Monday, January 14, 2008

Changing the temperature with music



Beach House - Gila

I'm back from vacation in New Zealand and Brisbane is like an indoor swimming pool, i.e.really fucking humid, which is actually not so bad because I've got the new Beach House record here to swelter alongside me. There aren't many who create balmier vibes than these two and on their new Devotion have expanded their palette with a few more shades of sultry and a whole heap of different tones. There are new instruments, more of them; the opening track 'Wedding Bells' starts off all medieval and harpsichords only to open up for some positively devastating distorted guitars, ringing in clearer and more direct than ever on this well-recorded second album. But my favourite is the third track, 'Gila', which starts off with those guitars (though a little easier on the devastation) and then those organs that disarm with that strange and simple pulsation, all full and warm and glowing with vibrato. But that chorus! Sheesh. It just keeps coming. There's less of the lo-fi organ glaze that made their self-titled debut so amazing but this time there's more focus on the song, (not that they needed any work in this department) and on choruses and lyrics. It still exudes atmosphere like yr most ideal summer day, though, and sounds just as hazy as that day fading into the evening. I don't know how they build so much momentum with such a slow-paced drum machine plodding along.

[Beach House MySpace]

2 comments:

Darlene Brown said...

Read your blog and just had to say it's very apt - I too am a fan of Gila it's so pretty and cool at the same time. It's on RDU too eeheh :)

RICHARD said...

i was stoked to hear lots of great songs on RDU when i was back! the only thing was a good track like this one would be shouldered by some dated salmonella dub track from 2002 or drum and bass. hehe