Album Review: Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads - Dustin Wong

Dustin Wong - Diagonally Talking Echo from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Dustin Wong's first solo album Infinite Love was both weird and wonderful, coming out of left field to create a bizarre concept album based around his experimental instrumental guitar work. As a double album it seemed like it would be a daunting listen but it turned out to be anything but. This follow up is shorter and therefore a little more approachable... But in reigning in the scope has it lost some of the magic?

Basically the answer is no. The shorter duration makes the album feel more focused and yet it actually feels more experimental. The music strays into more processed, fractured and electronic sounds and at times it all creates a staggering collage of noise unlike anything you have heard.

The beauty of Wong's sound is in the rhythmic warmth of it all. Each song typically consists of a passage or two that begins simply but gradually builds and layers into a more and more complex piece of music, transforming itself from something delicate and quiet to a far more triumphant conclusion. This is actually the result of Wong's recording process, which involves using pedals to loop elements throughout the song. It means the songs innevitably get increasingly complex as they progress. In fact Wong apparently recorded much this album live, using just a few overdubs to move sounds through the stereo field. The result is a dizzy mix of Eastern-influenced post-rock and folk.

Dreams Say... has some spellbinding moments and it stands up to Wong's previous solo album. It is interesting to hear his ideas gradually evolve and transform his music, often over the course of a single song, and it is this organic growth that makes his music appealing. Despite a shorter duration, I can't help but feel there is still a little too much here to not feel a bit overwhelmed. And yet the best bits shine enough that it is worth persevering. Wong's dreams are complex, overwhelming and at times beautifully uplifting - and well worth listening to.

Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads is out on 20 February on Thrill Jockey, available to pre-order on Amazon.co.uk on CD [affiliate link].

Album Review: On the Water - Future Islands

Last year's Future Islands album was a pleasant surprise - an early highlight from a new band unknown to me up until that point. On the Water is Future Islands' third album and it pretty much plays its cards just right.

As a band I'm surprised that Future Islands haven't had more success. Their blend of shoe-gazing fuzzy indie and 80s synths is undeniably very 'now'. And whilst singer Samuel T. Herring's vocals are deliberately abrasive this isn't an inaccessible band. Perhaps this fact hasn't escaped their notice either, as On the Water definitely feels like a play for the mainstream, as demonstrated by first single 'Balance', which recalls the Cure's ability to combine melody with angst.

Whilst On the Water's Future Islands have a rounder sound they start off by almost sinking. Compared to In Evening Air's kick start of 'Walking Through That Door' the opening title track here falls a little flat. It is all noise but with little to say and far too slow to not be saying anything at all. In comparison the duet of 'The Great Fire', with Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner, shows this is a band capable of applying softness amidst a raw aggression.

It is the latter portion of the album that really wins me over however. 'Where I Found You' is gorgeous synth pop with what could almost be a heartbeat for a rhythm. Appropriate for a song that wears its heart on its sleeve so proudly. 'Give Us the Wind' is even greater - a song that starts softly, as if to trick the listener this isn't a race, before breaking into soaring vocals that feel like the aural equivalent of a heavy foot on the accelerator as you fly into the corner.

When On the Water comes together it has some moments that outshine the best bits on Future Islands' last album. It may not have the impact I felt upon hearing In Morning Air, but that is probably just because I knew more of what to expect. Future Islands continue far more than much bigger bands.

BP x

On the Water is out tomorrow on Thrill Jockey, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD and LP [affiliate links].

Album Review: The Blackout - Tunnels

Inspired by the likes of A Crash Course In Science and Throbbing Gristle, Tunnels (real name Nick Bindeman, from Eternal Tapestry and Jackie-O Motherfucker) is focused on creating vintage sounding electronic post-punk. And his influences are writ large on this debut album.

The sounds of the past may be all of this record but to modern ears this sounds like a much more distorted angular Metronomy and really reminds me of early 2000s wünderkid Zongamin (whatever happened to?). Regardless, Bindeman's real influences are clear and any similarity is more a result of shared references rather than one following the other.

In reality The Blackout is darker than either of the aforementioned artists, harking back to the stark darkness of early eighties industrial post-punk. The ten songs here feel a world away from the jaunty melodies of Metronomy's electro-pop. Bindeman's vocals are monotone, obscured by a melancholic bass guitar and scratchy guitars - the lyrics are usually barely audible but even so one suspects they don't tell a happy tale.

As a piece of music this is an interesting listen rather than an enjoyable one - the production is challenging and whilst the album is brief in duration at 30 minutes it's difficult not to feel a little trapped and isolated by the closing in walls of static. It's a little like trying to walk through pitch black: there are no waypoints or guiding lights here and it is easy to feel lost.

The Blackout may be a great tribute to some of the best innovators that emerged in the early eighties post-punk scene, a trip back early industrial and experimental electronic sounds. As good as it is, it's a hard thing to love.

BP x

The Blackout is out on Monday 29 August on Thrill Jockey, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on LP [affiliate link].

Video: Blue Lanterns on East Oxford - Mountains

Mountains - Blue Lanterns on East Oxford from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

I've been checking out Mountains' new album having really enjoyed the last one and I have it sounds pretty special. This video for 'Blue Lanterns on East Oxford' seems to perfectly encapsulate what the duo are about, taking natural imagery and twisting it to make captivating patterns.

I particularly dig the clouds. Check it and prepare to zone-out.

BP x

Album Review: Infinite Love - Dustin Wong

Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, well, he eats you. Or so says the stranger to the Dude in the Coen Brother's rather majestic The Big Lebowski.

In other words, life is bittersweet and full of surprises. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Dustin Wong's Infinite Love feels like an album built for the days you win and the days you lose.

A concept album that calls to mind the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs in reverse, Infinite Love is actually two albums. Or perhaps the same album twice. Both start the same but they diverge halfway through, giving the listener a choice of experiences. Each version of the album consists of 15 un-named 'tracks' but each of these blends into the next and are purely for navigation. Ultimately this is one piece of music, just in two versions, the 'Brother' version and the 'Sister' version.

With a continuous, instrumental approach it almost feels ambient. But it is actually pretty much all warmly strummed rhythm guitar music. Imagine if Here-Come-The-Warm-Jets-Eno bumped into Music-For-Airports-Eno and you would be halfway there. It should be impenetrable, pretentious and dull but it is anything but.

Infinite Love is a heart-warming victory lap. Dustin Wong was inspired by orchestral music on this album and it shows in the ambition and use of space - this is as exciting and experimental an album as you could expect.

BP x

Infinite Love is out now on Thrill Jockey, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD+DVD and LP+DVD [affiliate links].

EP Review: Undressed - Future Islands

Future Islands' debut album continues to be one of BlackPlastic's favourite releases of 2010. On the eve of their UK tour they release their Undressed EP - a selection of acoustic versions of songs (two of which come from the album In Evening Air) recorded for their hometown radio station WYPR.

Acoustic versions can be hit or miss - surprisingly Future Islands' material establishes a whole new level of maligned frustration stripped of the places to hide that its conventional production provides. The new versions of existing songs - 'An Apology' and 'Long Flight' - shine with a new found naked ugliness.

This is music doused in regret. 'Long Flight', already one of In Evening Air's highlights, shuffles back and forth whilst singer Sam Herring becomes increasingly meek and desperate, with the piano and string accompaniment encircling him like a pack of vultures.

The two non-album tracks are even better. Opener 'In The Fall' is heavy and downtrodden, with Herring's vocals more forceful and at home than they sound on the existing material. Closing track 'Little Dreamer' fittingly takes an opposite tack - the drums are as heavy as 'In The Fall' but the song itself feels as though it has been made of glass, a delicate and fragile piece that barely survives the attention it receives from the listener over the course of its three-minute duration.

On the back of the impressive In Evening Air, Undressed is proof enough that Future Islands boast bags of promise.

BP x

Undressed is released on Thrill Jockey on 20 September.

UK TOUR DATES:

Wed 29 Sep London, UK CAMP Basement

Thu 30 Sep Brighton, UK Freebutt

Fri 1 Oct Manchester, UK Islington Mill

Sat 2 Oct Glasgow, UK Cry Parrot

Sun 3 Oct Leeds, UK The Library

Wed 20 Oct Dublin, Ireland Workman's Club

Album Review: In Evening Air - Future Islands

In Evening Air is Future Islands' first release for Thrill Jockey and their first album to be released as a slimmed down three-piece.

Opening with 'Walking Through That Door' In Evening Air is a captivating listen from the off. It is an album with a beautiful dream-like quality that manages to take disparate reference points and brings them together beautifully.

The vocals alternate between gravelly Dylan ('Long Flight') and statuesque Bowie ("Swept Aside"). And that isn't all - In Evening Air is in turns ethereal (on the title track - think David Lynch and Twin Peaks) and youthful and overwhelmed (reminiscent of Sofia Coppola on the beautiful "Long Flight").

There are clear nods to on In Evening Air to post-punk, particularly Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen, and the electronics and emotional punch are pure New Wave. It's little surprise then that Future Islands refer to their own sound as Post-Wave.

But In Evening Air is more than the sum of its parts though. Future Islands sound urgent and insistent and, frankly, desperately delicate. There is so much to soak in across this album's short length that it already feels like an early high-water mark for the year.  Seek it out.

BP x

In Evening Air is released on 4 May on Thrill Jockey, available for pre-order at Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link]. 

Update on Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 01:27PM by BlackPlastic

Check out Future Islands' 'Tin Man' with a free MP3 download here [right click, save as].

Album Review: ...And Then We Saw Land - Tunng

Tunng's new album greets listeners like a long lost friend coming in and giving you a big romantic passionate kiss. ...And Then We Saw Land's opening track 'Hustle' is so infectious that offering it upfront without the listener having put in any effort whatsoever feels like a treat akin to early payday in December.

The problem with early pay is that it leaves you feeling short-changed in January as the weeks drag on. BlackPlastic wouldn't go so far as to acuse Tunng of giving us the same feeling but the tone and pace of the album innevitably dips from this heady start.

Yet ...And Then We Saw Land is a lovely piece of melodic folk music that manages to contain electronic flourishes and reflects elements of anti-folk in it's lo-fi feel and the likes of múm in its playfulness. And when it works it really bloody works: 'The Roadside', for example, features a fantastic wandering, almost meandering introduction and builds in a lovely cinematic fashion.

So Tunng's album is by no means a mixed bag - it just has some good bits and some utterly sublime bits, like on that album opener or the stop-start rhymic vocals of 'Sashimi'. ...And Then We Saw Land is a grand day out of a record. A joyful, joyful experience - it feels like a car journey at the beginning of a holiday.

Download 'Don't Look Down Or Back' on MP3 by Tunng, taken from ...And Then We Saw Land [right click, save as].

BP x

...And Then We Saw Land is out on tomorrow, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: Boca Negra - Chicago Underground Duo

Boca Negra - it evokes foreign places, exoticism and, meaning "black mouth" evokes feelings of infinity (it apparently represents an endless consumption of information). And Chicago Underground Duo sound like they should have made house music back when house was a place not a genre.

They don't, however. But Boca Negra is no less exciting for that fact. Instead it is just too damn cool, Chicago Underground Duo's sounds creating an effortless yet sophisticated and ultimately considered melange.

Chicago Underground Duo's album is ultimately a free-jazz-folk-music affair. Yet if, as they say, writing about music is as stupid as dancing about architecture then you could argue that assigning a genre to music like this feels as ridiculous as skydiving about partical physics.

What there is no argument over is the fact that Boca Negra is a beautiful record. Whether soothing, as on the refined and soulful 'Vergence', or obtuse, funky and playful as on 'Spy On The Floor' it is a shattered picture frame of enticing images. In some respects it is a collection of mood pieces but played with such aplomb, such attention to detail that it sounds like the soundtrack to the best movie you have never seen.

Boca Negra is a cinematic album and it is at its best when full of the space and exposed, broken rhythms as on 'Lauging With The Sun'. Like much great instramental music different people will feel different things from listening to Chicago Underground Duo: BlackPlastic feels a sense of wonderment.

BP x

Preview Chicago Underground Duo's Boca Negra by downloading the MP3 of 'Spy On The Floor' [right click, save as].

Boca Negra is out now on Thrill Jockey, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD and LP [affiliate links].

Album Review: The Flexible Entertainer - Pit Er Pat

Pit Er Pat's latest album is new, entitled The Flexible Entertainer and not particularly easy to sum up in a catchy soundbite at the start of a review.

Pit Er Pat's thing has always been about the atmospherics, moods and textures of their sound and this record is no different. Written for live performance on tour in Europe and later laid down in the studio it is uncompromisingly angular. The sound picks up where Gang Gang Dance's Saint Dymphna and Telepath's Dance Mother left off, carving out a rhythm from non congruent sounds.

The difference is that there is no relief. There is no pay-off. Where Saint Dymphna blows a gasket under the pressure and album-highlight 'Vacuum' sweeps in like a desert oasis, spacious and forgiving to the tracks it follows, The Flexible Entertainer just keeps on piling it on. Where Gang Gang Dance make pop music with Tinchy Stryder on 'Princes' Pit Er Pat feel far too po-faced to play with what their music could be. There are hints of R'n'B in 'Water' and the first half of 'Emperor of Charms' shines but it isn't enough.

The Flexible Entertainer is a record that thinks it is far cleverer than it really is. Snapshots intrigue but sustained listening suffocates.

Download 'Water' by Pit Er Pat on MP3 [right click, save as].

BP x

The Flexible Entertainer is out on Thrill Jockey on Monday, it is available for pre-order now from Amazon.co.uk on CD [affiliate link].