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While I was updating my old blog links as a result of putting together the new reflectism.net; the wordpress edition - I noticed I never posted my review of the brilliant Fictionist album in my last.fm journal. So here it is:

Fictionist - "Invisible Hand"
Red Owl Records, 2009-01-09

These guys were completely unknown to me until I ordered a CD from CD Baby and got "Invisible Hand" recommended to me. I immediately went looking for some tracks to preview because I simply can't stay away from the prospect of getting to know something new and great. 30 seconds later I had no doubts whatsoever.

Once in a while an album will seem like it appeared out of the blue and hit you like no other. Leave you with a smile on your face, your day just a little bit better, and fill you with a hope that you'll never ever grow tired of this magnificent album. "Invisible Hand" did that to me.

Hard to pin, Fictionist walk the fine line between pop and rock where no genre tag is even needed. The highlight is without doubt the guitar work. Some brilliant work that provides hooks for just about all of the tracks, making them recognizable but not tiring. The kind that saves tracks from becoming "just another pop/rock song". Beautiful solos of the ethereal kind, small riffs that carry the different portions of the song or add an extra element to the building vocals. I have a soft spot for build-ups and this album is packed with them. The kind that will leave you wondering when it will take off, and somehow end up taking you by surprise once they do.

Album opener "Noisy Birds" is definitely one of the highlights. It's the kind of song that travels all over the place in terms of mood and tempo, which is sure to keep it lasting for a long time. You want to be there for the ride, which is why it's the perfect beginner.

Songs like "Tightrope Hill", "Nowhere to Go", "Lovers Past", and somewhat "Uptight" take the more standard approach to pop/rock. On "Tightrope Hill" dullness is avoided thanks to a catchy bass line and shivering guitars, while "Nowhere to Go" sets the mood and carries you along all the way to the excellent turn of events around the 4 minute mark. After that you really have nowhere to go.

"Fist" keeps you on your toes throughout the first 3 minutes by changing pace numerous times, until it finally explodes after a last failed attempt at making you believe it never will. All the elements that make up a good rock tune is somehow magically put into this song.

The vocals are never excessive, always adding to the perfect blend of melodies - it drives the tracks just as much as the guitars, and the absence of vocals is especially apparent on "Wakes" which is the only weak spot on this album, although a somewhat fitting prologue to the grand finale. Album closer "Song For B" does the opposite and sets off into a ethereal whirl of sound not heard since Pink Floyd. The only appropriate ending for such an album. If not just to celebrate the guitar.

In other words it's all about the perfect blend. Mix that with a skilled group of musicians truly good at their craft, and you've got a recipe for success. It's only a matter of time. If you're going to buy one album in the first 6 months of 2009 let this be the one. I predict this will be the gem that will send shivers down my spine when I accidentally come across it in my collection in ten years (if I've managed to push it that far back in my brain by then).

Head over to CD Baby and order yourself a copy, after you've listened to some tracks on myspace.

Fictionist official site

And here's the direct link to my blog.

Songs that followed me through the summer of '09.

1. Viva Voce - Flora
2. Wilco - One Wing
3. Engineers - Clean Coloured Wire
4. Metric - Blindness
5. The Peekers - favorite love
6. Twiggy Frostbite - Chimera
7. Portugal. The Man - Work All Day
8. Sebastien Grainger - Renegade Silence (feat. The Rhythm Method)
9. Telekinesis - Awkward Kisser
10. Blindfold - Caffeine & Sleeping Pills
11. Jonathan Johansson - En hand i himlen
12. LoveLikeFire - Boredom
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Runaway


Check my blog for more info and link to playlist.

Mix for November/December

1. Shearwater - Rooks
2. The Dears - Lights Off
3. Jim Noir - Happy Day Today
4. Madrugada - Honey Bee
5. Black Mountain - Queens Will Play
6. Sigur Rós - Við spilum endalaust
7. Earlimart - Time For Yourself
8. Elbow - The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
9. Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains
10. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Lie Down Here (& Be My Girl)

Check my blog for more info and link to playlist.

1. Shearwater - Rook
2. The Dears - Missiles
3. Jim Noir - Jim Noir
4. Madrugada - Madrugada
5. Black Mountain - In the Future
6. Sigur Rós - Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
7. Earlimart - Hymn And Her
8. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
9. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
10. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
11. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
12. The Broken West - Now or Heaven
13. The Black Keys - Attack And Release
14. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
15. Beck - Modern Guilt
16. The Black Angels - Directions to See a Ghost
17. Get Well Soon - Rest Now, Weary Head! You Will Get Well Soon
18. Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
19. Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
20. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
21. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
22. El Perro del Mar - From The Valley To The Stars
23. The Awkward Stage - Slimming Mirrors, Flattering Lights
24. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
25. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Go to my blog for more in-depth info.

Mix for September/October

1. The Dears - Dream Job
2. Maria Taylor with Andy LeMaster - Leap Year
3. Stars - Undertow
4. Rachael Yamagata - What If I Leave
5. Jukes - Stupidest Things
6. Jenny Lewis - Next Messiah
7. Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning - Hit The Wall
8. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Fix It
9. The Broken West - Got It Bad
10. Nina Kinert - I Shot My Man

Check my blog for more info and link to playlist.

Mix for May/June/July/August

1. Shearwater - The Snow Leopard
2. Islands - Creeper
3. Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood
4. Earlimart - For The Birds
5. The Disciplines - Best Mistake
6. Death Cab for Cutie - GrapeVine Fires
7. Sam Roberts - Sundance
8. Ben Sollee - A Change is Gonna Come
9. Beck - Gamma Ray
10. Wolf Parade - Fine Young Cannibals
11. Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains - Ways To Come Home
12. Wallis Bird - Counting To Sleep
13. The Stills - Rooibos/Palm Wine Drinkard


Check my blog for more info and link to playlist.

Mix for March/April

1. Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone
2. Guillemots - Last Kiss
3. Jim Noir - Don't You Worry
4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Hold On To Yourself
5. Girls In Hawaii - This Farm Will End up in Fire
6. The Kills - Tape Song


Check my blog for more info and link to playlist.

Subject: Grandaddy - He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot (The Sophtware Slump, 2000)

"The Sophtware Slump" as an album will always be a classic. I was thinking to myself where it would be without this one song? Still a classic, but further down on the list of classics perhaps?

This song reminds me of long bus drives, not only is it perfect for it, but I've had my share of those with this exact song streaming through my ears. While the song builds up I get closer to my arrival, and the scenery buzzing before my eyes fits perfectly with the shifts in tone, speed, and atmosphere.

It's epic, not only because of it's length (close to 9 minutes), but in the way it all happens throughout the song. From the simple strumming in the beginning where you can hear a gentle bird in the background, to the part where it speeds up, to come down to the slow pace where it stays until the end.

There's something grandiose about it all. Like the world is coming to an end, and this is the last song. Or - the world is coming to an end, and we don't know yet if this will be the last song. Layer upon layer, it builds up to something you know will arrive, but you're not quite sure when (even if you've heard it a thousand times before).

As an album opener it sets the theme, which in this case is some sort of future prophecy. "The Sophtware Slump" was by some labeled as the American "OK Computer". Grandaddy however took the spacy route. For me it's not so much about the meaning in this one, it's more about how it's all carried out.

Taken from my blog.