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Album
Review by Dave Lynch Before the era of ubiquitous Internet file sharing, the prospect of these 3 Mice making an album together might have seemed unlikely. But technology has surmounted geography, and Elaine di Falco (Hughscore) and Dave Willey (Hamster Theatre) — both based in Colorado — worked long-distance with Switzerland’s Cédric Vuille (L’Ensemble Rayé) and Israeli mixologist Udi Koomran to create Send Me a Postcard, an album that sounds like it emerged from a single studio. Given their respective projects melding avant-prog, Euro-folk, world, and classical elements to create music both amiable and challenging, Vuille and Willey are a natural pairing, as becomes clear right from the album’s opening track. « Hot Rod Waltz » features Vuille on cuatro and guitar, Willey on accordion and bass, and L’Ensemble Rayé drummer Daniel Spahni. The piece is indeed centered around a waltzy 12/8 verse and chorus — featuring Vuille’s crisp picking and Willey’s insistent accordion chords and sky-high melody — alternating with a 15/8 bridge (the « Hot Rod » part?) during which, on the second go-round, Vuille’s power-riffing electric guitar charges in and Willey’s ascending line elevates the tune as it returns to the verse. A roaring start, to be sure, and third mouse di Falco hasn’t even made her entrance. Her contributions as composer or co-composer add moody ethereality, ringing vibraphone ambience, and sometimes a bit of darkness to the proceedings. On « Invitation, » co-written with W