Skeleton Crew Quarterly

R+B=? - Aeroc

2012-01-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

R+B=?

Aeroc

GhostlyInternational.

SCQ Rating: 80%

Would I be remiss tosuggest that people who don’t listen to electronic music would find R+B=? theperfect excuse to absolve themselves from ever giving the genre a shot? Acursory listen would seem to support the idea, given the record’s relaxedbreak-beats and the clinical, bubbly tones that politely surround them. As ifstrict rock enthusiasts didn’t already have enough prejudice concerning themerits of electronic music, the fact that Aeroc’s opening track is called‘Spaced Out’ just furthers the assumption that R+B=? belongs on a bong shelfsomewhere. Personally, I’m more than happy to keep them in the dark.

That’s because R+B=?just begs to be underestimated. As it turns out, boasting an affinity forturn-of-the-millenium lounge and reworking downtempo beats won’t reallyresonate with the perverted crossover culture of 2012, but those who stick withAeroc’s austere workouts for repeated listens will uncover a satisfying andsophisticated collection of minimal techno. What churns Aeroc’s game to anotherlevel is the abundance of acoustic guitar featured here; the looped strums on‘Soflo’ evoke the chill-out template of Kruder & Dorfmeister and yet takeon a new momentum through the intricate picking on ‘For Sake’. At itsatmospheric prime, White’s guitar work melds into the placid body of hiselectronic composition with the accomplished air of Boards of Canada’s TheCampfire Headphase, unveiling deeper layers to ‘You Say That’ and ‘If I Had theTime’.

The initial feelingof sterility that may ward off curious listeners is merely space, the sort ofuncluttered openness that directs our focus to the details (like, say, what’sactually a consistently deft display of beat-programming) or allows our mind toswim in Aeroc’s brainy diversions. R+B=? is far too straight-laced andexclusive to convert anyone’s narrow notions of electronic music. And on behalfof everyone who treats this album as a secret soundtrack, we’re just fine withthat.

Aeroc - Spaced Out

Overgrown - Tapage

2012-01-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

Overgrown

Tapage

Tympanik Audio.

SCQ Rating: 79%

Tympanik Audio mayyet be a major-player in the electronic realm but there’s no refuting thereputation it’s garnering. Turning a cast of mysterious monikers – such asDisplacer, Stendeck and C.H. District – into absorbing, poorly kept secrets, theChicago-based imprint heads into 2012 with another head-swimming dose of IDMbeats and atmospherics.

Released but a yearafter his collaboration with Meander, Overgrown finds Tapage traversing moreachingly beautiful melodies and tough, intricate beats. Only this time Tapage’salone at the helm, allowing his warm tones to stretch and convulse far overOvergrown’s alien landscape. As ‘Loss’ brings the album into bloom with abrilliant overlap of keys and morphing analog loops, ‘Pink Mist’ steps back intoless structured brain-candy that is slow to pick up emotional steam. Althoughthe beautiful tracks outweigh the occasional meander, the album carries ontrading gorgeous couplets of ambient-IDM tracks (‘Ethyl’, ‘Pockets’) for theodd case of cerebral noodling (‘Leptoid’).

Now there’s nothing ineptconcerning Tapage’s experiments – they’re accomplished assemblages of varyingideas – but some sonic adventures fail to develop the record’s canvas (which atsixty-four minutes, runs on the long side). Overgrown flirts with the real possibilityof containing too much of a good thing and, taking that into consideration, aschizophrenic collage like ‘Mimic’ feels redundant against the poignancy lacingAphex Twin-worthy ‘Xyloplax’ or the slow-building ‘Unfolding’. Tapage proveshimself a maestro in the soft-hued IDM field when operating around a committedmelodic core and, luckily for us, Overgrown spends the vast majority of itsrun-time centered on that particular strength.

Under Your Shadow - Al Tuck

2012-01-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

Under Your Shadow

Al Tuck

New ScotlandRecords.

SCQ Rating: 72%

As a songwriter, AlTuck revolves his own peculiar planet. He has venerable ties throughoutAtlantic Canada’s music community and yet his music has yet to incorporateanother’s sound or muse. Fittingly Under Your Shadow presents Tuck as a pillarunto himself, resting heavily upon rootsy arrangements and his understateddelivery even amid a loose ensemble of contributing musicians.

What isolates Tuck’sseventh studio recording proves to be its complimentary, off-the-cuff feel;that despite a lot of obvious forethought put into Under Your Shadow’s formation,it toes the line of creativity not yet settled in place. His insistence onovercast acoustic tones and light discord are saved by the latent energy inarrangements that lift this typical singer-songwriter fare from the doldrums.From the small-town couplet that drives through full-band swagger (‘Ducktown’)and sleepy organ passages (‘Yawnsville’) to the rich folk of ‘Slapping the MakeOn You’, Tuck keeps listeners alert by trading sly shades of comedy andearnestness.

Despite his strongsense of self, Tuck’s talents require careful, repeated listens before fullyspringing forth and, even then, Under Your Shadow has its road-bumps. ‘Hello,Prince Edward Island’, a live track dropped halfway through the album of allplaces, doesn’t exactly gel with the patient folk-strewn atmosphere built upuntil then, but it bears the charm of a songwriter who plays perpetually on thecusp.

Ruins - Talkdemonic

2012-01-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Ruins

Talkdemonic

Glacial PaceRecords.

SCQ Rating: 68%

One element hassustained post-rock these many years and, no, it isn’t volume. It isn’tlengthiness either, although both contribute to what is most certainly the keyingredient to any post-rock classic: mood. Without genuinely evoked mood,volume would be a nuisance and run-times would unspool into mindless sprawl. Talkdemoniceschew this equation but not as a means to create anew; Kevin O’Connor and LisaMolinaro have instead propositioned us with an eclectic mixed bag oftwo-to-three minute electronic-rock jams. That latest album Ruins offers thelightning punch you’d expect from a description such as that but post-rock, itis not.

Once you’ve shedthose weighty expectations, Talkdemonic’s economic streak garners muscle moreappropriate for its ilk; ‘Violet’ uses cacophony in percussive fits while ‘CitySleep’ – the only track to break the five-minute mark – congeals out of compressedguitar distortion into a rhythmic little backbeat in need of a hook. Therecord’s softer side serves Talkdemonic better, with the sleepy drum-machine ofblurry-eyed opener ‘Slumber Verses’ beckoning us into its woozy orchestralwarps. Acoustic arrangements make a clear-headed highlight of ‘Revival’ andpadded haze drips on the string-laden ‘Chimera’. Still, despite Ruins’ear-pleasing concoctions, each track exits on a stunted note, as if engagingthe post-rock playbook but running off once the stakes get raised. Whether onelistens to post-rock for its trademarked volume-shift dynamics, its epicproportions or something else entirely, we can all agree that post-rock aims togenerally up the ante. Ruins, on the other hand, constructs some pretty surroundings which are weightless without stronger conviction.

TIME CHANGES #2: Top Jazz Picks '11

2012-01-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

The premiere post for Skeleton Crew Quarterly’s jazz foray dealt with discovery, not necessarilyfinding one’s genre but music as a general hobby. Breaking into the world ofjazz has required those same hesitant steps that instigated my first pop/rockpurchases: find a group of artists you enjoy, take a look at the company theykeep (their band-mates, labels), and then refine your tastes ad nauseum.

I’ve taken to thesesteps with an obsessive’s dedication, sampling artists I’ve only recognized byname and compiling extensive lists of promising releases worth looking into.Most interestingly, however, I’ve immersed myself in jazz’s labyrinthinename-game. A cursory glance upon bassist Dave Holland led me from his keysession work on Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew to hisbarrier-pushing solo catalog (from which his 1990 highlight, Extensions, nowsits in my collection). Or take Terje Rypdal, the Scandinavian guitarist Ifirst heard in the soundtrack to Michael Mann’s Heat, whose work I’ve become anavid collector of. That both of these chosen-at-whim artists belong to the ECMlabel is also no fluke; the Munich-based imprint, known for releasing some ofthe most progressive modern classical and jazz, has introduced a bottomless pitof pivotal musicians for my perusal. And through each bandleader’s palette and takeon improvisation, my tastes have begun to refine indeed.

Funny thing abouttastes, though; you can’t necessarily share them with all of your closestfriends. Our earliest refinements in taste endured this same phenomenon – the“guilty pleasures” – where we’d fear being judged for enjoying somethingoutside of the norm. Even though I’m no longer the bashful teenager hiding BjorkCDs behind my Sublime catalog, jazz remains an impossible divide whenentertaining friends. Not to say I haven’t tried: I scored a friend’s studysession with Pat Metheny’s New Chautauqua and played the icy thaw of Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnettefor an open-minded visitor. Both were polite in their indifference. It was mewho couldn’t handle it, the whole time listening not only through their ears(and any assumptions I had grabbed from their mute reactions) but through my ownpast preferences, with ears that would’ve balked over these records even twoyears ago.

As you might imaginethen, jazz has remained a personal hobby for me but an obsessive one too.And with that in mind – not to mention the approaching one-year anniversary ofmy first jazz purchase – I thought I’d kick-start the January blahs withSkeleton Crew Quarterly’s Top Ten Jazz Albums of 2011. What makes this listparticularly off the cuff is that it pulls from nearly a century of jazz Ihappened upon over the past twelve months, so only a few of these titles willactually be from 2011. Test some of these out...

10.) Modern Music - Brad Mehldau & Kevin Hays (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:53:00.000-08:00

Modern Music

Brad Mehldau, KevinHays & Patrick Zimmerli

Nonesuch Records.

Having purchased myshare of lame ducks this year, I’ve learned that few solo piano albums grow tobecome universally heralded. Whether it’s the minimalist nature of the projector a matter of listener preferences, I can’t say, but only a handful of recordshave ever risen from the pack. So it’s fitting that my first year of jazz endswith a meeting of two jazz-pianists; Modern Music pits former classmates BradMehldau and Kevin Hays into both new and classic compositions – some classical,some jazz.

Quelling any fearsthat this project too will evaporate into monotonous background music is firsttrack ‘Crazy Quilt’, a rambunctious hint toward the duo’s heedless energy. ComposerPatrick Zimmerli oversees subsequent performances that cover Philip Glass, OrnetteColeman and Steve Reich with equal doses of drama and flair. A late addition tothis list, Modern Music bridges my burgeoning interest in two like-mindedgenres.

9.) Quiet Inlet - Food (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:43:00.001-08:00

Quiet Inlet

Food

ECM Records.

When facing the brinkof a new world, sometimes all one needs is a little push. That said I hardlyexpected my nudge to come from electronic composer Christian Fennesz, but therehis name sat on the cover of Quiet Inlet. No wonder it was my first ECMpurchase!

As foggy and damp asits cover suggests, Quiet Inlet merges ambient soundscapes and jazzinstrumentation into a single current. Boasting a sound more meditative thanany other jazz-related album I purchased this year, Food’s airy saxophonepassages and echoed drums resonated like a welcome seasonal awakening.

8.) Round About Midnight - Miles Davis (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

Round Midnight

Miles Davis

Colombia Records.

As you mightimagine, my first year listening to jazz encountered no shortage of Miles Davispersonas to choose from, let alone the multitude of records available fromeach. There’s the Miles Davis who gave birth to the “Cool” in ’49, the risingstar who split a marathon recording session into four classic records to skiprecord labels, the fusion-creating mystery behind In a Silent Way and the Avante-maestroresponsible for Bitches Brew and Live Evil. In retrospect, however, RoundMidnight seems like the ideal pick; not only does the LP capture Davis at thecusp of greatness, it introduced me to his singular sound. And for a man whohas performed within so many chameleon-like transformations, that singularsound is something to marvel at.

7.) Isla - Portico Quartet (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Isla

Portico Quartet

Real WorldRecordings.

Portico Quartetdoesn’t really fit into this list’s emphasis on veteran-heavy, household names,in no small part because they’re a group of twenty-something outsiders tojazz’s often purist tenets. But forget that: despite their greenhorn status,Portico Quartet show a breadth of talent that thrives outside of the genre’scomfortable expectations.

Wielding theunlikely choice of hang – a percussive instrument that creates a variety oftones not unlike a steel drum – one would imagine Portico Quartet’s sound asbeing warm and sunny. Not the case. While Isla does feature vague Caribbeanconnotations on account of the hang, it’s clouded by tense instrumentation andovercast arrangements that have validated constant comparisons to – of allbands – Radiohead. Like the catalog of that celebrated rock group, Islaillustrates the sort of unexplored universe modern music needs more of.

6.) Vespers - Iro Haarla Quintet (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

Vespers

Iro Haarla Quintet

ECM Records.

Many times over I’veapproached an aspect of jazz as though it’s an uphill battle, something I’llhave to fight tooth-and-nail to comprehend, and most of those instances haveproven far easier to digest than I’d expected. But no record felt quite asnatural and immediate for me as Vespers, which I first played while wanderingthe snowy fields of my wife’s parents’ place.

It goes withoutsaying that Vespers exudes the wintry solitude of its cover-art but how thisquintet manages such a unique sound is worth a few words. With exception to theoccasions where Trygve Seim and Mathias Eick synchronize their powerful horns,Haarla’s quintet mediates between the soft brushstrokes of Jon Christensen’sdrums, the dull rumble of Ulf Krokfors’ double-bass and Haarla’s twin strengthson piano and harp. The culmination of these performances carries a dream-likequality that I’ve yet to step away from.

5.) Daxaar - Steve Reid Ensemble (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

Daxaar

Steve Reid Ensemble

Domino Records.

No kidding, I nearlybought this album in 2008 on account of Kieran Hebden’s involvement alone. Theman behind Four Tet had, by this point, completed three releases withpercussion-master Steve Reid as a duo, but none of them would compare to thefull arrangements of Daxaar.

I’ll leave it to thevideo below (which I love) to illustrate how and why these musicians gathered in Africa butthe results readily justify the means. Whether falling effortlessly into aloose groove (on ‘Jiggy Jiggy’) or a freeform spiral (‘Big G’s Family’), theseptet’s casual chemistry is mind-blowing.

4.) A Love Supreme - John Coltrane (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane

Impulse Records.

Well of course.

3.) Skala - Mathias Eick (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Skala

Mathias Eick

ECM Records.

The music of MathiasEick struck me as a bit hokey on account of his premeditated, tightly organizedarrangements. You see, I first heard Skala while inundated with a number ofhard-bop records that championed improvisation above all else, so it took mesome time to acclimatize to this layered, Norwegian vibe. And even if some ofEick’s trumpet work still comes off as overwrought to my ears, it’s counteredby a smart ensemble capable of articulating mournfulness through motion.

2.) La Place Demon - Tied & Tickled Trio (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:16:00.000-08:00

La Place Demon

Tied & TickledTrio

Morr Music.

In a year that foundme exploring far-off labels and genres, La Place Demon was the sole record thatcame to me. Featuring an avante-jazz outfit led by one of my favouriteelectronic artists (Markus Acher of The Notwist) and packaged courtesy of oneof my favourite labels (Morr Music), the collaboration between Tied &Tickled Trio and Billy Hart was a no-brainer.

Smartly steeringclear of The Notwist’s indie-tronic playground, La Place Demon engulfs itselfas much in 70-year-old Hart’s dexterous percussion as it does in Acher’ssymphonic ear for strings, horns and woodwinds. With both Hart and the Weilheimensemble composing together, it’s remarkable that an album so overrun with dislocatedmuses can collect into such a convincing and moody whole.

1.) Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnette - Rypdal, Vitous, DeJohnette (Top Jazz Picks '11)

2012-01-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnette

Terje Rypdal,Miroslav Vitous & Jack DeJohnette

ECM Records.

Immediately standingout from the Dave Brubeck and Django Reinhardt records that sparked mycollection, Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnette opened my ears to a strain of jazzfar-removed from the spritely golden age.

Dealing in drizzlyorgan and synthesized textures, the trio creates a series of improvisationalpassages that weave between murky tempos and blur instrumentally. The onlydistinct changes tend to occur when each musician takes their turn leading thepack; Rypdal, Vitous and DeJohnette are each awarded compositional credit totwo tracks, with DeJohnette’s portion embracing the most overt departure throughits percussive focus. As much a fusion of ambient and jazz as it is intricatemood music, Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnette satisfies on a level that few traditionaljazz ensembles can imagine.

SCQ's Top Twenty Albums of 2011

2011-12-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

This year’s contenthas been brought to you by Weetabix. Add a variety of green teas with nearlyidentical packaging, and brown sugar. These constituted an early morning habitI would’ve crumbled without, a cycle of hedonism that didn’t necessarily bitethe hand feeding it. They might seem like quaint contributors when compared to,say, the cheap 1.5 liter wine bottles that used to fuel Skeleton CrewQuarterly’s near-nightly content, but I reckon I’ll get better mileage out ofthis approach.

The sun is now setting on 2011, my most fruitful year (although a cursory view of SCQ’s monthly contentwill insist otherwise). I wrote music criticism for a handful of different websites,tried my hand at press-release writing and had some poetry published. As well,2011 found me renew my commitment to SCQ and remember why I enjoy running thishumble blog more than any staff or contributor position. As ever, I’m thankfulto my readers and the wonderful PR friends who continue to surprise me.

The following twentyalbums surmise this year of rejuvenation and, for that reason, has madecompiling this year-end list the most enjoyable SCQ experience yet. HappyHolidays and enjoy!

~ Love SCQ

P.S. - I despise music videos so most of the clips below will feature mostly audio (which is, really, what we all are here for). Exceptions include a few instances where the visuals fit nicely or I had no choice but to accept the medium for what it is. A few audio streams appear where decent videos were impossible to find. Cheers.

20.) Skying - The Horrors (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

Skying

The Horrors

XL Records.

SCQ Rating: 82%

Up until Christmas,this here twentieth position was held for The Strokes’ Angles. That’s right –I’d worked up a pretty strong defense for the former it-band’s fourth LP anddone my damnedest to point out how much of an improvement it is from 2006’sdrawn-out First Impressions of Earth. So why does it read “The Horrors” next toSCQ’s #20 spot?

I’ve secretly beenlistening to Skying for the past six months at work. It began innocently enoughout of curiosity, since I’d never heard Primary Colours or Strange Housebefore, but quickly descended into an obsessive, albeit strangely time-and-place,habit. I’d unlock the store doors most mornings in July, August and, depending onmy mood, start with either the buoyant ‘Changing the Rain’ or the hypnoticmomentum of ‘Still Life’. For whatever reason, Skying lay at the center of alengthy indecision: do I bring the record home or maintain my arm’s-lengthwork-relationship with it? Should I bring its soothing new-wave ocean into themadness of my apartment, where wedding preparations were in full tilt, or keepit a snapshot of these quiet mornings at the hull? Until two days ago, I’dchosen the latter.

As familiar as I amwith Angles’ arrow-sharp, pop experiments, The Strokes’ casual rhythms arehelpless to rival the layered, crushing heaviness of Skying. Whether theBritish quintet are blurring the line between kraut-like percussion and sine waveson ‘Moving Further Away’ or giving languid ambient-rock a vicious kick in theteeth on ‘Endless Blue’, Skying showcases the Horrors’ expert precision atwielding sonic and emotional depths. By the time a massive tidal wave ofsearing noise and processed bass brings ‘Oceans Burning’, and the record atwhole, to a blistering close, I wonder how I resisted its surge for so long.

19.) Dive - Tycho (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

Dive

Tycho

GhostlyInternational.

Original SCQ Review.

Seeing as how Iwrote about Dive just a week or so ago, I was tempted – sitting next to theglow of a Christmas tree and eating Rice Krispie squares – to simply rehash mypraise for Tycho’s latest. But once ‘A Walk’’s weathered tones bubble up, I’mreminded that the last thing Dive needs is hyperbole. What mesmerized me somuch about this record in the first place was how Hansen’s music seems to standstrong without any auteur-like shackles. These songs evoke their own thin-airedlandscapes, their own unique daydreams; for me to carry on with comparisons toother electronic artists who’ve traveled this winning path already would bemissing the point.

For those of you whofeel better assured dipping into new music with some context however, I’ll saythis: Scott Hansen’s 2004 debut Sunrise Projector was reissued three times beforethis year’s follow-up was completed, and that time was well-spent. Tycho’s hazymelodies and hey-day worthy break-beats carry an aura that drenches even the simplestof activities – like shoving one’s face with holiday cheer – in weightlessbeauty. An album better experienced than studied over.

18.) Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will - Mogwai (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hardcore Will NeverDie But You Will / Earth Division EP

Mogwai

Sub Pop Records.

Original SCQ Review.

Whether or notHardcore Will Never Die But You Will ever gets recognized as one the Scottishveterans’ best albums is for hindsight to decide, but there’s a certainsatisfaction in recognizing that Mogwai’s seventh literally corrects everyissue I had with 2008’s The Hawk Is Howling. The opulent variety at hand, whichsees the band flex from fuzzed-out stompers (‘Rano Pano’) and shimmery balladry(‘Death Rays’) to Krautrock electro (‘Mexican Grand Prix’), and bolderproduction give Hardcore… a showy side that in every way trumpsits sludgy predecessor.

Hardly a group torest long on their laurels, Mogwai have already moved on with a brief EP ofglitch and piano focused fare called Earth Division. Listening to thehaunting, acoustic ‘Hound Of Winter’ and stately sprawl of ‘Does This AlwaysHappen?’ in December – nearly a year after Hardcore… first dropped – hasreaffirmed Mogwai’s importance to SCQ in 2011. These two releases present divergent ends of a band reinvigorated.

17.) City Of Refuge - Abigail Washburn (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:49:00.000-08:00

City Of Refuge

Abigail Washburn

Rounder Records.

SCQ Rating: 81%

Some records land onyear-end lists strictly because of their embracing or effacing textbook rules,whereby they tailor their set of songs to a particular crowd. Other recordscling to importance by eliciting the mood and memory of a certain time-period.Although Abigail Washburn arrived to SCQ’s pages a virtual stranger, her CityOf Refuge full-length found its way to these year-end accolades through bothits awe-inspired craft and the memories it evokes.

March had yet tosoften when City Of Refuge began traveling with us on weekend house-huntingtrips. Scouring the outskirts of Ottawa – through Russell, Carleton Place, Richmond,and Kemptville – Washburn’s bluegrass-inflected folk complimented everysnow-covered plain. From ‘Chains’, which calls to mind a lush but rusticFleetwood Mac, to the country gospel of ‘Devine Bell’, City Of Refuge runs agamut of styles finely tuned by an all-star ensemble (including, among manyothers, the jazz-guitar great Bill Frisell).

Eventually we calledoff the hunt, realizing that life in a big old farmhouse, far away fromcivilization, might not be the wisest decision. And only when City Of Refugefloods through my speakers do I wonder if we were wrong.

16.) Kaputt - Destroyer (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

Kaputt

Destroyer

Merge Records.

Original SCQ Review.

Kaputt arrived on thescene in January with such aplomb, it was hard not to incite vague comparisonswith Merriweather Post Pavilion. Just as focused in its left-turn from crunchy electricrock to synthesized textures, Kaputt seemed destined to win 2011 before it wasthirty days out of the gate.

And there’s a goodchance Destroyer pulled it off too, albeit on a slyer scale than the crushingdominance Animal Collective demonstrated in 2009; Kaputt grabbed a flurry ofecstatic reviews that climaxed with numerous year-end accolades and a shortlistnomination for the Polaris Prize. Indeed, Dan Bejar’s ninth record as Destroyerbecame a universal touchstone amongst indie enthusiasts, although the argumentcould easily be made that Kaputt was designed to be such. I mean, a precociousblend of Destroyer’s wit matched to atmospheric, Steely Dan-esque arrangements,all coated in an 80s sheen of sax and drum-machines? That level of pasticheseems tailor-made for 2011 and was quickly absorbed by a shoot-from-the-hipblogger community SCQ’s hesitant to readily associate with.

Manufactured or not,there was no denying Kaputt’s accomplishment or the prevailing oddity of DanBejar. It renewed my interest in Bejar’s songwriting for the first time sinceDestroyer’s Rubies in 2006 and gave me a rare horse to root for in the Polaris.Also, like Merriweather…, Kaputt was dangerously close to exhausting all of thesentiments and sonic trickery we considered fresh, in a way defining thestrengths and flaws of the year that was.

15.) Ravedeath, 1972 - Tim Hecker (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

Ravedeath, 1972 / Dropped Pianos

Tim Hecker

Kranky Records.

Original SCQ Review.

(This blurb was first published on No Ripcord...)

It’s easy to see thefavoritism playing out between consumers and entertainment technology thesedays. High-definition televisions and three-dimensional movie theatres havequickly become universal quality standards whereas, in the same breath, lousilyripped mp3s and torrents have become the musical norm. The record industry isin a state of collapse – sure, we all know that – but so is the value of musicas art.

No album points thisout as hypnotically as Ravedeath, 1972. Using a two-day church organ session asfoundation, Tim Hecker took these twelve compositions to dust, disassemblingtheir solemn appeal (available on the companion release Dropped Pianos) andbattering them with serrated, digital fuzz. Despite such a minimal palette,what blossoms from Hecker’s decay is nothing short of earthshaking; a darklypersuasive tapestry of abused sounds rising for redemption.

Of course, all ofthe loose music-versus-culture theory stirred up by Hecker’s approach wouldmean nothing without his melodic spare parts assembling into somethingcompelling. And luckily for us, Ravedeath, 1972’s conflicted heart is downrightintoxicating.

14.) Looping State Of Mind - The Field (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

Looping State OfMind

The Field

Kompakt Records.

SCQ Rating: 83%

From Here We GoSublime first caught my ear in the spring of 2007, and I was hooked. I recallmyself languishing in a suburb outside Halifax for two weeks, endlesslystreaming top cuts like ‘A Paw In My Face’ and trying to track the disc down indowntown shoppes. By the time I finally found a copy, two months later inToronto, and brought it home, the magic had evaporated – as though Axel Willner’srepetition bludgeoned the fragile hooks to oblivion.

Given that theField’s core approach hasn’t deviated over the four years since that debut,it’s a bit bewildering to concede just how good Looping State Of Mind is. Sure,2009’s Yesterday & Today found Willner expanding his songwriting, filling generousrun-times with slow-building hooks that wouldn’t let go. But Looping State OfMind goes several steps further, delivering Willner’s most accomplished setyet. The soundscapes vary in feel and texture but all are seductive, from ‘It’sUp There’’s chilly blur to ‘Then It’s White’’s aftermath of piano-ledvocal-clips, and the beats on each track illustrate as much depth as they dotempo.

As with any Field album,patience proves a virtue as Looping State Of Mind continues Willner’s habit ofplacing a giant, repetitive zone-out into the sequencing (‘Arpeggiated Love’).It may not undergo any sudden shifts over its eleven-minutes, but it doesintensify in a way that rewards the enduring listener. And for those of uswho’ve stood by The Field throughout his beige-adorned trilogy, there’s littlequestioning that Looping State Of Mind has been a sixty-three minute revelationworth waiting for.

13.) Wit's End - Cass McCombs (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

Wit’s End

Cass McCombs

Domino Records.

Original SCQ Review.

Well I’d had a lotto drink; that should be mentioned forthright. We’d celebrated a friend’sbirthday all afternoon and evening until only a late-night bus – the last oneavailable – dropped me off about thirty minutes from my apartment. The usually hecticfour lanes of St. Laurent stretched vacantly and the May breeze felt mild asCass McCombs attuned my ears to his slow allure. A sound patient but rewarding,Wit’s End turned my half hour journey into an hour-long promenade which reveledthe full sorrow of ‘Memory Stain’ as much as the tender romance of ‘The LonelyDoll’.

That walk wouldn’thave felt so majestic had I even half-liked Wit’s End beforehand. But I didn’t;on initial spins, this record seemed like a bore, with ‘County Line’ inparticular sounding like some anemic AM Radio misfire from the 70s. But that’sprecisely the track that wormed passed my skepticism while I sat inebriated onthe bus; the quirks of its dated arrangement began to shape a bittersweetmomentum and McCombs’ mournful vocals create this immensely fragile chorus.From there I was hooked.

Which brings me backto the beginning: I’d had a lot to drink and the languid, depressing Wit’s Endshould’ve been the last album on my iPod to sustain a late-night buzz. It’sslow – by god it’s slow – but McCombs’ ornate arrangements and distinctivevocals stand in sharp contrast to the shallow balladry of the averagesinger-songwriter. Wit’s End isn’t about stroking the catharsis that feelsneglected at a given time; it’s about uncovering the emotions you’d forgotten that matter.

12.) The King Of Limbs - Radiohead (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:26:00.000-08:00

The King Of Limbs

Radiohead

Self-released/XL Records.

Original SCQ Review.

(This blurb was first published on No Ripcord...)

Radiohead told theworld they were going to release The King Of Limbs on Saturday. For whateverreason, they set it free on Friday instead. That quibble of dates may read asinsignificant but rest assured: in a musical climate fraught with leaks and theincreasingly topical argument that full-length records are an antiquated formatfor pop art, Radiohead are worth waiting for. People attacked the band forbeing rich enough to afford the luxury of releasing their own music, for beingreclusive amid the age of Twitter and for having only thirty-some minutes ofmusic to show for four years away. I mean, the gall!

Admittedly I, likemost fans, felt a tad slighted when hopes of a King Of Limbs II evaporated andthe usual b-sides bundle was replaced with a slew of mostly forgettableremixes. But why were these people – myself included – sleuthing the digitalavenues of fan-sites as though this shit was The Da Vinci Code? Because,despite its failure to reach for the grandeur of previous classics, The King OfLimbs remains a fascinating exercise in pattern-breaking; bizarrely sequenced,melodically brittle but ferociously rhythmic, and surprisingly humble. Althoughits reception revealed a bitter group of fair-weather fans looking to defineand embellish the record’s flaws, the faithful remember that Radiohead madetheir legacy by defying expectations.

11.) The Wounded Beat - Mombi (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:21:00.000-08:00

The Wounded Beat

Mombi

Own Records.

Original SCQ Review.

On the morning Ileft for Sauble Beach, my friend texted me some choice lyrics from Mombi’s‘Cascade Cliffs’. By doing so he’d incepted my mind with the song’s achingundertow, which followed me over my hour-long wait at the bus station, anothersix hours as I traveled to Hamilton, and the time I spent wandering that city’scorridors waiting for my ride. Loud, open-window rock songs and laughterovertook our car trip but when we arrived to the coast, well after dark,‘Cascade Cliffs’ returned to me.

A melancholic heartthe size of The Wounded Beat is difficult to fully shake. It scales over the listenerlike a slate-grey cloud and cloaks us in thick ambient mists (‘Monsoon’, ‘TheMisunderstanding’). Those impenetrable tracks armed in four-by-four beats offera bittersweet contrast to Mombi’s more acoustic fare, with ‘Glowing Beatdown’and ‘More Coal For the Miners and More Meals To Be Given Out’ encompassing therecord’s vast plain of introspection. What stands on its own as a solid albumis deepened greatly by well-known names guiding The Wounded Beat’s sound: KeithKenniff (Helios) on production duties and Taylor Deupree, who mastered thedisc. With such a crack team collaborating here, it’s no wonder even the lesserhighlights on Mombi’s debut manage to cling to our memories so resolutely. Abeautiful heartbreak of a record.

Mombi - The Wounded Beat

10.) Plays Thelma - Benoît Honoré Pioulard (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

Plays Thelma

Benoît Honoré Pioulard

Desire Path Records.

Original SCQ Review.

Returning to normalcy after my wedding had the vague air of coming back into consciousness after a severepanic attack; in the aftermath of all of the activity and sensory overload,one’s overtaken by a relief that elicits a short-lived serenity. Getting backto a regular routine after all of the wedding planning put me in a peacefulframe of mind that desired only restrained music.

With Plays Thelma,so began my post-classical autumn. Its MP3s were waiting when we pulled in fromthe airport and became my go-to record the following morning, basking in themorphing character of ‘Malick’ and ‘Calder’ as I passed changing foliage.Pioulard designed this mini-album as an imaginary place – “a lake within ahaze” – and these compositions, often string-laden or tempered by found-sounds,succeed in mapping out a quaint territory for the mind to wander over and over.In the process, these songs thread together my favourite ambient piece of 2011but, what’s more: Thelma became my sanctuary.

9.) Street Halo EP - Burial (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

Street Halo EP

Burial

Hyperdub Records.

Original SCQ Review

People consumed thisEP as a taster to some imminently announced Untrue successor that, so far,hasn’t come to be. While I agree with the notion that three tracks clocking inat a combined twenty-minutes can’t quell the anticipation for a full-lengthrelease, Street Halo EP comes damned close. Neither the title track nor ‘StolenDog’ ever strays from their dancefloor genes, instead building a terse moodbeneath Burial’s gritty hooks. And sandwiched between these new dubstepclassics lies the sensual ‘NYC’, which percolates the walls of a room with arainy night ambience. There’s more than enough beauty in these three longer-than-averagepieces to swim in.

Word has it thatearly 2012 will see Burial return with yet another new EP. Details are scarceat the moment but, if Street Halo is anything to base our hopes on, it looks tobe another triumphant year for one of electronic music’s chief mysteries.

8.) All of It Was Mine - The Weather Station (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:08:00.000-08:00

All Of It Was Mine

The Weather Station

You’ve ChangedRecords.

Original SCQ Review

August was turningover when All Of It Was Mine arrived in my mailbox. The evenings were finallycooling down and I’d welcomed it in to flutter the windowsill pages of the SCQoffice. I was due to marry in a month – our apartment was piled with diagramsof tables, waiting envelopes, and empty formal wear – but Tamara Lindeman keptme calm. As I escaped into the office to listen to music by the glow of a faintlamp, it was relieving to hear Lindeman absorbing the silence of her openkitchen (on ‘Came So Easy’) or yearning for connection over telephone lines(‘Running Around Asking’). I was basking in solitude, hers and mine.

The first night Iheard All Of It Was Mine, I probably played the whole thing through at leastfour times. It was easy, in part because the recording’s only half an hour long,but mostly on account of its comforting eloquence. Like an autumnal blanket ora bedroom corner one flocks to after hard days, All Of It Was Mine puts all ofthe daily wrestling we endure into serene perspective. “It was hard but I foundmy place,” Lindeman repeats over the crashing ‘Nobody’ and it’s a catharticrefrain she has truly earned.

7.) As High As the Highest Heavens... - True Widow (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T08:03:00.000-08:00

As High As theHighest Heavens and From the Center To the Circumference of the Earth

True Widow

Kemado Records.

Original SCQ Review

On the eve of a tripto New Hampshire, I discovered True Widow’s new record streaming on NPR. Thanksto the Texas band’s PR, SCQ had As High As the Highest Heavens And From theCenter To the Circumference Of the Earth downloaded in time for the earlyspring visit. Sometimes in life we find experiences that were meant to collide;listening to the bone-trembling low-end of True Widow among New Hampshire’srocky, mountain-covered terrain was certainly one of those mergers.

Although originallysucked in by the ferocious feedback of ‘Jackal’, it was the trio’s melodicfrays – existing on the edge of their heaviness – that kept bringing me back.At once chugging and harmonious, ‘Skull Eyes’ perhaps best represents thepop-like extreme of True Widow’s sound. What dominates the rest of the albumare slow-core meditations expounded by sleepy boy/girl vocals and imaginativesongwriting. ‘Blooden Horse’ encircles a more straightforward metal songmasterfully, with crisp extended passages that feed the song’s deep lungs,whereas ‘NH’ (yeah – no shit) adds subtle production on its burdened chorusuntil it approaches redemptive glory. When it’s finally said and done, TrueWidow earn this record’s epic title.

6.) Hysterical - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

Hysterical

ClapYour Hands Say Yeah

V2 Records.

Original SCQ Review

It’s a tremendousfeeling when a band or artist you’ve stood behind for years truly surprisesyou. Throughout a given year, the average committed music-listener willanticipate five to ten releases from bands or artists that might crack theirdesert-island lists; I’m talking about the musicians you buy without havingheard a lick of their new album – nay, the musicians you buy because you’verefused yourself the opportunity to sample anything in advance.

From my pocket ofpersonal favourite bands, 2011 revealed a few eagerly anticipated “deafpurchases”: Wilco, Dog Day, Ryan Adams, Matthew Good – artists I’ve followedsince I was, by all accounts, a different human being. None of these artistslanded on SCQ’s list, despite their name-power attempting to soften the bias inme. Among the top tier bands that did make 2011’s year-end grade is Clap YourHands Say Yeah, whose Hysterical I awaited with fingers crossed. It wasn’t afear of repeating Some Loud Thunder that concerned me – I, for one, thought thatsophomore made the band’s catalog more interesting – it was a fear that thecritical disappointment from that release might’ve driven CYHSY to be somethingthey aren’t. Although the synth-y gloss could be acting as a defense mechanism,Hysterical presents that same band everyone loved in 2005 firing on allcylinders.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah "Same Mistake"

5.) I Found Your Faces of Montreal - You Are My Symphonic (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T07:53:00.000-08:00

I Found Your FacesOf Montreal

You Are My Symphonic

Bandcamp.

Original SCQ Review

Montreal-basedelectronic artists really captured SCQ’s attention this year but one release stoodout from the pack. A conceptual elegy to his island city. I Found Your Faces OfMontreal traces songwriter Vishal Kassie’s journey from his formative years inToronto to his home in Quebec’s largest city. Instead of going the SufjanStevens’ route by using historical quirks for inspiration, Kassie ties hisexperiences in with the city’s culture and geography.

Emphasizing emotionsover infrastructure is a wise move for Kassie, who crafts a more introspectiverecord by instilling I Found Your Faces Of Montreal with so many relatable ritesof passage. Like a travel notebook enduring constant change, You Are MySymphonic’s songs brim with dislocated passion; the sort that will shake somelisteners but hearten those with the capacity for it. Expect this album tocontinue building steam into 2012.

Autumn Will Fall InLove from You Are MySymphonic on Vimeo.

4.) Was I the Wave? - Miracle Fortress (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

Was I the Wave?

Miracle Fortress

Secret City Records.

Original SCQ Review

(This blurb was first published in CMG...)

Even without its aqua-drenched cover-art or suggestive title, Was I the Wave? feels like a steep plunge. We linger briefly on the coastline of ‘Awe’ admiring its ripples but once the funky bass and thick, synth-y undertow of “Tracers” rises up, we’re swallowed into a forty-minute surge that consistently feels closer to twenty, where Miracle Fortress (Graham Van Pelt) commands addictive electro-pop choruses and understated sound-experiments at whim. They organize like the invisible gears of a tide, rolling back in out-of-focus segues one minute before crashing upon our laps as full-blown rave-ups the next. Over its peaks, Was I the Wave? escapes its colder currents and takes in some vitamin D, with “Everything Works” and “Miscalculations” basking in some upbeat, confessional pop hooks. By the time “Until” flutters to a close on sanguine guitar lines, we’re marooned somewhere between Van Pelt’s dancefloor and daydreams, trying to regulate our temperatures.

Watery metaphors aside, Was I the Wave?’s lake-fresh vibe was also backed by circumstantial elements – namely a lot of rain. Released amid a torrential downpour that hovered over Van Pelt’s Montreal on April 25th, Was I the Wave? perfectly sums up the reinvigorating promise of Spring; when April’s thaw uncovers matted greenery we nearly forgot and the desire to blare electro-pop anthems from an open-window overwhelms. This record can cure the woes of any climate.

3.) SMM: Context - Various (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

SMM: Context

Various

Ghostly International

Original SCQ Review.

The very firstcompilation to land on SCQ’s Top Twenty of any given year fell into my handspurely by luck. The gifted composer Kyle Bobby Dunn, who released thegorgeously understated Ways Of Meaning in March, introduced me to the projectheaded up by Jeff Owens of Ghostly International, but I had no idea the effectit would have on my coming year.

When a longstandingstreak of writer’s block ended this Spring and I began writing poetry again,SMM: Context extended its post-review shelf-life by worming its way into thebackground of those daily sessions. My gravitating towards the compilationbegan with Dunn’s ‘Runge’s Last Stand’, then expanded to Goldmund’s ‘Motion’and Peter Broderick’s ‘Pause’ and Jacaszek’s ‘Elegia’. Overplaying thosefavourites always led to the accidental spins of surrounding tracks – likeManual’s ‘Three Parts’ and Rafael Anton Irisarri’s ‘Moments Descend On MyWindowpane’ – which soon became irresistible mood pieces as well.

As seasons changedand my habit birthed the beginnings of a full-on manuscript, SMM: Context grewfrom a reliable tapestry of ambience, post-classical and electro-acousticsoundscapes into a one-of-a-kind project that saw each subgenre absorbedseamlessly into a greater whole. Despite the talent attached to SMM: Context,the roster never outshines the material submitted. Ghostly Internationalcompletely outdid itself in 2011 and as if the plethora of excellent recordsthey released of late weren’t proof enough, my anticipation for a secondhelping of SMM: Context – a compliation, for god’s sake – should say it all.

2.) Ascension - Jesu (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

Ascension

Jesu

Caldoverde Records.

Original SCQ Review.

Hearing Jesu for thefirst time was revelatory, in large part because I’d never experienced a soundso brash yet seductive. Justin Broadrick’s studio approach to metal wascertainly loud but his focus sought expansiveness instead of sheer volume.Giant webs of treated guitar bend around you, enticing any latent nostalgia orfrustration bubbling underneath, and revealing emotions you hadn’t paid noticeto.

Ascension, thelong-awaited full-length follow-up to 2007’s Conqueror, makes its trade byexposing emotion. Every song but the closing title track sports not only a massivearmor but the most delicate, melodic underbelly. Detuned acoustics feed dramathrough the blustery opener ‘Fools’, a yawning ambience offsets the heavinessof ‘Small Wonder’, and a disembodied choral adds to the awe-like intensity of‘Birth Day’. Even with the inclusion of rocker ‘Sedatives’, Ascension remainssuper sludgy with long passages dedicated to Broadrick’s patient,earth-shuddering sadness. But like the best Jesu release (in my opinion, that’sLifeline EP), that sadness comes equipped here with a palpable sense of liberation.Acquiring the taste for Jesu may be an uphill battle, but the rewards withinthe hour-long Ascension are worth fighting for.

1.) It's All True - Junior Boys (Top 20 Albums of 2011)

2011-12-26T07:34:00.000-08:00

It’s All True

Junior Boys

Domino Records.

Original CMG Review.

The year’s bestrecord turns out to be 2011’s biggest surprise as well. Playing follow-up to thelackluster Begone Dull Care – a record I criticized enough right here – It’sAll True had the odious decoration of being the first Junior Boys release Iwasn’t particularly excited to hear. The advanced streaming of ‘Banana Ripple’ and ‘EP’ hadfailed to grab my interest, while the duo’s performance in Ottawa a week beforethe LP’s release, impressive though it was, didn’t have me racing for the albumleak when I got home.

Instead I opted tocover It’s All True for CokeMachineGlow because, swamped in theresponsibilities of a new job, I was eager to take on a band whose catalog Iwas familiar with. But once I’d heard ‘Playtime’, an extended but lush slow-jamballsy enough to drop so awkwardly early in the album’s sequencing, I knew I’dstumbled upon more than an easy assignment. If ‘You’ll Improve Me’ regainstheir bubbly pop single aesthetic effortlessly, ‘Kick The Can’ finds JuniorBoys flirting with the progressive territory of label and tour-mate Four Tet.

And even ifGreenspan has grown increasingly confident in his crooning, which places addedemphasis on the material’s verse/chorus approach, It’s All True retains thesame isolated strains that marked the first two Junior Boys records. No matterhow breezily ‘A Truly Happy Ending’ and ‘Itchy Fingers’ seem to skip along, they’reintensified by chilling undercurrents that crystallize Greenspan’s yearninginto something at once static but spontaneous.

So why then isJunior Boys’ fourth full-length still a surprise candidate for album of theyear six months after first relishing in its brilliance? In short, It’s All Trueisn’t a statement record. It bears no heavy premise or curious backstory. Itpromises no change in sonic approach and boasts no interesting influences.Hands tied, Domino Records promoted it as 'a new Junior Boys record' and that’s preciselywhat It’s All True is. And in the aftermath of hype and adoration, it justmight be their best.

SCQ's Honorable Mentions of 2011

2011-12-19T16:21:00.000-08:00

In 2010 SkeletonCrew Quarterly broke tradition by expanding its annual Top Twenty Albums list to aTop Thirty. At the time it felt like a necessary indication of growth; SCQ wasconsuming a great deal of music so it made sense to expand the site’s year-endaccolades. But even as I hastily posted them last Christmas, something wasamiss. All of the well-meaning excuses I could think of didn’t negate the factthat I was indeed diluting my year-end list. Those additional ten albums thatmade the grade for 2010’s feature are still deserving in my mind but they incidentallylowered the bar. At best, those titles should’ve been Honorable Mentions.

So here we are. Theworthy events that slowed SCQ’s pace in 2011 have at least restored my appealfor tradition, as this year’s Top Twenty Albums list has proven competitive rightup to its final deliberations. I’ve listened to just as much – if not more –music this year but written about less, and I’d like to think that anythingworth writing about either has been, or is awaiting last minute coverage on SCQ’sTop Twenty. Surprises abound and, no, they don’t feature Adele.

SCQ’s Top TwentyAlbums of 2011 will post by the end of this week. In the meantime, here are thetop five records that fell just short of Skeleton Crew Quarterly’s Top Twenty(arranged alphabetically by artist name).

Cheers,

~ SCQ

Glimmer - Jacaszek (2011 Honorable Mentions)

2011-12-19T15:41:00.000-08:00

Glimmer

Jacaszek

GhostlyInternational.

SCQ Rating: 81%

A title like Glimmerseems all too predictable at a time when chill-wave and its mutations continueto shave every instrumental grain down to a sleek, 80s-tinged sliver. WithJacaszek, we know better – especially on the heels of ‘Elegia’, the beautifulpiece he contributed to Ghostly International’s SMM: Context earlier in theyear.

An elusive unfurlingof post-classical plodding, Glimmer gathers its shine from infrequent refractionsof light touching suffocated, cave-like dwellings; the sort of place you scope outwith your palms. It bears the conflicted soul of a left-field electronic record but notnecessarily the make-up, with ‘Goldengrove’ establishing a terrain of tender harpsichord and bass clarinet. A rustle of textures pervades, often distortingthe perceived pace of ‘Dare-gale’ and storming over ‘Evening Strains To BeTime’s Vast’, but it never dominates a record so protective of its negativespace. Even a piece with no obvious arc at all (‘Seidenen Stille’) inspiresthanks to its transient, shape-shifting arrangement.

Providing a raredose of organic richness to the electronic fringe, Jacaszek’s craft is all nuance,texture and grain - kinetic sensibilities that unveil Glimmer as a previouslyundiscovered playground.

Japanese For Beginners - Near the Parenthesis (2011 Honorable Mentions)

2011-12-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

Japanese ForBeginners

Near the Parenthesis

n5MD Records.

Original SCQ Review.

Japanese ForBeginners is seamless almost to a fault. Led via piano but operating on a series ofkeys, beats and ambient swells, Tim Arndt’s song-cycle flows like a continuousbubbling-up of tear-inducing melodies and intricate drum-loops. The set feelswhole in a way that track titles, suggestive though they may be, can’t reallyslice up. Was that ‘The Rose and Burial’ or ‘The First Surface’ playing? Don't worry, it’shard to separate.

Now if that sort ofhomogeny doesn’t sound appealing, you've probably yet to give Japanese ForBeginners the benefit of the doubt. Here’s a record that dives straight into the lush details of FourTet’s Rounds and then stitches a series of emotional sonatas into the flurry.Track titles, suggestive though they may be, can’t function on the level ofArndt’s piano progressions, which build in momentum (‘The Listening Surround’)and fall back into ambient pools (‘Country Of True Wonder’). It’s undoubtedly“one-note” but in a classical sense that expands and contracts contently in the background. Wasthere room for Near the Parenthesis to add more conflict amid the beautifulelements at play? Of course, but then I might not have listened to it in a state of hypnosis all year.

Sleep Beneath the Willow - Daniel Romano (2011 Honorable Mentions)

2011-12-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

Sleep Beneath theWillow

Daniel Romano

You’ve ChangedRecords.

Original SCQ Review.

There aren’t manysongwriters thriving in Canada’s independent scene who cite Conway Twitty as amajor inspiration, but that’s just one of countless reasons Daniel Romano isso irreplaceable. Every project Romano has worked on this year – he’s kepthimself very busy – wields a freshness and honesty that couldn’t bemanufactured, and Sleep Beneath the Willow follows that mantra to a tee.

A country recordthat thrives on deep cuts, Romano laments heartbreak and redemption over burlyguitar, bittersweet pedal steel and distant chorals. The subdued ‘Knowing ThatYou’re Mine’ and ‘I Won’t Let It’ likely won't stick out in your mind on thefirst spin, but they’re the glue that makes Sleep Beneath the Willow soauthentically dour. And thankfully, Romano spreads those warm but harsh songsaround should-be classics like ‘Hard On You’ and ‘There Are Lines In My Face’.Somehow, inexplicably, songwriting of this caliber has yet to catapult Romano upthe international country scaffolding but rest assured: a song like ‘TimeForgot (to Change My Heart)’ can’t stay hidden forever. And Sleep Beneath theWillow, I truly believe, will find a larger following in the years to come.

Culture Of Fear - Thievery Corporation (2011 Honorable Mentions)

2011-12-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

Culture Of Fear

Thievery Corporation

ESL Records.

SCQ Rating: 83%

It isn’tparticularly cool to like Thievery Corporation. Don’t get me wrong: thechill-out two-piece are, by all accounts, more popular now than they’ve everbeen but through dedicated pockets of fans that lounge comfortably outside theprogressive scene. And for good reason: this Washington DC based duo has beenrefining the same predictable down-tempo for years, with each album adding avariety of world music embellishments that nonetheless congeal into the band’sdecade-strong sound. What’s worse is that reputation for being refiners asopposed to innovators will keep Culture Of Fear a secret among super-fans,which is all kinds of wrong.

Opening on thefamiliar premise of appealing break-beats, a soulful vocal performance from afemale I’ve never heard of, and a decent freestyle about the ills of our socialclimate, the couplet of ‘Web Of Deception’ and the title track prepare me for atypical post-Cosmic Game outing: guest-star heavy and emphatic on grooves. ButCulture Of Fear expands with a celestial ease from that point, offeringchill-out classics (‘Take My Soul’) and devious reggae dancehall beats (‘FalseFlag Dub’) that force me to reevaluate how uncool I’d deemed 2002 the past fewyears. So, yes, Thievery’s latest resonates like a throw-back to the days whendown-tempo ruled the electronic scene, but that’s an accolade for the potencyof songs like ‘Fragments’ and ‘Stargazer’.

By revisiting theless collaborative years that spawned The Mirror Conspiracy and The Richest ManIn Babylon, the duo sound more focused and confident than ever. A powerfulblend of heady dub, Parisian lounge and shimmering atmosphere, Culture Of Fearshould reinstate both Thievery Corporation and down-tempo as fashionable and,yes, cool.

The Whole Love - Wilco (2011 Honorable Mentions)

2011-12-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

The Whole Love

Wilco
dBpm Records.

SCQ Rating: 80%

Skeleton Crew Quarterly arrived late to Wilco’s adventurous return, and backwards. On a rocky, unmarked highway that winded the roofless rest-stops outside Montego Bay, Jamaica, I let closing track ‘One Sunday Morning’ fill my heart; from there I was sneaking my way through The Whole Love’s back-door. As such, I’ve had a hard time bonding with these songs as honestly as I had with, say, A Ghost Is Born. Although my wedding preparations and honeymoon no doubt clouded the record’s hype and release, it’s just as likely that my personal divide exists because The Whole Love is downright bizarre.

And thank the heavens. I mean, I don’t think I could’ve swallowed another bland placebo on the scale of Wilco (The Album) but a return to the convoluted pop labyrinth of Summerteeth is something else entirely. Don’t let ‘Art Of Almost’ have you believing that Wilco are going off the deep end; in reality, it’s a seven-minute knot of red herrings – electronic rhythms, unusually hip discord, and a bewildering guitar freak-out – that nonetheless primes us for the unknown. Like the Jamaican hills our small convoy tripped along, The Whole Love’s momentum never settles amid dreamy ballads (‘Sunloathe’) and wide-eyed roots-rock (‘Born Alone’). In fact, Wilco’s habit of constantly combing our expectations with one song before rubbing against the grain with the next creates more friction than the record needs (really, does ‘Capitol City’ fit in anywhere on this disc?). But friction proves far more interesting than the band’s complacently mellow stuff, and Wilco scopes out new songwriting avenues with combustible results.

More than anything I'm just excited to hear Wilco hungry again, spinning their creative wheels as opposed to resting on lazy laurels. That surprise, in and of itself, won’t be enough to rival the band’s previous classics but The Whole Love offers more than its share of quality cuts to suggest that Wilco aren’t hanging their American rock crowns on MOR rock quite yet.

Free Thyself From the Fetters Of This World - The Hidden Words

2011-12-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

Free Thyself From the Fetters Of This World

The Hidden Words
Bandcamp.

SCQ Rating: 78%

Religious music exists within a bubble so stubborn, its genre has literally become known as “religious music”. That's vexing, and just about rivals the non-descript “world music” for the title of broadest classification ever. It may seem pleasingly transparent – helpful, even – to label bands that boast, say, a Christian message as “Christian rock” but doing so usually polarizes non-Christians from listening in. Okay, so maybe the bubble isn’t as stubborn as the atmosphere surrounding it, but The Hidden Words have certainly pierced through a barrier or two in delivering Free Thyself From the Fetters Of this World.

The Montreal-based band doesn’t only take inspiration from a sacred text of the Baha’i Faith, they transcribe straight from the author’s pen, using the tablets of Baha’u’llah – the independent religion’s chief prophet – to craft verses and melodies loaded with mysticism. Those unfamiliar with the Baha’i cause might consider such clear religious content marginalizing but these songs speak of love, of connection, and of aspiring to better oneself. Preaching the Faith’s principles is strictly forbidden in the eyes of Baha’is and, fittingly, The Hidden Words aren’t looking to convert listeners over the course of thirty-some minutes. Instead, the collective (fronted by ex-Unicorns songwriter Alden Penner) compels listeners with arrangements that temper yearningly over violin and quiet percussion (‘Dis’) or burst forward in full-band glory (as with opener ‘Paradise Of the Placeless’).

Their folk-y blend (which alongside tasteful guitar often employs mandolin, tuba, vibraphone and keys) skips over musical boundaries, incorporating a varied mix of international styles while Penner’s crooning hops a disparate selection of languages. On the merits of its compositions alone, Free Thyself From the Fetters Of This World deserves ample recognition for welcoming listeners of all tastes and backgrounds to share in the same sweet celebration. Had the Hidden Words not named their band after Baha’u’llah’s text or incorporated its words for lyrics, this full-length would still be a Baha’i-worthy piece of work. Handcuffed to neither "religious" nor "world music", The Hidden Words should attract spiritual and secular ears alike.

All Will Prosper - Goldmund

2011-12-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

All Will Prosper

Goldmund
Unseen Music.

SCQ Rating: 77%

No matter how you prefer to see Keith Kenniff – as the young beat-maker behind Helios’ soundscapes or as post-classical’s rising star Goldmund – the emergence of All Will Prosper doesn’t quite gel. For one thing, this collection of Civil War standards fits neither guise, gravitating closer to Goldmund’s catalog, I suppose, because of its more traditional approach. And secondly, what purist of electronic music or modern classical really wants to hear another take of ‘Amazing Grace’?

As it turns out, I do. Many of these songs bare familiar melodies – some of which we unknowingly riffed upon as children – but, like Christmas songs, it’s easy to let them drift in one ear and out the other. Kenniff doesn’t try to modernize or stamp his mark on tracks like ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home’ or ‘The Death of General Wolfe’; in fact, one couldn’t even label Goldmund’s versions as interpretations. With his appropriately folk-y arsenal, Kenniff lets these timeless songs breathe as they naturally evolved over decades, using a humble mix of guitar and piano.

And maybe it’s because Kenniff doesn’t shy away from the stateliness of these songs that All Will Prosper sounds right at home in the heart of December. Just as it’s easy to tear down Christmas songs as consumerist nonsense, it’s effortless to turn down a set of heavily traditional war-tunes. But their ubiquity has been earned for a reason; these are songs nearly capable of performing themselves and, fittingly, Kenniff’s authorship decidedly takes the backseat. A touch of Helios shimmer permeates the cresting piano of ‘The Ballad Of Barbara Allen’ and twinkles like stardust overtop ‘Shenandoah’ but all for the benefit of the composition and history Kenniff adores so much.

Ashes & Fire - Ryan Adams

2011-12-06T17:02:00.000-08:00

Ashes & Fire

Ryan Adams
Pax-Am Records.

SCQ Rating: 71%

When you see the stilted photograph of Adams checking his watch inside the sleeve of Ashes & Fire, it’s hard not to contemplate time. More specifically, that time Adams was photographed sitting with a cigarette and a watch clearly stating 4:20 – a shot ultimately chosen for his record cover. Now that’s all kinds of ironic when you consider how heavily Easy Tiger was touted as Adams’ sober album. But then so was III/IV, the Cardinals-assisted archival release that organized a bevy of tunes ultimately shelved in favor of Easy Tiger’s folky ruminations. With all of these records showing lineage to Adams getting clean, one has to wonder why Cardinology - dropped smack-dab in the middle of this string of releases - got left out of the PR-context game.

So what’s new on Adams’ third "sober record" in four years? Well, for one thing, he’s committed; no more cigarettes, no unhealthy band dynamics, no stressful press obligations and, as far as I can see, no nerdy marijuana shout-outs. Likewise, the troubadour has sidestepped the impulses that usually resulted in out-of-place oddities like ‘Halloweenhead’ or ‘The Sadness’. In place of his contentious influences and ADD behavior, Ashes & Fire offers an about-face on aging that most songwriters in their mid-thirties would prefer to remain in denial of. Miles from the artful albeit strained conceptual vibe of 29, Adams’ previous rite-of-passage LP, this new collection streamlines his penchant for acoustic ditties with universal lyrics and, production-wise, an uninterrupted quiet. Compositionally, Adams remains well-versed and prepared for song-craft of this focus; I mean, how many of his deep-cut highlights – ‘Amy’, ‘Cry On Demand’, ‘Sylvia Plath’, 'I See Monsters' and ‘Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.’ – arrive bearing his intimate knack for introspection? But where those songs always acted as moments of clarity realized amidst a hangover (be it emotional or physical), the whole forty minutes of restraint on Ashes & Fire offer little in contrast. Without a scalding track of biting lyricism or tight riffs, Ashes & Fire’s wealth of tender reflections only knows how to mellow.

The songwriting remains inspired, even if one suspects that Adams has penned these songs for NPR-approved mass consumption. After a rousing opening couplet of ‘Dirty Rain’ and the title track, Ashes & Fire digs under the duvet folds for the comforting balladry of ‘Come Home’ and ‘Invisible Riverside’. Still, it takes the record’s best moment to illustrate just what’s wrong with Ashes & Fire; as ‘Do I Wait’ presents a rare glimpse of conflicted emotion and – even rarer – an electric guitar solo, it startles the record with renewed purpose. There was a time when Adams’ conviction couldn’t be questioned but, for all of his newfound focus and accessibility, Ashes & Fire doesn’t sound subdued because of its focused palette. It sounds subdued because Adams’ approach rarely deviates, as if he’s so complacent he can't help going through the motions. So it’s effortless, yes, and listenable too. By Adams' standards though, "listenable" roughly equates to "inconsequential".

Marine Dreams - Marine Dreams

2011-12-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

Marine Dreams

Marine Dreams
You’ve Changed Records.

SCQ Rating: 79%

If ever there was an overt positive to Years (By One Thousand Fingertips) standing as Attack In Black’s final release, it’s that the album’s muddy merger of songwriting talents became a launching pad for some of Canada’s best independent songwriters. Spencer Burton went on to draft the atmospheric folk of Grey Kingdom while Daniel Romano – through his You’ve Changed label – has been responsible for approximately 20% of all good 2011 releases. Yet another encouraging footnote now rises up from Attack In Black’s bittersweet status in the form of Marine Dreams, a record that explains Ian Kehoe’s silence these past years while offering these four lads the opportunity to join forces again.

Indeed, each of Attack In Black’s members contribute to the distortion-laced choral of Marine Dreams but there’s little doubt that Kehoe’s steering the ship. His somewhat nasally command on the vocals gives listeners little time to bask in the past (ed. note: I hadn’t heard Kehoe’s voice since 2009) when present rockers like ‘Fold the Sky’ and ‘Season In Hell’ capture such an excitingly raw nerve. Electric guitars bare a primeval discord that nonetheless compliments Marine Dreams’ melodic heart, allowing the slacker beat of ‘New Decade’ and sneaking bass of ‘I Can Laugh’ to crest on smartly wielded feedback. Above all else, Kehoe’s live-off-the-floor sound thrives on clear production, which allows the dynamics of these songs to really stand strong.

The latest fruit from Attack In Black’s hiatus, Marine Dreams is a disciplined showing of force. Brash yet economic, almost every track explores melody and a looming grisliness to its fullest within a four-minute window. The lone exception, ‘Marine Dreams’, fittingly closes the disc in cymbal-crashing glory that feels epic, despite being maybe a minute longer than its neighbours. Ian – it’s good to have you back.

Dive - Tycho

2011-11-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

Dive

Tycho
Ghostly International.

SCQ Rating: 83%

As an umbrella word used to pigeonhole tastes, “independent rock” has always garnered the same crooked brow as when someone utters the term “electronica”. They’re both spineless indicators of underground leanings and loaded with presumptions; it was only a matter of time before they got in bed together. And as many indie-rock bands continue to flock toward electronic production techniques (not to mention major labels), the purpose of distinguishing between genres shrivels further. Many champion this congealing effect as though we listeners are breaking down stale and rigid markers of taste but it seems just as viable that the indie-rock-slash-electronica zenith reached maturation well before its commercial swan-dive, with everything that followed building toward a point of homogenous over-saturation.

Scott Hansen’s long-awaited full-length successor to Sunrise Projector restores walls that existed for a reason and bridges back to the aforementioned peak that gave us true hybridized marvels like A Strangely Isolated Place and Up In Flames. Arriving at the tail end of a year that has seen chill-wave written off yet secretly infiltrating independent pop music with its maximalist’s euphoria, Dive seems an unlikely enema; its songs composed of shimmering guitar tones and modern synth swells, its cover-art steeped in the sun-drenched nostalgia every laptop artist has been musing after. But Dive distinguishes itself on a song-by-song basis, whether it’s something explicit (like the tumbling melodic bubbles that accumulate over ‘A Walk’’s heart-racing arc) or an apparent detail (like how the drums in ‘Daydream’ act as both break-beats and real, lived-in rails of percussion). Throughout it all, Tycho remains sonically indebted to the original haze-makers Boards Of Canada but his songwriting approach rarely drifts into ethers; the atmospheric acoustics of ‘Coastal Brake’ latch onto a gorgeous dance pulse while the title track playfully adds then negates layers for a weaving, epic triptych.

Dive treads the grey area dividing a great many certainties, existing somewhere between Helios’ gentle electronic compositions and Cut/Copy’s rave-up anthems, at the fringe of Four Tet’s nostalgic moments and Ulrich Schnauss’ rock-inspired pushes. It would be wrong to call Dive an IDM album – let’s face it: it’s wrong to use the term IDM in the first place – but one can hear why people might choose to associate Tycho with that slice of electronica still unspoiled by the mainstream. Over optimistic cloud-surfing jams like ‘Hours’ and couch-melting beats as on ‘Adrift’, Dive’s palette remains a sparkling but insular one which builds a sanctuary for its listener over the course of fifty minutes. Perhaps that secluded feel is due to Tycho’s stable equilibrium; a discipline largely displaced by today’s trends which utilizes tasteful guitar on occasions that invigorate Hansen’s electronic-based mood.

Call it what you will: chillwave, “indie-tronica”, you name it. Attempting to classify Dive has been, for this writer, more of an appeal to understand what sets it so gloriously apart from the homogeny implicit to those genres. Because Dive has wits about it, not to mention a way of luring you on its starry-eyed, late-night cruises. It may have taken Hansen eight years to finish but his tardiness rewards with a modern record that brings back all of the magic and possibility inherent to his scene's once futurist ambitions.

Tycho - Coastal Brake by Tycho

Our Own Dream EP - Keep Shelly In Athens

2011-11-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

Our Own Dream EP

Keep Shelly In Athens
Forest Family Records.

SCQ Rating: 74%

Too few bands embrace the idea of anonymity these days. Interacting with fans has not only become as easy as clicking a mouse; some enthusiasts would swear it has become a requisite for bands to engage their followers on some sort of real-time platform. What’s marginalized amid the Twitter tweets and Facebook likes, however, isn’t the bands’ personality or opinions, it’s the music which should speak for itself. Keep Shelly In Athens is doing it right on several fronts; from their unenviable band-name to their bare-boned blog, the duo seeks only to share their creative pursuits.

And the best part of Our Own Dream EP being left to fend for itself: Keep Shelly In Athens says a thousand different things. After opener ‘Lazy Noon’ sends us on a throwback to lounge’s millennial hey-day, replete with crashing waves and female vocals in the far-off distance, we’re confronted by expansive walls of synth and processed beats which fuel the title track’s percolating drama. Tonally, these two tracks sum up a 180’ change in direction but, compared to what follows, ‘Lazy Noon’ and ‘Our Own Dream’ may as well be siblings. Such variety, including hip-hop beats and some intense guitar on ‘a) the rogue superhero (b) ready to pay the price’, may turn off electronic fans uninterested in dodging one curveball for another, but some of these surprises constitute the EP’s top moments. A remixed take on ‘California Birds’, which pits the duo against ABADABAD, proves captivating in the track’s tortured Robert Smith-esque delivery and moody low-end, while ‘DIY’ employs some punchy horns that mix well with its trance-like mass.

By maintaining such a loose grip on their sound and playing wildly outside of expectations, Keep Shelly In Athens can’t help but embody a less thrashing Crystal Castles. And just as that Toronto outfit’s first LP paved a thousand directions for the band to explore, Our Own Dream EP affords Keep Shelly In Athens a lot of wiggle room for future releases. Let’s hope this duo knows how to fill it out over the course of a full-length.

Next Stop: Tasseomancy (December 3rd, Ritual Nightclub)

2011-11-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

Ottawa, 2011: I’d just found a seat among First Baptist Church’s rows of pews when the stage darkened. I’d arrived to see Timber Timbre perform but moving in the manufactured dusk were two young women, each building fragile melodies from their guitars. Their surprise set couldn’t have suited Timber Timbre better. Not only did the duo dress the part –in black garb positively out of time – they summoned arrangements that authenticated the scene as more than rock and roll shtick. This was my first Tasseomancy experience; a display of tender but vaguely sinister songwriting that felt entirely timeless, as though sisters Sari and Romi Lightman were singing conduits from the days of medieval witchcraft (when Tasseomancy, a method of fortune-telling, was first established).

Currently on tour with Austra – whose debut Feel It Break was recently shortlisted for the Polaris prize – and Young Galaxy, Tasseomancy will be returning to our nation’s capital on December 3rd to play Ritual Nightclub. As if that stacked bill wasn’t enough, Sari and Romi will be lending their supernatural mood to Austra’s performance as backing vocalists in their tour band.

Check out the eerie video of Tasseomancy’s single ‘Heavy Sleep’ (from Ulalume) and get your tickets to the Ottawa show before they're sold out!

Hysterical - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

2011-11-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

Hysterical
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

V2 Records.

SCQ Rating: 85%

Although I wouldn’t go so far as to say that every Clap Your Hands Say Yeah fan spent four years anticipating a new record, I will argue that every fan spent four years reevaluating what sent the Philly five-piece off the rails. Some Loud Thunder and, more specifically, its reception made mincemeat of the first tried-and-true blog-band. And while that sort of terrifyingly quick rise and fall is deemed commonplace for bands here in 2011, the harsh dive brought on by Some Loud Thunder in early 2007 was unfairly embellished. A hiatus was announced, Ounsworth put out a solo album and certain members took to soundtrack work; the band splintered into different projects and years passed.

Of those four years, I’ve spent probably ten minutes in varied social circles either defending or confirming the existence of a second CYHSY record called Some Loud Thunder. A few rough cuts aside, the sophomore worked in nudging die-hard fans toward an even quirkier shade of pop than anything on 2005’s self-titled debut. Hysterical, perhaps unsurprisingly, finds the band offering refunds, backtracking on their erratic alleyways in favour of a full-blooded and comprehensive indie-rock record. The soaring synth and glimmering guitar filling opener ‘Same Mistake’ are no lark; Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have chosen to assimilate themselves to the whims of a musical climate still knee-deep in 80s pomp. It suits them quite well. A pretty nostalgia may cloud ‘Idiot’ and ‘Misspent Youth’ in thick production but the songs beneath maintain enough muscle to fend for themselves. Ounsworth crests his signature warble with impressive stateliness over ‘The Witness’ Dull Surprise’’s multitracked climax while ‘Into Your Alien Arms’ contains the most enjoyably discordant guitar solo of the entire CYHSY catalog.

The anxiety of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s bumpy ride informs Hysterical’s polished approach, sure, but Ounsworth and Co. have stepped up with some of their best material yet. Although the disc verges on the odd synth overdose, it’s the bands’ longstanding trademarks that ensure plentiful highlights. By the time the epic ‘Adam’s Plane’ crashes to a halt, it’s worth considering the weight and longevity of trends. The band’s debut was hindered by neither expectation nor trends; it simply popped up from the ether. Hysterical, on the other hand, shows up on the unfavorable side of time and buzz but proves every bit as thrilling.

To Destroy A City - To Destroy A City

2011-11-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

To Destroy A City

To Destroy A City
n5MD Records.

SCQ Rating: 74%

Even as an infant, post-rock earned its reputation through sheer force; a pulverizing instability that not only countered any safeguarded delicacy but assembled its own frightening beauty in the process. It’s natural that anything with a rising esteem should embrace its pop elements and, in that arc, post-rock was no different; greats like Mogwai and Sigur Ros culled their melodious accents, trimmed their sprawl and contracted once organic dynamics into muddy alt-rock choruses. Yes, the genre hadn’t a chance of surviving beyond its incubation period without such changes but it’s worth looking backward to ascertain how we ended up with To Destroy A City.

Since the mercurial rise that spawned Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven and Young Team, post-rock seems like it’s perpetually stranded at a crossroads; a junction that To Destroy A City doesn’t concern itself too much with. And I hardly blame the Chicago-based trio. Operating on the flipside of boundary-pushing bands like Tortoise or The Pattern Theory, To Destroy A City makes sweeping electronic post-rock with the shimmering beauty requisite for n5MD’s approval. Electronic keys create syncopated codas that are swiftly swallowed by the guitar growl of ‘Before the Outside’s Gone’ while piano drifts elegantly over some teasing shoegaze textures on ‘March’.

The debut displays a knack for slow-burning narratives that needn’t exploit ear-shredding force but it falters in pinpointing To Destroy A City’s stakes. These songs articulate well the idea that post-rock can be completely functional as emotive, beautiful soundscapes – Hell, ‘Goodbye, Dear Friend’ goes one further by besting Explosions In the Sky at their own game – but To Destroy A City show the most promise when aiming for more than tasteful mimicry. (Don’t get me wrong: sounding like Lights Out Asia is a serious compliment but I sense a greater purpose for this trio.) Interrupting their blank slate with the spoken word assisted ‘Ilium’ and the four-by-four beats on ‘The Marvels Of Modern Civilization’, these seemingly out-of-place tracks eventually deepen the album as a listening experience, while forecasting where this young band may go next. Serene yet suspenseful, To Destroy A City earns the title of an easy-listening post-rock album; with each listen, these songs reveal themselves as more than background tones or ear-candy. Slowly, it awakens like a first step into the unknown.

Letters From the Coast - (The) Caseworker

2011-11-10T21:43:00.000-08:00

Letters From the Coast

(The) Caseworker
Hidden Shoal Recordings.

SCQ Rating: 73%

Taking a moment to consider (The) Caseworker’s sonic semblance to the Velvet Underground, I hardly expected the hyperbole (proffered in the press release to Letters From the Coast) to suck me into a troublesome rabbit-hole. Subconsciously, I think I’d expected to retort in the obvious, dismissive manner that most people do when the name of that certain iconic Lou Reed-fronted band gets tossed around. And although (The) Caseworker’s songwriting approach bears no more than superficial similarities to the famed rockers’ gritty output, their sound nonetheless defies concrete association. Despite a strong aroma of 90s indie-rock permeating Letters From the Coast (particularly American Analog Set), the quartet also projects a tidy perfectionism reminiscent of post-millenial faves The Radio Dept and The Go Find.

That insistence on having each beat perfectly measured and each note ringing at the same register leaves (The) Caseworker dangling over a sterile wasteland. Give it a few listens, however, and their exacting nature begins to relax, slouching back and exploring the aural comfort zone they exude. The proof is in Letters From the Coast’s variety; the guitar work behind ‘National Runner’ loiters grumpily behind layers of shoegaze whereas ‘The Slow Track’ employs melodious guitar tones over a synthetic-sounding drum pattern. These two tracks not only outline the record’s opposing poles, they form the record’s opening couplet. Subsequent tracks avoid tampering with volume or stylistic shifts, opting to play with subtle structure changes instead, and that cardinal rule lends songs like ‘Sea Years’ and ‘Sister Song’ an undeniable maturity.

By the end of closing track ‘Little Good It Did You’, I’m no closer to deciding whether (The) Caseworker is garage-rock sans grit or indie-pop with added fuzz. It doesn’t really matter when the whole thing’s so single-mindedly comforting. With its forty minutes thriving on such even-keeled economy, Letters From the Coast rarely challenges or disappoints.

minutestatic - Dalot

2011-11-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

minutestatic

Dalot
n5MD Records.

SCQ Rating: 72%

Released just twelve months after her n5MD debut, minutestatic reads like a sophomore effort looking to expand on Maria Papadomanolaki’s blurred textural experiments – nothing more. Such an ambition might've seemed lackluster had her 2010 release Loops Over Latitude not grappled such a uniquely evasive sound from the get-go. Luckily for us, Papadomanolaki again follows that singular muse, employing heavy sonic layers to increasingly concise, textural washes – some even containing a pop-like pulse.

Dalot’s more invitational approach first jumps out on ‘Missing Pieces’, which uses a metronomic beat to pace out slightly warped keyboard arpeggios, and again over the shimmering guitar tones that paint ‘The Empty Desk’ with a Campfire Headphase-like serenity. Tracks like ‘The Blue Car’ and the contemplative ‘In Silence’ show continued refinement of Dalot’s at times gauzy approach but, in general, minutestatic contains more memorable passages and emotional anchors (meaning “pop hooks” in ambient terms) than Looping Over Latitude expounded. Unsurprisingly it’s Dalot’s talents incorporating electro-acoustic instrumentation into her collages that affords these songs such warm and bewildering nature. Her guitar work gives ‘Cause & Effect’ a winding backbone without forcing a linear reading of the track’s ambience. And it’s that breadth of instrumental knowledge that helps Dalot stand out from so many cloudy laptop artists – many being unaware of what a glockenspiel is, let alone how to play one. Let’s hope future releases continue minutestatic’s progress of weeding out Papadomanolaki’s unique talents from electro-shoegaze obscurity.

N-Plants - Biosphere (CMG Review)

2011-10-31T15:35:00.000-07:00

N-Plants

Biosphere
Touch Records.

CMG Rating: 62%
SCQ Rating: 67%

Much has been made of N-Plants‘ origin-point: a photograph of the Mihama nuclear plant which, located so near to the sea, provoked Geir Jenssen (aka Biosphere) to write an album probing both the designs of Japanese nuclear plants and the implicit dangers given its fault-lines running underneath. Recording wrapped up in February and, a month later, the Tōhoku earthquake devastated tens of thousands of lives. That the online community has jumped behind—and, in several cases, championed—N-Plants on the heels of this sad coincidence for its prophetic eeriness isn’t surprising, but it’s telling when Biosphere and Touch Music also embrace the troubling connection for press release fodder. Quoting Jenssen’s friend, who inadvertently broke news of the earthquake to him over Facebook, Biosphere’s press release closes with an unwitting cliffhanger: “But more importantly: how did you actually predict the future?”

There’s a fair amount of reaching going on behind the scenes of Biosphere’s marketing think-tank and it doesn’t take a devious mind to understand why: N-Plants is sort of boring. An ambient record that covets textural dexterity above all else, Biosphere’s latest clings to painstakingly assembled beat concoctions that interact on microscopic levels. Don’t press play expecting to hear sweeping, emotional progressions or even discernible melodies; for Jenssen, these glitchy, intricate foundations represent the compositional whole. One would think the ambition behind Jenssen’s minimal craft should be story enough, his techniques rooted in stark opposition to electronica’s quest for instant gratification (via chiptune, Balearic, chillwave, etc.). Instead Biosphere offers nine buzzing, clopping and whirling IDM tracks that, despite feeling stubbornly remote, can seep into one’s subconscious over their generous run-times.

Read the rest of the review over at CMG.

Slave Ambient - The War On Drugs (CMG Review)

2011-10-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

Slave Ambient

The War On Drugs
Secretly Canadian.

CMG Rating: 80%
SCQ Rating: 80%

Kurt Vile leaving the War on Drugs wasn’t only one of the most amicable splits in indie rock history, it was probably among the least noteworthy as well. Besides Vile and War On Drugs frontman Adam Granduciel being longtime friends, their working relationship remains largely oriented around backing each other’s pursuits on the tour circuit. Recently Granduciel has been playing in Vile’s live band, perhaps as a way of returning the favor of Vile’s contributions toward his band’s early successes. If that back-scratching rapport reads as particularly dull amid the more scandalous beefs nowadays, at least it illustrates the two songwriters’ catalogs as separate planets sharing the same inspired atmosphere.

Nothing thrived on that utopian partnership better than Wagonwheel Blues (2008), a full-length that primed Vile for a successful solo career and greased the subsequent tendency for journalists to ponder fictitious futures of the War on Drugs “post-Vile.” Please. As if Granduciel being the brainchild behind that excellent debut wasn’t enough, let Slave Ambient put to rest the notion that Kurt Vile’s ghost is in some way haunting the War on Drugs.

If my fingers felt irresponsible enough to spin such reactionary insights on the spur of the moment, I’d say quite the opposite: that the War on Drugs might someday haunt Kurt Vile. The opening couplet alone, “Best Night” and a re-imagined take on Future Weather track “Brothers,” fills the same all-encompassing production championed on Smoke Ring For My Halo with full-blooded arrangements. Both tracks belie the highway-weary delivery of Granduciel by dealing in saturated melodies and relentless rhythms that would swagger had the band felt like aiming for radio airplay. But it’s the extended jam on the first track, delving into a chasm of echoed acoustics, twinkling ivories, and a mournful horn in the background that marginalizes Vile’s mirror-on-couch introspection, proving the band’s readiness to go abyss-diving without forgetting the pop hooks at the root of all this delicately entwined instrumentation.

Read the rest of the review over at CMG.

SCQ's Autumn Records 2011

2011-10-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

Maybe it’s because I spend the latter half of summer anticipating fall, but finding autumn records is never a chore. Not only are there ample amounts of releases that match this season’s sense of seclusion, but each year a few bona fide examples come along that effortlessly await October days like today.

Still, winter waits for no one. Get out into your city or town's beautiful spots and soak up the foliage while you can. These top choices won't let you down.

Love SCQ

I Found Your Faces Of Montreal - You Are My Symphonic (SCQ's Autumn Records 2011)

2011-10-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

I Found Your Faces Of Montreal

You Are My Symphonic
Independent

SCQ Rating: 88%

Some records you hold onto for just the right moment; still, this was a tough one. Released on the cusp of summer after a three-year recording process, Vishal Kassie’s second record under his You Are My Symphonic moniker instills a still-life beauty ideal for autumn wanderings. Granted, June worked out pretty well regardless, as one can actually hear these songs blossoming into being via pristine acoustic instrumentation and crisp electronic layers. But it’s Kassie’s mournful edge that offers I Found Your Faces Of Montreal its auburn melancholy, a reflective spirit that touches gently on love and loss – themes this record knows all too well.

The record has in effect been written twice; the first being halfway finished when stolen as part of a laptop heist in 2008, the second being Kassie’s present labour of love – rewritten, rearranged, expanded upon and (if we can trust the author’s word) greatly improved. Following 2009’s instrumental wedding-score Afternoon Birds Of Arima, I Found Your Faces Of Montreal has the air of a debut proper. Capturing the same bucolic loveliness that coloured his past ambient efforts, opener ‘Meet Me In Trinity’ unlocks a door by ushering in Kassie’s prowess on the acoustic guitar and a new dimension to You Are My Symphonic’s sound. It has a widescreen appeal, expanding in echo-drenched ivories on ‘Autumn Will Fall In Love’ and rippling over the Ulrich Schnauss-approved ‘Under Your Umbrella, with grandiose aspirations that should no doubt turn off some cynics. Yes, that latter example finds melodies fully maximized, stretched to their life-affirming potential without much thought of restraint, and on early listens can be misunderstood as schmaltzy.

That sentimental veneer is to be cherished, however, as it coats some of the record’s devastating highlights. ‘Rooftop’’s shimmering reverberations house biting details of a dead relationship, the soaring synth on ‘My Father And His Sister’ counteracts some rather glitchy beats, while the title track bears Kassie’s haunting yet irresistible multi-tracked vocals. Like the storied history of the recording process itself, emotions run deep throughout I Found Your Faces Of Montreal’s sprawling eight compositions. Uplifting and heartbreaking – often all at once – You Are My Symphonic has staked himself proprietor of an ambient-folk scene positively alien to Montreal. And on that island’s island, I Found Your Faces Of Montreal is a landmark release waiting to be found.

Autumn Will Fall In Love from You Are My Symphonic on Vimeo.

Thelma - Benoît Honoré Pioulard (SCQ's Autumn Records 2011)

2011-10-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

Benoît Honoré Pioulard Plays Thelma

Benoît Honoré Pioulard
Desire Path Recordings.

SCQ Rating: 84%

The hit-or-miss qualities of ambient music are intensely personal; a patient test of tonal shifts and buried details which eventually latch onto one’s mind-frame, their personality, or fall by the wayside. The majority of today’s ambient fare assumes the latter’s fate but those rare exceptions, in my experience, usually become the sort I cherish for years on end. Finding records of this quality used to be difficult but Desire Path Recordings is dutifully making my search easier. Setting pace with memorable releases by Solo Andata and Kyle Bobby Dunn, the new imprint has now struck a three-peat with Benoît Pioulard’s enigmatic score Thelma.

Documenting an imaginary landscape – what Pioulard refers to as “a lake within a haze” – this mini-album wastes no time transporting listeners to a foreign place. ‘Malick’ opens the set already in bloom; a reserved piece circling its quaint corners but also instilling a sense of familiarity, of belonging. That warmth bleeds into the stretching strings of ‘A Land Which Has No End’, tuneful bouts of reverberation in ‘Calder’, and the heavenly coda of aptly titled ‘Autochoral’ with a retiring, autumnal sensibility. Pioulard’s gift for incepting so many mixed emotions in these pieces is trumped only by an ability to place listeners within his aural geography. Yes, Thelma’s lovely cover-art (featuring photograph done by Sean Curtis Patrick) goes some distance in establishing the song-cycle’s peaceful, remote vibe but Pioulard imparts each track with its own textural character – be it one that lurches from the clouds (‘Malick’), one that pools as if from a leaky tap (‘Pidgin’) or as a textile of lost voices (‘Hushes Gasp’).

None of these strengths properly explain my obsessive connection to Thelma, but that’s par for the course with desirable ambient records. As a mini-album, Benoît Honoré Pioulard Plays Thelma’s direct but still teasing, engaging but fleeting. It colours moods that are explicitly autumn to me, and I’ve no doubt that Pioulard’s latest will remain a coveted favourite of mine for years to come.

Benoît Honoré Pioulard - Calder by desire path recordings

Gravity the Seducer - Ladytron (SCQ's Autumn Records 2011)

2011-10-26T06:32:00.000-07:00

Gravity the Seducer

Ladytron
Nettwerk Records.

SCQ Rating: 76%

Ladytron provoked a collective balk from just about everyone earlier this year when they released Best Of 00 – 10, not because their catalog didn’t warrant a retrospective but that such a compilation actually extended, yeah, ten years. Perhaps the idea of Ladytron nurturing a legacy never dawned on most of us because their breed of noir electro-pop always clung to the brittle edge of fashion, a cult-ready notion of cool dependent on sleek wardrobe choices and a disaffection bordering on robotic. It wasn’t until 2005’s Witching Hour that the English quartet’s songwriting caught up to their visual sensibilities but, then and now, Ladytron have always existed in their own bubble; impervious to destruction but perpetually floating a great distance from any given year’s movers and shakers.

As the first LP separating their first decade from a new one, Gravity the Seducer – bearing perhaps the most Ladytron-esque title to date – immediately shifts gears from the propulsive dynamics of Witching Hour and Velocifero for a dreamier, layered approach. ‘White Elephant’ still contains a foundation of synthetic bass and drum-machine effects but its hooks rely on soaring string and horn orchestration, a flight of fancy that contributes to Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo’s vocals sounding less devious, more ABBA. Subsequent tracks such as ‘Mirage’ and ‘Ritual’ reclaim the band’s drive without abandoning their newfound love of cosmetic spaciousness, allowing the majority of the disc to unfurl as a slow-motion swan-dive into an erratic but no less beautiful daydream.

Gravity the Seducer creates such an ear-pleasing, if suspiciously surface, universe that the rare stumble merely demonstrates further how Ladytron cannot pierce their consistency bubble. It isn’t difficult to find something of worth in lightweight tunes like ‘Altitude Blues’ or the instrumental ‘Transparent Days’, but they don’t sink their talons into listeners either. That counters top tracks ’90 Degrees’ and ‘White Gold’, which score points for fitting the typical Ladytron energy bursts into evocative aural expanses. Carrying on where the last decade left off, Gravity the Seducer nonetheless works best when you meet Ladytron half-way.

Ladytron - White Elephant by nettwerkmusicgroup

Shit Camera Exposé: Jerry Granelli Trio (National Arts Centre)

2011-10-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

As anyone who closely monitors my tweeting habits can attest, I’ve developed a new disconnect among my peers: I like jazz. A few hesitant experiments have flourished into a full tower of CDs and records spanning the genre’s canon. From 1950s hard-bop and 70s avant-garde to modern day ambient-jazz creators, I’ve been warming to a series of scenes that percussionist Jerry Granelli has lived to tell the tale of.

So a round of firsts, then: my premiere jazz concert, the first time stepping inside the clean confines of the National Arts Centre, and my first attempt at reviewing live, often freeform jazz. Naturally, this called for a round of seconds as well, in terms of pints my friend Shane and I had before crossing the street to the NAC. And as an evening rain began misting over downtown’s lit-up buildings, the time felt right for some jazz.

After finding seats among the casually arranged tables and chairs of the NAC’s fourth stage, we greeted the Craig Pedersen Quartet to the step-up stage. Opening for Granelli and a well-known local act around Ottawa, Pedersen and his crew delved into a selection of tracks hot from their forthcoming album. ‘Little Bird’ roused the dimly lit room with deep drum-fills and a synchronized attack of trumpet and sax, while bass and drum duties stirred up a late-night, urban vibe which neatly emboldened the horns. Over the following tracks – of which ‘Early Winter’, with its suffocated trumpet solo, was a highlight – the Craig Pedersen Quartet showed great syncopation, working tightly controlled arrangements but opening generous pockets for improvisation. What made their whole set so engaging was that each member brought something significant to the table; the percussion (by Mike Essoudry) was dexterous, the bass (by Joel Kerr) restless, and the two horns (Linsey Wellman on sax, Pedersen on trumpet) continually upped the ante when soloing.

After such a brisk and upbeat set, the Jerry Granelli Trio took to the stage. Famous for his involvement in many classic ensembles but foremost for playing in Vince Guaraldi Trio’s 1965 classic A Charlie Brown Christmas, Granelli’s style has been described as unclassifiable despite a life spent in jazz. And for good reason: warning us in advance that his selections wouldn’t sound as they do on record, Granelli and his two sidekicks (Simon Fisk on bass and cello, Danny Oore on saxophone) began reinterpreting tracks from their 2011 record Let Go with patient atmosphere. Neighbouring tracks ‘Under a Chinese Saloon’ and ‘A Chinese Saloon’ began with tuneless saxophone gasps, blowing like a dead breeze over Granelli’s freeform drum taps. While the mood was provided as much by Fisk and Oore as it was from a generous amount of negative space, Granelli’s momentum brought the procession into order with his ability to evoke a thousand different tones from striking the cymbals in certain ways.

Continuing on with an expanded rendition of ‘Bones’, the trio seemed at home, chuckling to each other in the midst of any unexpected improvisations. Their playful taunting hinted at the sense of brotherhood between Granelli and his much younger bandmates, with the percussionist even joking at one point that the story of how the three met was simple: he was “waiting for them to be born”. And if perhaps they grew too comfortable at times, slipping out of the groove and experimenting in near silence for stretches of time, the trio rebounded nicely with the cello, alto sax and drum surge of ‘If I Were a Clown’. Between that unreleased composition and the subsequent number entitled ‘Dance’, Granelli and Co. grew increasingly tight, offering a more direct and upbeat strategy that nonetheless contained asides of silliness (as when Oore riffed off of Fisk’s cello by squealing his stool along the floor).

While sidestepping a table in an attempt to snap a photo of the band in action, I encountered a woman interpretively dancing to the trio’s score - throwing her arms out and pivoting in close quarters, with no one seemingly noticing. Good thing, because no dance technique could predict or keep up with this performance. Frequently disjointed but always creative, the Jerry Granelli Trio perused swinging tempos as well as experimental retreats. Seeing a veteran of such prolific (and historic) musicality create on the spot kept the audience acutely aware of each progression, whether fulfilled or merely teased. And when Shane and I departed the venue into the wet streets, we felt assured we’d seen a rare show indeed.

The Jerry Granelli Trio tour continues West until the end of October, with stops in Edmonton, Vancouver and Seattle. Tour details can be found here. Don’t miss it.

Delirium Portraits - Tobias Lilja

2011-10-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

Delirium Portraits

Tobias Lilja
n5MD Records.

SCQ Rating: 82%

Having closed out 2010 with a compilation celebrating their tenth anniversary as a pioneering post-rock/home-listening electronica label, n5MD appeared ready to jump into 2011 with their mission statement renewed. That compilation’s focus – having new signees remix old blood – plus tagging newcomer Winterlight as a member of n5MD’s “new class”, meaning artists who were directly influenced by said label’s roster, illustrated more interest in recycling established trademarks than branching outwards and, by all accounts, 2011 looked to follow the same muse n5MD has been lusting after all along.

Then, in one unassuming release, all that fans have come to expect from the Oakland, California-based imprint turns sideways with Tobias Lilja’s Delirium Portraits. (Truth be told, I missed Lilja’s 2007 record Time Is On My Side so perhaps the groundbreaking nature of this follow-up stems from that ignorance.) Call him what you will – a less brooding Matthew Dear springs to mind – but Lilja’s devious mix of house and sprawling songwriting has put n5MD back on the progressive map. Nevermind the sheer size of Delirium Portraits – after all, it’s rare to find an n5MD release clocking well below the hour-mark – but it’s hard not to marvel at how Lilja fills that space with slow-moving verses and tight rhythms that somehow never eclipse each another. ‘Spineless’ and ‘North’ open the disc on a spritely course, all rich house beats and sorrowful vocals, but Lilja’s sinister edge increasingly punctures the brisk drive of these tempos. The piano-based ‘Love Song’ takes us crawling through Lilja’s dark side, introducing a sneaky beat in its final minute, and by the time ‘No Death Star’ breaks into its elastic-snapping synth chorus, his desperation has become Delirium Portraits’ prime motivator. Still, the likes of ‘Birthday Cake’ and ‘These Bells’ peer out from these bleak shadows with enough muscle on its beats to entice the darkness in us all.

Granted, you need to be in a particular frame of mind to find all of Delirium Portraits’ long shadows engaging. That situational dilemma marks a clear distinction between this record and the enveloping, reflective nature of your average n5MD release. But its risks, for both artist and label, translate as an artistic success in this case, launching into sonic and lyrical directions that in the world of home-listening electronica are rarely so unique.

Spring/Summer 2011 - Florian Lunaire

2011-10-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

Spring/Summer 2011

Florian Lunaire
Records Records Records Records.

SCQ Rating: 77%

Who is Florian Lunaire? Sure, his website points out that he’s a songwriter with a resume of vague credentials, having written for documentaries, theatre productions and other artists. But a single listen to the joint EP release of Spring/Summer 2011 will have many listeners uttering the same query, for the simple reason that he has created an astonishing snapshot of eccentric storytelling.

Matching Lunaire’s verbose vortexes with complimentary piano arrangements must be difficult in and of itself but ensuring that the fusion makes for good pop seems an impossible task outside of Lunaire’s hands. His aptitude for showtunes proves a powerful ally throughout, flourishing doses of drama to stream-of-conscious soliloquies like ‘Amsterdam’ and the hauntingly beautiful ‘The Persistence Of Memory’. Luckily the young songwriter knows when to pull the reins, offsetting his pageantry with breezy pop numbers that don’t belie his natural inclinations. ‘Summering Here’ feels like a classic Belle and Sebastian track somehow left off of The Boy With the Arab Strap whereas ‘One (Laplace’s Demon)’ operates like a wholly visceral slab of cocktail lounge catharsis.

In other words, it’ll leave an impression. Too full of ideas to feel scant but too damned good to be satisfying at nineteen minutes, Spring/Summer 2011 will hopefully find enough of an audience to round out Lunaire’s missing seasons. Lord, what a full-length that would be.

A Different Kind Of Fix - Bombay Bicycle Club

2011-10-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

A Different Kind Of Fix

Bombay Bicycle Club
Universal/Island Records.

SCQ Rating: 79%

Discovering Bombay Bicycle Club as I have – upon the release of their third release in three years – has offered benefits beyond the good fortune of finding this band in the first place. From the tone of most critics, I’ve seemingly skipped the lion’s share of baggage surrounding these lads and whatever sins they’ve committed against the purebred indie crowd. Perhaps signing to the combined dark forces of Universal and Island Records was all it took to slap “spoiled kids” on these lads’ backs but none of that subtracts from A Different Kind Of Fix’s clever songwriting or accomplished sonic backdrops.

The first cut ‘How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep’ survives its inclusion on a Twilight soundtrack by proving an irresistible mix of tortured verses chanted over shoegaze-tinged waves of euphoria. The blurred guitar histrionics that dominate tracks like ‘Take the Right One’ and ‘What You Want’ reveal the band’s youthful vigor but stand in stark opposition to Jack Steadman’s matured pop instincts. The jangly pop of ‘Lights Out, Words Gone’ arrives transformed by Faith-era atmospherics (had the Cure maybe not been quite so morose) while ‘Shuffle’ proves deeper than its surface appeal thanks to an off-kilter piano sample that feeds right into the driving chorus. And while tender balladry on ‘Fracture’ and ‘Still’ stands firmly on its own merits, one must acknowledge the wizardry of producer Ben (Merriweather Post Pavilion) Allen, whose work certainly provides distinct playgrounds for ‘Favourite Day’’s pomp and ‘Bad Timing’’s chill.

Whatever rules Bombay Bicycle Club broke to become such petchulant children in the eyes of the critical elite, I’m happy to remain oblivious in my affection for this elegant rock record. An ideal mix of momentum and romanticism, A Different Kind Of Fix leaves little room for petty posturing.

A Pause In September

2011-09-21T09:57:00.001-07:00

This month has quickly become the inactive abyss of Skeleton Crew Quarterly’s usually dependable pace of album reviews. I saw it coming and should’ve written an anticipatory post months ago but now’s as good a time as any. Besides some other pursuits I mentioned recently, 2011 has seen Skeleton Crew Quarterly step back from its industrious work ethic on account of wedding plans. That’s right: in a matter of days, SCQ is getting married!

From the planning stage to these final days of last-minute arrangements, I’ve found it increasingly tough to squeeze in enough time to hear what’s new in music, let alone write about it. And as any reader can assume, September’s content has felt the greatest hit: not one review for the entire month. Despite the fever pitch of late, I’ve maintained an ear to the ground and a list of records to write about once early October sees my return. It’ll be a month of catching up, both here and on other music websites I’ve been neglecting to contribute to.

Can’t wait to get back into all of the exciting releases this autumn season has to offer.

Love SCQ

Queue - Anklebiter

2011-08-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

Queue

Anklebiter
Tympanik Audio.

SCQ Rating: 74%

Few genres have adopted an online presence as keenly and prolifically as electronic has, enveloping new micro-labels and Bandcamp artists in an endless snowball effect. Of course we listeners have basked in these good tidings but, all the same, the quantity of electronic folds at work today makes it just about impossible to catch even a millisecond of every talented artist. This bittersweet reality has again caught me off-guard as I become acquainted with Anklebiter (one Tanner Volz), whose debut I Will Wait commanded some heavy praise last year. For those readers among you that missed this release, I offer two solutions: (1) stream that debut here, and (2) don’t despair, because that material is being celebrated with Queue, a lovingly compiled remix project.

Not only does Queue ward off shallow criticisms about its recycling of material by featuring an outstanding cast of remixers, it reignites Anklebiter’s primary allure: Volz’ romantic but powerful arrangements. That hard-beat bite remains intact but it’s exciting to hear what seasoned electronic musicians can wield with that sort of intensity at their disposal. SubtractiveLAD turns ‘Frigid’ into a piano-driven epic that flirts between a gauzy shoegaze extreme and Mogwai’s brittle restraint, which takes an opposite direction to Keef Baker’s stuttering rendition of the same track. Subsequent mixes by Boy Is Fiction and Irulan confirm that Queue stands by its cohesive qualities, layering chilled atmospherics over mid-tempo beat maneuvers. And did I mention that Anklebiter throws in a few new compositions to boot? Those tracks, ‘By Design’ and ‘OTT’, temporarily strip back the ambiance to bring Volz’ aggressive impetus into the forefront and prove that Anklebiter isn’t using this stop-gap release as a holiday.

Leave it to n5MD mainstays Dryft and Lights Out Asia to end the disc with covers that lend a sweeping finality; the former operating a nuanced haze over calm beats, the latter enlisting the band’s trademark style – big drums, chiming and echo-drenched guitars – to leave a lasting impression. As hinted by this couplet, Queue can be interpreted as entirely worth the price of admission based on the talented remixers alone. But beneath the familiar talent and quality control lies Anklebiter, whose songwriting voice deserves this CD-only victory lap.

Increase the Sweetness - The Golden Seals

2011-08-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

Increase the Sweetness

The Golden Seals
Zunior Records.

SCQ Rating: 75%

A persistent beat backs Dave Merritt on his third Golden Seals effort as though the band is collectively pushing through the artifice and calculated image of independent music’s current glory days. The straightforwardness of that steady percussion, solidified further by rumbling guitar and vocal harmonies that recall early Sloan, provides an instant attraction that makes ‘Kick It’ exceedingly rare given the influx of bands aping after chin-stroking complexity.

Make no mistake: the Golden Seals seem disinterested in being your next smoke-in-the-armchair sort of band, as Increase the Sweetness takes its own prescription for immediate guitar licks, memorable hi-fi pop hooks and some knowing winks along the way. “We could use some education, we could use some thought control,” sings Merritt, giving some humour to highlight ‘The Year Things Fell Apart’’s soft laments. Merritt doesn’t pine for any of Pink Floyd’s ambition, preferring melodic arrangements and identifiable songwriting that pursues a timeless quality reminiscent of Tom Petty, The Cars and, yeah, a lot of Sloan. So clean and uncluttered are these tracks that ‘Woke Up Laughing’ initially feels bizarre with its electronic textures and padded organ; it follows the same less-is-more strategy and eventually feels at home despite bearing a completely separate palette.

A few more left turns would’ve arguably benefited Increase the Sweetness, not only because the record’s already a lean nine tracks but because Merritt, whose work has been covered by a wealth of artists from Sarah Harmer to the Rheostatics, has a proficient resume for shifting gears. The variety Golden Seals lack on this outing doesn’t diminish the strength of their focus and Increase the Sweetness stands firmly as one of the more irresistible choices for carefree, summery guitar rock.

All Of It Was Mine - The Weather Station

2011-08-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

All Of It Was Mine

The Weather Station
You’ve Changed Records.

SCQ Rating: 87%

On days I wake up in fervor about some sensational label I’d dreamed up in the night, it’s relieving to remember that You’ve Changed Records actually exists. The common strains of retro aesthetic and rustic approach linking each release would be good for nothing without music that rivals the grassroots appeal of this young catalog and You’ve Changed Records hasn’t had much in the way of quality control problems lately, what with expert releases by Shotgun Jimmie and Daniel Romano. That said, the label might've landed its crowning achievement with The Weather Station’s All Of It Was Mine.

Confronting the new album by Tamara Lindeman with grand compliments seems a damning thought, as though the record's delicacy may wilt under a single glare of hype. Her sophomore record is a lean twenty-eight minutes of acoustic lilts, with Lindeman’s songbird delivery often resolutely caged. Vulnerability is something The Weather Station has in droves but it’s never the suffocating sort; these arrangements move too briskly and have too much on their minds to bother soaking in a melodramatic moment. Opener ‘Everything I Saw’ establishes The Weather Station as a band – featuring a handful of musicians including Misha Bower of Bruce Peninsula and Romano on a variety of instruments – which boasts the light twang of banjo whilst ‘Came So Easy’ finds Lindeman with an acoustic in her kitchen, backed by Bower’s lovely harmonies. Her sweet delivery creates an idyllic mood-piece but the implicit pleasantries disguise a crucial streak of regret and doubt that give ‘Chip On My Shoulder’ and ‘If I’ve Been Fooled’ their bite.

Some of the finest tracks tend to evaporate suddenly but perhaps that temporary nature witnessed on ‘Yarrow and Mint’ and ‘Trying’ works to their advantage, since – let’s face it – I am playing them over and over. And since so few moments on All Of It Was Mine offer refrain or respite, I’ve found myself compelled by the fleeting poignancy of its lyrical and instrumental turns. The Weather Station doesn’t spare a note or sentiment here, resulting in a stunning half-hour of bittersweet folk that stands alongside the year’s very best.

The Weather Station - Everything I Saw by thebrokenspeaker

After Parties I & II - Dntel

2011-08-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

After Parties I & II

Dntel
Sub Pop Records.

SCQ Rating: 80%

Whenever straightforward pop is abandoned, motives get questioned. In the case of beatsmith Jimmy Tamborello, who with Postal Service essentially modernized pop in a way that continues to unfold in synthesized, starry-eyed indie acts today, stepping back from the vocalized (shudder…) “indie-tronica” which has been his meal-ticket may seem almost snobbish or ungrateful. But only to the fickle purists among Postal Service fans, who’ve sampled a few highlights from 2007’s Dumb Luck but ignored Dntel’s glorious Life Is Full Of Possibilities. Us longtime fans will view After Parties I & II as wistful steps back toward Tamborello’s roots, when instrumental beats and coy melodies manifested into soothing transmissions that brimmed with possible directions. Back to when the absence of Ben Gibbard was not missed.

Without drifting so far back into Tamborello’s past that we revive his earliest, Aphex-indebted work, ‘Fear Of Corners’ (from Life Is Full Of Possibilities) is perhaps the best point of comparison linking After Parties to Dntel’s past. Okay, so that 2000-era track’s beats don’t align themselves as briskly and immediately as After Parties’ often 4/4 rhythms do. And these new tracks feature more overt melodies than that subdued rumination, usually bending around and warping inside out. Yet it’s Tamborello’s playfulness – which at best tinkered beneath his later, vocalist-laden work – that reestablishes its borderless parameters, finding an upbeat but wholly sentimental horizon over the title-track’s long haul. It’s a thrilling start, initially peppered by staccato snippets of melody before finding its nostalgic center, and following tracks ‘Lindsey’ and ‘Soft Alarm’ retain the same bouncy appeal; the former gravitating from textural moods into a micro-beat cascade that approaches M83-styled emoting, the latter a sleep-deprived haunt evoking the serenity of empty streets at 3am in the dead of winter.

After Parties II digs deeper into Tamborello’s desire to soundtrack the pulse-slowing relief that comes post-euphoria. Concise tracks like ‘Flares’ and ‘Peepsie’ dutifully maintain the dance rhythms but the melodies have sunken in, reverting to bass undercurrents and bubbling harmonics. By the time ‘Hits Line’ files through with its codeine-steeped trance, Dntel’s trajectory – split over two 12” EPs and four sides of vinyl – becomes increasingly nocturnal. A late second wind in ‘Aimless’ motivates the record’s back-end from falling asleep with misshapen synths and a feel-good beat before ‘Leed’ dims the lights with a driving but pillowed closer of moody restraint.

Let’s not underscore the importance of Postal Service’s Give Up strictly on the point that its scope is terribly played out almost a decade after it set the standard. Having provided Sub Pop with its second highest sales of any release – outsold only by Nirvana’s Nevermind – Give Up has earned Dntel the right to release just about anything on the revered label. That clause shouldn’t enter the equation given the resplendent quality within After Parties I & II, but I fear it has. Several months after its untimely release in December 2010, the dual records haven’t so much as gathered an exclamation mark riddled fanboy review on Amazon, much less the critical notice it deserves. Maybe there was no way Tamborello could retreat from such a stratosphere of success without causing a universal shrug among the hipster elite. Or perhaps introducing a Postal Service-like mentality to Dntel’s universe, as he did on Dumb Luck, forced longtime fans to look elsewhere. In any case, After Parties I & II affirms Dntel as more than a studio collaborator hunched over someone else’s lyrics, and restores his image as a tuneful composer still very capable of creating a swoon on his own.

After Parties by Dntel

Ascension - Jesu

2011-08-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ascension

Jesu
Caldo Verde Records.

SCQ Rating: 84%

Taking all of Justin Broadrick’s many musical projects into consideration, there’s little questioning that Jesu has been as much the songwriter’s show-horse and his workhorse. Over the course of fifteen releases – in just another a decade, keep in mind – Broadrick has fine-tuned Jesu into a brand. Sure, it might swerve spontaneously from industrial to electronic to raw metal but its undertow, in sludgy claws that manifest slow-motion beauty out of everyday depression, remains Jesu’s main draw and raison d’être. So it seemed a natural strategy that Jesu’s prolific output would deal mostly in split projects and EPs; formats that limited Jesu’s grandiose habits to digestible tablets that illustrated enormity without exhausting listeners.

Especially after the concise and awe-inspired snapshots Jesu captured in the Silver and Lifeline EPs, the announcement of Ascension as the long-awaited full-length follow-up to 2007’s Conqueror made me question the vitality of this long-standing brand: is Broadrick magnetic enough as a personality or vocalist to carry an hour-long dirge? Can Jesu’s notoriously stagnant repertoire keep listeners’ interested over such a haul? Much like the cover-art of Ascension, these answers fall into substantial grey area; tracks like ‘Fools’ and ‘December’ may take an ungodly amount of time to circle their conservative chords but Broadrick’s atmosphere and disaffected delivery somehow imbue the void with a hypnotic quality worth revisiting. The more familiar one gets, the clearer Jesu’s breathtaking vistas can be felt through the crushing distortion coating ‘Small Wonder’ and ‘Broken Home’. Not every song offers such keen unraveling but that impenetrable wall of sound is also a Jesu trademark that keeps this body of work so intimidating.

In fact, when you look at what makes Ascension unique compared to prior releases, they read more as hindrances than compliments; from the predictably glum mood to Broadrick’s odd desire to marginalize his own voice (which sounds almost swallowed by feedback at all times), it’s no surprise that many critics have shrugged this record off. Its angle might be soft from a music journalist’s perspective but these songs are ironclad, bulked to a heavy encumbrance even when Broadrick sounds more vulnerable than ever. Ascension boasts a lot of hard edges and uncompromising techniques but it makes each reward something greater to savour.

Jesu - Small Wonder by brooklynvegan

Calendar - JF Robitaille

2011-08-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Calendar

JF Robitaille
Blue Cardinal Records.

SCQ Rating: 78%

It’s no surprise that Skeleton Crew Quarterly has a particular soft spot for lone singer-songwriters, perhaps because their heart-on-sleeve nature typically disregards the abstract lyricism and complicated instrumentation that collaboration tends to egg on. No, these fellas – the Walter Schreifels, the Cass McCombs, the JF Robitailles – they’re towing the line all by their lonesome, rising or falling by the might of their voice and thoughts alone. And like those other SCQ-approved artists, JF Robitaille’s debut strives in such a fickle arena because his songs manage to reach beyond the familiar assemblages of guitar, voice and percussion. These are everyman songs for the times you feel like the last man alive; its hooks will warm your heart while Robitaille’s lyrics numb it still.

Listen no further than ‘Modern Love Song Pt. 1’, an opener that hardly suffers from its absent sequel thanks to a bittersweet, slow-dance lilt and Robitaille’s careful intonations. It’s effectively timeless, which is a damned hard thing to pull off first thing on your debut album; a concoction of mood and romantic ease that’s both pretty and a punch to the gut. Calendar wisely branches off from there, illustrating folky strummers (‘When We Say Goodbye’, the downtrodden ‘The City Trembles’) and upbeat rockers (‘For Better Or Worse’, ‘The New Girl’) that share a keen melodic sensibility for kinship.

Alongside a committed backing band, Calendar finds additional company in the handful of contributors who fill in on drums, keys and vocals. Nobody’s toes get stepped on; the entire affair feels so light and airy, you’d never know upwards of six people (including The Dears’ Murray Lightburn) were playing on ‘Enemies’ (although it happens to be the record’s irresistible highlight) and kudos to the musicians who managed to disappear into their roles like shadows on a summer’s night. None of them eclipse the Montreal-based Robitaille, of course, whose sentiments amass the record’s conflicted heart with tender precision. But Calendar’s squeaky-clean equilibrium feels like a group accomplishment, with an end result worthy of outdoor wandering and insulated bedroom lamenting.

Organ Music, Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped - Moonface

2011-08-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped

Moonface
Jagjaguwar Records.

SCQ Rating: 68%

More than just a song-title, ‘Return To the Violence Of the Ocean Floor’ acts like an overwhelmed compass, peering beyond the obvious imagery of the words and into the spiky, occasionally seasick nature of Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped. The song’s seven-minutes – a length of time apparently customary for Moonface – sprawl outward in organ-blips, cut-up and looped ad nauseum, to create a plateau vista that impresses due to the sheer enormity of it. This too proves part of Spencer Krug’s routine as Organ Music… swells into a pop-art consortium where every strain of organ competes for the role of dominant hook.

What’s unsurprising about this utmost particular side-project is that Krug steals that focus outright, his instantly recognizable delivery taking responsibility for the record’s several imperative peaks. His vocals organize and direct what would otherwise be a messy, often unlistenable concoction of grating layers – and therein lies the potential genius of Moonface. Too bad more of that potential isn’t realized. As its title makes clear, these five songs are founded and assembled via organs and Krug’s convincing moments, where he threatens to turn the whole experiment into a loveable dance-party, makes Organ Music… a somewhat painful near-miss. Whether the actual songwriting quality drops after the carnival-on-speed loops of single ‘Fast Peter’ or Moonface’s limited palette finally catches up, Organ Music…’s final couplet repeatedly witnesses a sudden drop in my attention span. Upon further inspection, the tense standstill of organs on ‘Shit-hawk In the Snow’ feel exhausted from the get-go, as though the track’s compositionally starving for a less abrasive instrument (maybe a vibraphone?). ‘Loose Heart = Loose Plan’ fares slightly better but never provides a payoff for the twenty-odd minutes of strain on listeners.

Despite having no affiliation to prior Krug outlets, Wolf Parade or otherwise, I truly wanted great things out of Moonface. And in modest quantities, Organ Music… delivers. Similar to its cover-art’s nonchalant party, I don’t think it would take too many brews to envision this project as an ideal trip to play out in the background of some open-minded social event. But party DJs beware: unlike Krug, know when to quit and try something else.

Deformer - Dog Day

2011-08-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

Deformer

Dog Day
FunDog Records.

SCQ Rating: 80%

Anyone who has caught Dog Day live knows that the punk spirit inhabiting the fringes of their gloomy, controlled records frays apart onstage. From statesmen of gloom to hell-bent revelers in a snap, the band’s raw performances became expositions on how to hear an album like Concentration or Elder Schoolhouse in an aggressive new light. So when this spring’s Scratches EP all but erased the contrast to Dog Day’s duality by presenting their noise-band rep on record, complete in raw recordings and compressed textures, it seemed as though the newly minted duo (core members Seth Smith and Nancy Urich) was self-imposing itself into a corner.

Deformer, despite bearing a similar home-recorded approach as Scratches EP, promptly incinerates those fears with a line-up of killer tunes with real songwriting depth. From the rallying call of ‘Daydream’ and rhythmic intensity of ‘Part Girl’ to ‘I Wanna Mix’’s autumnal guitar tones, Smith and Urich get the obvious out of the way; that losing half the members of their band hasn’t diminished the restless creativity at the heart of Dog Day. And as Deformer branches into menacing riffs (‘Positive’) and affecting atmospherics (‘Mr Freeze’), it becomes clear that the Nova Scotia-based duo has stepped further, somehow channeling the unhinged spirit of a band basking in the limelight for the first time. The scrappy yet magnetic energy displayed on Deformer seeks not to pedestal its qualities on Dog Day’s string of successful releases, as most artists would be content doing, but instead provides a blank slate – for both fans and themselves. It’s the same Dog Day you’ve always loved, just hungrier.

On a personal note, I’d be remiss not to mention how much I enjoyed Dog Day as a fearsome foursome. Part of the reason Concentration became Skeleton Crew Quarterly’s Top Album of 2009 was because the instrumentation posed so many intriguing questions; elegant bits of distortion melting into one another and songwriting that benefitted from different pens to the paper. No one really doubted Smith and Urich’s roles as the key ingredients to that stew but I’d wager a lot of fans hardly expected Deformer to make such a fine point of it. A passionate and ferocious return.

Dog Day - Scratches by Noyes Records

It's All True - Junior Boys (CMG Review)

2011-08-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

It’s All True

Junior Boys
Domino Records.

CMG Rating: 77%
SCQ Rating: 85%

Junior Boys, being the luxurious beat-makers they are, make it easy to view even a record so bereft of ideas as Begone Dull Care with rose-tinted shades. That’s precisely what most critics must’ve been wearing in the spring of 2009 when the Hamilton duo’s third record sleepwalked through generous reviews before dissipating into thin air. Recognizably watered down in comparison to their prior full-lengths but bearing a scattershot of cherished JB trademarks, Begone Dull Care gave credence to the ruse that an album that sounds engaging must be engaging. And because Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus have always excelled at fusing elusive songwriting to seductive electro-pop in equal, inseparable rations, the sonic achievement behind a track like “Parallel Lines” effectively disguised the fact that, compositionally, Greenspan and Didemus seemed lost in their own sound.

As with any impenetrable record which saddles its spot on a discography like an upside-down question mark, Begone Dull Care’s intrigues still welcomes the odd revisit. But what heartens those listens – the optimistic hope of finally detecting the puzzle’s missing piece – would become pointless if Junior Boys’ follow-up were to repeat the same missteps. Because then it isn’t an oddity, it’s a slope. The first slice from It’s All True insists on the latter route; chasing the same frivolous hooks that permeated their 2009 effort, “Itchy Fingers” steers their micro-beat palette toward the hypertensive. Sacrificed amid this acceleration of pop tendencies are the thick clouds of mood that surrounded Last Exit and, to lesser degree, So This Is Goodbye like romantic cloak-and-daggers. In other words: for a moment, Junior Boys settle for channeling Chromeo.

Thank God for “Playtime” then, a candle-lit mood-piece that carefully burns to smolder and reignites what’s been endangered on Junior Boys’ recent output: mystique. Reaching back to the desolate vibe of “Three Words”, a track that acted as glue for Last Exit’s constant craving, but adding some unexpected flourishes (think Andreas Vollenweider’s electric harp), “Playtime” sort of restarts the record – establishing real mood before raising the stakes. Subsequent highlights cleverly touch on new facets to their renowned sound: “Second Chance” benefits from its orbit of space-disco beats and proggy guitar bits whilst “Kick the Can” bubbles over as the most techno-oriented dance track the Hamilton-bred duo have put to tape. Baby-steps beyond their comfort zone only render “You’ll Improve Me” all the more classic, with the duo anchoring unsettled atmospherics to a rock-solid rhythm and chorus, together shifting the track’s focus from the dancefloor’s spotlight to its neglected afterglow. There was a time when Junior Boys’ songs were meant for lonely corners and, with It’s All True, Greenspan and Didemus have remembered just that.

Read the rest of the CMG review here.

Junior Boys - "ep" by blatanti

Modern Horses - Extra Happy Ghost!!!

2011-07-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Modern Horses

Extra Happy Ghost!!!
Saved By Radio/Saved By Vinyl Records.

SCQ Rating: 76%

As 2009 embraced the grey shapelessness of a dim November, I became invested in Extra Happy Ghost!!!’s one-man fantasy project. The EP was titled How the Beach Boys Sound To Those With No Feelings and its bipolar mood, its battered psychedelia, conspired to form a twisted mood that kept me company those dreary days. As its title suggested, songwriting Matthew Swann was after a particular type of gloom, something largely uncharted amid this generation’s influx of laptop-addled mopers. Swann wanted to lay all of his numbness, boredom and introverted inspirations on the table, backed by a stark assortment of lurching effects and negative space. Turns out Chad VanGaalen was also a fan of that EP's about-face, as he's joined forces with Extra Happy Ghost!!! for Modern Horses.

Now some of you are no doubt still reading for the sake of summing up Chad VanGaalen’s handiwork. Yes, the man from Yoko Eno Studio manages the dual task of finding an ideal sonic swamp for Swann to dwell in without, you know, having it sound like Women. But championing VanGaalen’s production ultimately proves complimentary to Extra Happy Ghost!!!, since Modern Horses mostly refines Swann’s established sound. Make no mistake: the smoother production still suspends us over chasm-esque depths without completely abandoning Extra Happy Ghost!!!’s lo-fi origins. But the focus here remains unequivocally on Swann’s disaffected songwriting, the same voice that toiled between styles so convincingly on How the Beach Boys Sound To Those With No Feelings.

Modern Horses not only finds Swann ironing out his EQ levels but fully indulging each songwriting whim as well. Gone are the fragmented hooks and experimental clouds of noise that would amble comfortably before dissolving a minute-and-a-half later; here Extra Happy Ghost!!!’s sneakiness doesn’t belie the bigger picture. Both ‘Mercy Mercy’ and ‘Fire On Fire’ showcase the rigidity of Swann’s riffs, not to mention the surrounding instrumentation that grows restless over time. Sometimes that edginess boils over into free-form noise (like the bleeding organs that blare over ‘Pitiful’); otherwise it curls into the melancholy groove of ‘Feed Wolves Luck’ like reverberations of a cocoon – safe and impenetrable. Modern Horses’ mesmeric qualities sustain it through pockets of self-abuse (namely the cabin-fever of ‘J23439’) and reward listeners whose idea of mood-music doesn’t hinge on expensive synthesizers. You'll be hard-pressed to find a more honest indie-rock record this year.

Night Gallery - Displacer

2011-07-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

Night Gallery

Displacer
Tympanik Records.

SCQ Rating: 79%

Some artists thrive on an uphill challenge; as if Night Gallery wasn’t enough of an evocative title, Displacer’s cover-art offers a display of constellations and star clusters dazzling just beyond our evening’s atmosphere. Without even a whimper heard from composer Michael Morton concerning his record’s context or inspiration, it’s been unanimously decided: Night Gallery will delve into and soundtrack the nocturnal spirit or die trying.

Luckily for us demanding electronic fans, Displacer doesn’t let glossy images and sleek titles do the talking. Instead, the Toronto-based producer enunciates the shifting moods of night through the parlance of IDM filtered with Tympanik’s reputably kinetic beat-work. Early highlight ‘Invisible’ loops serene ambience into a textured break-beat whilst ‘Radioactive’ lends a more progressive techno rhythm to those transient night vapors. Despite its propulsive demeanor, Night Gallery is most fascinating for its temperament, which soaks up the mystique of dusk without leaning on creepiness or paranoia. Its lovely attributes – as when ‘Orchid’ settles like a bass-heavy Four Tet track – interplay with Displacer’s bolder beats in a way that nods to both the anticipation and tranquility of darkness.

Displacer’s tightrope walk between muscle and gracefulness encounters the odd stumble – like the awkwardly late introduction of vocals in the record’s last quarter – but there’s value in an artist who doesn’t rest on their laurels. In a more successful turn, ‘Ice Cold’ turns to effect-drenched guitar in a bid to lionize the finale’s throbbing undulations. It works beautifully and proves that playing marvelously within the confines of IDM styled electronica is often better than trying to breach the subgenre’s limitations.

Sings Shenandoah and Other Popular Hits - Frederick Squire

2011-07-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sings Shenandoah and Other Popular Hits

Frederick Squire
Blue Fog Recordings.

SCQ Rating: 70%

When you grow an appreciation for an artist based on a handful of contributions to other people’s work, it seems like a discovery that can't disappoint. In the case of Frederick Squire, who’d collaborated within Shotgun & Jaybird, who’d sung on Mount Eerie’s Lost Wisdom and who’d stood out as Fred in Daniel, Fred and Julie, I admit that my appreciation for his countless drop-ins on friends’ records snowballed into hype for Frederick Squire Sings Shenandoah and Other Popular Hits. But hype’s the enemy to a full-length as humble and reserved as this one. What Shenandoah requires is anti-hype, the reservations upheld by a patient ear and, perhaps, a healing heart.

Once you’ve whetted your palette to its lone-man folk, these nine songs begin to reward our company with songwriting that’s gentle yet unshakable, arrangements both stubborn and fluid. Where ‘Lucky Number Seven’’s devastating narrative feeds off of sympathetic organ work, ‘All Things Past Serve To Guide You On Your Way’ ends on a choral of mournful vocals. These unexpected flourishes that interrupt Shenandoah’s acoustic-or-bust framework may arrive suddenly but they wisely bleed some slow-moving gusto from such austere arrangements. These unassuming highlights - of which we can add the bittersweet 'Peaceful Valley' - make good on Sings Shenandoah's less accessible stretches of loneliness but, the fact remains, this record wasn't made for summer BBQs or weekend hangouts. Squire's words and music are to be coveted like a love-letter to one's own company, almost by necessity; I doubt the album could find suitable oxygen without an intimate environment.

Although some songs build to an affecting gracefulness, Squire’s decision to close the disc with a live recording of a scant instrumental (‘Theme From a Small Towne Movie’) suggests an indifference to the gravitas he’s just laid down. Mixing heavy doses of sparseness with shrugged-off asides doesn’t make for a landmark release in traditional (re: minimal) folk. And while nobody claimed that Sings Shenandoah was aiming for such a title, Squire’s careful approach throughout the majority of this album often suggests otherwise.