devotchka / albums

716,467 plays
308 SHARES
432 FAVS
64 fans

- A Mad And Faithful Telling
- - 115,184 plays
  - 114 favs
  - 19 shares
Devotchka
Released 2008

Comrade Z
02:24
9,589 plays

Blessing In Disguise
05:49
9,288 plays

Undone
05:02
9,072 plays

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songs

- 1
- Basso Profundo
- 05:13
- 12,176 plays

- 2
- Along The Way
- 04:00
- 11,976 plays

- 3
- The Clockwise Witness
- 04:38
- 21,443 plays

- 4
- Head Honcho
- 03:45
- 10,878 plays

- 5
- Comrade Z
- 02:24
- 9,589 plays

- 6
- Transliterator
- 04:31
- 16,034 plays

- 7
- Blessing In Disguise
- 05:49
- 9,288 plays

- 8
- Undone
- 05:02
- 9,072 plays

- 9
- Strizzalo
- 01:31
- 7,454 plays

- 10
- New World
- 05:15
- 11,034 plays

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album review

Like the stately, mature parents of Gogol Bordello, DeVotchKa have created a unique niche by mixing eastern and western traditions into the same pot. A Mad and Faithful Telling is their first release since the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack expanded their fan base tenfold, and it continues the group's unique cultural mishmash, sounding like a Morrissey-fronted Calexico playing norteño tunes in an Eastern European ballroom. It's a veritable circus of styles, none of which are normally associated with Colorado's musical climate. But that doesn't stop DeVotchKa from turning in a performance that is at once elegant and wildly passionate, with bandleader Nick Urata leading the pack like a half-drunken opera school dropout. His vocals are uniquely stunning, interlaced with bits of Spanish and brimming with vibrato. With help from his three bandmates and a five-piece string section, he turns even the most somber lyrics ("So this is the city? So this is progress? How can something so pretty become such a mess?") into the sort of sweeping serenades that inspire listeners to raise a wine glass, toast the stereo, and howl along. Elsewhere, the group flirts with spaghetti western music, turning songs like "Head Honcho" and "Undone" into potential candidates for the next Quentin Tarantino film. And lest anyone question DeVotchKa's chops, A Mad and Faithful Telling also includes two lively instrumental numbers: "Comrade Z," which blends mariachi horns with a gypsy-jig beat, and "Strizzalo," an Italian-styled waltz with accordion, tuba, and romantic violins. Bouncing from Mexico City to Prague to Milan to Denver over the course of ten songs, DeVotchKa's fourth full-length shows a band aging gracefully and eccentrically. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide