CD Reviews

Korallreven | An Album By Korallreven

Acephale (2011)

By MICHAEL C. WALSH | November 9, 2011

3.0 Stars

Think of the happiest sound you've heard in your life. Maybe it's waves crashing on a serene shoreline, or the delicate rattle of wind chimes. Regardless, there's a solid chance its sonic marker appears on this debut LP from Swedish pop duo Korallreven. Both of the aforementioned textures make numerous cameos here, and from the jump it's obvious what we're getting into: opener and clear standout "As Young As Yesterday" lays the groundwork, with its open-chord acoustic strumming and pitched-up vocals chanting "ecstasy," wholly indicative of an album that is the most bizarrely twee listening experience you've had in some time. It's not merely geographic proximity that aligns them with country-mates the Tough Alliance — both possess an eerily similar Balearic styling. But while TTA are very much tethered to the dance floor with bombastic beats, Korallreven exist in a world above that one. Their stuttering, airy synths would serve as an appropriate soundtrack to a nightclub in Heaven. Unfortunately, the breezy atmospherics also lend themselves to meandering. As a concentrated listening experience, it grows tiring; but there's a feeling that their intent wasn't for the album to be ingested via an introverted headphone session. They want you to have fun while listening, and honestly, it's impossible not to.

The Sounds | Something To Die For
The recent news that British electronic act Faithless have called it a day no doubt left dejected ravers reaching for extra MDMA to stave off the tears.
KT Tunstall | Tiger Suit
The KT Tunstall of Tiger Suit is tougher, louder, and more electronically endowed than the KT Tunstall of its poppy predecessor, 2007's Drastic Fantastic , and Eye to the Telescope three years before that.
Emmylou Harris | Hard Bargain
Anyone with a passing knowledge of Emmylou Harris will recognize that "The Road," the opening track on Hard Bargain, is about Gram Parsons and the relationship that kicked off her career 40 years ago.
Fountains of Wayne | Sky Full of Holes
Sky Full of Holes, the first Fountains album in four years, is another reminder of why the band deserve some limelight of their own.
Grace Jones | Hurricane
Seriously: you'll probably refuse to believe me when I say that a one-time Bond villainess is behind this near-masterpiece, a collection of way-heavy grooves packed with wit, wisdom, and ballsier-than-ballsy vocal takes.
St. Vincent | Strange Mercy
The pretty/ugly dichotomy at the heart of Annie Clark's St. Vincent moniker is in full tug-of-war on her third and most challenging full-length.
Mates of State | Mountaintops
As the sequenced synths and handsome beats unfold, matched in merriment by the husband-and-wife vocals of Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, your mind is miles away from the raging fires of the underworld.
Twin Sister | In Heaven
It's one of 2011's finest pop records: 10 tracks of dreamy, weirdo hi-fi pop that grooves, sparkles, and hums with clipped beats and smooth drums.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | Hysterical
Deploying the magic touch of indie producer-superhero John Congleton, these five musicians have never sounded more like a rock band, and these 12 spacious, dreamy excursions benefit from the added muscle.
Bjork | Biophilia
What the hell is Biophilia ?
The Good Natured | Skeleton
The seven-song Skeleton EP is a combination of two previous import EPs, sounding already like an immediate best-of, compiling six Good Natured studio tracks and a (throwaway) remix.
Less

Topics: CD Reviews , Music, CD reviews, Pop, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY MICHAEL C. WALSH

WHAT'S F'N NEXT? DISCLOSURE | March 13, 2013
FM radio ruins everything.

STROKE OF GENIUS: CLAUDE VONSTROKE'S ASCENSION | February 20, 2013
Somewhere along the line, it seems dance music became a contest — to determine who can fist-pump the highest and glow-in-the-dark the brightest.

A$AP ROCKY | LONG.LIVE.A$AP | January 16, 2013
A$AP Rocky is a living, breathing Tumblr aggregator.

JOLLY GOOD ODDS: HOLIDAY GAMBLES | December 04, 2012
'Tis the season for letting it ride on the Patriots, reveling in riches when they cover the spread, and wincing when they don't.