Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Beat Circus - Boy From Black Mountain [Cuneiform - 2009]

Beat Circus come from Boston and are fronted by their only consistent member Brian Carpenter who is also the sole songwriter and arranger of the songs on this album.

Boy From Black Mountain is the second album in a trilogy called American Gothic (the first being Dreamland released in 2008 on the same label as this) and apparently a number of the songs were written in response to Carpenters son being diagnosed with autism. I’m not totally sure what his reaction is to the diagnosis as apart from one song (“Boy from Black Mountain”) the lyrics don’t give any clues. 
Musically the album is completely outside my comfort zone and visits areas I’ve never had a particular fondness or affinity with.

Primarily it’s an album that mixes up Bluegrass, a bit of Country, a bit of old time music and a bit of folk. It’s a skilfully put together set of songs that are played well (if you think you’ve heard Carpenter’s name before check out the back of Swans last album as he contributed some trumpet to it), arranged well and written well. But ultimately you would have to be a fan of the genres I’ve mentioned to really want to listen to it repeatedly. I’ve probably heard it over ten times now and while I can appreciate the qualities it has in terms of song writing and production it’s not something that resonates with me enough to think I would ever pick it off a shelf and decide to give it a listen again. However you could probably do a whole lot worse than at least check some samples of the tracks on sites like Amazon or CD Universe to make your own mind up.

3 out of 5 (based on its quality of workmanship rather than its appeal to a listener)

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

David Bourgoin
Latest Reviews

Beat Circus - Boy From Black Moun...
Beat Circus come from Boston and are fronted by their only consistent member Brian Carpenter who is also the sole songwriter and arranger of the songs on thi...
010725   Atomic Rooster - Atomic Roos...
010725   Con Funk Shun - Organized
010725   Various Artists - Heatwave- T...
010725   The Good, The Bad, The Weird ...
270625   Murder Rock - Murder Rock( Bl...
270625   The Black Torment - The Blac...
250625   Girls Without Shame - Girls W...
250625   Xiphos - The Age Of Alexander
250625   Timothy Fairless - Keep Tal...
240625   CORR//PT│0N_UN1T - S7ATU5_...
Latest Articles

Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sharp t...
It’s fair to say the Sharksploitation genre is often tried, tested, and to be honest, tired. Fear Below is a 2025 Australian film that tries to do some...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
150425   Dead, Dead Swans interview - ...
110325   Sebastian Tomb - Walls of unb...
040225   Alien Sex Fiend - Possessed B...
231224   Best Of 2024 - Music, Sound &...
191224   Splintered - Somewhere Betwee...
031224   Shane Ryan-Reid - Coerced and...
221024   Whore’s Breath - life’s h...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom