Grouper / Man Who Died In His Boat, The
Album: | Man Who Died In His Boat, The | Collection: | General | |
Artist: | Grouper | Added: | Jan 2013 | |
Label: | Kranky |
A-File Activity
Add Date: | 2013-02-02 | Pull Date: | 2013-04-07 |
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Week Ending: | Apr 7 | Mar 31 | Mar 24 | Mar 17 | Mar 10 | Mar 3 | Feb 24 | Feb 17 |
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Airplays: | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
Recent Airplay
1. | Apr 02, 2024: | Phone Scam
Living Room |
4. | Aug 09, 2014: | The Proselytizer Radio News Hour
Living Room |
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2. | May 14, 2015: | A Visit From Drum
Difference (Voices) |
5. | Jan 10, 2014: | Time Traveler (Top 35 Indie CDs of 2013)
Vital, 6 |
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3. | Apr 28, 2015: | Daydream Disaster
Cloud In Places |
6. | Jan 02, 2014: | KZSU Top 100 of 2013
Sts |
Album Review
Adam Pearson
Reviewed 2013-01-31
Reviewed 2013-01-31
Plucky drifting ambient lullabies. Grouper is Portland musician Liz Harris, who has lots of connections to the Bay Area “On-Land” scene. Her music has always been guitar and voice oriented, introverted, trippy, dreamy; lots of delay and reverb; “lo-fi.” She released Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill in 2008, which incorporated acoustic guitars and more prominent vocals, and jettisoned to the pseudo indie-mainstream when critics paid attention to her. She confused teenagers and hipsters everywhere, opening for Animal Collective with her delicate music on their amphitheatre tour. Harris was originally “embarrassed” by the album because it was so “poppy,” naked, and comparatively straightforward, and followed it up with an abyss-plunging, haunted double LP in 2011. Here, someone has apparently convinced her to release the second half of recordings from the Dead Deer sessions, and it’s quite a treat. More of that blissful sound (possibly even pushed further into pop?): strummy washes, cooing melodic vocals, relaxing blankets of sound. These are the best lullabies you’ll ever find. RIYL: Windy & Carl, Root Strata, Inca Ore, Mirrorring, Badgerlore.
1. Trippy. Jumping into space. (1:50)
*2. Beautiful vocal melody anchors slow ambient pop beauty. (4:14)
3. Prominent strummy acoustic. Like the counterpart of “Heavy Water/I’d Rather Be Sleeping.” (4:05)
4. Slow gliding, a little bit psychedelic. (4:46)
5. Airy dream pop vocal layers over more acoustic strumming. (4:06)
*6. Heavy delay waves of trippiness and relaxation. (5:48)
7. Really weird effects; trippy cascading interlude of keys/bells. (3:32)
*8. Slow, lo-fi ish gentle cooing acoustic guitar dreaminess. (5:01)
9. Ringing steady strum and melodic vocals. (5:19)
10. Fewer effects, simpler, straightforward picking pattern, still dreamy. (2:22)
*11. Completely enveloping foggy wash. (6:06)
1. Trippy. Jumping into space. (1:50)
*2. Beautiful vocal melody anchors slow ambient pop beauty. (4:14)
3. Prominent strummy acoustic. Like the counterpart of “Heavy Water/I’d Rather Be Sleeping.” (4:05)
4. Slow gliding, a little bit psychedelic. (4:46)
5. Airy dream pop vocal layers over more acoustic strumming. (4:06)
*6. Heavy delay waves of trippiness and relaxation. (5:48)
7. Really weird effects; trippy cascading interlude of keys/bells. (3:32)
*8. Slow, lo-fi ish gentle cooing acoustic guitar dreaminess. (5:01)
9. Ringing steady strum and melodic vocals. (5:19)
10. Fewer effects, simpler, straightforward picking pattern, still dreamy. (2:22)
*11. Completely enveloping foggy wash. (6:06)
Track Listing
1. | 6 | 6. | Difference (Voices) | |||
2. | Vital | 7. | Vanishing Point | |||
3. | Cloud In Places | 8. | The Man Who Died In His Boat | |||
4. | Being Her Shadow | 9. | Towers | |||
5. | Cover The Long Way | 10. | Living Room | |||
11. | Sts |