Atlas Sound - Logos

Deerhunter front man Bradford Cox is a dedicated blogger who is well-known for relishing his fans with tonnes of free music released under the moniker Atlas Sound on his blog. He releases so much that only a dedicated fan would bother to wade through the vast amounts of half-baked ideas to find the best ones. So it would be easy for Cox to have his commercial releases be just some sort of ‘best-of’ blog releases. But we all know that he simply does not work that way. Through his blog, media interaction and, most importantly, his music, we see that Cox feels music very deeply and takes it very seriously. So Logos, the second full length released as Atlas Sound moves on from the first, combining the musical skills and friends he has made since releasing Deerhunter’s critically adored Microcastle.

When Microcastle was released critics duly noted the shift from the extended song lengths on Cryptograms to the use of shorter songs with more pop-sensibilities. These sensibilities are carried on to Logos. There is less focus on highly layered, looping tracks carrying an innumerable amount of differing sounds on them to the use of bouncing acoustic guitar layered in reverb. It is more simplistic, but not boring.

This album also contains two guest spots. The first is Noah Lennox aka. Panda Bear on ‘Walkabout’, and this track combines the best of what each party is good at, creating a song that loops and bounces, riding on a sparkling keyboard tune. It is a magnificent pop tune, and is undoubtedly one of the best tracks Cox has released as Atlas Sound. The second guest spot is the eight-and-a-half-minute long track, ironically titled ‘Quick Canal’, starring Lætitia Sadier of Stereolab. It is another high point of the album, more laid back and dreamlike than ‘Walkabout’, it grows with with sifting organ-like sounds before introducing a drumbeat that propels us through the song. Sadier’s vocals are perfectly layered and echoed to create the sound of a seraph that slowly gets lost in a foggy pillow of shoegazing by the song’s finish. It never feels too long or melodramatically epic at its length; it is perfectly ambient.

A lot of the songs on this album seem to be the stopgap between the two aforementioned high points, that feature Cox’s trademark blend of fog and reverb. ‘The Light That Failed"’ sets the album of perfectly with its glitchy mix of various sounds and loops, reminiscent of Let the Bind… . In the background there is the sound of water dripping and flowing, that becomes hypnotic and rhythmic behind Cox’s mantra of “the light that failed… We would never, we would never….”. Songs such as ‘An Orchid’ show hints of Deerhunter, with their looping, fuzzy acoustic guitar. ‘Sheila’ is another highlight. It is another pop-tune that Cox has become oh-so good at creating, that masks behind its carefree rolling a profound (if already found) personal message to a lover. “And when we die we’ll bury ourselves. ‘Cause no-one wants to die alone.”

So while the areas between the instant standout tracks meld together in their blend of reverb and, with Cox’s vocals serving as just another texture that adds to the instrumentals, rather than controlling them, become largely ambient and forgetful, is that not the point? They are misty and dreamlike, as ambience should be, and do we not forget most of our dreams even after becoming so totally absorbed in them?

3.7/5

Standouts: The Light That Failed, Walkabout, Sheila, Quick Canal

 

Download Atlas Sound - Logos

Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport

"Surf Solar" - 10:34
"Rough Steez" - 4:44
"The Lisbon Maru" - 9:19
"Olympians" - 10:54
"Phantom Limb" - 4:49
"Space Mountain" - 8:44
"Flight of the Feathered Serpent" - 9:31

Anyone familiar with Fuck Buttons debut Street Horrrsing [sic] will be wholly familiar with the game this duo (Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power) from Bristol play. They take the ambiguous genre of noise, with its feedback, sawing sound waves, and long drones and give them an orchestral momentum, giving it the emotional intensity and compulsion of post-rock bands such as Mogwai (whose guitarist John Cummings produced their debut) and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. One quote that I largely associate with that album, and one that I can’t recall who said, is “If we’re still around at the end of the universe, I’d bet all my money that Fuck Buttons will be heard in the background.” That summed it up perfectly. The album was harsh, jagged, intense, and sounded like it was coming from the universe itself, as opposed to our stereos. Last year, Fuck Buttons debut made noise more well-known (mostly thanks to Pitchfork, who ranked it 20th on their end-of-year album list), more accessible, and ultimately, more cool.

Since releasing a three minute “condensed” single version of Tarot Sport’s opener Surf Solar, alongside a verrry [sic] trippy video, I, with presumably many others, have been pissing myself with anticipation for the latest offering from this band, and now that it has arrived in my lap, I can safely say it was well worth the wait (including the excruciating temptation to download the leak that appeared a month before its scheduled release).

Tarot Sport picks up largely where Horrrsing left off, but veers off in a more refined and friendly direction, however, this is by no means an insult; it is this tamer approach that makes the album stronger than it predecessor. The disembodied screams reverberating amongst a backdrop of noise and drone are gone. The feedback is softer and more enjoyable. The sounds are more electronic based than before. And it works.

What results is a sixty-minute ‘epic’ that features richly textured sounds that bubble and flow over and around each other. It symphonises yet remains cacophonous; harsh not grating. It holds itself together with lush melodies and pulsing rhythms that make you want dance and move yet run and repent with its apocalyptic intensity. Sport is a universal affair, and succeeds immensely in taking you to a universe that is forming and pulsing as fast as you can explore it, with Hung and Power happy to let you be thrown around inside of it.

It is the oxymoronic nature of this album that allows it to shine so amazingly well. It is harsh but listenable. It is sprawling yet controlled. It is noise but it is poppy. It is exasperating yet a breath of fresh air. And it is the best new album I have heard in a very long while.

****/5
Standouts: Surf Solar, Rough Steez, Flight of the Feathered Serpent

Download Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport

PS. Being my first post and first attempt at an album review (or a review in general) feel free to post comments on what you thought was good, and what could be improved.