Tape – “Switchboard Fog”
Milieu
Crickets don’t chirp, nor birds sing, to a score. There is no conductor. Perhaps that’s why Tape’s haphazard harmonies and pastoral noodling are so compelling. They lack the exactitude of produced music. This track and others on Milieu, their best album, are less like songs and more like a dawn chorus of guitars, keyboards, and bells.
Tarentel – “Two Sides Of Myself (pt. 1)”
Ephemera
A shimmery exhalation from this variable band’s collection of singles. Like taking a slow boat through a tunnel of stars. And also, you’re drunk.
Kepler – “The Changing Light At Sandover”
Fuck Fight Fail
While their follow-up to this album, Missionless Days, is a quiet masterpiece, this one is far more ambitious and their sound expansive enough on it to rival Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky. But somehow it remains intimate. Past the first couple minutes of crashing intro, this is a remarkably delicate song. The same can be said for the other long track on this album, “Upper Canada Fight Song,” which has an even more Mogwai-esque closer. (insound)
Macha – “Calming Passengers”
Forget Tomorrow
The synth-rock Macha creates is usually poppy and forgettable (not in a bad way), but they occasionally exhibit just a fantastic ear for sound. The ripples constituting the waves of sound lapping along in this song are superbly matched, and the overall rhythm, while not dancey, is difficult not be become caught up in.
Gravenhurst – “Song Of The Summoning”
Internal Travels
It’s difficult to choose between Gravenhurst’s rich Flashlight Seasons and the delicate, straightforward Internal Travels. Fortunately, you don’t have to. They’re both great, and the latter is packed with songs like this one, unassuming yet melancholy, but without a hint of preciousness.
set fire to flames – “steal compass/drive north/disappear”
sings reign rebuilder
An album with a story, and a few actually great songs. The tender opening strains in “I will be true” recall the quiet sections of Godspeed’s earlier albums, and tracks like this one have the power of their more operatic tracks without the fluff.
Volta Do Mar – “The Sound of Day”
At The Speed of Light or Day
This introductory track to an interesting, slightly math-y instrumental album was one of the tracks that made me give a little more credit to bands who seem to value harmony but choose dissonance. Here was a track that so clearly lived in both worlds that I couldn’t help but be patient and just listen.
At The Close Of Every Day – “ All Things End In Waters”
The Silja Symphony
A calm and delicate song, with a lot of subtle craft in it that sets it apart from the herds of voice-and-acoustics out there. Reminds me of Damien Jurado, but I like this better. A bit of extra instrumentation and some unexpected minor harmonies make it less predictable than its unassuming strumming seems to imply at first.
Pelt – “True Vine”
Ayahuasca
Somewhere between the Eastern frenzy of Shalabi Effect and the supernatural introspection of Charalambides lies Pelt, whose string-and-feedback drones and acoustic soundscapes are difficult to pin down in any way. “True Vine” is my favorite of their long tracks (though there are several good ones), with its menace and beauty in perfect solution. It’s like watching the world burn, through a silk veil.
Julianna Barwick – “White Flag”
The Magic Place
This album, mostly vocal, is unique and compelling but not an everyday listen. As the title suggests, it’s a “place” rather than, say, an adventure or experience, and each song seems to describe a different set of surroundings. White Flag seems vaguely African (in a “Graceland” way) while the title track is like a stone church. At any rate, it’s a relaxing and soft album and this is a good song. (insound)
