Black Prairie

Black Prairie is a side project of members of the Decemberists in collaboration with other fellow Portland musicians. The imagery that immediately comes with their music is a traditional tap dancing ball in a prairie. With a wild mix of instruments raging from accordion to violin, their music sounds like a blend between American Country music and Eastern European folk. The album, Feast of the Hunter's Moon, tastefully secludes vocals from many of the songs, making it a very instrumental album. The few songs that feature vocals are very different from the purely instrumental ones. One of the best lyrical songs is "Blackest Crow" which has a cool ambiance to it. The singing is soulful, and creates a beautiful echo feeling with the strings. Overall, every song has an interesting and individual sound. The piece "Ostinato del Caminito: for example sound like the soundtrack of an Italian mafia movie. A truly original and interesting project, this music will transport you to a fantastic grass prairie land.