. . .were honored to be named #1 Americana CD for the year 2000 by Mojo as well as being remembered in many year-end top ten lists including Now (Toronto), The LA Weekly, The Austin Statesman and Spin's annual "Best Ten RecordsYou Didn't Hear This Year." The year 2000 was a busy year for the band. After the release of their 4th album "In the Air" in February they toured almost constantly for the following 9 months. Highlights included sold-out shows from London and Glasgow to New York, San Francisco and Stockholm. Several TV appearances in Ireland and England included Ireland's "Late, Late Show." Back in the US, the band was honored by great reviews nationwide in publications from The Village Voice and The Wall Street Journal to Spin and Rolling Stone. They were also featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "This American Life" and Greil Marcus's "Real Life Top Ten."
"In the Air" creates a world of gypsy moths, circling crows, and seeds in the wind. Fireflies in the summer night, rocks rolling uphill, clothes thrown in the snow, whispering waves, and milky moonlight all find themselves circling this night sky music. The CD was recorded in their livingroom and all sounds were captured on a Macintosh G3 (No tape!). This time the trusty drum machine from their third CD,"Through the Trees" was replaced by Brett clunking on various dented cymbals, warped snares, dusty tamborines and a plastic garbage pail. Underneath the guitar and bass you'll hear Autoharp, mandolin, melodica, harmonica, as well as church choirs, english horns, and pipe organs culled from the depths of our trusty noise-makers. Guest musician Andrew Bird added a layer of the diabolic with his virtuoso violin.
The third Handsome Family CD, "Through the Trees" brought the band worldwide attention (i.e. they quit their day jobs). Touring took them through the USA both alone and with the Mekons, as well as to the United Kingdom (almost every other month) along with sidetrips to Holland, Norway, and Belgium. England's Uncut magazine named "Through the Trees" the "Best New Country Album of the Year" and Chicago Sun-Times music writer Jim DeRogatis placed it as one of the ten most important albums to ever come out of Chicago.
Who are the Handsome Family? Husband and wife, Brett and Rennie Sparks have been collaborating as songwriters for over five years. Brett, the bi-polar Texan, writes the music. He spent his early years listening to opera and eating biscuits and gravy. Rennie, the lyricist, grew up on the shores of Long Island where she swears she never entered a room without spotting a spider on the wall. Live, on stage, the band still consists of only the two songwriters: Rennie with her Autoharp, bass and melodica and Brett with guitar and the remote control for the Minidisc which provides backing tracks (including a few odd frog calls).
