SOUNDTRACK: BEACH HOUSE-Teen Dream (2010).
I didn’t know Beach House until this album got huge raves in end of the year lists. I decided to investigate it and I was really pleasantly surprised by the album’s Cocteau Twins meets My Bloody valentine feel. I have recently read that their first two albums were not quite as big and full and orchestral as this album, which meant that this one marked a recording (but not necessarily song stylistic) change for the band. Part of me wants to hear what the earlier, more homemade version of the band sounds like, and yet I like the full almost orchestrated feel of this album so much that I can’t imagine going back to a less big sound.
The album opens with a delicately reverbed guitar riff—it feels warm and summery and then the angelic voices kick in and the ahhhs launch the song into the stratosphere. And it pretty much stays there for the whole album. There’s virtually no bass and only the slightest hints of drums (time-keeping measures rather than percussion). Well, okay, “Better Times” has drums but even they are mild. Victoria Legrand’s voice just soars, sometimes in staccato bursts, but mostly in otherworldly seeming falsetto (with occasion moments when she sounds kind of masculine and yet still angelic–it’s an amazing range). There’s mostly reverbed guitars but on some tracks like “Used to Be” there are keyboards as well. They’re even more prevalent (and more 80s sounding) on “Lover of Mine.”
Despite the sameness of the songs, the album doesn’t feel like one song repeated over. The melodies are unique and the composition of the songs really shows a lot of diversity within a format. Like “10 Mile Stereo” which has a faster pace than the other but still maintains that ethereal vibe. Or “Real Love” which introduces a piano into the mix, and the song feels a little less ethereal, but only a little. The album is also not too long. It’s like a wonderful blast of summer.
The CD comes with a DVD with videos for each song, although I have not watched them yet.
[READ: February 11, 2013] Click
I discovered this story because it was listed in Roddy Doyle’s bibliography on Wikipedia. I’m somewhat surprised that I’d never heard of it as I know so many of the authors that were involved (indeed, several of them are involved in the 39 Clues, another multiple author series). This book is billed as a YA book and I guess it is as many of the sections are about teenagers, but some characters grow old and there’s some talk of the bombing of Hiroshima which may be a bit intense (there’s no pictures and no detailed descriptions, but still…). It is a quick read though, so I guess it can qualify as YA.
The story is about a photographer named Gee (real name George Keane) and how he impacted so many lives. In the first story/chapter (each chapter is like a short story that contributes to the overall picture and each one of these is written by someone different), written by Linda Sue Park, we learn that Gee has just died. He left his granddaughter Maggie (who I came to think of as the “main” character, even though she doesn’t appear in every story) a box with seven compartments. In each compartment was a shell with a clue, suggesting that she should take all of the shells back to where they came from–a subtle encouragement to travel the world. But Maggie is utterly distressed by Gee’s death and she can’t get off the couch where she used to spend time with him. Eventually her parents offer to take her to one of those locations–Japan–getting her life started at last. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: THE KINKS are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968).
This record seems to be a very important record in the history of British pop rock and in the history of The Kinks. I feel that I had always heard about it in practically hushed tones (much like the hushed tones of the record), and yet I had never heard it. Finally, my friend Carrie gave me a copy of it and I listened and was surprised that I didn’t know one single song on it. You can look here and see that I have two Kinks greatest hits records, and not one song from this record is on any either of them.
SOUNDTRACK: MATTHEW SWEET-Inside (1986) & Earth (1989).
Inside is so so keyboard heavy, it could be ANY synth band from the 80s. And, the keyboards are so loud in the mix that Sweet’s voice, which is not very powerful to begin with is almost totally lost. Sweet’s voice is not even that powerful on his 90s records. He has a very delightful, but very soft, voice. So, you can barely tell much about the songs, because it seems that every one has synth horns or whatnot masking what’s really happening.
Earth falls in line of what you think the Matthew Sweet sound is. It’s still pretty heavy on the synth, but you can see the song structures that Sweet perfected in the 90s. There’s nothing really striking on Earth, but it’s a good bridge to his 90s albums.
I Just Read About That... 