Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
August 18, 2008
Bodies of Water
A Certain Feeling
July 22, 2008
Secretly Canadian
See Peasant Review
The night began with Peasant captivating a fairly populated crowd at New York City’s Mercury Lounge. As Frederick Foxtrott has mentioned numerous times, Damien DeRose has an incredible ability to command attention without begging for it. He is not desperate, even as he discusses even the most vulnerable of topics. The audience talks amongst themselves, waiting through their typical opening band annoyance, when something happens across the crowd; the conversations become muted; peoples’ eyes no longer look for an answer on the floor, or from their friend’s quips and shrugs. Applause reforms from obligatory to laudatory. Peasant plays and people listen. While the contrast with the night’s headlining act was sharp, I wanted to give the band I actually came to see a little credit for inadvertently tipping me off to Bodies of Water, whose recently released record A Certain Feeling is entirely worth listening to.
While Bodies of Water seem to focus on vocalist Meredith Metcalf in their live performance, A Certain Feeling has a much more choral arrangement. At Mercury, Metcalf was the center piece, and a mighty fine one at that. Her voice is strong and refined. She has an indie operatic melody maker that emanates impassioned words well beyond her thin frame. On the record, the band has a much more pronounced presence, supporting Metcalf, whose voice is embedded in the slightly vintage, entirely eccentric instrumental textures. Bodies of Water, from LA, are highly talented. At times they give me the impression that an ever so small, yet appropriate amount of the musical Pippen lays at the foundation of their music- an amalgamation of nascent-prog rock, psychedelia, and musical theater.
The awkward melodies generated by the prowling organ and commanding guitar are deliberate and precise. They accomplish what the Fiery Furnaces are rarely able to. Minute doses of discombobulating riffs blend with an epic sense of song craft. The vast space that the band seeks to fill with its projected strength is impressive. What is even more so, is their ability to never leave the listener hanging, left and abandoned as one movement yields to the next. While Bodies of Water have an air of something enigmatic, they make sense. While this could be a detrimental observation to some bands hoping to produce music that is new and different, Bodies of Water excel at knowing what is worth obscuring.
-FF
7/9
http://www.bodiesofwater.net
http://www.myspace.com/bodiesofwater
Other Music
Bodies of Water EP- 2005
Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink- 2007
Posted in 2008, 7 Points, Bodies of Water, Frederick Foxtrott, Indie, LP, Labels, Los Angeles, Music, Music Review, Peasant, Psychedelia, Secretly Canadian, Show Review, Uncategorized | Tagged Music Review, Los Angeles, Indie, Music, Frederick Foxtrott, The Mercury Lounge, Paper Garden Records, Peasant, 7 Points, Band, Psychedelia, Bodies of Water, Secretly Canadian Records | 1 Comment »
July 28, 2008
Posted in 2008, Bands, Frederick Foxtrott, Indie, Music, New York City, Pianos, Unsigned, Worst Case Ontario | Tagged 2008, Burning Politely, Music, Pianos, Show Alert, Worst Case Ontario | No Comments »
July 15, 2008
Hypatia Lake
Angels and Demons, Space and Time
July 15th 2008
Reverb Records
There is the band and then there is the music. It is immediately understood when listening to Angels and Demons, Space and Time that Hypatia Lake has put together a record of enormous depth. The band itself is much less a physical entity, as it is a concept. The record is diffuse and eclectic, a psychedelic feast of beautiful noise and exquisite ambiances. The reason for the music’s variance is that Hypatia Lake is not intended to describe a group of musicians, but rather a mythic town. The band conceives itself as somewhat of an abstraction, manifesting the narratives and ethereal space in which the citizens of Hypatia Lake exist. The band must be understood as a thick description, using music genres and style to reify the disparate personalities that go about their business within the township of Hypatia Lake.
As each song passes, it gives way to the next with a deliberate disregard for consistency in tone or structure. There are heavy elements of early 90’s Seattle rock as well as shoegaze pop and classic psychodelia. I would love to hear this band cover War Pig. Every element of the music successfully invokes a particular mood without the jarring shuttle so often accompanied by medleys. I’ll not bother with a laundry list of musicians from which Hypatia Lake surely derive their influence, that list is assembled with such ease that I’ll save you the splendor of hearing all your guitar heroes amalgamated into a fluctuating pallet of raw heart. This band is ultra art rock; they are not progressive or excessively original, but they have had the divine pleasure of assembling a rare and intensely well written record. Not only was each song excellently conceived, but as a group they were assembled with attention and care.
Hypatia Lake recorded with Scott Colburn, an engineer who has worked with the likes of Arcade Fire and Animal Collective. His experience with experimental recording likely added to the record, but the talent exhibited on Angels and Demons, Space and Time by the band is tremendous. Even though the music serves an abstract function, the risky project proved to be entirely worthwhile. This record is excellent. Period.
-FF
8/9
http://myspace.com/hypatialake
http://hypatialake.com
Posted in 2008, 8 Points, Bands, Bands, Collectives, and Artists, Frederick Foxtrott, Hypatia Lake, Indie, LP, Music, Music Review, Psychedelia, Reverb Records, Seattle, Uncategorized | Tagged 2008, 8 Points, CD Release, Experimental, Heavy Metal, Hypatia Lake, Indie, LP, Music, Music Review, Psychodelia, Reverb Records, Scott Colburn, Seattle | No Comments »
July 1, 2008
Sigur Rós
með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
June 24th 2008
X L
Perhaps inspired by the success of their last effort Heima / Hvarf-Heim, Sigur Rós recorded með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust with a heightened sense of pop-thought and melody. Gone seem to be the days of brooding overtures spilling over walls of thick harmonic noise. Med Sud is not offering a correction to some flawed formula; it has not shed what is superfluously unnecessary, rather it is the leg contour as seen through a summer dress happily worn after the glacier’s recession. Icelandic for “with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly,” með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust belies Sigur Rós’ self awareness that rejects the accumulation of star-power, instead favoring the humble roles of music makers with intimate attention to detail and an endless commitment to the art rather than constructed personae that sadly distract many once great contemporaries.
The spiritedly named Gobbledigook begins Med Sud with an overwhelming punch. Tribal drums drive Jónsi Birgisson’s falsetto, while the bass’ melodic structure abandons its typical role as a rhythmic supplement, mimicking instead the vocal notes, which contrast the low register of the bass and Jónsi’s high pitch voice. Complete with hand claps and sampled sequences of spritely lalalalalala’s, Gobbledigook is an intensely elevating track. Sigur Rós chose wisely to open their much anticipated release with such a masterful conceptualization.
Med Sud descends from its initial burst with grace. The record can be largely, even if simplistically, seen to be divided into two sections. The first maintains a pulsating optimism, replete with bright tones and splendor, the second half, beginning with Festival, softens to a spectrum of pastels; still emotionally above board, yet subdued with a calm and reflective contemplation. The album approaches its end as day approaches dusk. Med Sud is a great record, brought about by Sigur Rós’ sense of beauty, their reverence of humility, and their willingness to put their art form first.
-FF
8/9
http://www.sigurros.com
http://www.myspace.com/sigurros
Other Records
Von- 1997 (2004 US)
Von Brigði- 1998
Ágætis byrjun- 1999 (2001 US)
( ) - 2002
Takk… - 2005
Hvarf-Heim- 2007
Posted in 2008, 8 Points, Bands, Bands, Collectives, and Artists, Frederick Foxtrott, Hillbilly, Iceland, Indie, LP, Music, Music Review, Sigur Rós, XL Recordings | Tagged Music Review, Bands, Indie, Music, Frederick Foxtrott, Sigur Rós, Iceland, Post-Rock, 2008, 8 Points, X L | 2 Comments »
