Quote:
Originally Posted by RoXer
(Post 3450208)
this is bullshit
why dont you post half that shit on here instead?
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Album Review: Elk - Let’s Get Married
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Elk - Let’s Get Married (2011)
Before I begin, I’d like to mention that haim no musical expert. I have zero musical talent. I can’t play any instruments (I am an ace rapper as you all know tho.) I have never studied music theory or anything like that. I just know what I like; and I like a lot of units.
This unit is one of them.
Elk is the moniker of Justin Stein, a child of the Midwest, born and bred in Michigan. He was “living the dream” in Brooklyn, probably railing mad hipster alt bitches but decided that it was more worthwhile to move back to Michigan and record an album from his sister’s bedroom, because he had no dollars. Which I can totally relate to, as someone who moved out, only to return home and now resides in his sister’s old bedroom. With a day bed, light blue walls and sheer curtains. But we’re not here to discuss that today.
Anywayyyyyyyy… I am very happy that Mr. Stein’s been cuddling beneath Care Bear sheets because what we have here is one of the best albums of the year thus far. It’s an ambitious album, one that most would label “challenging” or “avant-garde bullshit.” We basically have bugged out samples looped over and over again, with a sunny Carl Wilson-y but more screechy and reverbed vocal here and there spouting indecipherable lyrics - which is really not any new territory for a musician, but it’s done very well here.
A couple of the tracks are pretty lenghty, notably
Rollerbladin at over 10 minutes. I’m chillin for the first 4 or so until it erupts in to some salsa-ass crescendo that is sort of off-putting and completely out of left field… in a bad way. Not rly trying to get down like Tito Puente, sucka.
That’s the downfall of this album. Too many different sounds mashed together; though fortunately this is isolated to a few of the tracks (title track suffers this as well with cheesy ass Ben Franklin piccolo opening that probably would turn 75% of listeners off right off the bat, though it does switch gears to some bugged out kalidoscope shit with a loop that recalls
Daily Routine off
Merriweather Post Pavilion).
The general tone is hazy, but these interludes sort of disrupt the flow. They’re nice little experiments, but they do not flow with any rhyme or reason. They detract from the songs. However, when things work, they WORK and work really well. The opening to
Moonjellies is heart-wrenching to me for some reason, and is followed by a nice folky loop. One of the standout tracks. Actually, I don’t really “dislike” any song, and they all could be described as “standouts.” I just dislike segments of certain songs. They’re weird for the sake of being weird.
This album is just further proof of how important
Merriweather Post Pavilion was, as it’s a clear influence, an influence that has also been felt on recent albums by KeepAway and Wavves (more
Strawberry Jam-ish if you ask me.) Kick back, chill and enjoy the tones but be ready to be thrown a 2001 Barry Zito curveball here and there. Don’t let them scare you away though, because a lot of this album is very beautiful. Especially
Summer Magic.
The verdict: 8.5 out of 10 computers on a scale of computers
For fans of: Animal Collective, The Fiery Furnaces, My Bloody Valentine, Weirdcore, Walt Disney, Hypnotic Loops That Sound Mad Good When Yr Blazed, “Bedroom Musicians,” The sun
