CD Reviews

Sleep ∞ Over | Forever

Hippos In Tanks (2011)

By PATRICK MCDERMOTT | October 4, 2011

3.5 Stars

Of all the underground scenes causing a stir in the online music community, the sleepy lo-fi that's been coming out of Austin might be the least effervescent. But Stefanie Franciotti — who makes ambient electro-pop under the moniker Sleep8Over — seems content churning out warped, haunting headphone music from her Austex bedroom. Debut album Forever is a textural, cohesive release full of wispy vocals, lazy synths, and retro drum loops. On "Romantic Streams," the record's most conventional pop song, she sounds like a sedated Kate Bush singing over a synth line that wouldn't be out of place on Washed Out's latest effort. Hypnotic standouts like "The Heavens Turn by Themselves" and lead single "Casual Diamond" are as chilling as they are heartbreaking, whereas less accessible tracks like "Behind Closed Doors" and "Cryingame" drone along in a gloomy psychedelia. Forever's finest is "Stickers," a distorted love song wrapped in layers of reverb and heartache. On the whole, Forever is downcast, introspective, and melodic. Just don't put it on at a party — wait until after, when you're alone, half-high, and wondering what the hell you're doing with your life.

Various Artists | Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010
The notion that regional musical flavors exist independently in American cities is quickly becoming an archaic truism, seeing as how the world really is a stage these days, at least in the digital sense.
Blank Dogs | Collected By Itself 2006-2009
Mystique is a powerful tool, as Mike Sniper knows well, since it helped get Blank Dogs, his bedroom-project-turned-band, a healthy amount of press.
Ming Ming | Ultrameta OK
"Murder of the Most Artful" is the most pop-leaning, a three-minute wobble that slowly morphs into a blip-groove romp, and the atmospheric "Ringer Park Girls" is a synthed-out, swagged-out analog boast that's impossible to pin down.
Bjork | Biophilia
What the hell is Biophilia ?
Balam Acab | Wander/Wonder
"Witch house" isn't the best tag for an act to get saddled with straight out of the gate, and when Balam Acab's first EP, See Birds, dropped about a year ago, that term had less of its current flash-in-the-pan feel.
Zola Jesus | Conatus
Listeners could be forgiven for categorizing Nika Rosa Danilova, a/k/a Zola Jesus, as a mope-tastic downer, since older songs like "Night" and "Sea Talk" have used her weapons-grade pipes in service of a Dark Lord of song.
David Lynch | Crazy Clown Time
Psychically separating Crazy Clown Time from David Lynch's peerless filmmaking legacy is sort of like guzzling Lynch's signature brand of coffee until overstimulation compels you to write Twin Peaks fan-fic erotica staring Agent Cooper and the Log Lady, and all the while telling yourself these actions do not co-relate.
Mutual Benefit | The Cowboy's Prayer
The foggy pop of The Cowboy's Prayer could serve as an unintended ode and thank you to global warming for making this year's fall feel like spring.
Magical Mistakes | Special Friends
Before working as Magical Mistakes, Erik Luebs made bedroom electronica in California as Death by Panda.
Bearstronaut | Broken Handclaps
There's a distinct absence of wildlife or astronauts on Lowell electronica quartet Bearstronaut's latest release.
PHX @ SXSW!
Don't be so shocked if the coming week brings with it not just a stretch of balmier weather but also a palpable decrease in the douche point. That's because the vast majority of the music industry has up and JetBlued 2000 miles south to Austin for SXSW (a/k/a South by Southwest).
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Topics: CD Reviews , Music, CD reviews, Austin, More

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ARTICLES BY PATRICK MCDERMOTT

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Plus, the WFNX goth special.

SLEEP ∞ OVER | FOREVER | October 04, 2011
Of all the underground scenes causing a stir in the online music community, the sleepy lo-fi that's been coming out of Austin might be the least effervescent.

OUT: ON A HOT SUMMER NIGHT AT THE MIDDLE EAST, DREAM HITS SURF A GARAGE-POP LULLABY | July 28, 2011
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