reverb

Superstition

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:00:00 +0000

Anyone who follows music press would agree that Brooklyn has been a hotbed of indie creativity during the past decade. The styles run the gamut from freak-folk to experimental noise, to sugarcoated pop, to singer-songwriter confessionals, to good old fashioned rock and roll. From this creative vortex emerge the duo Christy and Emily with a sound that is a pastiche of all of the above.

Christy Edwards and Emily Manzo have created a sweetly drone-y and sharply melodic record with Superstition. The vocal harmonies are pitch perfect and the songwriting, which could be classified as quietly psychedelic, is well developed. The songs, like fog, seem to creep in with plenty of reverb and quietly distorted guitar. On the title track and the lovely “Nightingale,” the mellow haze clears enough to reveal classic folk melodies. On others, such as “105 & Rising,” the buzzing thump of layered guitars and improvised instruments becomes distinctly sinister. The album’s closing track, “Tigers,” showcases the band at their more upbeat and successfully invokes folk rock vocal patterns. The track also features guest drums by Brooklyn drone master Oneida’s drummer, Kid Millions.

The world of Christy & Emily is layered and ethereal. Trying to pin them to one sound is difficult and, ultimately, fruitless. Those grasping for a comparison might point to Damon and Naomi, or perhaps Coco Rosie without the trust fund and fake, white girl rap. As its title implies, Superstition is best captured by an emotion. It is dreaming, reaching, and searching for a feeling that could be a false lead, but could a new revelation and understanding, for better or worse. The reverb drenched guitar and sunny to stormy vocals enable listeners to stretch and reach to touch with their finger tips—but not quite grasp—one strong feeling.

Written by: Eleanor Whitney, March 12th 2010

A Cave, A Canoo

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:59:00 +0000

By Shelley Short

Hush Records

The deliberate mis-spelling of canoo in the title and opening track of singer-songwriter Shelley Short’s third album is never really explained, but makes sense on an unstated level. The phonetics on this album take center stage in attempting to interpret literal meanings to ambiguously dreamy lyrics. A Cave, A Canoo is a lovely, lulling album that does not shock or surprise in any way. Though the music is subtle and stripped down, large warm layers of instrumentation divert one down different streams. This allows the listener to drift along with the reverb-heavy guitar plucks and nostalgic vocals that are akin to Patsy Cline or Dusty Springfield, yet have a light, girlish edge that makes them more playful than melancholy or dramatic.

Recorded at her home in Portland, OR, A Cave, A Canoo has a distinct intimacy. Proudly described in the local newspaper, The Oregonian, as “Portland’s brand of kooky, curious charm,” there is an unmistakable Portland-y vibe. The music has an abundance of talented, dedicated, and humbled musicians who still value creativity over commercial success, and both reflects and invokes the gray, misty ambiance of the Pacific Northwest, which, perhaps because of the weather, pushes one to internal reflection. Sounds of rain on the tracks were mistaken by me for it beginning to fall outside.

The presence of accordion, stand-up bass, piano, and percussion takes individual tracks to different levels—jazz, folk, country, blues—yet merely nods in these directions rather than make a huge departure from the overall comfortable country treble tones. The collaboration with other musicians does not affect the somewhat solitary quality of the album. Other voices and sounds are merely carried on a breeze as Short paddles gently along through her songs.

With this in mind, A Cave, A Canoo is an album best listened to on ones own time. The reflective and hypnotic quality of the songs has the ability to quash all conversation except, perhaps, the internal ones. A Cave, A Canoo invites you into Short's internal conversations where sounds are more important than the accuracy of spellings.

Written by: Jyoti Roy, January 15th 2010

Love Will Find You

admin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:56:00 +0000

By Findlay Brown

This is Music Ltd.

Findlay Brown is not an artist who tries to hide his musical influences. Laced throughout Brown's new release Love Will Find You, listeners will find a litany of musical inspiration from Bruce Springsteen to Elvis Presley.

The album opens with what is probably its best overall track, which shares it's name with the album's title. "Love Will Find You" is a sprawling landscape of reverb and sixties pop that sounds as if it were recorded at Phil Spector's beloved Gold Star Studios during its heyday. Brown's use of distant stacked background vocals and ample horn and string sections give way to moments of quiet melodic abandon which give the listener an opportunity to sample Brown's own stellar vocal performance.

On "Everybody Needs Love," Brown is able to fully explore his vocal range with a performance reminiscent of Roy Orbison's "Only the Lonely." Brown's ability to draw in the listener with soft vocal vibrato and infectious hooks would make Orbison proud. "That's Right" is a catchy, raucous rockabilly sojourn brimming with twang and gusto, as well as some intriguing chord changes and vocal harmonies in the hook. As the album progresses Brown continues to borrow progressively more from Orbison—almost to the point of mimicry—on tracks like "Teardrops in the Rain," and culminating in the album's swan song, "I Had a Dream."

In Brown's defense, if the only criticism I can think of is that he sounds too much like Orbison, that must mean that he has put together a pretty good collection of songs. Although Love Will Find You may not be making many people's list for the top ten albums of 2009, it is still a very enjoyable and rewarding listen, and is highly recommended for anyone who has a soft spot for infectious hooks, brilliant melodies and that world-famous wall of sound.

Written by: Steve Sousa, June 20th 2009