s-s-s-s-studio oh oh
Since Joe isn’t here today at work to complain about the lack of reggae albums that made eMusic’s Summer Top 50, I thought I’d make a case for a new arrival that is a coulda woulda shoulda summer album. (He’s actually waiting in line for the Transformers movie, believe it or not, which admittedly is far better than a couple of years ago when he went to England and camped out for the new Harry Potter. (He’s behind the hat, sadly.))
The album in question is Studio’s fantastic West Coast. The group made waves earlier this year with the release of Yearbook 1, which collected versions of the song on this LP and another 12” called “No Comply.” I say versions because nearly anything you’d hear on Yearbook 1 that goes by the same name on West Coast sounds different enough that it’s worth owning both.
So, why is Studio’s music summery? Well, aside from titles like “Life’s a Beach!”, the Swedish duo plays rubbery, repetitive guitar that isn’t that far off in intention than reggae or dub. These guys work their interlocking guitar lines into solid grooves that are equally perfect for dance parties on the beach or simply sitting on your porch at night. It’s kind of like if Phillip Glass decided to try to write dance music, but was only allowed to use guitars. Or something like that.
As you might have guessed, then, these songs are looong. I can’t really do a better job of convincing you of why that shouldn’t matter than eMusic contributor Mark Richardson’s words on Yearbook 1 for Pitchfork:
What anchors these long tracks and makes them not just bearable but enjoyable over their full length is Studio’s commitment to melody and ear for dynamics. “Life’s a Beach!” is really just an exploration of a single idea– intertwined descending guitar lines over a syncopated groove– but it seems to reinvent itself every few bars with melodic tweaks and abrupt shifts in focus, as new harmonic ideas crash into the beat like waves. The latter metaphor is made literal in the tune’s final section when ocean sound effects come in, the whitecaps speckled with generous handfuls of new age percussion glitter.
Seriously, who doesn’t love new age percussion glitter?
Based on your recommendation (and the favorable Pitchfork review of Yearbook 1), I downloaded West Coast. I need many more listens to give a more cogent response, but I wanted to let you know that so far, I love it. I can say that “West Coast” is eerily similar to a Cure song. (I can’t recall the title at the moment; “The Forest,” maybe?) And those low, jabbing piano and guitar lines in “Self Service” are a treat.
just got around to listening to this…i really wish i had listened to it sooner so i could’ve put it on my mp3 player for last week’s summertime beaching road trip! this is a superb record, absolutely essential summer 2007.
i picked up on the cure thing as well – the guitar line was very robert smith at times. i love the reggae vibes as bent through a 1983 new order/cure prism with a bit of an amon duul vibe on the long tracks. classy stuff.