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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Taking a Stand for Innovation
Wednesday 24 July @ 09:41:16 |
 American Analog Set and Her Space Holiday play outside traditional rock boundaries
by Rob van Alstyne
Given the near deafening amount of attention surrounding garage-oriented rock these days, from the bluesy racket of the White Stripes to Nirvana-in-waiting Aussie upstarts the Vines, one might be tempted to believe that raw rock ‘n’ roll is the only style worth paying attention to anymore. Fortunately a double shot of innovative music devoid of any stylistic straitjacket is about to roll in through town and shatter any of those misperceptions.
Granted, Austin Texas’ minimal-ist indie-pop outfit the American Analog Set kick off their latest album, Know By Heart, with a song entitled “Punk as %@!#$&,” but the song behind the name occupies a refined low-key terrain worlds removed from safety pins and power chords. In the seven years since their inception the AASet have managed to morph from a sophisticated dreamy band with a serious drone fixation into suave pop practitioners. Although the instantly winning and peppy nature of tracks like “Aaron and Maria” and “The Kindness of Strangers” show that singer/guitarist Andrew Kenny is probably drinking considerably more coffee these days, the overall vibe of Know By Heart is still sleepy-eyed and hazy.
Kenny’s soft winsome voice is sedate throughout, in perfect keeping with the light touch of his highly talented band. Open space is a key ingredient, with deft snatches of synthesizer and vibes intermittently employed to color the streamlined guitar patterns and stellar brushed drum work that form the core of the bands sound. The subtle nature of AASet’s charms requires repeated listening to be fully appreciated, but multiple spins prove highly rewarding. Kenny is an intriguing lyricist despite his lo-affect vocal delivery, whether chronicling the sad emotional life of a lonely letter carrier in the first person on “The Postman” or documenting jaded hipsters in love with “Aaron & Maria.” A number of cinematically inclined instrumentals help round out the mix, providing ample proof that anyone in need of a futuristic house band for soundtrack work would do well to look up the bands’ telephone number.
Sharing the stage with AASet will be the cut and paste laptop pop of Her Space Holiday. Essentially the one man project of audio recording geek Marc Bianchi, HSH take the work of artists like Twin Cities bedroom mixmasters the Busy Signals even further afield. On Bianchi’s latest, the wildly experimental Manic Expressive, sample heavy spoken word pieces (“Spectator Sport” appears to be a taped telephone conversation where Bianchi receives advice on relationships from a friend) are wedged between some masterfully layered symphonic pop and jittery instrumentals.
Her Space Holiday’s previous effort, the morbidly clever Home is Where You Hang Yourself, was a double disc affair whose second disc featured remix work from a wide array of indie luminaries (Bright Eyes, Duster, Micro Mars). Limited to just one disc with Manic, Bianchi seems intent on ramming as many ideas as possible into the albums nine warped tracks. “The Ringing in My Ears” undoubtedly provides Manic Expressive’s high point, perfectly meshing skittery breakbeats with warm keyboard tones and a hypnotically beautiful string section while Bianchi disparages himself (“I’ll just stay and make it worse/ To keep our life from going on its natural course”). By the time the saxophone-solo-outro hits, it appears Bianchi has crafted the first legitimate classic in the one-man-computer-band genre. The rest of Manic Expressive fails to gel as flawlessly but remains a highly compelling listen. Following Bianchi along on his tech-heavy exploration of unconventional sonic terrain, done best with head-phones in tow, is one of the more wonderfully challenging experiences a rabid music fan could ask
for.
Although having few surface commonalities, the American Analog Set and Her Space Holiday have one trait in common, a willfully fearless and experimental attitude. The down-tempo grooves of Her Space Holiday’s Manic Expressive and the taut understated splendor of AASet’s Know By Heart prove equally well that some of the most riveting music made today doesn’t channel the din of rock ‘n’ roll’s past, but still embraces its maverick attitude.
The American Analog Set and Her Space Holiday will be performing this Friday, July 26 at the Fireball Espresso Cafe. Showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets are $10. 1532 W. Larpenteur, Falcon Heights. 651-645-6800.
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