« Sand and Mini Hawaii | Main | Massage Magazine »
October 24, 2005
Feels Ephemeral
So I haven’t mentioned any new albums in a while. That’s not because I haven’t got any. I failed to report the new Desormais, Shugo Tokumaru, Broken Social Scene, RATN, Aoki Takamasa+Tujiko Noriko, etc, etc. But now I will report The new Piana, Animal Collective, and Boards of Canada, all of which are pretty good, in order of my level of appreciation:
Animal Collective / Feels
There’s not really much to say about this band that hasn’t been said, other than they sound completely and perfectly unique. It’s quite a rarity, but especially in regard to this album you can’t compare them to much that I can think of. This record leans slighty more towards listenability that the thick textures of Spirit They’ve Vanished, or the highly interesting and challenging Here Comes the Indian side-project. As I’m always one to vote for the voluptous and orgasmic reaction that occurs inside my brain when difficult and abstract music begins to lean ever so slightly toward a pop-like listenability, Feels seems to suit me very well.
Piana / Ephemeral
Shamelessly and lethargically blissful, this second album by Piana wastes absolutely no time in enveloping you in a ridiculously lulling, angelic Japanese female vocal from the 1 minute 30 second mark of the very first song. From there the beauty of this very feminine electronica doesn’t let up through this small collection of pretty songs. The only risk is that you drown in it, in which case everything feels the same by albums’ end.
Boards of Canada / The Campfire Headphase
It’s Boards Of Canada. It’s immediately and extremely listenable from the get-go. It’s the virtually universal electronic music that seems to have tapped everyone’s collective childhood memories. It was a revelation when I first heard it somewhere around the age of 18, and it continues to function today, hypnotic powers slightly dimmed as they might be. That’s not really a great review I guess. I’ve probably just heard too much of them.
Posted by shane at October 24, 2005 04:19 AM