while jagjaguwar is known as a very diverse and far-reaching label, the level of variety on the imprint could easily lead to its downfall — is the julie doiron fan also an oneida fan? how many skygreen leopards lps are shipped out with parts & labor cds? will monroe mustang ever release another album?

with the new odawas album, jagjaguwar proves that like few other labels, it knows how to stay the course by understanding that music obsessives aren’t interested in pigeonholing and genrefication – they are only interested in getting the most for their time, effort, and money. jagjaguwar once again delivers the key supply ingredient in this equation – quality, integral music. add to that the fact that the label also has great deals on most of their catalog for vinyl addicts – $12 buys a wax copy and they’ll throw a cd version in for free – and it becomes clear that this is an organization that, you know, actually cares about its supporters.

odawas build on the ground established by their first album the aether eater; no song on raven and the white night moves at a pace faster than glacial. this is dark and syrupy country rock with more than just an edge of danger to it. the production is top-notch, which is a good thing, because the bottom end here is thick and foggy, while strings, guitars, keyboards, and neil young-meets-grant lee phillips-meets-jim james vocal tracks haunt the upper registers.

like my morning jacket covering the pet shop boys and others, odawas aren’t afraid to break out the synths when need be, as demonstrated on “love is . . . (the only weapon with which i got to fight)”, which is a spoken-word sample built on top of a deep line of keys that would sound perfect on a new order or depeche mode track. it’s this versatility which keeps the music engrossing, and like most other jagjaguwar releases, odawas delivers an album as universal as it is unique in raven and the white night.

odawas – alleluia (from raven and the white night, 2007)

odawas – benjamin (from the aether eater, 2005)

ps – please, god – give us another monroe mustang album – thanks.