Gold Sounds 3/25/08: Chez Gold Sounds

Good afternoon. Today, we'll be serving up an appetizer of instrumental rock shrimp, follwed by a sizable main course of new music lobster and a dessert of slightly anachronistic flan.

Explosions in the Sky "First Breath After Coma"
Godspeed You Black Emperor! "Sleep" (first two movements: "Murray Ostril: '...They Don't Sleep Anymore on the Beach...'" and "Monheim")

Do Make Say Think "Goodbye Enemy Airship"
A.Armada "Into Days & Nights & Years & Months"
Moving Mountains "With One's Heart in One's Mouth" (playing Ground Zero Friday, April 3rd, gzbasement.net for more info)

Violens "Violent Sensation Descends"
Swan Lake "Paper Lace"
The Spanish Armada "Hotel By the Sea"

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead "Bells of Creation"
Bell Orchestre "Dark Lights"
An Horse "Little Lungs"

Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime" (request)
Mirah "Gone Are the Days"
Beirut "The Shrew"

Sea of Trees "Lemonvines" (local band interviewed on WRPI yesterday, seaoftrees.com for info and show dates)
Hello Seahorse "Ok!...Lobster"
Bishop Allen "The Ancient Commonsense of Things"
Mumpsy "In Favor of a Ghost"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Heads Will Roll"
Anavan "Take it Back"
Dan Deacon "Woof Woof"

Telekinesis! "Coast of Carolina"
Alligators "Mama, Stop"
Neko Case "Polar Nettles"

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band "Who's Asking"
Venice Is Sinking "Ryan's Song"
Maria Taylor "Cartoons and Forever Plans"

The Black Keys "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be"
Jessica Lea Mayfield "I Can't Lie to You, Love"
Dr. Dog "We All Belong"
Murder by Death "Shiola"

We hope you enjoyed your three-course meal and went home full. See you next week!

Gold Sounds: Venice Is Sinking - Azar reviewed

Venice Is Sinking - Azar

The following is a review of the album Azar, the second full-length album by Venice Is Sinking

On Azar, Venice Is Sinking creates a cohesive work, pieced together by four instrumentals titled "Azar One" through "Azar Four," with the other seven tracks being more traditional songs. However, the most striking thing about Azar is that these instrumental tracks are the best songs on the album (especially "Azar Four" with its distorted yet beautiful piano). In contrast, the rest of the album is comprised of songs that simply aren't very dynamic and meander without any purpose, lacking the inventiveness of the instrumentals and possessing few if any interesting traits.

Every non-instrumental song prominently features dual male/female vocals, mainly used simply to harmonize both on the verses and choruses. While often times bands might use dual harmonizing vocals to heighten the emotional stakes, Venice Is Sinking's obvious penchant for harmonizing wears on the listener and makes the already meandering songs even more frustrating ordeals. The best non-instrumentals, "Young Master Sunshine" and "Charm Camp", are the ones that don't follow that formula: the former has the two vocalists singing different vocal parts at times, and the latter has actual dynamics, slowly building into an ending featuring loud, aggressive playing followed solely by piano. More songs like these would have been welcome among the other meandering ones.

Listening through the album, it's clear that the band knows a thing or two about production value. The production sounds very good and a healthy amount of experimentation (involving both studio trickery and unique instrumentation, including strings and horns) is used to make the songs seem more interesting. The only problem is that there are few captivating songs here; Venice Is Sinking strives for slowcore bliss on Azar but really just sound slow and boring, performing shells of songs. With more developed songwriting, Venice Is Sinking may be capable of creating a captivating album, but this album simply doesn't have the songs needed to comprise such an album.

Azar will be released on March 31st by One Percent Press

Listen: Venice Is Sinking - Azar is currently streaming in full on ilike.com

Ambient Signal 3/24/09

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
Tuesdays 6-8pm

Alaska in winter - The homeless and the hummingbirds
This will destroy you - Freedom Blade
Moving Mountains - Armslength *playing at Ground Zero april 3rd! - see gzbasement.net for more info!*
Patients - Tall tale no. 5
Sing Fang Bous - The Jubilee Choruses
The Coral Sea - Look at her face
World's end girlriend - River was filled with stories
O+S - Permanent Scar
Dan Deacon - Paddling ghost
Long lost - The art of kissing
Swan lake - Paper lace
Cursive - I couldn't love you
Little brazil - Brighton Beach
Quiet Countries - El radio radio
Bell orchestre - As seen through windows
East Hundred - Plus minus
The Swords project - Md11
Steve Reich - Drumming IV
Tacks, the boy disaster - Paris
Why? - Fatalist Palmistry
The Velvet Teen - Tokyoto
Battles - Race:Out

pinkie swear. - Emelie

artist - song

Quatrefoil - Notre Dame
Quatrefoil - Rouen
Mirah - Gone Are the Days
The Appleseed Cast - A Bright Light
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Baby It's You
Buraka Som Sistema - Sound of Kiduro feat. MIA
Architechiture In Helsinki - That Beep
Royksopp - The Girl and the Robot
Ladytron - Tomorrow - port-royal remix
Quatrefoil - Rheims
Fever Ray - If I Had a Heart
Mogwai - Golden Porche
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Elvis Perkins - Shampoo
Ben Kweller - Hurtin' You
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Youth Group - One For Another
Bishop Allen - Dimmer
Dan Deacon - Paddling Ghost
Modest Mouse - Fire it Up
Mirah - Generosity (love this new album!)
Broken Spindles - I've Never Been This Afraid (Faint Bassist Solo Project)
The Faint - Forever Growing Centipedes
Architecture in Helskini - That Beep - Original

Emelie
16949

Weird Noises 3/23/09

Here is the playlist from today's show:

Robert Ashley - Automatic Writing
Throbbing Gristle - Still Walking
Tetuzi Akiyama - Reinforcement
Langley Schools Music Project - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
Robin Hayward - Coil
Can - Peking O
Stephen Vitiello - Listening to Donald Judd
Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso UFO - Attack from Planet Hattifatteners
Janek Schaefer - Black Immure