Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

There haven't been many good new albums lately (hence the lack of posts) but one of my recent finds has slowly grown on me: Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, the new disc from Smog's Bill Callahan.
I'm not too familiar with most of Bill's other work as Smog, but I plan to be after hearing this. Some reviews I've read have said that the songs recorded under his real name showed a stark contrast with his earlier, lo-fi folk recordings in both sound quality and subject matter. That being said, I think this album is somewhat of a return to form. Though there are many layers of instruments over Callahan's monotone vocals, the structures are simple, repetitive, and somewhat hypnotic while the lyrics capture some of the horrid feelings of despair found on the only Smog record I've heard, Red Apple Falls. Bill does a lot of interesting things on this album with the few elements he has at his disposal, including the Arabian sounds on "The Wind And The Dove" and the back-up choir on "Rococo Zephyr." He also uses his words as an important instrument, creating a profound build-up toward the end of "Too Many Birds" just by repeating elements of the phrase "if you could only stop your heartbeat for one heartbeat" over and over again, adding each new word one at a time until complete. Other notable tracks include the single "Eid Ma Clack Shaw" (which is surprisingly dark and atypical), the satisfyingly upbeat "My Friend", and the 9-minute closer, "Faith/Void."

Ferndorf; Infinite Leagues

During our show last weekend I dug up a few CDs that were ignored when they first came in the mail toward the end of last year (our reviewing system is sadly very disorganized.) I'm lucky I decided to go through the bin, because I found two really good albums from last October: Ferndorf by Hauschka and Infinite Leagues by Golden Birthday.

Ferndorf is the third album by neo-classical minimalist composer, Volker Bertelmann, who makes use of a technique called "prepared piano" to create his short pieces of warm, melodic goodness. The technique involves putting random objects between the strings of the piano, and it was first explored by early pioneers of experimental music like John Cage. The result, in addition to the other string and percussion instruments layered over the repetitive piano backdrop, is a folksy, earthy sound that quickly progresses around the musical ideas. The album is named for Bertelmann's hometown, and it actually captures what I imagine to be the feeling of riding a bicycle around some Eastern European country. Very pretty, especially "Rode Null" and "Eltern."

Infinite Leagues had "For fans of early Eno and New Order" written on the distributor label, which is what immediately drew me to give it a listen. The voice does sound like Eno, but that was about the extent of the comparisons. The music is very touching, however, as it combines layers of lo-fi electronic pop to create a sort of surreal environment, again using repetition to set the mood. The closing track, "Good Guys," is especially phenomenal, most probably due to my affinity for vocoder experimentation. Side note: is it just me or does the cover look almost exactly like the cover (at least in idea) of Dan Deacon's upcoming Bromst LP? And, if the similarity was intentional, who copied whom? This one came out last October...

Finally, I somehow managed to get a copy of the new Junior Boys album that is scheduled for release in April, Begone Dull Care. Basically, it's amazing. Fans of Last Exit and So This Is Goodbye will definitely not be disappointed, and at the same time the duo manages to progress into new territory and refine their sound. "Dull To Pause" is just as heartbreaking as "Like A Child" while "Parallel Lines" is just as thrilling as "Teach Me How To Fight." Bravo! I'd post a picture, but unfortunately it's so premature to its release that it doesn't even have album art yet.