Weekly Release Spotlight: Welcome Wagon

Posted on 12/29/2008

Welcome Wagon

Welcome To The Welcome Wagon

[Asthmatic Kitty]

Little can be read about a Sufjan Stevens-related project without stumbling into words like "grandiose" or "charming," which has and always will set him apart from every other singer-songwriter on the planet. The two attributes don't make sense sitting next to each other in the same sentence until you hear Sufjan's sweeping choral arrangements and witness the intimate glow that every song he touches emanates with. It only equally infuriates and amazes that while he still has 48 more albums to make about the United States, he's taken the time to help his friends The Welcome Wagon into the fold of personal music with universal appeal.

Of course, just because the man from Michigan helped with instrumental and production embellishments on Welcome To The Welcome Wagon doesn't mean that this record belongs to him. Rather, the duo of Monique Aiuto and her husband the Reverend Thomas Vito, have not only crafted themselves a signature niche amongst the friendly and adorable acts that populate Asthmatic Kitty records. Yes, it's still grandiose, and yes it's got more charms than a box of leprechaun-themed cereal, but it's also the first of its kind that's downright biblical, hymnal, and stripped from any form of secular security. The impetus for their music-making is in every lyric with hardly a metaphor in sight.

Regardless of how the religion affects your listen, honesty and straight talk is what the Aiutos have in spades; not just linguistically, but also melodically. Stratums of stark pianos and harmonic ululations accumulate without ever getting dense or murky on the billowy "I Am Not A Stranger". Vice versa, a devastating amount of pure love swells in the sparse "Up On A Mountain," which gently progresses with solemn horns and slight guitar lilts. It's additionally refreshing in tracks like "But For You Who Fear My Name" or the no-nonsense "Jesus" not because of their subject matter, but because the handclaps and whistles suspend an incalculable squirm of splendor - for you and everyone else. All are welcome.

Written by Chris Polley, Radio K volunteer and host of Now Like Photographs.