Shiny Around The Edges - Why Do I Love You EP
ARTIST.....: Shiny Around The Edges
TITLE......: Why Do I Love You EP
LABEL......: Golden State Recording Co.
URL........: www.shinyaroundtheedges.com
RIP DATE...: Mar-07-2005
STORE DATE.: 000-00-2003
GENRE......: Indie
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 28,7 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Impossible 05:59
02 - Virus 03:26
03 - Black Whistle 05:10
04 - Russell Square 04:04
05 - Siamese Twins 03:56
06 - As She Lay Sleeping 07:19
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29:54 min
Release Notes:
Residing in Denton, Texas, Shiny Around the Edges is an
atmospheric band that enjoys libraries, wide-open prairie spaces,
NPR, Sonic Youth bootlegs, Billie Holiday records, and rainy days.
The band strives to create songs that serve as tone poems amongst
the high grasses and wildflowers that make the North Texas prairie
a pastoral wonderland.
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We are now entering the days of indian summer that L.A. valleys
are infamous for. With the fall season just around the corner, you
might think there would be a respite from smoldering 100 plus
degree days. No such luck. Lately, we've been racked by several
punishing days of heat. Nothing to do but brew up ice tea, sit in
a small room with the air conditioning on, and listen to chilly
music that reminds us of what it's like to have real seasons. On
this particular day, that music is the Why Do I Love You EP from
Shiny Around The Edges. On their debut, the brooding quartet
delivers six tracks of chilly homespun goodness that envelops the
listener in a slow beautiful fog of chiming guitars and minimal
drums. Silvery and smooth, heavy on the ride, and nearly jazzy.
This is just how I like to take my anti-sun music cocktails.
And... what? They're from L.A.!? Somebody pinch me, I must be
dreaming again about continental drift plate tectonics shifting
Southern California up into the Arctic.
All of the telltale sounds of super icy, slo-mo music are here on
this album. You can detect any number of influential watermarks
here such as Ida, Red House Painters, Bedhead, Spain, Mojave 3,
Cowboy Junkies and Idaho. And of course the biggie that they'll
get many comparison's to: Duluth's Low. But while the winsome and
lilting voice of singer Jennifer on tracks like "Impossible",
"Virus" and "Siamese Twins" (a cover of the Cure song) is similar
on the surface to Mimi Parker's, it's sloppy listening to say they
that the band is merely following down the sound from that other
minimalistic trio. Compositionally, yes, the band has song
structures and even melodies that will remind you pleasantly of
Low. However, the evidence to the contrary starts in the third
track "Black Whistle" in which the music takes a decidedly lo-fi
character and Michael Seman's low and sonorous voice takes a stab
at the lead. Sounding like Jim Morrison or perhaps a drugged
Stephen Merritt, he guides the band through music appropriate for
nighttime jaunts through the desolate California deserts.
Beautiful cello on this song adds depth and ambience and the vocal
tradeoffs between Jennifer and Michael are key to the success of
this track. I'm reminded again of the band Elk City, who combine
extremely differing vocal styles in the same songs to great
effect.
The other extremely different track on this album is "As She Lay
Sleeping" which starts out with Jennifer's somber pronunciations
admist the squeals of what sounds like shortwave radio
transmissions and static. At near three minutes into it, the song
suddenly blossoms with immense guitar squalls and feedback
sounding like Flying Saucer Attack which eventually mutates near
the end into an old movie broadcast voiceover with a record
playing in the background. A striking track. You can tell they put
a lot of thought into the overall dynamic compositional curve.
Impressively recorded in their living room, this EP gets high
marks for its character, sense of timing and construction. I'd
recommend it to anyone interested in the music of the bands I
listed above. Interested parties may want to note that Shiny
Around The Edges is also in the process of completing a winter
collarboration with if thousands, an ambient duo out of Duluth,
Minnesota that is involved in the Chairkickers scene (which
includes Low and other Duluth bands). I'd be very interested to
hear the musical directions that alliance takes both bands in.
(shmat.com)