Monday, June 29, 2009

Album Review

A few weeks ago my regular freelance writing gig was in jeopardy and looked like might be over. I had this review already written with no sign from anybody there that they would want it. I sent it in to a few other venues, websites, a newspaper, but no one got back to me. Now, my freelancing gig has resurfaced, but there's no room for the review for an album that came out last week. So here it is, for my blog friends. The album is Person To Person by Foreign Born. I'll let the review speak the

Foreign Born // Person To Person

Few things can beat the beginning of summer. That first heat wave of sunshine belting its way across the lawn mixing with wafts of BBQ, beer and sunscreen. It’s a melding of sensation, met and mingling with social enjoyment amongst the masses of sunbathers and swimmers, reveling in relaxation. There must be a soundtrack to this movement, something that seeps into the subconscious by way of association. Such is the case with the aptly named Person To Person, an album capable of spreading like wildfire over the coming summer months. There’s the possibility it’ll make some serious waves amongst the big boys, because while Grizzly Bear can at times be a bit too melancholy and slow, where Animal Collective can sometimes seem off the wall and finicky, Foreign Born’s easy indie-folk style fills the high profile void somewhere in the middle ground.

Fitting amongst Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket and The Shins (not just alphabetically) the second LP from this troupe of Californians is a study in aural pleasure. Taking pages from all that is enjoyed in modern music and stapling them into their own playbook of audibly friendly folk rock, the album unfolds easily and is one that can be thrown on to soften the background for the summer. On the whole it can be taken as 40 minutes of similar sounding, sunshine evoking joy. Separately, there are a few really notable tracks, in particular “Lion’s Share” and “Wait In This Chair” to fulfill the slower “ballad” tracks, and “Winter Games”, a song that starts off feeling like Bowie’s “Suffragette City” to me for some reason then quickly morphs into a hootenanny complete with pot & pan percussion and harmonized vocals that sounds one blown bell jar short of the Country Bear Jamboree (ooh, video idea anyone?). Big standouts of the album are definitely “Early Warnings” and “Vacationing People”. The former sounds like an island romp with an African lead trickling throughout. The latter unfolds like a road trip in your dingy camper filled with grinning eyes peeking from behind your most colorful ray-bans. The song was virtually constructed for 16mm home video footage.

It’ll remain to be seen if Person To Person’s charm will outlast the summer months, but during that time, it’s sure to please more than just the ears at the neighborhood pool.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Do This

New Fanfarlo album. I once included them on a Music Monday. They're really nice people [once met them at sxsw] and make lovely noises. And now you can buy their new album for $1 !!!



Definitely Promising

Matt Oliver/Jordan Johns (formerly of Sound Team) and A. Leonard Jones have formed a new band named TV Torso (where once they tread as The Minotaurs), which is either cool, or kinda lame depending on how you take naming a new band after an old band's song. Like I said, it depends. Personally I'm really excited about this new musical endeavor. Seen them a couple times live, could use a little more polish, but these recordings sound awesome. I want them now.

TV Torso // music
Good little pop gem oddities.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Vacation 09

Leaving today for Kauai until next Wednesday. Pretty excited.

[where's kyle?]