Hours after Barack Obama took his oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, Carrboro, N.C., burrito joint Armadillo Grill hosted an old-time music jam. That night, Andrew Marlin, a self-taught guitarist, found a complement and foil in Emily Frantz, a well-studied fiddler. The collaboration that started then quickly adopted the name Mandolin Orange, and the duo’s debut, Quiet Little Room, arrived in 2010. Third album, the magnificent This Side Of Jordan (Yep Roc), Mandolin Orange surges with a full band’s depth without sacrificing any of the front-porch closeness or weary sincerity of previous efforts. Mandolin Orange will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on the duo.
Andrew: This album by the Books is a musical collage of sorts using primarily acoustic stringed instruments and samples of people talking and laughing and singing, etc. I have probably listened to this record 200 times or more. As weird as it is when you first pop it in, it kind of blends into the air eventually. I put it in on a road trip with my dad, and he said, “What is this weird narcotic shit?” But before too long, he forgot it was even on.
Video after the jump.
