KWCW

When you go to your local record store, amazon.com, what have you and buy an album do you listen to three songs on repeat and skip the rest or do you listen to the album in its entirety? The beauty of this record is that is satisfies the needs of both groups of listeners: it contains some catchy songs, yet as a whole is a concretely conceptualized masterpiece.

The Impossible shapes make lo-fi folk music that combines elements of rock and psychedelia. Nothing new you say….well yes many groups have done this before, however the shapes hardly rehash old ideas. Dense guitars interplay with intricate lead guitar lines, while dense organ and solid drumming and lots of amp fuzz back it all up. Add the occasional cello arrangement and the amazing vocals of Barth, who’s also known for his solo work under the name NormanOak, and you’ve got an aurally tantalizing album.

Originally 300 copies of this album were released on limited edition vinyl. However, Secretly Canadian records have reissued it on unlimited CD form. Containing 31.2 minutes, 17 tracks, of musical genius this record contains actual songs and musical interludes. Songs like “Florida Silver Springs” and “Pixie Pride” stand out as addictively catchy while the shorter cuts add to the overall cohesiveness of the record. While recorded in one session, tape looping was used to piece the album together and mastering was done to perfect the album that is being released in Compact Disc form.

Knowing that this album was recorded right before the band came to the realization of “man as freedom as seed”, I highly recommend you indulge in whatever you need to grasp that realization and enjoy this obscure gem.

Keith

This entry was posted on Monday, March 6th, 2006 at 5:18 pm and is filed under Indie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.