Indie Gaze: Imaginary Mixtape 1/3

 

            This is the 1st imaginary mixtape on this blog.

 

             Well, it’s Friday the 13th, but if you like Track-By-Track, today will be a lucky one.  For September, since it’s a kind of new-beginning time of year, instead of reviewing albums or EPs, I’ll turn you on to 10 great tracks each week, from different albums and compilations I’ve found over the years, for the duration of the month.  Don’t worry, I’ll return to album/EP reviews in October, time willing.

            I realize I’ve been giving the whole of indie music a bit of a hard time so far. Many of these tracks have indie influences, and they sound great because of it; so don’t think I’m against the genre, I’m just against it being where it doesn’t sound good, like any other genre.

            Here's my TBT:

            1. “Dreaming” by Adam & The Amethysts, from the compilation album Foreign Trade - A Music Exchange Between Minneapolis & Montreal [CJLO 1690AM (Montreal) & Radio K (Minneapolis)]

            Dreaming is a soft new-wave/old-school dream pop track.  The lyrics are great, with a storyline about some kind of archeological site.  A slow, relaxed beat mixes with soft guitar and bass, and natural, harmonized vocals.  No extreme processing of any kind, but the style sneaks up and relaxes, like a chillwave take on 80s ballads.  Adam & The Amethysts are from Canada, which makes them the first band I’ve reviewed from my homeland, astonishingly.  What sounds like a sax brings the end home, and makes the over-six-minute length seem short and worthwhile.  “If it seems like I’m dreaming, don’t wake me.” (http://cjlo1690am.bandcamp.com)

            2. “Flourish” by Jesper Lundager, from I Could Fall in Love Again EP (2011)

            This is an old-school dream pop (very little synth, more guitar processing) song, very reminiscent of 90s dream-pop band Cocteau Twins.  Despite what might be a dark tone lyrically, it’s uplifting musically, and really otherworldly with acoustics heard through chorus processing, and soft, unusual, and fitting vocals.  There’s either a slide guitar, or a synth that sounds like it, that really drives the emotion in the song, and as bass and bass synths soothe, a certain sadness also comes through the nostalgic and upbeat song.  Lundager is now in another band, Tusindfald and I can’t wait to hear more from either.  “See her candle light calling out for you.” (http://jesperlundager.bandcamp.com)

            3. “Double Vision” by Hunting Club from Mosaic (2013)

            And now, this is what I call new-style dream pop.  There are definitely indie influences in the track, and at times it reminds me of Arcade Fire’s “No Cars Go”.  Vocals are like pop vocals, pre-pitch correction, with enough warm, resonant reverb to really get that indie feel.  The beat is fast, guitars are repetitive and Summery, bass creates the real base of the melody, and the synths show why digital, done right, can be just as good as analog.  “I cannot forget with double vision.” (http://huntingclubmusic.bandcamp.com/)

            4. “Know Me Right” by The Sorry Shop from Mnemonic Syncretism (2013)

            “Know Me Right” is definitely shoegaze, but indie comes through as well.  Awash in reverb, the track starts off with over 40 seconds of shoegaze guitar, bass, and drums (and tambourine).  Then comes the pitch-treated vocals, which emphasize a kind of Jesus and Mary Chain atmosphere already hinted at with the music.  Fortunately, lyrics are included, so you can understand a kind of agoraphobic story nicely playing with the static and energy of the song.  “Why will I ever need anything from the outside when it’s so good in here”. (http://thesorryshop.bandcamp.com)

            5. “Headcleaner” by Hypermagic from Sugar (2011)

            “Headcleaner” is an instrumental shoegaze/drone/ambient track by Hypermagic, that mixes the sound of heavily-driven tremolo-effected guitar, soft vocal trails, an interesting and kinda syncopated beat, and great resonant sounds all around the ears.  It’s drone in a way, because it doesn’t change the main chord structure, yet it also reminds me of ambient tracks, and shoegaze, with a very slight touch of indie in the vocals and mixing.  Hypermagic has since released more music, with their newest 3 track EP, Of Marsh and Mallow. (http://hypermagic.bandcamp.com)

            6. “Saint Étienne” by Abiku from Techincolor (2011)

            Where would my blog be without great Italian music?  Well, let’s put aside that scary rhetorical question, and look at this track.  Abiku’s “Saint Étienne” opened my heart through this song so much, that I wish I knew more Italian than what digital translations tell me.  It has a rich sound like a fine wine, or perhaps something finer, and both relaxes and invigorates.  There are touches of indie without being overbearingly so.  Beautiful vocals, a perfect and prominent bass, and warm textured synths in the beginning make it very warm and sunlit.  Drums bring out the energetic side, and just when you think it’s set in a certain sound, distorted and inverted-sounding guitars enhance the mood.  There’s really no way to describe the full sound, but needless to say once you’ve heard it, it’s bliss.  (http://abikuband.bandcamp.com)

            7. “Alpine” by Apollo Vermouth from Burning in Heaven (2012)

            It was hard to choose which song off Apollo Vermouth’s Burning in Heaven release I wanted to review for this imaginary mixtape.  “Untitled” was a runner up, but “Alpine” took the cake for its strong shoegaze sound.  “Alpine” is an instrumental shoegaze/drone track.  Through its repetitive drone nature, and huge distortion, a relaxation sets in, like a kind of obliteration of the senses (or at least one).  It’s like a My Bloody Valentine coda, and a bit like their “Sometimes”, in the way of relaxing distortion that most people would use in harsher rock.  You can tell some of the indie edges in the track, even through its meditative and pensive overall sound. (http://apollovermouth.bandcamp.com)

            8. “I’m Not Talking” by AC Newman From Shut Down the Streets (2012)

            AC Newman released Shut Down the Streets last year, and “I’m Not Talking” starts the album off on the right foot.  The beginning has some great analogue-sounding synths, and soon the song explodes with the full energy that’s throughout almost all of the song.  The beat has lots of 60s-style tambourine, and the song screams indie done properly.  It’s warm and full of heart, with great harmonies, and an overall great focus on melody.  The classic sound of acoustics and bass, give the song retro flair, and I’m happy that this sound was made in Canada.  “I Like the way things are, I say abandon the search, for an author of small work.” (http://www.acnewman.net/)

            9. “Sunlight” by Yuno [single] (2012)

            “Sunlight” is another alt-rock song with great melodic sense.  Vocals with heavy reverb, layered guitars, warm bass, and an addictive beat.  The song is nostalgic and hi-frequency tones make it sound both back and forward looking.  It’s definitely a hit, but like a like a lighter, more shoegaze or dream pop style version of an older one.  (http://yvno.bandcamp.com)

            10. “Untitled” by Sea Oleena from Sleeplessness (2011)

            The last track by someone from my homeland in this imaginary mixtape, is a song titled “Untitled”, by Sea Oleena (writer/performer Charlotte Oleena, produced and mixed by her brother Luke Loseth).  It has both background noises that enhance the track’s indie/lo-fi vibe, and music that sounds professionally constructed.  The writing and style reminds me of Leonard Cohen, which is a big plus lyrically and musically.  It has a certain sparseness, enhanced by guitars (acoustic and processed) and soft evocative vocals sung through airy reverb.  The bass is addictive, just like the beat, made up of strange sounds sometimes with interesting delays on them.  “Untitled” is from Sea Oleena’s second release, Sleeplessness, which I highly recommend for ghostly alt-acoustic tones. (http://seaoleena.bandcamp.com)

            Overall, these are inspiring and amazing indie-alt-rock crossover songs that you should check out right now.  I mean it, right at this moment.

Pink Elephants: The Good Kind of Hallucination

 

            This is a review of Pink Elephants’s eponymous EP (2013), and the 16th Review (and 2nd bonus review) here on Track-By-Track.

            Pink Elephants (teenage solo artist Bradley Coy) released the Pink Elephants EP this year, and after finding it, I loved the somewhat nostalgic-yet-modern sounds.  Cooper's music has an interestingly 80s retro vibe, but done in a modern way, a bit like M83.  As with most good modern dream-pop, It’s like glide-guitar (pitch warping) has been taken straight from My Bloody Valentine, and applied to synths.  The vocals are generally very airy, with loads of reverb, and the great synths drive this EP.
           Generally, the release is on the technological side of dream pop (new-style dream-pop), though it isn’t a complete turn away from the laid-back alternativeness that paved the way in the pre-'00s.  Sometimes I felt like digging out my old Sega Genesis, because some songs sound like classic video-game music running through loads of pedals.
            Here’s my TBT:

            The first track, “I Think I Know” is pretty great new-style dream pop.  It has some basic drum samples, but the atmosphere created by the synths, bass, guitar, and vocals, make up for them in spades.  It’s like if Priums were remixed by Cocteau Twins or Echo & the Bunnymen.  Cuts are abrupt and sometimes disconcerting, to good effect.

            “Iridescent” has classic synths, and some pop-style ducking, with an equalization that washes everything in an ocean of digitally created waves.  This is the hit song on the EP.  The drums are more classic than low-end, which is a plus for this EP.  If there will be singles from the EP, this one should lead.  Great vocal harmonies accentuate the drifting feeling of the song, which is just like what I’d expect a producer from the 80s would die for.  It's ridiculously addictive, and the major glo-fi/chillwave sound helps with that addictiveness.

            “Lemmings” overpowers with bass, though the drums sound very Garageband despite their great beat (near the end they don’t seem too distracting though).  Vocals and synths are very dream-pop.  The sound, though lo-fi is addictive and harshly ethereal.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Cooper was out of breath after every take, or even every line, because they’re wonderfully breathy; seething with understated emotion.

            The 4th track, “The Flying Bandstand”, starts with the one word that can be definitely discerned from the vocals on this entire EP:”F**k”.  The synths are very classic-sounding, and it almost sounds like great vocals put to great video-game music.  Just like the rest of the EP, discernible words are sacrificed for the sake of atmosphere; we of the shoegaze ilk don’t mind that, but non-gazers might not understand.  It makes me think of a large circus tent at the end.

            “When I Will Learn” sounds like the vocals were either recorded backwards, or sung to sound backwards.  It’s the folk song on the EP, and the guitar is kinda indie-lo-fi.  I can’t figure out the lyrics completely, though “when will I learn” is part of the chorus.  It’s like all the seams of the melodic structures from the previous songs have been whittled down, and we’re left with the sound of unwound threads, scattered by a skilled artist while slightly under some unknown influence.  Or, in musical terms, good guitars and lo-fi vocals.

            Overall, a good dream-pop EP, and I can’t wait for more.  I’m hoping that in the future, Cooper will play with more drum samples, or live drums, to perfect his sound.  You can check out Pink Elephants at http://pinkelephants1.bandcamp.com, and stream and download this EP for a pay-what-you-want price (as of writing this).  After taking a listen, if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to see more Pink Elephants in the near future (pun intended in a good way).

Week Lag / Mixtape Month

Well, it’s that time of year again.  Colds, spending, and cramming, for many.  I’ve missed writing this blog, but needed some time to recover.  I’ve been working on a new project for this month: Creating imaginary mixtapes for people interested in Track-By-Track, for the duration of the month.  So, though it’s been delayed by a week, I present to you the first of three imaginary mixtapes: Indie-Gaze.  Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to be late, and not have anything to make up for it with, so I also include as the only review of an actual entire EP this month: The Pink Elephants’ EP, Pink Elephants (2013); dream pop galore, which should help with the shock of the temporary but sudden change of style here on Track-By-Track.

   Enjoy,

     -Daniel Trainor-Mckinnon, Track-By-Track

In Frame: An Amazing Picture

            This is a retrospective review of In Frame (2010) by Monokle & Galun, and the 15th review here on Track-By-Track.

            Well, it’s the end of August, and that means it’s the end of the retrospective month.  Fortunately, it’s going out with a bang, with 2010’s Russian collaboration, In Frame, by Monokle (beatmaker Vladislav Kudryavtsev) and Galun (vocalist Sergey Galunenko).  For a while, I’ve been addicted to music from the German 12rec label, and this is a good example of why.  The album goes between indie pop, and Radiohead-reminiscent alternative rock, with loads of overlap, and sometimes hints of chillwave.  In fact, a lot of this sounds like Danger Mouse working with Radiohead.
            There are sounds that defy explanation throughout, and most tracks have elements of genres that don’t normally mix well with each other.  I was happy to hear these different influences and styles mixed together in ways that actually work towards inventive and alternative music.  Though overall indie pop, the tracks are also alt-rock, with the guitar featuring prominently in almost every track.


            Here’s my TBT:

            “Happy Sun” begins the album.  It’s a lot like indie poppers Peter Bjorn and John, but with extra processing with hip-hop and trance influences.  There’s loads of sampled vocalizations, noise, and random noises, underneath a solid beat and a great heavily-processed bassline.  Guitars and other instruments are warped and tweaked, like an old-school acid dj got hold of an otherwise happy track, and then threw the mix to a shoegazer to make it palatable.  The track’s name is repeated a lot throughout, to good effect, and the ending reminds me of the Scottish IDM duo Boards of Canada.

            “Colding” is like David Lynch’s work on Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's Dark Night of the Soul, but with more of a sophisticated and upbeat edge.  The beat is very addictive, and as usual, loads of sampled sounds and great bass brings the track loads of modernity without being horrid or too standard like most of the pop scene.  It’s a fitting title for the song, yet it has a warmth that’s undeniable.  Despite having only a few words throughout, it works extremely well, and even reminds me of some of the best David Wise video game scores.  Falsetto.  Need I say more?

            “Two Times” comes next, and it sounds like Radiohead and Peter Bjorn and John collaborating.  Vocal trails in falsetto overtop sampled other vocal samples, loads of guitars and synths with delays and reverb in abundance, and a heavily processed beat.  When the main vocals kick in, there are actually two of them.  Panned left, a soft spoken part; and right, a sung part; all the while, vocal trails softly panning both directions in tandem.  It’s like "Motion Picture Soundtrack" on Radiohead's Kid A, and the instrumental hidden track on the same album, especially because of the softer sounding xylophone-like synth.

            “Globus” is the 4th track.  It starts with some deep ambient vocals and tones; then some well-timed resonators being fed with what sounds like organs and wind chimes through a Leslie speaker.  It’s mostly instrumental, and very ambient; with slow vibraphone that really makes it relaxing and soothing.  There are so many sounds on this album that it’s just amazing how they’ve been fitted to make the tracks sound better, without altering the mood of the overall tracks they’re part of; and this track is a shining example.

            “Fine Care” is a great psychedelic indie-pop track with chillwave and alt-rock mentality throughout.  It definitely sounds like a hit.  The lyrics are few, but the voices are many; loads of vocal trails in falsetto, cut up, and likely sampled, as well as the vocals that do sing words.  Sampled glockenspiel and a “15 Steps” reminiscent beat work with mk-style synths, and occasional pitch-treated guitars and random noises, to create a rich and textured soundscape, sometimes fed through shifting resonators.  I find it astounding that music like this stuff isn’t constantly on the radio.

            “Air Krispella” slows things down a bit, and gets more modern, without losing its alternativeness.  The vocals are often like duets between The National’s Matt Berninger, and Thom Yorke, with occasional lines from Beck, in some kind of imaginary collaboration.  Loads of sampled sounds, reversed and forewords, and even a strange looped synth solo near the end.  The beat and solid bass have soul influences, but it’s definitely an alternative track with the ambient synths and warm vocals.

            “Crossed Fingers” is the 7th track.  It begins with an ambient guitar loop, then bass and vocals with just enough reverb.  The bass really drives this one, and guitars sometimes sound like kotos or other zithers.  There’s also a great electroacoustic moment at the end that’s like the best of Rune Lindblad, and Brian Eno warped together and awash in reverb.

            “Justalite” has what sounds like a soft wind instrument, and warped guitar and additional synths, before the beat and vocals cut in.  The lyrics repeat like a fast drone track, and the guitar is more prominent in this one.  The glockenspiel sounds like Sigur Rós near the end, though this is very much a Monokle and Galun original.  They bring sounds together in such a way to both soothe and unsettle at times, like this track’s light yet downtempo feeling.

            “Get At Will” is the 9th track.  Guitars (pitch treated, and warped) once again take the forefront, with a chopped beat, strange synths, and quite possibly some bass.  It’s an instrumental track, and guitars surround, emphasizing the psychedelic style that Monokle and Galun dabble with amidst their overall indie pop genre.  It’s refreshing to hear things in different ears, because, after all, we’re listening to music in stereo.
    Here’s my TBT:

            “Long” is downtempo with vibraphone and guitar, and bass that drives the track until the drums break in at full, and make it a post-rock crossover.  The lyrics are minimal and repetitive as usual, but also sung with loads of feeling, like all of the tracks.  The end is like a great ambient song with guitar overdubs.

            “Smolder” is the second-last track.  Some of the sped-up whispering vocals from the first track’s end return, but this time, with overarching deep ambient sounds surrounding them.  The guitar and bass are beautiful, and very warm.  It reminds me of that dusky time when everything is blue, yet as if someone has a warm fire to gather around in the early fall.  Look for piano and synths, in this instrumental.

            “Means” is the final track.  It’s softer, warmer, and brighter, than most of the other tracks, until the beats cut in with processed flair.  There are more lyrics, though the lyrics don’t seem as important as the sound.  More guitar, and processed samples, then a synth solo that screams both old and new.  The ending is a bit abrupt, but doesn’t hurt the track.

            Overall, it’s a strong alternative album, with both great creativity and attention to melody.  You can get this album, and loads more, for pay-what-you-want at http://12rec.bandcamp.com.  Then be sad that the label is not releasing anymore.

Naked Sanctuary: A Sonic Sanctum

            This is a retrospective review of the Vinyl Williams release, Naked Sanctuary (2010), and the 14th review here on Track-By-Track.

            Naked Sanctuary is extremely well-done shoegaze psychedelia.  Though fairly recent, it’s still a release I wouldn’t normally review due to being part of the back-catalogue of Vinyl Williams releases; I’m normally interested in current albums, but it’s a treat to bring attention to previous releases that are just as relevant as modern ones.  And this is an appropriately retro-influenced release.  If this album were released in the ‘60s or ‘70s, music as we know it might have changed course for the better; though it’s exciting to know that artists who make music as transcendent as this are still alive and well.
            Amazingly, this is a solo project; Lionel Williams is the sole engineer and writer on the album.  The professionalism and quality of music from solo artists never ceases to surprise me.  There’s also an interesting overtone of mysticism throughout, both musically, and in terms of lyrical content.  Loads of ideas flow through, and even the artwork (individual to each track) helps with making this a refreshingly alternative release.  Though Naked Sanctuary has just five tracks, I can’t really decide whether it’s an album or an EP, because of its over 27 minute length.  Washes of reverb, static, and an abundance of melody, in some ways makes me glad it wasn’t released back in the height of psychedelic and progressive rock’s popularity, because I’d wear out the grooves of an analogue record like this pretty quickly.
            Here’s my digital TBT:

            The release starts with “100”, with a constantly changing melodically warped atmosphere that mainly goes between a somewhat Syd-Barrett, and a stripped-down Sway (reviewed at the beginning of this month), in style.  Some very cryptic lyrics, occasionally in a language I don't know: “Lef’nei shanim zeh haya midbar (Years ago this was a desert)”.  Loads of strange sounds that surround like The Flaming Lips’ best songs.  There’s guitar with loads of static and delay throughout, textured drums, and during the chorus, a great combination of soft-yet-loud bass, huge guitar, heavily-panned tambourine and drums, and evocative vocals; in what might be a defining moment of melody.  Vocals throughout are soft, layered, and curious.  And the ending surprises.

            “Freshly Picked Diamond” follows, with obscured strange and hypnotic lyrics (thankfully provided in print), and transcendent melody.  To call this merely a shoegaze track would do it a disservice, because it’s another strongly psychedelic track; loads of sounds that really bring attention to the fact you’re listening in stereo, delays to the hilt, and what sounds like very warm spring reverb.  There might even be some warm synths low in the mix.  It’s like the vocals are trying to convey a secret message in this, and all the other tracks on Naked Sanctuary, yet the rich guitars, bass, and drums, combine so perfectly with the vocals that there’s little doubt the music is important to Vinyl Williams.  It finishes with a beautiful and heavily-processed coda that sounds like a clip from a larger ambient track.

            The third track, “Zeal Biotics” is the downbeat track.  Though at times breath is audible in the track, it sounds like part of the intent rather than production problems.  It’s so captivating that it’s hard to describe.  It’s a bit like a modern-rock track, but with such heavy abandon into deep melody -- bass combines with guitar to create conflicting yet melodically sound chords, and vocals add yet another dimension -- that it goes far beyond any standard form of rock.  Heavily shoegaze and psychedelic again, with slightly overdriven drums, and guitars that sound like reverb itself.  And who could ignore this: “Every time you think or feel, I’m resonating vast frequencies”?

            The second-last track, “Spiral Galaxy” is instrumental and uplifting, especially after the last track’s dark tone.  It starts out with meditative harmony from what I can only guess is a sampler through five or ten reverb channels, and there are soft drum and tambourine sounds as well.  It’s hard to describe what this track is, but it’s beautiful; just nothing other than itself comes to mind.  It has a definite Eastern influence, like other works by Vinyl Williams.

            “Psychic Shrine” is the final track, which starts out with a guitar panning from ear to ear.  There’s a sitar.  I repeat.  There’s a sitar.  That’s all I need to fall in love with it.  Even though there’s so much more.  Guitar dives in and out of complete overdriven reverb obliteration, bass undertones harmonics, and the drums are addictive.  The vocals drive the track, especially in the chorus with these lyrics: “Can you tell me what there is on the other side?”.  They’re so emotional, yet not at the expense of melody and quality.  Some occasional vocal tones sampled and panned right give even more texture to the track, even though it doesn’t seem possible beforehand.  Sometimes the guitar is reminiscent of Sonic Youth, with loads of static, and unusual chords (both in discord and not).

            Overall, unbelievable, powerful, and deeply musical.  This release is a good example of why I don’t do drugs; I assume I can get roughly the same mental transcendence and warping without the bad side-effects.  You can stream for free, and download for pay-what-you-want prices in CD quality at http://vinylwilliams.bandcamp.com.  Vinyl Williams has since released a new EP, and LP, available at the same link.  Sit back, relax, turn on, drop out.  Oh, and don’t take the brown acid.

APZOO EP: Shoegaze Evolved

            This is a retrospective review of Asalto al Parque Zoológico’s first release: The original version of their APZOO EP (2009), and the 13th review here on Track-By-Track.

            Asalto al Parque Zoológico (APZOO for short) is a band from Buenos Aires in Argentina.  Though they’re a fairly recent band -- they’ve been going since 2008 -- I’m reviewing their EP as part of the retrospective theme of this month because I would normally avoid reviewing music released before 2012, to keep current.
            And the retrospective theme suits them perfectly.  They have a style like older alternative rock, just with hints of modern flare.  There are noise rock and psychedelic elements to their work, but mainly they’re a shoegaze band.  There are also some old-school (not mainly synth) dream-pop sounds underneath their overall noise-gazing bliss, underplayed to near-obscurity.  When I found APZOO, I was amazed that there were bands keeping shoegaze alive, let alone being evolutionary forces keeping it growing, like this EP certainly does.
            Here’s my TBT:

            The EP starts off with “Below”, a visceral grating guitar tone with soft drums and blurred vocals, with a scoop-processed bass.  It’s ethereal, but also harsh, and sounds like My Bloody Valentine playing a set with The Flaming Lips (“Ego Tripping” era).  There’s a great uneasiness that is pronounced with the warping and drifting guitars and vocals throughout; which are quickly interrupted by a holocaust of starchy distorted guitar, somewhat comparable to “You Made Me Realize”

            Then comes “Breeze”.  Huge loud guitars, with vocals that skillfully double-trip over each word.  The bass pretty much never stops, and it sounds more like the hum of a large vehicle at times than just a bass guitar.  the drums are heavy and the low frequency is emphasized.  At the end, there’s a mainly reversed coda, which is a definite homage to My Bloody Valentine’s Tremolo and Loveless era codas.

            “Awake” is more psych-rock; kinda like The Brian Jonestown Massacre playing with The Dandy Warhols.  There’s a huge resonant whirlwind, and strange shimmering (heavily delayed with loads of high-frequency) guitars.  It’s a treat to hear chords and sounds this unusual, especially with tambourine and a bass kick like a persistent deep drum on a log.  The lyrics are repetitive, but it suits the song.  There’s a dissonance between the resonant washes of what I think is reverb and the main guitar and vocal sounds, that makes it that much more alternative.

            “Slow Motion” is the second-last song on the APZOO EP.  It’s a noise-rock piece.  People who like both The Velvet Underground and Rune Lindblad will love this one.  It’s instrumental, and seems to have muddled bass and a guitar that sounds pitch-treated, awash in huge reverb.  Those low-end frequencies makes the APZOO EP sound older than it is, to good effect.

            “Le Dernier Jour” is the final track, and though I don’t speak its language, I do love the clarity of the vocals; it’s unusual in shoegazing tracks, though it works just as well as obscuring them does.  It sounds like a shoegaze-influenced modern track, until the chorus messes with expectations by removing the reverb, and changing key.  You’ll find radio-transmissions (or vocals that sound like them) throughout the second half, and there’s a feedback solo that gives way to another coda.  And before you know it, like the snap of a finger, it’s over.

            Overall, this EP is an earthy alternative rock/shoegaze treat, and like all addictive substances, makes you want more.  APZOO has since re-released the EP with two new tracks -- and deleted their original Bandcamp page, which mentioned what year the original EP was released -- but the new songs very nearly stand on their own.  You can stream for free and purchase in CD quality at http://sadness.bandcamp.com/album/apzoo-ep-asalto-al-parque-zool-gico.  And the new version's new tracks are like the cherry on the cake.

Despondent Transponder: Not Just a Fleeting Joy

            This is a retrospective review of the Fleeting Joys album Despondent Transponder (2006), and the 12th review on this blog.

            Fleeting Joys is a Shoegaze band from California, in a mainly traditional sense.  There are moments when they are more 90s alt-metal/alt-rock than shoegaze, but overall, this is one of those albums I’d recommend to anyone who wants to know what shoegaze sounds like, and who might not have had as much time bleeding their ears on the progenitors like I have (figuratively).  They have a great sound, with mainly drifting guitars, driving bass, riding drums, and vocals with a dreamy quality resurrected from the shoegaze-explosion of the 90s.
            I actually came across their formerly-lost song, Golden Now, first, and after listening to it a couple dozen times on headphones, I wanted more.  Fortunately, Despondent Transponder didn’t disappoint.  This is a strong album, and I’m glad I can write about it, even though they’ve since released newer material, because it’s so richly textured, and raw.  After all this time, it’s still relevant and enjoyable, as loads of the album just sticks with you.
            Here’s my TBT:

            The album starts with the song “The Breakup”.  It’s a modern-style shoegaze purist track, with loads of reverse-reverb and transparent overdrive.  A great start, it’s a chilled-out track, and they make use of the Kevin Shields glide guitar style of playing well.  This is another epitome of shoegazing music, like last week’s, but in a different way.  Fleeting Joys have a certain laid-back harshness about their sound on Despondent Transponder that makes their sound generally somewhere between indie rock, metal, and shoegaze proper.  Vocals are beautiful, layered, and calmly foreboding; drums ride in the verses, and are hard-hitting in the choruses; bass blasts out overdriven tones; and there’s even a great coda with samples and a perfect example of shoegazing in its element.

            “Lovely Crawl” comes next, and it’s a kind of hard-rock shoegaze mix.  Enveloping guitar and great soft breathy vocals are nicely juxtaposed by heavy bass, and slow-driving drums.  There are loads of layers in the track, many of them vocal, but some guitar, like the solos that shout out alt-rock done right.

            “Go and Come Back” is the third track.  It’s slower and softer than most of the album.  The guitar drifts in and out of its own reverb, and the vocals are beautiful.  The drums throughout are textured and played in a way to perfectly support and shine at the same time, as the bass grounds.  “Go and Come Back” is like lifting from the ground, but knowing you’ll never get lost in the sky.

            “I Want More Life” starts out with some string-samples being pitch warped, and then erupts into a kind of upbeat shoegaze speed-metal, in which the drums speed the track up, and the guitar give the illusion that the drums aren’t going fast at all.  Of course, it can certainly get the heart going, but it calms as it rages on.  It’s like an upper and a downer, not that I’d advise either of those non-musically.  It’s amazing that instrumental tracks can get this good.

            “Satellite” is fast and washed out with great guitar and high vocals.  The bass gives a backdrop to the track, and actually helps keep the key for the vocals, because great drums and warped guitar only help to imbue the track with a chaotic ordered-ness.  There’s an instrumental bridge after the middle of the track that’s to die for.  Look for it, and repeat ad infinitum.

            “While I’m Waiting”, the sixth track, comes after a low-end distorted fade-in.  The keyboard is like a good pop-line from the 90s, in the midst of a great 90s revival song.  It sounds optimistic, even though the lyrics are a bit Slowdivey.  Layered vocal harmonies fade out with the sweet anachronistic bass-line at the end.

            “Magnificent Oblivion” warps and flourishes, and a kind of repeating tremolo that sounds like a cd skipping on a synth track gives it a nice catchiness inside of the atmosphere created by warm bass, soft drums (with classic shoegaze-style cymbal rides), shy and dreamy vocals, and cold-and-aching-sounding guitar.  It’s a longer track, and addictive to boot.

            “Where Do I End” is the eighth track, and it sounds more 90s metal than shoegaze, even though it’s definitely a crossover.  I love the vocals and tonal combinations of the guitar and bass.  Actually, I love the ultra-90s-alt-rock drums too.  Actually, I adore this whole album, so if I don’t mention something, it’s not for lack of enjoyment.  Loads of fuzz and some great fake-out endings and hiss near the end.

            “Young Girls Fangs” comes next.  It begins with static, and what sounds like a guitar (or five) being fed through a Leslie speaker (or an emulator of one).  It’s another instrumental, and synths and guitar sound like the only parts to this track, even though bass is prevalent.  It’s just that the bass is so melded perfectly with the guitar’s chords and rhythm (and rejection thereof), that it doesn’t sound like anything could be that on-time outside of being built-in.

            “Patron Saint” is a hard-rock shoegaze mix.  The bass and drums are more modern rock (well-performed modern-rock, that is), and the vocals are more chilled out.  The guitar is almost impossible to describe without talking about pedals, looping, and sounds that defy description.  So instead of trying to analyze it to death, I’ll just say that it creates a kind of wildly out-of-control atmosphere, that somehow the bass manages to persuade back into non-noise-rock territory.  It’s an odd song to end on in some ways (it was the original ending of Despondent Transponder, before Golden Now was rediscovered by the band), but it does sound like an ending nonetheless.  And a bit like a Sonic Youth solo.

            “Golden Now” is the last track on the digital version of Despondent Transponder.  It’s a Heavenly sound with loads of slowly modulated guitar, bass supporting all the tones, drums that grab the attention with analogue-sounding distortion, and a killer vocal-lyrical combination.  It’s the reason I found this album, really.  As complex as it is laid-back, and dark as it is uplifting, it’s a paradox set to music.  Just listening to the drums brings by my adoration of tube mics, and the whole thing is done to a T.

            Overall, an amazing and interesting display of power and grace, usually simultaneously.  Fleeting Joys has since released a new album, and you can stream both for free at http://fleetingjoys1.bandcamp.com, and purchase CD-quality downloads at that link as well.  Like many bands, they can’t live up to their name.  The joy that is Fleeting Joys actually lasts a long time.