I’ve posted a lot about Danielson lately in anticipation of Ships (Secretly Canadian), which finally released last Tuesday, and now that I’ve had a week to soak it in, I can confidently say it’s one the best albums that's come out this year. Daniel Smith has painstakingly created his finest work to date and, in my opinion, has surpassed Sufjan Stevens as the reigning king of indie rock. Of course Sufjan appears on the album, so that might nullify my previous sentence…
More lush than Daniel Smith’s previous work, Ships opens with before our time / upon a noun / there stood still a ship, ends with a majestic thanks and sails to many ports along the way. The opening track, Ship the Majestic Suffix, sets a rich, layered tone for the album and references Danielson's past with a nod to the compass ones.
Singing in his patented falsetto, Smith moves the album along with a backing chorus, trumpets, triangles, glockenspiels, guitars and finger-snaps aplenty. The third track on the album, Bloodbook on the Halfshell, is a story about gathering books floating in a bloody river. It starts off as a fun tongue-twister with lots of whistling and then it quickly changes course and ends with a dissonant Jack White sound.
Two Sitting Ducks opens with an upbeat singsong that reminds me a little of Cartman from South Park, and then the guitars kick in and Smith delivers his best vocals on the album. And just when you think you have the song figured out, it morphs into a free-jazz cacophony reminisnent of The Beatles Revolution 9 and Jeff Tweedy's recent Wilco discordance.
As Danielson's ship sails along, Smith’s musical tapestry gets larger and the occasional Sufjan Stevens (oboe, flutes, whistles, glock) influence is heard. And then at one point, Smith sounds like Perry Ferrell, and then it's gone as quick as it came. Ever changing, the album moves back and forth from mid-tempo to slow-tempo to fast-tempo and then back again, and sometimes this can occur all in one song. The entire record keeps you on your toes, until the very last note of the very last track, Five Stars and Two Thumbs Up - a song that says thank you in an upbeat, country, choral, catchy ascendant way.
There's no way for me to properly articulate this album's sound. The music is too varied and unique for me to do it justice. The only way to experience it is to listen and listen and listen.
Sidenote:
Danielson was on New York Public Radio's Spinning On Air recently, and an MP3 of the one-hour show is on their web site.
Downloads:
Danielson | Did I Step on Your Trumpet [MP3]
Br. Danielson | Things Against Stuff [MP3]
Br. Danielson | Daughters Will Tune You [MP3]
Danielson Famile | Rallying the Dominoes [MP3]
More lush than Daniel Smith’s previous work, Ships opens with before our time / upon a noun / there stood still a ship, ends with a majestic thanks and sails to many ports along the way. The opening track, Ship the Majestic Suffix, sets a rich, layered tone for the album and references Danielson's past with a nod to the compass ones.
Singing in his patented falsetto, Smith moves the album along with a backing chorus, trumpets, triangles, glockenspiels, guitars and finger-snaps aplenty. The third track on the album, Bloodbook on the Halfshell, is a story about gathering books floating in a bloody river. It starts off as a fun tongue-twister with lots of whistling and then it quickly changes course and ends with a dissonant Jack White sound.
Two Sitting Ducks opens with an upbeat singsong that reminds me a little of Cartman from South Park, and then the guitars kick in and Smith delivers his best vocals on the album. And just when you think you have the song figured out, it morphs into a free-jazz cacophony reminisnent of The Beatles Revolution 9 and Jeff Tweedy's recent Wilco discordance.
As Danielson's ship sails along, Smith’s musical tapestry gets larger and the occasional Sufjan Stevens (oboe, flutes, whistles, glock) influence is heard. And then at one point, Smith sounds like Perry Ferrell, and then it's gone as quick as it came. Ever changing, the album moves back and forth from mid-tempo to slow-tempo to fast-tempo and then back again, and sometimes this can occur all in one song. The entire record keeps you on your toes, until the very last note of the very last track, Five Stars and Two Thumbs Up - a song that says thank you in an upbeat, country, choral, catchy ascendant way.
There's no way for me to properly articulate this album's sound. The music is too varied and unique for me to do it justice. The only way to experience it is to listen and listen and listen.
Sidenote:
Danielson was on New York Public Radio's Spinning On Air recently, and an MP3 of the one-hour show is on their web site.
Downloads:
Danielson | Did I Step on Your Trumpet [MP3]
Br. Danielson | Things Against Stuff [MP3]
Br. Danielson | Daughters Will Tune You [MP3]
Danielson Famile | Rallying the Dominoes [MP3]
