The Maps-We Can Create-Record Review for UR Chicago Magazine

In a time where countless generic indie bands dabble in electro-dilettantism, Northampton’s Maps rise above the swill, crafting their debut LP We Can Create (Mute) on a 16 track home recorder without the aide of a single computer. Born from James Chapman’s years of bedroom tinkering, Maps blend the best of drone psyche à la Spiritualized or La Monte Young with organic samples harkening back to the exciting pre-digital spirit of French musique concrete. Opener “So Low, So High” builds a sample of Mark Witz’s easy listening opus, “From a Teenage Opera,” into a shoegaze soundscape worthy of My Bloody Valentine. “It Will Find You” seamlessly morphs a beat reminiscent of the golden era South Bronx into Radioheadesque melancholia. All these influences could easily lead to one manic pile of mess, but it’s the time these songs spent germinating that produce a finished product aged like fine vintage wine.

Miracle Fortress-Five Roses:Record Review for UR Chicago Magazine

With the excellent “Five Roses,”(Secret City) Montreal multi-instrumentalist Graham Van Pelt (a.k.a. Miracle Fortress) draws influence from two Brians, specifically Eno and Wilson. The one man band achieves an ethereal bliss comparable to Eno’s ambient work and borrows Wilson’s penchant for sunshine melodies--note the harmonic interplay on Maybe Lately. That the band previously released a John Cale cover is telling; Next Train sounds like a lost track from “Paris 1919” with its repetitive drone and detached lyrical ennui. If the album suffers it’s from too much ambition. The vocals tend toward over-processed inaudibility--like back-up singers without a lead--which works sometimes (Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart), though not always (Have You Seen in Your Dreams); and the title track’s melodic collage fails to build any real dynamic tension. But overall these are minor glitches in one of the best pop albums you’ll hear all year.

Midnight Movies-Lion the Girl:Record Review for UR Chicago Magazine

Lion the Girl (New Line), the promising if underdeveloped second album from Midnight Movies, showcases a scattershot collage of influences. Certain moments—the first synth hook of opening track “Souvenirs”—mirror TV on the Radio, with densely layered atmospherics that never shy away from an adolescently theatrical melodrama. On “Lion Song” their rambling rhythmic drones and apathetic funk tonalities channel the late seventies specter of Krautrockers like Neu! or Can. Vocalist Gena Olivier makes comparisons to Nico easy, but only in a surface level aesthetic sense. Aiming for Nico’s heroin cool, she too often overshoots the mark, offering vocals so disinterested they ignore the cinematic melodies from which the band no doubt found their name. When she really shines—on the album’s strongest track, “Hideaway”—one imagines post-punk covers of the Cranberries: considerably less hip as an influence, but well crafted, organic songwriting never goes out of style.