Uke Of Space Corners - Flowers In The Night CD

On Flowers in the Night, Uke of Spaces Corners, again revolving around the core duo of main man Dan Beckman and regular singer and collaborator Amy Moon, aim for a slightly less chaotic variation of the kind of music featured on their previous So Far on the Way -- if there's less seemingly random instrumentation, the general focus on guitars and sometimes surprisingly elaborate vocal patterns results in often warm, inviting results. For instance, if the opening "Doggies" might start out on a twee note, with Moon chanting "Doggies are cold" over and over, it soon has the feeling of a lullaby singalong that further turns into a fuzzy instrumental breakdown that's not a full volume freakout but doesn't need to be. It's a smart way to set an early mood and the rest of the album doesn't disappoint, finding an often elegant balance between older song styles and an attractive murk in sound that resists simply being called lo-fi or the like. If anything, hearing something like the combination of strong voices, soft strings, and gently sprightly guitars filtered via a thick, all-encompassing ambient wrap produces an effect just as detailed as a hyperprecise sample-fest, not simply "old" sounding but carefully focused. Meanwhile, individual moments of fun flair like the vocal tradeoffs on "Arugula" -- a not quite anthem for modern foodies, or at least the feelings of community possibly engendered as a result -- add to the album's atmosphere of being a gentle unexpected treat.