Cut from the same cloth as the rest > of their stuff, luckily they have a good tailor. > No Age - Loosing Feeling EP > New EP from the noise rockers. I have a very low tolerance for religious music and > I love this album. It is his most religious album, > making some reference to it in nearly every song. > David Bazan - Curse Your Branches > Long awaited debut album from the man behind Pedro the Lion and > Headphones. The lighter side > of math-rock, if you will. This is mostly pitch > altered samples and keys in a rather jerky fashion. Similar sound > to Battles with out the heavy drums or guitars. He just needs to make records this catchy and powerful, and he’ll always have a happy batch of followers.> Tyondai Braxton - Central Market > This is the vocalist/key/guitar player from Battles.
The combination of intelligent and punchy songs, the sympathetic production, and Lerche’s winning vocals make this a strong follow-up to Heartbeat Radio and further proof that Lerche doesn’t need to mess around trying different things to keep people interested. Having said that, there still are a few sonic tricks and surprises to be found (no spoilers) and the production is far from cookie-cutter standard. It’s a trade worth making when the craftsman is as talented as Lerche is. Lerche sounds confident and calmly focused throughout, delivering a craftsman-like performance that may lack a bit in thrills, but pays off in emotional impact and tunefulness. Sometimes channeling his inner Nilsson (as on the opening “Ricochet”), sometimes smoothly rocking in a modern fashion (on the peppy "Go Right Ahead"), the record mostly keeps to a middle ground of calmly, brainy, and deeply felt balladry, though there are moments that feel radio-ready (as on "Private Caller") and even a little bit epic (on the seesawing ballad "Tied Up to the Tide"). It’s just 40 minutes of Lerche’s unadorned vocals, his always witty lyrics, and some great guitar pop.
Working with longtime musical partner Kato Ådland, and with production by Nicolas Vernhes, the album isn’t flashy and doesn’t have an angle. That trend continues on 2011’s self-titled album. After a long string of records where exploring different genres seemed almost as important as the songs themselves, Sondre Lerche’s 2009 album Heartbeat Radio was the first record in awhile that felt like it was a true musical expression and not some crazy experiment.
0 kommentar(er)
