Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

Readers, listen up! I have a secret for you…one that I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while, but time has been a luxury lately.

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Tristan Clopet. Clopet’s debut EP Duende is an interesting conglomeration of  good ol’ southern soul, funky rock, and a whole lot of heart. For one, Clopet’s vocal range is impressive, smoother than the other side of the pillow (and that’s smooth!) in both the higher and lower registers. The instrumentation here perfectly complements the clean and breathy vocals at every turn, showing a real rapport between Clopet and his bandmates.

Duende takes off with “Your Love is a Drug”, a funked out jam that oozes classy-cool. “The End of an Era” begins like a typical folk-pop track, but Clopet’s vocals and the reverberating echoes of harmonies turn the song into a soulful treat. “Flowers in Bloom” see Clopet taking on the role of storyteller that reminds me of the golden days of Citizen Cope. The spontaneity and freshness of “Let it Go” sees the band juxtaposing spitfire rock with soft ebbing harmonies, while the clear highlight of the EP is the skittish rocked out “Concrete Dreams”.

So what are you waiting for? Grab a copy of Duende (note: iTunes link).

Listen to the whole EP here!

Everybody go crazy! Bon Iver has released something!

Okay, seriously, let’s all calm down. I’m not one to get all crazy excited for every little piece of music that gets released by the suddenly (and appropriately) famous band/artist. Nevertheless, here I am about to tell about Bon Iver’s side-project Volcano Choir and their ‘debut’ album Unmap. There’s a few gems sprinkled in here and there on this eccentric take on acoustica. The folksy syncopated claps and the spiraling chants of random sounds on “And Gather” is a perfect snapshot into what this album is all about: taking a guitar, some voices, and combining them to change the way the artist and listener approach acoustic music.  “Husks and Shells” continues on that note, with simple twinkle of a guitar riff that creates a wintry hideaway into some otherworldly igloo. The urgent “Island, IS” strays away from the midline with its jumbled guitar and soft drums. “Seelpymouth” sounds more like a falsettoed tribal chant than anything else, blending nicely into the heavily layered voices and swirls of guitar.

While some have gone batty over this album (see pitchfork), I’m taking a more conservative view; I can see the message, I can see the purpose, and I can see the place for such an album. But truth be told, I’ll just wait patiently for the next Bon Iver album.

Check out Unmap

Listen to “Island, IS”