Palebear Archives

June, 2008

Gregg Yeti And The Best Lights
Heart Palpitations...

If you’re wondering what’s with all the reviews on the same day, the way it works over here is that there’s a long, long, long, farking long queue of music. Every so often, I need to purge that queue so that I can reclaim space on my floor and in the closets. I haven’t done this in nearly 6 months. So there’s some “purging” afoot. I usually review about 10% of what I receive - the rest gets recycled or sent to the thrift. Yep, it has to be this way. Otherwise, I would be writing reviews in my sleep. Not that I’m doing that now.. Zzz =)

Back to reviewing - another CD that’s up my alley is Gregg Yeti & The Best Lights. A little dose of slacker-90s lo-fi-aesthetic pop is sometimes just what you need to get you out of the neu-Coldplay doldrums… OK, after I wrote that, I was thinking that I RIYL-ed a little hastily. It’s not slacker GBV-ish, not even close. There is, however, a sort of laid back feel to the songs and the voice.

Never mind that the long title (“Heart Palpitations of The Rich & Famous”) sure challenges my blog’s reformating prowess. There’s some great keeper tracks here - Gregg’s singing and the song structures are very Sebadoh-ish. Most of the songs aren’t aggro - they’re the more introspective ones. Maybe some New Pornographers in here as well? There’s also some even more mellow, dare I say shoe-gazeyness, going on in songs like “Colonize Your Eyes”. And “Building Houses” sounds almost like an Ida song.

Mr. Yeti enlists a few others to help out with singing and other duties, but for the most part he plays all the instruments. Out on Eskimo Kiss…

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Oren Lavie
The Opposite Side Of The Sea

I’m going to admit that I’m a little bit out of my league trying to review this Oren Lavie CD. No doubt it’s a wonderful collections of smoky, quirky, mellow tunes. And actually, there is a very good chance that you’ve already heard a song. The opening track, “Her Morning Elegance” was used in a Chevy Malibu commercial.

I know I got one reference correct immediately, even though it’s an easy one - Nick Drake’s footprint is everywhere. Oren’s voice is hushed, even ragged sounding at times, which goes pretty well with the sparse arrangements. No pounding drums here. There are a lot of orchestral arrangements, at times a bit whimsical. Sometimes it reminds me of the strings on The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”. The other name that comes to mind is Leonard Cohen, though the songs aren’t as bleak. Also, uh, Sting? Beyond that, I’m afraid I’m going to have to let this one ride in the Ipod for a bit.

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The Duke Spirit
Neptune

As an example of how far behind I’ve gotten, this disc by The Duke Spirit came out in April and I’m just getting to it now at the end of June. Oh well. I’ve been contemplating taking a long break until the end of the year. If I do, I’ll put up a notice on the submission page so that bands that send in their CDs will know they’ll have a long(er) wait ahead.

Back to the music - the album Neptune by The Duke Spirit has sort of struck me as a cross between Silversun Pickups, Chan Marshall, and Midnight Movies. Energetic, slightly dancey rock with a female singer with awesome pipes. That’s about all I’ve got for you right now - the band has been around for quite awhile with a good number of releases but this is the first I’ve heard of them.

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The Republic Tigers
Keep Color

This is another CD that’s been kicking around in my player for a few months. I’ve been trying to “figure them out”, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that this is the wrong direction. But you know what, I’ve no time for wrong directions. So here is a blurb I found directly from Filter:

“Actually Sounds Like: Catchy Postal Service beats combined with whimsical Shins like singing create an all together unique listening experience.”

Hmm… so I don’t think that’s especially accurate. Maybe the Shins reference, but definitely not Postal Service. I actually think it sounds more Air or Mercury Rev at times. If they’re having as hard a time as me describing the music, something’s wrong. I still like quite a few of the songs and I feel like it’s going to be one of those “grow on you albums.” But so far nothing about them has completely knocked my socks off. Decent stuff, though.

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The Transport Assembly
Improbable Songs

If you have an aversion to atonal mathy-rock, I can guarantee that you won’t like this album by The Transport Assembly. I REALLY liked it, however. It has a trippy, twiggy, twisted feel to the songs. I’m not surprised to see a Jim Yoshii Pileup connection. Other bands brought to mind are Deerhoof, XiuXiu, etc. Maybe Sonic Youth a bit. The singing is kinda Elephant 6-ish though, which makes it even better for me. I am trying to pry it loose from my CD player but it will not come unstuck. Delicious, dangerous and dissonant fun.

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