The Soft Hills - Chromatisms

        Label.........................: Tapete
        Genre.........................: Indie
        StoreDate.....................: Feb-08-2013
        Source........................: CDDA
        Grabber.......................: Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode)
        Encoding Scheme...............: Lame 3.98.4 V0 VBR Joint-Stereo
        Size..........................: 68.37 MB
        Total Playing Time............: 39:55

        Release Notes:

        Seattle soft psych-rockers the Soft Hills blended the rural with the
        spectral on their 2012 album The Bird Is Coming Down to Earth. That
        album's magnanimous blend of heavy guitar tones, spaced-out production,
        and gentle vocal harmonies found itself in the strange waters somewhere
        between a modern indie folk sound and a throwback to classic rock's FM
        radio freakouts. With third album Chromatisms, the band digs deeper into
        the sound it began on the album prior, turning more toward the spacy
        than the folky on these ten songs. Beginning with muddy rockers like
        "Riding High" and "Sweet Louise," the tone is set for a tense and
        brooding album. Fleet Foxes-like harmonies tell stories of depression
        and giving up while waves of looping guitar and crashing drums cruise by
        with abandon before colliding with malfunctioning analog synth noise.
        It's when the Soft Hills turn the volume down, however, that their
        strengths and subtleties shine through the most. The gorgeously spare
        "Dear Mr. Moonlight" begins with a dialed-back duet of Pink Floyd-esque
        echoed pulses and singer Garrett Hobba's thin voice delayed into the
        stratosphere. The song patiently unfolds into a melancholic wandering
        akin to Neil Young's darkest moments circa On the Beach. It's a
        breathtaking moment, and one that only gets space to breathe when the
        band slows down enough to let it happen. Similarly, "Un" coasts by on a
        psychedelic groove augmented by graceful harmonies. The relatively less
        boisterous track calls to mind both Bobb Trimble's cold isolation and
        the inner darkness of Dennis Wilson's masterpiece Pacific Ocean Blue. A
        fair amount of reverb, tape echo, and majestic synthesizer shows up
        throughout Chromatisms, and intricate touches like these come through
        best in the quiet moments, but also add depth and power to epic tracks
        like "Mighty River." It's a washy, varied ride from a band increasingly
        in control of its powers. As the Soft Hills continue to hone their
        sound, the moments of spaced-out production meeting tender harmony make
        more sense, as do the blasts of fuzz and tension.

                                Tracklisting

     01. Riding High                                                    4:44
     02. Sweet Louise                                                   3:38
     03. Marigolds                                                      2:45
     04. Dear Mr. Moonlight                                             3:16
     05. Payroll                                                        5:36
     06. Un                                                             3:48
     07. Horse & Carriage                                               3:52
     08. The Gifts You Hide                                             4:30
     09. Mighty River                                                   4:29
     10. Desert Rose                                                    3:17

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               The Soft Hills - Chromatisms

        Label.........................: Tapete
        Genre.........................: Indie
        StoreDate.....................: Feb-08-2013
        Source........................: CDDA
        Grabber.......................: Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode)
        Encoding Scheme...............: Lame 3.98.4 V0 VBR Joint-Stereo
        Size..........................: 68.37 MB
        Total Playing Time............: 39:55

        Release Notes:

        Seattle soft psych-rockers the Soft Hills blended the rural with the
        spectral on their 2012 album The Bird Is Coming Down to Earth. That
        album's magnanimous blend of heavy guitar tones, spaced-out production,
        and gentle vocal harmonies found itself in the strange waters somewhere
        between a modern indie folk sound and a throwback to classic rock's FM
        radio freakouts. With third album Chromatisms, the band digs deeper into
        the sound it began on the album prior, turning more toward the spacy
        than the folky on these ten songs. Beginning with muddy rockers like
        "Riding High" and "Sweet Louise," the tone is set for a tense and
        brooding album. Fleet Foxes-like harmonies tell stories of depression
        and giving up while waves of looping guitar and crashing drums cruise by
        with abandon before colliding with malfunctioning analog synth noise.
        It's when the Soft Hills turn the volume down, however, that their
        strengths and subtleties shine through the most. The gorgeously spare
        "Dear Mr. Moonlight" begins with a dialed-back duet of Pink Floyd-esque
        echoed pulses and singer Garrett Hobba's thin voice delayed into the
        stratosphere. The song patiently unfolds into a melancholic wandering
        akin to Neil Young's darkest moments circa On the Beach. It's a
        breathtaking moment, and one that only gets space to breathe when the
        band slows down enough to let it happen. Similarly, "Un" coasts by on a
        psychedelic groove augmented by graceful harmonies. The relatively less
        boisterous track calls to mind both Bobb Trimble's cold isolation and
        the inner darkness of Dennis Wilson's masterpiece Pacific Ocean Blue. A
        fair amount of reverb, tape echo, and majestic synthesizer shows up
        throughout Chromatisms, and intricate touches like these come through
        best in the quiet moments, but also add depth and power to epic tracks
        like "Mighty River." It's a washy, varied ride from a band increasingly
        in control of its powers. As the Soft Hills continue to hone their
        sound, the moments of spaced-out production meeting tender harmony make
        more sense, as do the blasts of fuzz and tension.

                                Tracklisting

     01. Riding High                                                    4:44
     02. Sweet Louise                                                   3:38
     03. Marigolds                                                      2:45
     04. Dear Mr. Moonlight                                             3:16
     05. Payroll                                                        5:36
     06. Un                                                             3:48
     07. Horse & Carriage                                               3:52
     08. The Gifts You Hide                                             4:30
     09. Mighty River                                                   4:29
     10. Desert Rose                                                    3:17

                     Support The Artists, Buy Their Music....



This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net