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Celebration, with TV on the Radio

Baltimore's Celebration is the project of lead singer Katrina Ford, her multi-instrumentalist husband, Sean Antanaitis, and percussionist David Bergander, all of whom came from the ashes of their previous band, Love Life. If there's any way to describe their sound, it could be called an evenhanded cross between the crazed blues-punk anarchy of the Birthday Party and the music that might be heard echoing in the chill cemetery air above the Ringling Bros.' graves. Ford's androgynously harrowing and husky voice brings to mind the cerebral, morbid power of Diamanda Galas, while Antanaitis, Bergander and a handful of guest musicians including TV on the Radio's David Andrew Sitek layer the music thick with carnivalesque Hammond organs, theatrical synth and piano lines, jangling guitars, reed blasts and post-punk stomps.

Sitek, who produced Love Life's records, was again brought onboard to produce Celebration's self-titled debut, and his TVotR bandmates Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone provide backing vocals on a couple of tracks.

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Travis Ritter