Ladybug Transistor Argyle Heir
Format: CD.
Also available as: vinyl LP.
Label: Merge.
Label reference #: MRG 189.
TK Mailorder Reference ID: M10307
Approximate release date: May 22, 2001.
Genres: Rock/Pop
Price: $12.65 [Out of Stock]
List price:$14.97
Distributor/label description(s):
Revolver description:
The fourteen-song third offering of pure pop joy from these Brooklyn sound-benders. Heavily arranged and loaded with lush harmonies and simple yet dynamic melodies, all backed with piano and a plethora of stringed instrumentation. Another great leap forward for the Ladybug.
Track listing:
1. "Fires on the Ocean"
2. "Echoes"
3. "Perfect for Shattering"
4. "Going up North (Icicles)"
5. "Wooden Bars"
6. "Catherine Elizabeth"
7. "Nico Norte"
8. "Words Hang in the Air"
9. "Fjords of Winter"
10. "In a Certain Place"
11. "Brighton Bound"
12. "Reclusive Hero"
13. "Glass Pane"
14. "Caton Gardens"
Twee Kitten review of Argyle Heir
by Keith Mclachlan
It has been written in several interviews and reviews that the Ladybug Transistor now lead some sort of idyllic communistic lifestyle which harbours a breed of interpersonal communication that allows their records to breathe, to speak volumes instead of passages of passion for musical history. Perhaps, but I wonder if Snowball and Napoleon get to sleep int he farmhouse while San And Julia (not featured on the cover) sleep in the Barn? Anyhow, the first Ladybug Transistor record sounds something close to the grist of my nightmares (by grace I have never heard it) when words like Pavement-esque are bandied about when discussing it, and the second record was one interminable and pointless drone save for a few moments of clarity when pop was clearly on the agenda, but ah then things became quite magical on the third record 'The Albermarle Sound'. Albermarle is one of my fabourite records ever, this I can safely say (I believe) two years on from its original release because of the amount of plays it receives in my house and because always it is accompanied with the same amount of wonder and appreciation over the artistic rendering of all things pop. It was a giant step forward for the band, even as the tunes did not metamorphosize by great proportions but the skill and craftsmanship and polish were all so much in excess as to make it the personification of 'perfect...' uh well it as lovely, easier that than to use a corpulent cliche, pardon. This new record then follows in very nearly the same footsteps as the last record only with a steadier gait and a looseness that sometimes within all of the tight structures and closely formatted songs of AS seemed to paint the band as legionnaires of musical calculus (be it the most lovely brand of mathematical competency) rather than passionate arbiters of delicate faith but true then here on 'Argyle Heir' the songs metaphorically flow gently as a brook might through their pastoral domestic setting in Marlborough Farms in Brooklyn. I attribute it all to Gary Olson (the once Mad Scene trumpeter) for on instances when his name is not to be found of LT related projects most often those projects become erratic disasters filled with much musicality but a dearth of memorable tunes (see Essex Green and Sixth Great Lake as state exhibits A and A1). I suppose this goes against he commune ethos to herald one member above the rest ("some are more equal than others") but it can not be denied that he is the crucial element in their axis and its subsequent success. Not particularly because of his musical skills though a fine trumpet player and his croon is rich and much warmer here than on anything in the past, visiting, as he does, the spirit of Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell on occassion here and even perhaps a small dabbling in Beatle-mania on the wonderful pop of 'Words Hang in the Air' which is possibly their breeziest moment of aloofness ever but in Mr Olasons management of a tune and arrangement when it comes to recording and production. The best track here is 'The Reclusive Hero' something of a sequel to the majestic 'Ocean in the Hall' from the last record. Hero is a multi-segmented, ethereal, wordy drama it clearly outshines everything else even as the rest of the record provides a great measure of illumination. There is but one mis-step and it is only the most minor of these and it is the Essex Greenish out-take 'Catherine Elizabeth' which comes off as a bit of a Medieval Jig sung by one whose corset is a bit too tight expressing the stoic emotion of a stone. The rest though, is fantastic, and though I should be shot for saying this makes the band perhaps the American equivalent with a slightly superior footing, at the moment, of Belle and Seabastian which is a comparison sometimes brought to light by the band's playing especially in the chug and groove of the organ on several of the tunes which reminds, greatly, of the same sort of momentum found on 'Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like A Peasant'. Evolution is a wonderful thing.
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Format: CD.
Also available as: vinyl LP.
Label: Merge.
Label reference #: MRG 189.
TK Mailorder Reference ID: M10307
Approximate release date: May 22, 2001.
Genres: Rock/Pop
Price: $12.65 [Out of Stock]
List price:
Distributor/label description(s):
Revolver description:
The fourteen-song third offering of pure pop joy from these Brooklyn sound-benders. Heavily arranged and loaded with lush harmonies and simple yet dynamic melodies, all backed with piano and a plethora of stringed instrumentation. Another great leap forward for the Ladybug.
Track listing:
1. "Fires on the Ocean"
2. "Echoes"
3. "Perfect for Shattering"
4. "Going up North (Icicles)"
5. "Wooden Bars"
6. "Catherine Elizabeth"
7. "Nico Norte"
8. "Words Hang in the Air"
9. "Fjords of Winter"
10. "In a Certain Place"
11. "Brighton Bound"
12. "Reclusive Hero"
13. "Glass Pane"
14. "Caton Gardens"
Twee Kitten review of Argyle Heir
by Keith Mclachlan
It has been written in several interviews and reviews that the Ladybug Transistor now lead some sort of idyllic communistic lifestyle which harbours a breed of interpersonal communication that allows their records to breathe, to speak volumes instead of passages of passion for musical history. Perhaps, but I wonder if Snowball and Napoleon get to sleep int he farmhouse while San And Julia (not featured on the cover) sleep in the Barn? Anyhow, the first Ladybug Transistor record sounds something close to the grist of my nightmares (by grace I have never heard it) when words like Pavement-esque are bandied about when discussing it, and the second record was one interminable and pointless drone save for a few moments of clarity when pop was clearly on the agenda, but ah then things became quite magical on the third record 'The Albermarle Sound'. Albermarle is one of my fabourite records ever, this I can safely say (I believe) two years on from its original release because of the amount of plays it receives in my house and because always it is accompanied with the same amount of wonder and appreciation over the artistic rendering of all things pop. It was a giant step forward for the band, even as the tunes did not metamorphosize by great proportions but the skill and craftsmanship and polish were all so much in excess as to make it the personification of 'perfect...' uh well it as lovely, easier that than to use a corpulent cliche, pardon. This new record then follows in very nearly the same footsteps as the last record only with a steadier gait and a looseness that sometimes within all of the tight structures and closely formatted songs of AS seemed to paint the band as legionnaires of musical calculus (be it the most lovely brand of mathematical competency) rather than passionate arbiters of delicate faith but true then here on 'Argyle Heir' the songs metaphorically flow gently as a brook might through their pastoral domestic setting in Marlborough Farms in Brooklyn. I attribute it all to Gary Olson (the once Mad Scene trumpeter) for on instances when his name is not to be found of LT related projects most often those projects become erratic disasters filled with much musicality but a dearth of memorable tunes (see Essex Green and Sixth Great Lake as state exhibits A and A1). I suppose this goes against he commune ethos to herald one member above the rest ("some are more equal than others") but it can not be denied that he is the crucial element in their axis and its subsequent success. Not particularly because of his musical skills though a fine trumpet player and his croon is rich and much warmer here than on anything in the past, visiting, as he does, the spirit of Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell on occassion here and even perhaps a small dabbling in Beatle-mania on the wonderful pop of 'Words Hang in the Air' which is possibly their breeziest moment of aloofness ever but in Mr Olasons management of a tune and arrangement when it comes to recording and production. The best track here is 'The Reclusive Hero' something of a sequel to the majestic 'Ocean in the Hall' from the last record. Hero is a multi-segmented, ethereal, wordy drama it clearly outshines everything else even as the rest of the record provides a great measure of illumination. There is but one mis-step and it is only the most minor of these and it is the Essex Greenish out-take 'Catherine Elizabeth' which comes off as a bit of a Medieval Jig sung by one whose corset is a bit too tight expressing the stoic emotion of a stone. The rest though, is fantastic, and though I should be shot for saying this makes the band perhaps the American equivalent with a slightly superior footing, at the moment, of Belle and Seabastian which is a comparison sometimes brought to light by the band's playing especially in the chug and groove of the organ on several of the tunes which reminds, greatly, of the same sort of momentum found on 'Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like A Peasant'. Evolution is a wonderful thing.
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