Easy Pieces

Lateduster
Merck Records
General | Oct 2004

Reviews

Captain Dee
Reviewed 2004-10-18
Lateduster is a supergroup from Minneapolis: Neotropic, Fog (of Ninja Tine), Dosh (of Anticon), and Sans Le Systeme. Imagine a bunch of trip-hop DJs at an intimate, acoustic, guitars & drums jam session. These four know how to rock, yet the whole album is very warm and romantic. Think Album Leaf styled post-rock French kisses Ninja Tune styled trip-hop.

Merck is one of the best – if not the best – electronica labels in the biz. For that reason, it is very important that you play/chart this album. The good news is that this album kicks ass, so rockin' it is a no-brainer.

Favorite tracks: 2 is gorgeous! Also try: 1, 3, 7

*1. Warm pulses give way to shakers, drum and floating guitar notes. The beat is groovin' and the guitars intensify, but the track still oozes tenderness. (8:16)
**2. Echoing, cheerful guitar with a sick turntable beat. Then ethereal guitars start jamming out. Beautiful! (6:48)
*3. Stop & start drums, cute high-pitched sound effects and guitar scamper around in the ether. Picture a carefree evening somewhere out in the country. (4:26)
4. Plucking, ambient guitar and high-pitched rumbling give way to dreamy piano and guitar over slow beat. Intensifies over time, then sputters out slowly. (7:01)
5. Distant speech samples over rumble-y guitars, nostalgic electronic melody, and sparse, quiet drums. Guitars grow louder. The last 90 seconds is a chorus of goofy, robotic grunts. (6:20)
6. Loungy guitars, intricate mid-tempo drumming. Dissonant ambient noise gives it all a dark vibe. (5:25)
*7. Warm guitar echos over cute scurrying noises. Then strong twangy guitar melody enters over sick, infectious drums. Hell yeah! (5:02)
8. Warble-y noises, slow beat, metallic sounds, super wistful keyboard melody with guitar strumming. Sounds like the ending track to a film. (5:06)

Recent airplay

Keno
Trip Over ZeroJul 14, 2005
Keno
Dancing in OuterspaceApr 17, 2005
Keno
Stirling's ApproximationJan 24, 2005
Hospital No. 32
Anywhere Out of the WorldJan 16, 2005
Hospital No. 32
Fiction RomanceDec 09, 2004
Keno
Dancing in OuterspaceNov 28, 2004

Charting

2004-10-25 — 2004-12-27
Week EndingAirplays
Dec 12 1
Dec 5 1
Nov 28 4
Nov 21 1
Nov 14 3
Nov 7 4
Oct 31 3

Track listing

1. Shaker/Flicker
2. Keno
3. Grunting and Walking Around
4. Mn^Obahoba/Milovanova (Vera)
5. A Gallon of Hope
6. Sonata
7. Hospital No. 32
8. Love Theme (From "Variete")