![](\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_yrL6yfubw8g\/S5lT03lNaVI\/AAAAAAAAAsA\/mQ7aNe8jSIg\/s1600-h\/The_Blues_Moods_of_Spain_cover.jpg\")
<\/a>Spain<\/a>, which is led by Josh Haden (son of legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden, bro of Haden triplets) made two of the most ethereal, melodic, and — here’s a word I try not to overuse — haunting LPs ever in the 1990s. Their second record, She Haunts My Dreams<\/i>, may be my favorite breakup record (a genre in which I specialize.) Johnny Cash covered Haden “Spiritual” on Unchained<\/i>, one of his American records.<\/p>\nBut after one more LP and a best-of record, the band broke up, sort of, and has been dormant for a while. While I missed their spot opening for the Clientele, I was able to briefly meet Josh and the band’s keyboardist, and to buy a two-song single — “I’m Still Free” and “Hang Your Head Down Low” — which is damned fine. The first song is especially affecting, and the second a bit too slow for me but packs one of their best-ever understated guitar solos.<\/p>\n
I guess what I like most about the band, besides the genius of the songwriting, and the strong playing, the combination of tension and intimacy that led to their being described as a “slowcore” band back in the day, is its use of the Haden family’s Missouri hill-country roots. That is, this is indie music with a twang that doesn’t sound much like alt-country. (Ghost of a twang?) It’s abstracted and oddly folky at the same time. (In this way, it resembles the early Ornette Coleman records Charlie played on, though it sounds nothing like them.)<\/p>\n