Music

• Previous 03/03/08
• Sweet 16 Next

• March 16, 2008
• Reviews

03/17/08

Various Artists—Living Bridge

Tallest Man on Earth—EP We are constantly impressed by those enterprising Swedes. If you didn't know better, you'd think the five songs on this impressive EP were the product of some forgotten early '60s folkie or eve a Depression-era hillbilly. Instead it's Kristian Matsson, who manages to do back-country Americana better than any American we've heard in a while. Accompanying himself on strummed or fingerpicked guitar, Tallest Man on Earth seems to be a student of the music of Appalachia and Piedmont blues. But rather than sounding like a musicologist, his work sounds sincere when it could so easily come off like an affectation.

Various Artists—Living Bridge While this compilation reads like a Who's Who of Brooklyn's experimental rock scene, it was conceived as mixtape by Nicolas Vernhes, owner of Rare Book Room studio, to announce his new record label. All of the selections on this double album were recorded at Rare Book Room, and all but one were recorded with this compilation in mind (of course this exception happens to be an outtake from the Silver Jews' 1998 album American Water, a masterpiece in our opinion). This record succeeds where so many others have been forgettable because it makes all these wildly different bands sound so great together.

Kelley Polar—I Need You to Hold On While the Sky Is Falling It shouldn't come as a surprise that Kelley Polar is both a Juilliard-trained violist and a disco house producer. There have been many cases of classical musicians taking to the dancefloor (Arthur Russell comes to mind) and disco has not been immune to the appeal of over-the-top string arrangements. Polar's arrangements are different though—there is a subtle craftsmanship at work that has informed his collaborations with Metro Area and now his own work. This latest album incorporates his own understated vocals and wonderful arrangements to make dance-friendly music for the body and mind.

While this compilation reads like a Who's Who of Brooklyn's experimental rock scene, it was conceived as mixtape...