a crime to the night. West Coaster and Hero to All, Rafter, manned boards and faders and clickers for it. Bass up, mids wherever. Artwork is by Castanets good friend Tara Jane ONeil. Here's to big airplanes and weekend agoraphobics.

1. strong animal (rafter remix) – 3:11
2. golden – 4:37