PUERTO MUERTO
Elena (Fire Records)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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Husband-and-wife team Christa Meyer and Tim Kelley have created something truly incredible here. On one hand, it's a eerie and creepy concept album about a beautiful girl, Elena, whose father falls in love with her and runs off with her and, I think, fathers another child with her - or at least that's what I'm picking up from the lyrics. I could be wrong with that part, because there are several references in other songs about Elena's mother being upset because she knew her husband would run off with their daughter since the day she was born. On the other hand, this album is a stellar feat of musical talent that forays into stark, cold industrial beats, gentle folksy-sounding ballads sung in German, sweeping Mediterranean rhythms and tonal structures, and just plain lovely, near-a capella choruses sung in multiples by Meyer. The closest comparison I can come to is to imagine that The Residents went to Turkey and were heavily influenced by both the traditional musicians and the fabulous DJs based there, and came back and wrote an album about child abuse from the point of view of the deluded and pampered child. It's just a fantastic record, and I hope there are more to come from these two.

[Pick this up at www.artistdirect.com.]

© 2003 - Holly Day