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Elly Roberts reviews
4AD Records
- Released: October 2008
- Rating: 10/10+++
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
First came the legendary Eagles now its The Department Of Eagles no comparisons drawn!
Ear Park is a nickname for a park found in Los Angeles. Its a place wherefounding member Daniel Rossen walked with now deceased papa, to whom the albumis dedicated.
Perhaps with greater thought, this awesome sonic masterpiece should have beenre-titled In Ear Park-fection, as youre unlikely to hear anything quitelike this ever again. This is incredible stuff, believe me.
DOE is the brainchild of eccentric Grizzly Bears guitarist cum singer DanielRossen based in Brooklyn NY. Once again as for 2003s un-heralded and unremarkableThe Cold Nose hes co-worked with former university room mate, a oneFred Nicolaus, with Grizzly Bears bassist doing the business on the desk.
Whatever shortcomings The Cold Nose may have had, In Ear Park is a resoundingsuccess, if even for its fearlessness. But that would do it a great injustice.It is however not just for casual ears: musos and music journos are gonna lapthis up if theyve got any sense of appreciation for something that bordersboth on the outrageously pompous juxtaposed by the exquisitely tender.
This CD is a bold statement of intent marking a coming of age and hopefullythis will be reciprocated by some shifting of units at the stores. Theconstruction of this wonder is no overnight impulse its taken almost four yearsto come to fruition: and it shows.
If comparison were to be drawn, not in terms of music, but sheer adventure, itwould be Zach Condon of Beirut, Rufus Wainwright and occasionally Sufjan Stevens,for tenderness found on the gentle balladeering of Floating On The Leigh, Balmy Nightand ghostly Phantom Other and the glorious finger-picking on dreamyintroduction, the title track In Ear Park.
Its on the other end of their colourful rainbow though, where they reallyscore the Brownie points. This is where they veer towards a totally expansiveand freewheeling approach, and its mind-boggling and mind-blowing, in equalmeasure. Following the title track comes a monster No One Does It Like You.
After the clunking start it moves into action with shades of (slow-ish)Motown hovering overhead, mixed with sunny harmonies layering the thumpingdrums oh.. Im in heaven, honestly. A single please!
Its not without its quirky, but delightful, moments found on the shifting andoften menacing Around The Bay. Teenagers, with the grand piano openingis a majestic (psychedelic infused) piece indeed, turning out to be an opus,followed closely by the no-limits mindset of Classical Records, rubberstamping a remarkable accomplishment.
File under: Stunning in every way.
Weblinks:departmentofeagles.com /4ad.com/departmentofeagles /myspace.com/deptofeagles
The full list of tracks included are :
1. In Ear Park
2. No One Does It Like You
3. Phantom Other
4. Teenagers Around The Bay
5. Herringbone
6. Classical Records
7. Waves Of Rye
8. Therapy Car Noise
9. Floating On The Lehigh
10. Balmy NightView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.