Real Vocal String Quartet. Four Little Sisters.
2012. Flower Note Records.
From the opening track of their new album, Four Little Sisters, Real Vocal String Quartet bring a stunning vision to their arrangements. The first song is an acoustic stringband re-envisioning of Regina Spektor's song "Machine," and I guarantee you haven't heard a cello, violin, or viola played this way before. Machine-gun stutters, growling, rippling rhythms that sound almost harmful to the instrument, and floating ethereal vocals. Sounds a bit out there, but these four women are grounded by the traditions and the instruments they've chosen, and the album has a remarkable consistency. The cello buzzes along, often treated like a bass instrument (actually this is a tradition itself from Appalachia, where early stringbands couldn't afford or couldn't carry around full string basses, so used cellos), the fiddles soar together in twin flights, and the viola spins between both axes, pulling down grumbling rhythms and smooth melodic runs at the same time. This is definitely the kind of band that must have formed at a music conservatory from virtuosic musicians who were chafing from the strictures of classical music. I can see them all gathered in a rehearsal room in the stuffy conservatory, happily poring over their lists of favorite songs from any genre and dreaming up ways to arrange these songs for the quartet. I've met two of the four members of Real Vocal String Quartet actually, both at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and they're dedicated roots musicians with the kind of chops to pull off these lush arrangements. Nice folks too!
Four Little Sisters is all over the map in terms of influences. Malian wassoulou singer Oumou Sangare is given a tribute track, Brazilian songwriter Gilberto Gil is featured as well with an arrangement and translation of his song "Copo Vazio", there's a nod to Cajun music with a cool remake of the common song "Allons à Lafayette," Swedish roots crossover band Väsen gets a nod as well with "Falling Polska", and there's even a cover of David Byrne's "Knotty Pine". Fiddler Alisa Rose's composition, "Elephant Dreams" is another standout track, matching a lilting Celtic-ish melody with some really cool harmonies and counterpoint.