Now Playing: September, 2012

[Fritz]

[anthony]

[Fritz]

One of my rock 'n' roll confessions: I'm 40 years old and I've never listened to this album until now. Saw it in the library today and borrowed it on a whim.

 

[PopTodd]

It's a mid-90s kinda day.

[PopTodd]

Took a little detour to this beautiful little electronic/folk gem:

Whilst syncing my wife's iPod.

It's very cinematic. Sounds like soundtrack music. Electronic with acoustic and folk elements. Beautiful, really.

 

The artist's own description is pretty apt. From the Bandcamp page:

All It Takes" is the third album by Multi-Panel, the solo project of Ludo Maas. Native to the Netherlands, Ludo has been perfecting his style of loop based electronic music pared with vocals and acoustic guitar. On "All It Takes", Maas blends Lo-fi IDM with Americana, creating a decidedly cinematic experience. Each track blends to the next like scenes in a movie. Nostalgic guitar rifts become the canvas for the synthetic flourishes and expressive synth work. Drum beats and vocals, come and go, on a tidal schedule. The end result is a rich and complex suite of songs that demands to be listened to from start to finish, like a good film. The album was inspired by Maas' new found love for the cinema, and accompanying soundtracks. Notable inspirations include Tangerine Dream's Risky Business, Howard Shore's After Hours, Jon Brion's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Patrick Leonard's At Close Range, Ennio Morricone's Days of Heaven, and Jon Hopkins' Monsters. Maas' musical influences include Nick Drake, Sufjan Stevens, Múm, Colleen, Fennesz, Boards of Canada, Neil Young, Four Tet, and Postal Service.

[jokin' dealer]

[dustbowler]

[Oil Can Boyd]

[augurus]

Grizzly Bear - Sorry For The Delay

 

Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour / Golden Mile

 

James Blake - CMYK

 

James Blake - Klavierwerke

 

James Blake - Enough Thunder

[PopTodd]

[Fritz]

A sunny spring Saturday morning in Sydney and all feels well with this:

 

 

And then a little later in the afternoon there's nothing sweeter than:

 

[Artifice]

[anthony]

Father John Misty - Fear Fun

...

(on my short list for record of the year)

[worldrecordplayer]

A sunny spring Saturday morning in Sydney and all feels well with this:

 

 

Same with me this Saturday afternoon in Boston. Recently got the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab vinyl version. Sounds awesome!

[Fritz]

[augurus]

Frightened Rabbit - State Hospital

 

Band Of Horses - Mirage Rock

What happened to this band? This is awful.

 

Kreayshawn - Something About Kreay

My judgement of Gucci Gucci, her breakout hit, has definitely foreshadowed the cow dung slung.

[augurus]

Ben Folds Five - The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind

Never could get into them. Definitely won't on their most mediocre attempt.

 

Ricardo Villalobos - Dependent And Happy

[anthony]

[PopTodd]

[PopTodd]

[lamradio]

 

Band Of Horses - Mirage Rock

What happened to this band? This is awful.

 

 

I really tried to like it but I couldn't get through a single listen. Truly terrible...

[Moss]

 

 

Band Of Horses - Mirage Rock

What happened to this band? This is awful.

 

 

I'm actually really liking this. I got the deluxe version and the bonus disk is really good as well. Suprised at the feedback as it sounds like a good Band of Horses record to me.

[lamradio]

I don't usually take pitchfork reviews seriously, but I think they hit it on the head this time.

 

If Infinite Arms marked a significant turn away from the starry-eyed, backwoods indie rock of the band's early sound, Mirage Rock moves boldly forward into the realm of radio-conscious pop that its predecessor only toyed with-- although "bold" may be too strong a word for a record this mellow and inoffensive. The rush of emotions Band of Horses channeled on its first two albums has slowed to an intermittent trickle, collecting into a very shallow and sad-looking puddle of a record containing nothing and reflecting nothing.

 

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17042-mirage-rock/

[Moss]

I guess I see it as a nice Laurel canyon sounding album with some great melodies. I agree it's mellow and inoffensive but I don't see that as a bad thing, maybe that's what I'm in the mood for right now. Great melodies, some beautiful guitar work, maybe a bit more polished sounding but it's working for me. Wouldn't say it's their best work but I don't see it as a big drop off from previous work. But I certainly respect the other points of view.

 

 

Edit: The strange thing is, the best song on the album is probably the title track which only appears to be on the bonus disc.

[lamradio]

I'll have to checkout the bonus tracks. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a Band Of Horses Fan... They'll have to do much worse than this to run me off.... I was just expecting more Rock from Mirage Rock... Maybe it's because I became a fan during the days of "The First Song" and "The Funeral" which is like night and day compared to the new album.