Dakota Suite - An Almost Silent Life

For almost as long as I've been an American Music Club fan, Red House Painters and Dakota Suite have been recommended to me by likeminded angst aficionados. RHP have been kind of hit and miss for me post-Down Colorful Hill, but Dakota Suite have always resonated. There is a strong argument to be made that the attraction is one stemming from the everyday contrarian JS-NYC nature and the fact that I'm pretty sure DS have never made it stateside for live shows, but regardless driving force Chris Hooson is definitely one to be held in the same stead as Mssrs. Eitzel and Kozelek.

Dakota Suite sport a cinematic chamber music vibe, spartanly beautiful and often underpinned by strings. An Almost Silent Life is a little less dark than its predecessors, but tracks like I Know Your Desolate Places and I Recoiled So Violently I Almost Disappeared stand very little chance of being reinterpreted on Glee. Not that that is in anyway a bad thing. If you like your music darkly beautiful or enjoy viewing other people darkness from an outside perspective, you can far few more darkly compelling artists than Chris Hooson and Dakota Suite.

If you're in the EU, look for some incarnation of Dakota Suite on tour in the coming weeks. Doesn't look like North America will be part of the promo experience, but keep track of their goings-on here at their official web presence.

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