VITAL REVERB: MARCH 5, 2010 Sounding Off On The Sounds You Need
Peasant
Shady Retreat
Paper Garden
ESM Rating: 7/10
Our world is an overwhelming bastard circle that
sucks. People are always driving really poorly; there are white supremacists in
little meeting houses smoking meth and talking about dumb shit; there are crazy
folks who have terrible problems they can’t help; there are people with cultish
stickers on the back of their sport utility vehicles who need to show everyone
how many kids or dogs or even numerous wives they have. Luckily, this suck
produces a vacuum where some of us can just hang around chilling our brains
out. We’re lucky, but we aren’t any different — maybe just smarter,
because everyone’s just trying to stay busy and get by. I think.
Peasant is
the nom de guerre of Pennsylvania native
Damien Nicholas DeRose. He’s a superb agent of storytelling — someone who
can yarn and strum, making groovy melodies that swoon young ladies into
adorable crushes and feverish bouts of undying love. I wonder if DeRose wears a
scarf? I don’t mind if he does, because I know that men who wear scarves often
times have some super funky moves they’re just waiting to pull out of their
matching tweed jacket. You know about these punks and their beautiful
ignorance. They are such sweethearts.
This is the beautiful juxtaposition of life. On one
hand, we can witness the storm of reality and then escape into the soft beauty
of an album like Shady Retreat. My friends recently taught me a lesson I
didn’t know — if you kill it, you fill it. Apparently this is learned in
camp and mostly applies to pitchers of water, then later in life to pots of
coffee. Anyway, this is applicable to my point — I swear. Peasant released 2009 album On The
Ground and emptied a pitcher of lukewarm Earl Grey tea sweetened with
clover honey. He then politely refilled it for us in 2010 with Shady Retreat. By
Will Tunstall
Blind Man’s
Colour
Wooden Blankets
Kanine
ESM Rating: 6/10
This is a short little bit about a short little EP. Wooden
Blankets is a literary short, a double haiku, a pound of soft leather cut
from the saddle of Custer’s horse during the waning hours of oscillating dusk
light. The first four tracks of Wooden
Blankets will make you feel sunglass drunk. Then you’ll just be regular
drunk, because its nighttime and you’ve been listening to strange noises from
the inside of a womb drinking Campari all day. Beware of Blind Man’s Colour, because they’re good with
experimental gaze, but the “-gaze” genre is its own conundrum — a genre
that can either split your head into fragments, forcing you to drop money on
mini-packs of Excedrin, or dredge you fast into daydreams where you chase Power
Rangers and capture Pokémon for three hours before you realize you’re at work.
Blind Man’s
Colour is definitely headphone
music, and there are a number of similarities between BMC and the
feeling you get when you suddenly realize you’re in a plane and the cabin
pressure and soft tones have lulled you into a sense of safety 30,000 feet
above the ocean. This is a listener’s pick — those who enjoy the
mastery of blend will find a golden pot filled with marshmallows. Others’
opinions could really run the gamut. I don’t know where I fall about Blind Man’s Colour and Wooden Blankets, but I think this is a
solid indicator of a pretty cool full-length coming in the future. Because their
sound — a thousand different sounds — could go in any direction. By
Will Tunstall
DUELING
REVIEWS
Efterklang
Magic
Chairs
4AD
ESM Rating: 5/10
Copenhagen quartet Efterklang has been releasing symphonic post-indie rock records
since early 2000 to much critical acclaim. Self-producing their work, their DIY
style and devoted work ethic have allowed them minor success and have now
finally landed them with acclaimed independent record label 4AD. Over the past
several years, Efterklang has
undergone several sonic facelifts, missing the originality train by a couple of
years as they seemingly attempt to achieve the authenticity other similar
artists have already accomplished.
For their major-label debut, Magic Chairs, Efterklang has yet again visited familiar territory trod by the likes of Grizzly Bear,
Beach House, and Arcade Fire, aiming for a sound of downplayed grandeur that
adds anthemic crescendos, dissonant vocals, and ornate, orchestral
instrumentation to their refined and well-produced sound. Tracks like “Alike,” “I
Was Playing Drums,” and “Raincoats” draw from the chillwave vibe made
popular by bands like Washed Out, The xx, and The Sea And Cake. And while the
rest of the album staggers through an array of clever instrumentation, it
simply fails to present anything evolved or personal. Efterklang certainly explores their musical space well, and demonstrate
excellent musicianship with their songs — unfortunately, it’s just been
done many, many times before.
Magic Chairs is completely listenable and decent enough for some
background music on a lazy Sunday afternoon, but the fact is, if Arcade Fire
and Grizzly Bear got together to hire a subpar cover band to play some of their
tour dates, Efterklang would be
hired immediately. By Pete Viele
Efterklang
Magic
Chairs
4AD
ESM Rating: 8/10
Magic Chairs is no joke of an album. From opener “Modern Drift” on, the vocals of Casper
Clausen and heavy punch percussion of Thomas Husmer bring the following tracks
into a rigid march of beauty. My friend — who is very much an adult
— was recently asked by a doctor, “Do you have soft poopies or hard
poopies?” I’ll use this analogy delicately, saying only that Magic Chairs would be a nice, hard poopie. One that you take a picture of with your phone
and send to your brother because you’re proud of its natural beauty.
I dare say that if Man Man and Sting had four children and forced them into a
bus and a family band, Efterklang would be the result.
The strongest points of Magic Chairs can
be found within the group’s knowledge of when and when not to escape into amniotic
isolation. When they do, they make fast time of clawing their way out, hooting
and banging back into an individual composition hat collectively owns every
hereditary advantage a listener would want from Denmark.
Efterklang made utmost use of their relationship with British producer Gareth Jones. The
whistles and subtle flicks in the backing vocals on Magic Chairs are presumably his doing. Waving his audience in and
out of electronic stupor is a task Efterklang took to its natural summit. Their sound isn’t really categorized or driven
into any format, which I love. I’m going to classify this album in the “Sun’s
Out, Guns Out” genre, because I know these fellows would be right there with me
understanding this important life rule. So sun’s out, guns out, Efterklang — you’ll be in California soon. Oh, and Rasmus Stolberg — your
guitars and bass sound super. I didn’t want to leave you out. By
Will Tunstall
