The ever prevalent philosophical human sore, those aching questions of existence and love, loss and tragedy, are in many a musicians heart, and what drives many to produce hurtful and pained music. What would we be if we didn’t question why or experience that deathly pain? Not human I suppose. Ray Raposa is one of those musical souls who plum and mine the depths, with abstractions and truths. Music is about the journey but so rarely do musicians take you completely with them. Raposa is one of those sore musicians, his trembling take on folk country takes elements of electronic and post rock music resulting in nothing short of beautiful. His splintered vocals can be eerie as well as soft and innocent. The effects are instantaneous, and while you are within his world you wouldn’t imagine anything else. This is the beauty of Raposas charm. The opening numbers from Texas Rose drift in and out of consciousness, weaving and hypnotizing, the slow burn thump of opener 'Rose' is straight forward whiskey soaked country. The electronics are only slight for Raposa, like the faint glitches on 'My Heart', which sound like the buzzing of insects in the midnight light. The euphoric yet mournful and quiet synth of 'On Beginning' shows how if you sparingly use electronics it can create a much grander effect.'No Trouble' is where the album kicks in with a little more venom. Sounding like the more spiteful or pained sides of The Black Heart Procession, it is pure magic. Like much of Raposas previous work it is steeped heavily in mood, the feeling very often takes over. I am reminded of Josh T Pearson (if he would make a record!). You will more often get taken into the image created by the sound. The string scrapes in 'Thaw and The Beasts' creating a tense interlude, or what could be described as a solo”¦ maybe. The effortlessness of 'Down The Line, Love' makes me jealous that he can make such music. The songs almost play out of their own hands in that you are lost in the moment of the sounds rather than singing along are nodding your head. There is a nice little solo in their though, and it fades out majestically.The Castanets last endeavor City of Refuge, suffered by delving too far into the abstractions at expense of the songs.. It was evident that Raposa wanted to experiment with electronics and no-wave esque noise but it got a little lost, which is perhaps where Raposa found himself at the time. This record however, sees him find a plateau where his ambient electronic fusion with folk country fits completely. The more ambient nature of a song like the brilliant 'Lucky Old Moon' showing where he is as a musician and artist, having a lot in common with Vangelis‘ Blade Runner soundtrack (however unexpected that comparison might be). Of course there is no use trying to dissect the music into shards of this or that genre, there is something here all of his own, and at times it is completely unique, and intriguing. This record just keeps giving soul, and heart. What more can you ask for?Castanets on MySpace Asthmatic Kitty