-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Ambient * Ethereal *
Artist..: Ice Choir
Album...: Afar
GENRE....: Electronic
STYLE....: New Wave, Synth-pop, Indie Rock
LABEL....: Underwater Peoples SCENE.....: 2014-12-20
BITRATE..: 986 kbps avg STORE.....: 2012-07-31
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V TRACKS....: 9
SIZE.....: 251.5MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://www.icechoir.com/
TRACKLIST
1 I Want You Now & Always 4:18
2 Teletrips 3:48
3 A Vision Of Hell, 1996 3:22
4 Bounding 3:44
5 Two Rings 4:07
6 Afar 3:02
7 Peacock In The Tall Grass 4:11
8 The Ice Choir 4:12
9 Everything Is Spoilt By Use (feat. 4:57
Caroline Polachek)
Total Playtime.: 35:41
http://www.discogs.com/Ice-Choir-Afar/release/3801130
*
Kurt Feldman is kept pretty busy as the Pains of Being Pure at Heart's
drummer, but he's always found time for side projects. His previous group,
the Depreciation Guild, was a retro-shoegaze band with a twist, building its
sound around chiptune electronics. His next project, Ice Choir, is even more
retro but minus the twist -- instead he looks to re-create '80s synth pop
(and sophisticated '80s pop with synths) as faithfully as possible. Afar, the
debut album by the group (which is really Feldman doing everything but the
occasional fretless bass and backing vocal), sounds like it could have been
released in 1985. He uses time-specific synths with the exact settings bands
like OMD and Naked Eyes used, the same ultra-gated drum machines, and the
same overall recording ambience. Additionally, he sings like the son of
Scritti Politti's Green Gartside and his skill at aping different shades on
the synth pop rainbow is uncanny. With all this re-creation and homage going
on, it would have been easy for Afar to turn out to be just a nostalgic
curiosity with no real value beyond admiring Feldman's ability to channel the
past. While it's true that this ability is the most impressive thing about
Ice Choir's debut, the record succeeds on a different level thanks to how
good the songs are. They don't sound like '80 album tracks; they sound like
hits. Whether it's the slinky groove of "A Vision of Hell, 1996," the aching
melancholy of "Two Rings," the bouncy shuffle of "Peacock in the Tall Grass,"
or the sophisticated prettiness of "The Ice Choir," the album is full of
songs that would sound right at home on an '80s Night playlist or played back
to back with the best songs of Prefab Sprout and OMD. Feldman's not just
using the sound as a lark, though; he's transmitting enough emotion and
feeling to give the album plenty of depth. Just take a listen to "Everything
Is Spoilt by Use," the album-closing heartfelt ballad featuring Chairlift's
Caroline Polachek, and it becomes pretty clear that Feldman isn't fooling
around. Ice Choir, and Afar, could have easily played their love of '80s
synthy pop as a joke, but they didn't and that makes the album a real treat
for fans of the era.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
*** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
--===--
*********************
* NuHS we miss you! *
*********************