| Great Lakes — Wild Vision (January 22, 2016) |
Great Lakes — Wild Vision (January 22, 2016)
» Initially part of the Elephant 6 collective, this indie pop band took on a darker perspective after relocating to Brooklyn.
Formed: 1996 in Athens, GA
Location: Athens, Georgia ~ Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
Related artists: The Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, Of Montreal, Beulah, The Monkees, The Ladybug Transistor.
Album release: January 22, 2016
Record Label: Loose Trucks
Genre: Indie Pop, Indie Folk
Duration: 38:59
Tracks:
A1 Swim The River 3:42
A2 Bird Flying 5:45
A3 Kin To The Mountain 3:30
A4 Wild Again 5:12
A5 Nature Is Always True 3:22
B1 I Stay, You Go 5:47
B2 Beauties Of The Way 4:49
B3 Blood On My Tooth 3:13
B4 Shot At And Missed 3:39
℗ 2016 Loose Trucks
Personnel:
» Ben Crum singer/songwriter/guitarist
» Suzanne Nienaber vocalist
» Kevin Shea drummer
» David Lerner bassist
» Joe McGinty keyboardist
» Mixed by Steve Silverstein
Credits:
» Ben Crum Composer, Group Member, Guitar, Vocals
» David Gould Synthesizer
» David Lerner Bass, Group Member
» Joe McGinty Group Member, Keyboards
» Heather McIntosh Cello, Group Member
» Jennifer Munson Mastering
» Suzanne Nienaber Group Member, Vocals
» Kevin Shea Drums, Group Member
» Steve Silverstein Mixing, Synthesizer
» Phil Sterk Group Member, Pedal Steel
» Ryan Trammel Design
» Kenneth Wachtel Guitar
Notes: 2016 release, the fifth long–player from Great Lakes, who formed in 1996 in Athens, Georgia and have been based in Brooklyn, NY since 2002. For this album, singer/songwriter/guitarist Ben Crum reconvened the same stellar lineup of musicians who helped him make 2010’s enchanting Ways of Escape, including vocalist Suzanne Nienaber, drummer Kevin Shea, bassist David Lerner and keyboardist Joe McGinty. Once again, the album was mixed by Steve Silverstein. While Great Lakes’ early records traded in a whimsical, light–hearted psychedelia, with their third and fourth albums, 2006’s Diamond Times and 2010’s Ways of Escape, the band gradually gravitated toward more personal songs, with a darker tone. Wild Vision attempts to blend the bare emotional style of 1970s singer/songwriter records with a guitar–based psychedelia.
AllMusic Review by Mark Deming; Score: ***
» Less than a minute into 2016’s Wild Vision, the fifth full–length album from Great Lakes, group leader Ben Crum and bandmate Suzanne Nienaber join their voices and sing, “I say fare thee well/To all of trouble, to all of care/Let’s breathe the purer air/All the old sadness won’t be there.” However, it’s not hard to get the feeling they’re fibbing a bit; Wild Vision doesn’t wallow in despondency from beginning to end, but it hardly sounds cheerful either, with most of the songs drifting by in a solemn midtempo as drummer Kevin Shea stirs the soup at a deliberate pace. It’s been a long time since Crum has been involved with the Elephant 6 collective, and it makes sense that Wild Vision has little to do with his previous off–kilter pop; in 2016, his music has everything to do with moody but melodic visions with a country undertow brought to the surface by judicious use of acoustic guitars, mandolins, and pedal steel. Lyrically, disappointment seems to be a common thread in these songs, though Crum’s approach is often impressionistic enough that literal meanings take a back seat to tone, and the tone of this material hardly sounds like Crum’s characters are doing well in life. (And the gloomy, murmuring singsong of his voice, recalling Seth Tiven of Dumptruck on a sad day, does nothing to enliven the tunes.) From a musical standpoint, Wild Vision feels like a fine rainy–day listen, full of dour but subtly satisfying melodies performed with a gentle touch by Crum and his accompanists, and it’s a shame that the leader’s lyrics and vocals aren’t as consistently pleasing as the rest of this set, though since six years separated Wild Vision and Great Lakes’ previous album, Ways of Escape, fans are most likely happy that Crum is still delivering new music at all. ::: http://www.allmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Great-Lakes-127699500611431/
»____________________________________________________________
| Great Lakes — Wild Vision (January 22, 2016) |
Formed: 1996 in Athens, GA
Location: Athens, Georgia ~ Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
Related artists: The Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, Of Montreal, Beulah, The Monkees, The Ladybug Transistor.
Album release: January 22, 2016
Record Label: Loose Trucks
Genre: Indie Pop, Indie Folk
Duration: 38:59
Tracks:
A1 Swim The River 3:42
A2 Bird Flying 5:45
A3 Kin To The Mountain 3:30
A4 Wild Again 5:12
A5 Nature Is Always True 3:22
B1 I Stay, You Go 5:47
B2 Beauties Of The Way 4:49
B3 Blood On My Tooth 3:13
B4 Shot At And Missed 3:39
℗ 2016 Loose Trucks
Personnel:
» Ben Crum singer/songwriter/guitarist
» Suzanne Nienaber vocalist
» Kevin Shea drummer
» David Lerner bassist
» Joe McGinty keyboardist
» Mixed by Steve Silverstein
Credits:
» Ben Crum Composer, Group Member, Guitar, Vocals
» David Gould Synthesizer
» David Lerner Bass, Group Member
» Joe McGinty Group Member, Keyboards
» Heather McIntosh Cello, Group Member
» Jennifer Munson Mastering
» Suzanne Nienaber Group Member, Vocals
» Kevin Shea Drums, Group Member
» Steve Silverstein Mixing, Synthesizer
» Phil Sterk Group Member, Pedal Steel
» Ryan Trammel Design
» Kenneth Wachtel Guitar
Notes: 2016 release, the fifth long–player from Great Lakes, who formed in 1996 in Athens, Georgia and have been based in Brooklyn, NY since 2002. For this album, singer/songwriter/guitarist Ben Crum reconvened the same stellar lineup of musicians who helped him make 2010’s enchanting Ways of Escape, including vocalist Suzanne Nienaber, drummer Kevin Shea, bassist David Lerner and keyboardist Joe McGinty. Once again, the album was mixed by Steve Silverstein. While Great Lakes’ early records traded in a whimsical, light–hearted psychedelia, with their third and fourth albums, 2006’s Diamond Times and 2010’s Ways of Escape, the band gradually gravitated toward more personal songs, with a darker tone. Wild Vision attempts to blend the bare emotional style of 1970s singer/songwriter records with a guitar–based psychedelia.
AllMusic Review by Mark Deming; Score: ***
» Less than a minute into 2016’s Wild Vision, the fifth full–length album from Great Lakes, group leader Ben Crum and bandmate Suzanne Nienaber join their voices and sing, “I say fare thee well/To all of trouble, to all of care/Let’s breathe the purer air/All the old sadness won’t be there.” However, it’s not hard to get the feeling they’re fibbing a bit; Wild Vision doesn’t wallow in despondency from beginning to end, but it hardly sounds cheerful either, with most of the songs drifting by in a solemn midtempo as drummer Kevin Shea stirs the soup at a deliberate pace. It’s been a long time since Crum has been involved with the Elephant 6 collective, and it makes sense that Wild Vision has little to do with his previous off–kilter pop; in 2016, his music has everything to do with moody but melodic visions with a country undertow brought to the surface by judicious use of acoustic guitars, mandolins, and pedal steel. Lyrically, disappointment seems to be a common thread in these songs, though Crum’s approach is often impressionistic enough that literal meanings take a back seat to tone, and the tone of this material hardly sounds like Crum’s characters are doing well in life. (And the gloomy, murmuring singsong of his voice, recalling Seth Tiven of Dumptruck on a sad day, does nothing to enliven the tunes.) From a musical standpoint, Wild Vision feels like a fine rainy–day listen, full of dour but subtly satisfying melodies performed with a gentle touch by Crum and his accompanists, and it’s a shame that the leader’s lyrics and vocals aren’t as consistently pleasing as the rest of this set, though since six years separated Wild Vision and Great Lakes’ previous album, Ways of Escape, fans are most likely happy that Crum is still delivering new music at all. ::: http://www.allmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Great-Lakes-127699500611431/
»____________________________________________________________