ARTIST: Mixel Pixel
TITLE: Let's Be Friends
LABEL: Mental Monkey
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 198kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 33m total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-06-03
RIP DATE: 2008-04-29
Track List
----------
1. What Ever Happened To One 2:12
2. Sinking Feeling 2:46
3. Favorite Sweatshirt On 2:59
4. Great Invention 3:54
5. Let's Be Friends 3:02
6. Cats 2:23
7. You Could Be... 2:34
8. So Regal (Tigershark Kiss) 3:42
9. Fake Girlfriend 2:50
10. Last Song 3:20
11. Distant Station 3:47
Release Notes:
Electro indie-pop doesnÆt get much cuter or more enjoyable than Mixel PixelÆs
latest, LetÆs Be Friends. The Brooklyn trio sings about friendship, cats, and
more on their newest album, and while it could come off as too twee and special,
they luckily leaven things with humor and harmony. They also vary up their
sound just enough to keep things interesting, without going off the reservation.
Friends opens with the melodic, catchy indietronic pop of ôWhat Ever Happened To
Oneö, which sets things off on the right note. The duet vocals of visual artist
Rob Corradetti and ôneuroscientist/lip balm specialistö Kaia Wong play well on
that track and throughout the album. Mixel Pixel takes things more orchestral
and grand on the following ôSinking Feelingö, then bright with ôFavorite
Sweatshirt Onö. Things go fuzzier and expansive on ôGreat Inventionö, but the
title track brings the record back to its indie-pop roots.
The second half of Friends isnÆt as strong as its first, but there is still much
to recommend it. ôCatsö may have an eighties wistfulness to it, but itÆs also
funny. ThereÆs more of a country vibe to ôYou Could Beö and ôSo Regal
(Tigershark Kiss)ö, country-twang on the former, country-soul on the latter.
Single ôFake Girlfriendö easily stands out as the strongest track on the other
side of the record, winning indie-pop with a great drum machine beat.
Unfortunately, the subsequent indietronic pop of ôLast Songö isnÆt the finisher,
as the album instead ends with the too sweet, too cloying ôDistant Stationö, its
weakest piece.
Now on their fifth record, Mixel Pixel finds themselves brighter and more poppy
than their last, 2006Æs Music For Plants. To some, their music will probably
always seem too cute and endearing. But to fans of indietronica and indie-pop,
this is the continuation of a beauuuuuuu-tiful friendshipàM