I'm posting a lot of my top 10 of 2009 already.
Oops.
St. Vincent, a.k.a. Annie Clark is the latest indie wondergirl this side of Marnie Stern. Not a second too soon either, because her record, "Actor" is fantasmical. Her compositions are quaint and melodic, but there's a heavy dose of noisy instrumentation from fuzzy guitars and blaring saxophones. The drums lock seamlessly with the percussive demeanor of her arrangements. Songs like "Marrow" and "Black Rainbow" are art-pop masterpieces that need to be heard. The leading single, "Actor Out of Work" is a marvelous pop tune with a gorgeous hook and a playful horn section.
This is the second St. Vincent record, and I can't wait to hear more. She has joined the sad list of bands I discovered AFTER they played at Bonnaroo. Oh well. This album is very nice.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Antlers - Hospice
The Antlers are the Bon Iver story of 2009. Song-writer Peter Silberman comes out of a so-called 'social isolation' and writes and records a beautiful record about the relationship between a man and a child who is terminal in a hospital. Darby added two full-time band members to become The Antlers and the band self-released Hospice earlier this year. Now it is being re-released on Frenchkiss Records.
Peter Silberman is a very passionate song-writer. It's hard to tell if the lyrics he has penned are somewhat personal and based on true events. It's hard to tell yet what the details of the story are, but the music is very dynamic within the character of the lyrical content. The sounds themselves are very effervescent and intriguing. "Prologue" is the first song and sets up the record perfectly. The noisy number flows seamlessly into the heart-string tugging, "Kettering." This track holds some of the softest, but aggressive vocal sound I've ever heard. The record continues on with very loud qualities. The shoegaze influence is evident as songs routinely gain momentum and build as an almost post-rock like build and release idea. The pop sensibility of Darby's lyrics and vocal melodies bring the structure to the seemingly large compositions. Hospice doesn't really get a chance to drag through too much somberness because of the abrupt length of the record. It's a sad record, but it's somewhat short and bright sounding. It's hard to explain, I recommend this album and it'll definitely make my best of '09 list I've been slaving over so hard already.
Peter Silberman is a very passionate song-writer. It's hard to tell if the lyrics he has penned are somewhat personal and based on true events. It's hard to tell yet what the details of the story are, but the music is very dynamic within the character of the lyrical content. The sounds themselves are very effervescent and intriguing. "Prologue" is the first song and sets up the record perfectly. The noisy number flows seamlessly into the heart-string tugging, "Kettering." This track holds some of the softest, but aggressive vocal sound I've ever heard. The record continues on with very loud qualities. The shoegaze influence is evident as songs routinely gain momentum and build as an almost post-rock like build and release idea. The pop sensibility of Darby's lyrics and vocal melodies bring the structure to the seemingly large compositions. Hospice doesn't really get a chance to drag through too much somberness because of the abrupt length of the record. It's a sad record, but it's somewhat short and bright sounding. It's hard to explain, I recommend this album and it'll definitely make my best of '09 list I've been slaving over so hard already.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)