Dawn McCarthy of Faun Fables does some serious
straddling. On one hand, she's affiliated with the avant-folk ensemble
Sleepytime Gorilla Musuem, whose Nils Frykdahl is also a member of her band; on
the other, she's lately been playing Rita Coolidge to Will Oldham's Kris
Kristofferson (minus, presumably, the kissing and stuff). Her own material
leans toward the former: Twisted and bittersweet, Faun Fables' A Table
Forgotten is
a four-song concept EP about the psychic tides of home and hearth.
Domestication might not seem like the edgiest subject matter—and indeed,
tracks like "With Words & Cake" and "Pictures" come across more like
art-school projects than warm reminiscences. But the tension McCarthy creates
between intellect and sentiment is stunning: The disc's title track is a
veritable prairie-opera combining acoustic guitars, woodwinds, Nico-esque
iciness, and earth-toned sketches of candlelit meals in bucolic kitchens. The
closer, "Winter Sleep," strays from the concept—it feels like just
another moody, eerie Faun Fables song tacked on the end. But as a placeholder
before McCarthy's upcoming full-length, Table is a tasty bite.