Showing posts with label chairlift. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chairlift. Show all posts
, , , , , , , , — 0 comments

Listener's Digest: Week of September 9, 2013



Normally, we try to post songs right as they get released. Now, this worked well during the summer when everyone seemed to be putting things out at a trickle; however, summer is quickly careening to a halt. Mac and I looked around this week and noticed that everything was suddenly coming at a rapid clip. Actually, Mac looked me dead in the eye, pointed a gun right between my eyes and told me to go make a multiple song edition of Listener's Digest. There is no way we can keep up with the sheer bulk of new and worthwhile songs. So, being the selfless man I am (please don't ask my friends to confirm this) decided to round up some new stuff for your thursday. Also, Mac has gotten a bit extreme with his editorial coaxing.


Glasser - "Design:" A jittery synth pop song from Glasser's upcoming album,  set to be released on October 8. The video features Glasser, aka Cameron Messirow, anxiously dancing around a sparse room (tastefully furnished), her movements focused around a shifting computer animated object on a pedestool. The whole thing comes off as a racey video directed by a young Frasier Crane. The song is great though, it is pop music for the terminally anxious and uptight.



 Heavenly Beat - "Honest:" Following up his underrated 2012 debut, former Beach Fossils member, John Peña, is readying a new LP that will be released on October 15. "Honest" is a breezey song making use of a series of looping strings and steel drums. Paired with Peña's voice, the song is an easy moving wistful song tailor made for whatever cliched autumn activities you wish to embark upon over the next few weeks. Peña does an excellent job transforming droning loops into something poppy and accessible. The new record, Prominence, will be released on October 15. 




Ducktails - "Honey Tiger Eyes:" So, basically October will just be an endless stream of potentially great music. Ducktails, the awesome side project of Real Estate's Matt Mondanile, will follow up their last LP, 2013's triumphant The Flower Lane, with an EP, The Wish Hotel. "Honey Tiger Eyes" is the first single off of that LP and it is every bit as good as anything on The Flower Lane. Taking wistfulness to an almost anthemic level, this song moves at an easy pace, driven by fuzzy melodies, and culminating in a guitar solo at the end. The Wish Hotel will be released on October 22. 



Jacco Gardner - "The End of August:" Gardner, a Dutch baroque pop musician, seems to be working from a playbook for songs I will gravitate towards. A spacey 60s' inflected song, "The End of August" capitalizes on the weirdness that permeates the air during the end of summer. It is a mix of melancholy and strangeness that I have trouble resisting. "The End of August" is the title track to a recently released 7'.



Blood Orange - "Chamakay:" Dev Hynes, aka Blood Orange, might be a time traveler. How else can I fully explain how pitch perfect 90s' this new video for "Chamakay" is. Look at it, this was made in 1995 and remained unreleased until this week, I am sure of it. Anyway, the video features Hynes going back to his mother's hometown of Georgetown, Guyana and meeting many family members for the first time.  Hynes dances in random places and generally employs 90s' dance moves throughout. The song, a haunting R&B song, features Chairlift lead singer, Caroline Polacheck on backing vocals.



Michael Torsell
, , — 0 comments

Album Review: Chairlift - Something



Two summers ago I saw Chairlift in Chicago and I left the show feeling fairly unaffected.  Both they and the band they were opening for, Passion Pit, had both made the jump to major labels, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why.  Chairlift seemed timid almost locked in stone on stage and very distant from the people they were trying to entertain.  I quickly forgot about the show and didn’t think too much about them after that, just another bedroom project that wouldn’t be able to move comfortably into the trappings of a major. 

Something made me reconsider this judgment.  Chairlift don’t seem to be hiding behind anything on this record, they’re fully confident in their sound, and willing to take risks even if it’s not always for the best.  Caroline Polachek’s voice was completely swallowed up by accompaniment when I saw the band’s live performance, but here she’s out front on every track, and her presence reminds me a bit of Class Actress who enjoyed a coming out party last year.  And though Chairlift still succumb to a lack of focus in some places the songwriting has improved greatly, Polachek and her band mate Patrick Wimberley take great pains to ensure each synth, each drum and each word hits its mark.

The general mood of the album moves between more demure material and some happier tracks that provide a bunch of honest-to-god, hands-in-the-air, lose-your-shit moments.  "Amanaemonesia" and "Sidewalk Safari" are probably the most adventurous tunes here, not quite rock, but not quite the full on synth immersion that the rest of the album features, "Amanaemonesia", which is about magic and a made up ailment is a great cut of psych pop.  "Ghost Tonight" and "Wrong Opinion" borrow liberally from new wave, while the back half of Something is made up of more reserved and refined tunes like "Frigid Spring" and "Turning", which reminded me of some of Saint Etienne’s slower jams.  The centerpiece though is "I Belong In You Arms", someone must have already fast tracked it for inclusion in a teen TV Drama, it’s a powerful bit of dance music and Polachek comes across like an indie Kelly Clarkson, especially on the excellent chorus.

The later parts of Something are definitely weaker than the front end, songs like "Guilty as Charged" and "Met Before" seem to be holdovers from Chairlift’s beginnings.  They’re just not as forward and sure of themselves, and as a result just bubble away into the background near the end of the record.

Thankfully though the majority of Something moves well past these bedroom/art school beginnings and loudly announces Chairlift’s presence.  Their interest in the sounds of the 80’s could lead them to be grouped in with the other synth focused boy-girl groups that seem to be popping up everywhere these days, but looking beyond the surface will reveal a band that is hell bent on leaving a lasting mark and being much more than a flash-in-the-pan internet sensation.

Grade: B+





~Steve Dobek
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)