New Releases: Grand Archives, Atlas Sound

No full album review this week (since I had business of massive, earth-shattering proportions to take care of over the last week), but both the debut Grand Archives album and the first proper Atlas Sound record hit stores today.


The Grand Archives (fronted by former Band of Horses/Carissa's Wierd member Mat Brooke) offer up some decent indie-country tunes on their self-titled debut, ones warmer and less sterile than the much of BoH's Cease to Begin. However, the album grows monotonous after a little while, and probably could have used an explosive, dramatic defining moment a la "Is There a Ghost" to break the easy-going feel. Still, a very pleasant, listenable indie pop record, one I would recommend for fans of the demos that surfaced last year.


Grand Archives - Torn Blue Foam Couch

Buy at Amazon Grand Archives MySpace


The Atlas Sound album, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, is the better of the two releases, a touching collection of ghostly, often heartbreaking ambient pieces, though one that may prove as divisive as Deerhunter's 2007 output. This isn't to say the record's is bad (quite the opposite) or to say Bradford Cox's solo effort sounds like Deerhunter (it doesn't, most of the time), just that Let the Blind won't be everyone's cup of tea.


Atlas Sound - River Card

Buy at Amazon Atlas Sound MySpace Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/Lotus Plaza Blog

New Music: Tall Firs, Grand Archives, The Field

More new good tracks I came across, ones that will have to do until artists start releasing actual albums again. January is always so musically depressing. Anyway....





Tall Firs - Hairdo

This one is off of Too Old to Die Young, the band's forthcoming album. Tall Firs are on Thurston's Moore's Ecstatic Peace! record label, and the band sort of has a folk-oriented Sonic Youth thing going on. First heard them last year through the song "The Woods" on a South by Southwest festival promo, which kicked ass, so I jumped on this one when I saw it over on Paper Thin Walls.

Grand Archives - "Miniature Birds"/"A Setting Sun" (stream)

Anticipation is building for Grand Archives' self-titled debut (on Sub Pop, February 19), the band fronted by ex-Band of Horses/ex-Carissa's Wierd member Mat Brooke. Last year, we got a few stellar demos (posted below) of calm (save for the back half of "Torn Blue Foam Couch"), harmonious indie pop, and these two are just as good, despite taking the sound in a bit more country-tinged direction. Particularly strong is the whistling/harmonica hook on "Miniature Birds"...addictive, I must say.

Grand Archives - Sleepdriving

Grand Archives - Torn Blue Foam Couch

Grand Archives - George Kaminsky

The Field - Sound of Light EP

First off, clarification: this thing is an hour long, so calling it an "EP" is, you know, completely ridiculous. Of course, that has no bearing on the music, which is really quite fantastic. Opener "Morning" suggests a simple rehash of From Here We Go Sublime's winning formula, thriving on the alternating-octave synth trick (listen to it, you'll know what I mean) that worked wonders previously. Still, after the first ten minutes, I got a little tired of it all, which made the invigorating second track, "Day," that much tastier. Certainly sounds like the loop-obsessed The Field of old, but, I don't know, it sounds more fun, more alive, more dynamic...bounding forward instead of just gliding by. "Evening" and "Night" close the record out, two more precise, shimmering electronic arrangements that probably go a bit too long but burst with energy and freshness nonetheless. This one is i-Tunes only, which sucks, but go and download anyway if you were a fan of From Here.