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March 29, 2007
Racing Ahead of the Curve...
Despite some light posting I've been mainly absent from MS duties for a week or so thanks to some R & R and family type festivities in my old stomping grounds of Salem, Oregon. The upside of this absence for you, the lurker, is that I've had time to catch up on some listening. Here are a few songs that, though posted about the internet previously and perhaps even gracing the stands of a record store near you, have finally been graced with my seal of approval.
Gui Boratto - "Beautiful Life"
While I'm certainly no Brazilian techno afficionado, I know a killer pop song when I hear one. Gui Boratto might lose a few dance music phobics in the first three minutes of "Beautiful Life," as even a restrained metronome beat such as this tends to overshadow lovely waves of pastel synth. From there, when the earnest (almost grateful) female vocal rides in, the track evokes a clean breeze ruffling the hair instead of sweat shrapnel flying from shimmying club kids. Its structure technically fits the Pavlovian build and release pattern that the dancefloor commands, but it's far too gentle to really dictate motion. The flush faced bliss of the MDMA set is present and accounted for, however.
//Gui Boratto - website
//Gui Boratto - Chromophobia buy
Imagine that you, at age fourteen, were forced to sit idly by while your older brothers wrapped themselves in feedback and dark glasses, suddenly embraced as the world's coolest band. How could you not grow up wanting to be a rock star? Well, her gratification might have been delayed a bit, but little sis Linda Reid has finally taken a slice of the family spotlight. Although some of her debut album as Sister Vanilla invites the inevitable Jesus and Mary Chain comparisons, it's for the most part the sweet Scots indie that we know and love.
Here, the brothers Reid offer some restrained country guitar lilt and some soft vocal support, but are lovingly subdued enough to not overshadow. It charms with modest melody, and the sweet breathy delivery that Glaswegian girls always seem to deliver. I'm sure her gene pool has a good bit to do with her musical acumen, but since my only real knowledge of Scotland is from records, I live under the sweet delusion that you could take any bonnie lass off the cobblestoned streets and into the studio to get a similar result. False of course, but isn't it pretty to think so?
// Sister Vanilla - website
// Sister Vanilla - Little Pop Rock buy
Times New Viking - "Love Your Daughters"
I declared last week that I was going to have to give in and listen to Times New Viking, so I did. It only took me 28 minutes. For 15 tracks! For a non-hardcore album, that's tough to beat.
At 3 minutes and 35 seconds, "Love Your Daughters" is their record's "sprawling centerpiece." They might try flirting with slightly less instantaneous track lengths going forward, as the slowed pace here gives the buoyant melody a chance to bob in the thick waves of fuzz. The Drag City Records comparisons are valid, though for most of the album the unhinged sloppiness and boy girl vocal trade offs place them closer to some of the less psychotic Royal Trux material than Pavement's early noise singles. This one might be the exception, though. There's romance in its roughness, humanity in its hiss, and maybe a drunk on the drums.
// Times New Viking - MySpace
// Times New Viking - ...Present the Paisley Reich buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at March 29, 2007 02:10 PM
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Comments
I can't help thinking "Times New Viking" sounds like the name of a college newspaper! But I do like that record--strung-out, messy thing! (Although, I feel kind of concussed and traumatized by the time it's over.)
Posted by: Koren Zailckas at March 29, 2007 04:27 PM
Although that paper would probably be called the New Viking Times, which would also be the good name for a return to primitivism movement.
The album's almost too much for me to handle, even at 28 minutes, but this one is sweet and sappy to my lo-fi loving ears.
Posted by: Jeff K at March 29, 2007 05:13 PM
I listed to Times New Viking before anyone arrived in my building this morning. I blasted it (along with other songs off the album that I found online) and then was glad that no one else was here to hear it...I think this album needs a Viking funeral.
Posted by: Kelli Douglas at March 30, 2007 09:41 AM
You were probably not an early 90's sloppy lo-fi fan though. This plays to a certain (admittedly half baked and marginal) aesthetic. It's willfully rough. You're either gonna be pissed that it sounds bad, or respect that it blurs a straightforward melody to such an intense degree. To each their own...
Posted by: Jeff K at March 30, 2007 02:35 PM
Ah well, I think it's pointless, painful, self-punishing fun. Kind of like staplegunning your own hand to your cheek and then laughing until you pass out.
...I think you have to approach it like a triple-dog dare: listen without goal or purpose and expect to lose a little blood.
Posted by: Koren Zailckas at March 30, 2007 05:20 PM
