Telepathe evolved out of Melissa Livaudais and Busy Gangnes wishing to do something more than the jam band aesthetic that they were used to in their previous groups. They decided that the best path was to head in the complete opposite direction of what they were used to. Armed with enough computers and electronics to start a small war, Telepathe began recording and exploring the world of electronic experimentation. After getting the hang of it and recording two EP's/singles (Farewell Forest & Chromes On It) Telepathe have recently released their debut, Dance Mother.
The first thing that strikes you about Dance Mother is just how far they have come from their past efforts. This is a cool, clinical, detached record that while stark and glitchy is melodic, hooky, and haunting. Telepathe clearly build their songs with ideas coming from every direction; there are extraneous guitar riffs, broken beats, busted synths, moody bass lines, off center vocals and more all with in the course of their songs. What's fascinating about all this, is rather then letting those ideas and sounds get away from them they round them up and harness them into something that doesn't lose it's originality. As a result Telepathe are a cross-genre hopping group who masterfully piece their influences into something whose sum is greater than their parts.
Dance Mother might be avant garde, slightly gothic, unusual and maybe a bit like Kate Bush on hallucinogens, but that doesn't mean this record isn't listenable. Quite the opposite, actually. Dance Mother is filled with plenty of poppy moments, it's just that they are tucked away like a diamond in the rough waiting to be discovered. When you do find those moments it's awesome because it's at that point that Telepathe's ideas all slide into place and make sense. "Chromes On It, " is a perfect example of how this happens. As an off center song that sounds Bjorkian in it's aspirations it uses sounds like the Cocteau Twins to weave a blurry, wispy haze that's supplemented with a well placed bass drum and a chorus that's easier to remember than your name. Can someone say...hit?
Telepathe might hover in the shadows and write pop that is about as far from the mainstream as the earth is from the sun, but they excel at what they do. For just two people, this is a group that creates a full, rich tapestry sheet of sound that's as spooky as it is spectacular ans as if it was almost second nature to them. Dance Mother is a unearthly effort whose slightly off putting and strange songs are stupefyingly good. This is a record that may not hit you at first as being something worth returning to repeatedly, but if you do you'll find yourself wanting to listen Dance Mother again and again.
See Telepathe live throughout June as they trek across the States to the following cities...
6/2 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
6/3 Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
6/4 Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo
6/5 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
6/6 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
6/9 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
06/10 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
06/11 Portland, OR @ Holocene
6/12 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
6/13 Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell
6/16 Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar
6/17 Phoenix, AZ @ Modified Arts
6/19 Austin, TX @ Emos Jr.
6/20 Denton, TX @ Hailey's
6/22 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
6/23 Atlanta, GA @ 529
6/24 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
6/25 Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
6/26 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas
Download: Lights go Down
Download: So Fine (Chairlift Mix)
The first thing that strikes you about Dance Mother is just how far they have come from their past efforts. This is a cool, clinical, detached record that while stark and glitchy is melodic, hooky, and haunting. Telepathe clearly build their songs with ideas coming from every direction; there are extraneous guitar riffs, broken beats, busted synths, moody bass lines, off center vocals and more all with in the course of their songs. What's fascinating about all this, is rather then letting those ideas and sounds get away from them they round them up and harness them into something that doesn't lose it's originality. As a result Telepathe are a cross-genre hopping group who masterfully piece their influences into something whose sum is greater than their parts.
Dance Mother might be avant garde, slightly gothic, unusual and maybe a bit like Kate Bush on hallucinogens, but that doesn't mean this record isn't listenable. Quite the opposite, actually. Dance Mother is filled with plenty of poppy moments, it's just that they are tucked away like a diamond in the rough waiting to be discovered. When you do find those moments it's awesome because it's at that point that Telepathe's ideas all slide into place and make sense. "Chromes On It, " is a perfect example of how this happens. As an off center song that sounds Bjorkian in it's aspirations it uses sounds like the Cocteau Twins to weave a blurry, wispy haze that's supplemented with a well placed bass drum and a chorus that's easier to remember than your name. Can someone say...hit?
Telepathe might hover in the shadows and write pop that is about as far from the mainstream as the earth is from the sun, but they excel at what they do. For just two people, this is a group that creates a full, rich tapestry sheet of sound that's as spooky as it is spectacular ans as if it was almost second nature to them. Dance Mother is a unearthly effort whose slightly off putting and strange songs are stupefyingly good. This is a record that may not hit you at first as being something worth returning to repeatedly, but if you do you'll find yourself wanting to listen Dance Mother again and again.
See Telepathe live throughout June as they trek across the States to the following cities...
6/2 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
6/3 Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
6/4 Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo
6/5 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
6/6 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
6/9 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
06/10 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
06/11 Portland, OR @ Holocene
6/12 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
6/13 Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell
6/16 Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar
6/17 Phoenix, AZ @ Modified Arts
6/19 Austin, TX @ Emos Jr.
6/20 Denton, TX @ Hailey's
6/22 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
6/23 Atlanta, GA @ 529
6/24 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
6/25 Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
6/26 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas
Download: Lights go Down
Download: So Fine (Chairlift Mix)
2 comments:
saw them live...it's not sooooo fine...really boring and sad...just like if the music they play was not thiers...
I can see how they would bore the pants off of you. They're one of those bands that probably have trouble translating what they do into a live environment simply because of the fact that they are a two piece and rely on technology. Would I go see them...probably not, but I would listen to them repeatedly.
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