a r t i s t : Ape School
t i t l e : Ape School
d a t e : 2009
l a b e l : Counter Records
g e n r e : Indie
r l s. d a t e : May/2009
t r a c k s : 13
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 53,2 MB
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Ape School's Michael Johnson has a solid indie rock rΘsumΘ. He
was part of the SubPop group Holopaw, played with the Lilys,
Kurt Vile, and Human Television, and along the way hooked up
with Daedelus, appearing on the stand-out track "Make it So"
on his 2008 album Love to Make Music To. This is Johnson's
second mostly solo album; it was barely noticed, and his first
under the name Ape School. Johnson wraps his catchy songs in a
hazy, insulated sound that references neo-psych heroes Mercury
Rev and the Flaming Lips, ropes in elements of hip-hop (in the
rhythms), shoegaze (the drifting textures are reminiscent at
times of the Lilys best work), and oddly enough, a shoestring
budget version of stadium dreamers like Coldplay or Keane. The
lyrics and vocals don't reach for the back row of the arena,
but the epic sweep and cinematic sound of songs like "My
Intention" or "Deathstomp" work to bring the album a larger
scope than the average "one dude on a studio album" usually
has. If this comparison scares you off, please note that the
everyman vocals and carefully crafted arrangements keep the
album from becoming an overblown mess. The general sharpness
of the hooks (especially in the killer one-two punch of "Wail
to God" and "That's Okay" that kicks off the album), the
powerful groove of songs like "Be an Encore," and the tender,
freaky balladry of "Did What I Did" and "The Underground" make
the album well worth investigating for anyone who likes their
pop made with a blissfully weird sonic inventiveness.
http://www.myspace.com/apeschool
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01-Wail To God [02:22]
02-That's Ok [02:49]
03-Did What I Did [02:16]
04-My Intention [03:53]
05-Be an Encore [03:41]
06-It's Over [02:48]
07-Caveman Vs Canary [04:02]
08-The Underground [02:44]
09-Deathstomp [03:25]
10-Floridian Grime [02:07]
11-In Time You Are [02:59]
12-Rip Together, Rip Apart [04:12]
13-No Shame [03:50]
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41:08 min