Destroyer is Vancouver’s own Dan Bejar. “European Oils” is taken from the seventh Destroyer album. If you’ve yet to hear of Destroyer and you’re thinking SEVEN ALBUMS ALREADY?? where have I been?, fret not. Bejar keeps a low profile. He even downplays his involvement with another Canadian band, The New Pornographers. I love the opening jam of this track. Feels like you’re comfortable and couched and about to spend the next half hour with a witty gang of characters on a ’70’s sitcom. Then Bejar comes in with that voice of his–a mix of Bowie and Dylan maybe. Quirky, odd, and completely satisfying.
Play It As It Lays #225
Crash Gallery Taking Over Austin
Kelley Stoltz New Album & MP3
Last Day to PLUG 3hive
Head Like A Kite
My only uncle by blood recently passed away after a sudden and brief battle with cancer. Over the past few years I had been trying to get copies of his old home movies because I made frequent cameos in them as a young child. It’s very rare, early footage of me on film or video. Yes kids, I remember the days before everyone had video cameras in their cell phones! While he was living the last weeks of his life, my uncle, Erich, made me copies of those films. I was floored at his complete unselfishness and I was fortunate to be able to thank him on Christmas day, the last time I saw him. Each brief clip of our families is pure magic in today’s saturated world of moving images.
It was timely then for me to come across Head Like A Kite, the solo project from Dave Einmo. His debut album Random Portraits of the Home Movie was inspired by the economy of Super 8 movies. Combining samples from the movies, filtered through various guitar effects and gadgets, and a keen sense of well-honed pop songs, Einmo cut and pasted together a musical homage to the vintage format. It’s a rich reflection on how the past inevitably textures the present.
Doveman
Doing a little bit of cleaning up around here and I was gladdened to come across The Acrobat and immediately horrified upon realizing that I’ve had Doveman queued up on our back-end of Moveable Type for SIX months. Doveman is slowly orchestrated pop, not unlike Belle and Sebastian dropping it down a notch for ladies choice at the skating rink. (Wow. I have no idea why that rollerskating image popped in my head). If you liked Neil Halstead’s (Slowdive, Mojave 3) solo record, and you should, you should find Doveman aurally satisfying. A little blogosphere trivia, vocalist Thomas Bartlett keys the Audiofile column over at Salon.com — another fine, clean and quick MP3 fix.