Alec Ounsworth releases Flashy Python album

August 29, 2009

alecnew

Earlier this week, I’m checking my e-mail when I see this little nugget pop up in my inbox:

Hello out There,

My name is Alec Ounsworth.  I have completed a project called FLASHY PYTHON: SKIN AND BONES.  You can listen to the album (and buy it if you feel so inclined)here.

As you may or may not know, and I suppose the reason I’m writing you directly, another project that I have been working on for several years now is called CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH.  This is not that and that is this nor is it the other (the other often tragically confused with him or her) . . .

FLASHY PYTHON was conjured up and brought forth absolutely independently.  It was completed recently and released even more recently to no acclaim nor discredit as no “news sources” were informed of its completion.

The idea is to present the project purely (while we still can) and let the individual make up his or her own mind which, as it seems to me, is perhaps the primary benefit in the otherwise alienating age of modern technology and communication.

I also have another album coming out on October 20th on Anti Records called Mo Beauty.  You can hear a track from it over at stereogum. That is not this either.

Thanks for reading this email.

Sincerely,
Alec Ounsworth
www.pythonspalace.com

That made me feel special.  I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why I got this e-mail since I have never signed up for a CYHSY e-mail list or anything like that.  I have both the self-titled release as well as the underrated Some Loud Thunder, but didn’t buy them directly from the band or anything.  My guess is that I had to give my e-mail address a while back when I downloaded a demo of a new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah song that they played on Jimmy Fallon, but I really can’t remember…we’ll go with that.  Whatever the case, this was a pretty cool way to announce the release of an album.  You can click all the links provided in the e-mail above if you want to go stream the album.  I’ll go ahead and say, if you haven’t heard any Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, you might want to prepare yourself for Alec’s very unique voice…it isn’t for everybody.  I’ve listed to the stream a couple times and while I guess it’s nice to hear something new from Ounsworth, Skin and Bones certainly isn’t up to CYHSY par, but then again I doubt Alec will ever return to the level of the CYHSY debut.


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Posted by Hawkins

Yet another post on The Antlers…

August 24, 2009
TheAntlers071801

Peter Silberman of The Antlers

I’ve already mentioned the Brooklyn trio here, here, and here throughout A Round of Sound’s short history, but I just feel it necessary to bring up their amazing album Hospice whenever I get a chance.  And well, another opportunity has presented itself as their live show from the August 21st Hospice re-release concert has been made available to download in its entirety.  The show can be downloaded here, but I of course suggest picking up the LP which after the Frenchkiss re-release is finally starting garner the praise it deserves.  It may be backwards to say this, but the live show doesn’t do the album justice…seriously.

Speaking of praise, Pitchfork finally got around to reviewing it and honored it with their Best New Music tag and recommended it on their ABC World News Webcast feature here.  Oh, and finally, you can catch their first video supporting the album which is of “Two”, one of the best songs of the year.  Phew! Ok, I promise no more Antlers news for a while…maybe

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Posted by Hawkins

The Dodos – Time to Die

August 23, 2009

61tHFulJaZL._SS500_A little bit of polish can oftentimes be a good thing, but it can also rob a band of the raw energy that allows it to stand out, sacrificing what made previous efforts so intriguing; such is the case with Time to Die.  That’s not to say that Time to Die is a bad album, but after last year’s critically acclaimed release Visiter, it can only be considered a disappointment.  With Visiter, The Dodos brought a unique sound to the table full of percussion based, complex acoustic guitar tracks probably best exemplified in album standout “Fools” (the folks at Miller took notice and featured the song in a Miller Chill commercial).  The refreshing African inspired drum beats created an urgency to the music that really put a whole new spin on this whole indie-folk genre popping up all over the place.  Unfortunately for Time to Die, the percussion seems to be an afterthought, never really being featured, and the songs suffer for it.  The former duo has added a third member since Visiter, bringing in a full time vibraphone player who adds to the sound creating more lush tunes, but for the most part the songs on Time to Die just seem to lose their edge.

There is something to be said for maturation, which I do think Time to Die certainly can attest to.  The first three songs, including lead single “Fables” indeed show how the group has grown as songwriters, but overproduction and a loss of enthusiasm just seems to plague the disc.  The group brought on Phil Ek (The Shins, Fleet Foxes, Built to Spill) to produce Time to Die, but it just doesn’t seem to be the right fit for the San Francisco trio.  The group had already perfected their sound to create a uniqueness that really could have been exploited, but Ek seems to have missed out on that and fired a rare miss.  When it comes down to it, Time to Die is the results of a lo-fi band evolving into the next stage of their careers, which ultimately might be a fine thing.  But after releasing one brilliant album in Visiter, I guess I was just hoping a little more gradual shift, if a shift at all.

[“Fables” – Time to Die]

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Posted by Hawkins

Lightning Dust – Infinite Light

August 22, 2009

JAG139It’s safe to say that mere seconds into Infinite Light, the second album from Lightning Dust, you can pretty much decide what side of the fence you sit on with the Vancouver duo.  Amber Webber’s warbling yet affecting vocals make their appearance shortly after a few soft strums of an acoustic guitar on opening track “Antonia Jane” and the stage is set for the rest of the folky, yet synth laden tracks that follow.  Lightning Dust is the side project of Black Mountain’s Amber Webber and Joshua Wells, but whereas Black Mountain is often described as having a harder more psych-rock sound, Lightning Dust is the avenue by which Webber and Wells can create more stripped down, melodic and softer tunes.

After “Antonia Jane” fades out, a machine driven drum beat leads into first single “I Knew”, a two-and-a-half minute jaunt which takes the album from the straight-forward approach of “Antonia Jane” to the eeriness of Webber’s vocals complimented by the synth based instrumentation that characterizes most of the album.  Webber’s vocals are still the distinguishing feature throughout, but the music steps it up a notch from their self-titled debut album back in 2007 to create melodies that can better serve Webber’s unique style.  Maybe this is best seen on album centerpiece “Never Seen” which features a glorious breakdown in the latter half of the track which for me is easily the highlight of the entire disc.  At 10 songs and just shy of 35 minutes, Infinite Light flies by.  But, with so much substance in the tracks included, it doesn’t feel like you’ve been cheated at all, unless you’re one of the few who decide against Lightning Dust after those first few seconds, in which case, maybe you should give it another try.

[“I Knew” – Infinite Light]

[“Never Seen” – Infinite Light]

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Posted by Hawkins