I listened to Fanfarlo’s Reservoir today and I don’t like it. It seriously does nothing for me. (Just to remind you that this is a blog and not a real source of literature or journalism.) Fanfarlo has all the right parts, but not the right attitude. They come off over-sentimental, trite, forced, trendy, too perfect, calculated, and heartless. I feel like these guys hired a couple of professional musicians who could make nice sounds with their instruments, put them up in a baller recording studio and went off to make some money. Skip Fanfarlo and listen to Arcade Fire, or the Talking Heads, or Calexico even if you really need some horns.
It isn’t all bad. Reservoir is beautifully mixed, and it produces a pleasantly strong wave. The horn lines are very fluid, the pianos and acoustic guitars blend well, they nail the harmonies, and they have a super driving bass and drum section. But they seem to culminate every trend in music right now: mysterious vocalist, token female back-up singer, random instrumentation like trumpets and synthesizers, sadness, and that thumping downbeat drumming. It is funny that this bothers me, because this could be the exact reason somebody else would like it: it has everything that is good! I guess I’m too rock-and-roll for that sentiment. (HA!)
Just listen to the “hey!”s (or “say!”s?) on the track “Harld T. Wilkens, or How to Wait for a Very Long Time.” They start at 3:09. Such a poor attempt at showing energy. And not to mention that its a huge Arcade Fire rip. Which, if you listen to “No Cars Go,” (0:36, 1:11, etc.) you can tell the difference. But if I had my way, the “hey!”s would be left in punk music all together. But let’s face it; musically there is nothing bad about this album. It’s got a nice sound and a good beat. Everything comes together like how a scoop of ice cream falls on top of a piece of warm apple pie. mmmMMMmmMMMmmmMMMmmmMMMmmm...
But this is sad because I know of at least two of my good friends who really like Reservoir. Just remember, you two, I love you, and it is Friday and I had a shitty day at work so what I’m saying right now doesn’t really count.
Right?
Hope this doesn’t blow my cred. I mean…if anyone reads this anyway.
I sent out a massive thread to my friends asking them for their top two, must listen to albums. I have 80 days left at my job, and it takes about 50 minutes door to door each way. So I figured that is enough time to listen to one album twice through each day. Thus became the 80 albums in 80 days project. This is my blog describing my experiences with each album.
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