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March 15, 2005
Acute Adorability
[This was supposed to be posted at 8:00 a.m., but I guess Typepad had other ideas]
The Besnard Lakes - You've Got to Want to be a Star
Husband and wife team of songwriters (like Mates of State, or Quasi (divorced, but still)), Jace Lacek and Olga Goreas, whose band abandoned left them for greener pastures of some sort. Went into the studio anyway to record their debut album, "Volume 1", which, as far as I can tell, seems to be a concept album about the interactions between a skyscraper girl (not sure what that means- maybe a 'city woman') and a retired-spy-cum-musician. Their music is reminiscent of both Portishead's trip-hop sans-hop and Slowdive without the effects pedals (in that Besnard Lakes affect an atmosphere that is dark and dreamy, but not swirling and tempestuous. Their songs are full-focus TV-colored mysteries).
This band rides a cold groove (made of herky-jerk drums, webs of guitar, and a static-cling bassline + slip and slide organ) until about the 2:12 mark, when everything cuts out except the sound of a hollow echo and a pulsating organ. Olga whispers her words to an audience of handclaps and has her voice stolen by some backwards-looped sounds at 5:15. Then the bass drops in again, and she vamps along with the guitars until the end (at 9:32).
You can listen to all of "Volume 1" (or almost all of it) over at the band's website (linked above), and if you like what you hear, you can either buy the record straight from them (email), or from Cheap Thrills.
Posted by matt at March 15, 2005 08:00 AM