Album of the year: Fanfarlo- Reservoir

Big surprise right?! When I think about 2009 I'll think of them. Here are some of outroversion's testemonial's from the past year-

"Dreampop, it's one of those abstract nondescript genres that still seems to fit some bands perfectly, this is one. Great for the summer, they're a mixture between the floatysunshinecatchiness of empire of the sun and the rhythmic intrumentation consciousness of an arcade fire. I really like these guys, they are probably the band that i've been most excited to discover in this blog, they really make stunning music. In the trunk is when it really struck me. Unbelievably endorphene inducing" ~ Outroversion, 25th March 2009

"YEEAAAHH!!! I know i've gone on and on about fanfarlo but I think they're going to be massive. I'm seeing them in a couple of weeks, the night before I leave for france. This track emphasises all they're great for; haunting backing, deep bass, high strings, introspective lyrics, hopeful sounding vocals with intense lyrics. So glad I found this band. "If you look at the horizon there is always something ducking out of sight" I wrote fucking the first time I wrote that :)" ~ Outroversion, 15th May 2009



Fanfarlo- Reservoir (2009)

The review

Before listening to this album the first thing I noticed was that standout track from the demo cd "you are one of the few outsiders that understand us" isn't included but then neither is "in the trunk**" which were the first two tracks I heard by them and what hooked me in. Well it's 9 months later and every single track from the album has 4 stars or higher on my ipod so that pretty much speaks for itself...

"I am a pilot" is a heavenly track, starts the album off perfectly, and purposefully. The strings are magnificent and add a haunting atmosphere to the dark lyrics which are masked by an upbeat tempo and clapped beats which underly the piano perfectly. Part of what sounds like percussion is actually a lot of people playing the same part on guitars.

I didn't really notice until I saw them live but Cathy underscores alot of Simon Balthazar's vocals on the album and once you listen out for her you'll fall in love with her-



The similarities and indeed comparison musically to arcade fire are both obvious and unignorable. The strings and brass heavy tunes, where the flowing vocals and harmonies maybe owe a little more to Beirut but in my opinion they do both better than either band can because it really seems like the entire band has a common goal as each track builds and support each other well. Like sometimes you don't care about the other members of the band but each member of Fanfarlo is integral to the scenes they create.

After the first 6 listens to the album I considered it a consistant and not overly ambitious debut, which was by no means a bad thing, they just know what they're good at and what they can pull off live and have aimed at hitting those highs first.

For the generation that can't listen to an entire album you simply have to hear the walls are coming down, finish line and fire escape. For those that can you've probably already got this and made it your album of the year, if not, do yourself a huge favour and invest your time in this band. They tour relentlessly and will no doubt be playing within your vacinity in 2010.

**If anyone has an mp3 of this I would be eternally greatful if you could send it my way

Yellowcard- Ocean Avenue (2003)

Another installment of the "albums you really should know, I mean- come on, seriously?" series.

Yellowcard- Ocean Avenue (2003)

1. "Way away" – 3:22
2. "Breathing" – 3:38
3. "Ocean Avenue" – 3:18
4. "Empty Apartment" – 3:36
5. "Life of a Salesman" – 3:18
6. "Only One" – 4:17
7. "Miles Apart" – 3:32
8. "Twentythree" – 3:27
9. "View From Heaven" – 3:22
10. "Inside Out" – 3:40
11. "Believe" – 4:31
12. "One Year, Six Months" – 3:28
13. "Back Home" – 3:55

I can't quite recall how I got into yellowcard, all I know is I did and I did hard. It was sort of around my first year at oxford college and I heard about them and tried to download them but only got looped tracks, remember those days?! Well someone said I really should just go out and buy it and I did. Fell in love with it, recorded it onto cassette so I could listen on my walkman. Those really were the days eh.

A relentless power and energy swarm over this album only letting up for some truy poignant masterpieces. It kicks off with "way away", typical of the former. Violins and light metal guitar lines giving you a break during the middle eight of a truly storming track. Live this must be immense but this album captures it perfectly.

"Breathing" creates a claustrophobic atmosphere, the lyrical themes quite brilliant and well delivered but the incessant drumming coupled with the underscoring shrill of the violin are carried through by intermittant guitar, heavy and light in all the right places. The title track is after this, ocean avenue, and it's great. Nostalgia over the intoxication of past summers but almost so much so that it could have underlined any number of angsty scene on the o.c. It's got 4 stars on my i pod cos I just love it!

Life of a salesman is a tricky one. I didn't used to like it so much but then my dad died and it held a little more resonance. It's not a particuly track but if you have a similar point of view to approach this track from it really is quite poignant.

Only one and miles apart are similar tracks to one another thematically but in style intensely different. The latter being a little lighter with more optimistic vocalsrather than the desperate feel of the only one.

Kinda get into the masterpieces now, view from heaven is just beautiful. I think I even loved this before anyone died but now 5 years later with jackey, jo, matt, dad, jeff, grandad and rheal dying prematurely this song has just become so much more than what it was. "Late night drives all alone in my car, I can't help but start singing lines from all our faovurite songs". The song is almost dismissive in a way, giving the feeling that things don't really matter so much down here and you'll all be together again eventually anyway.

Now Believe is pretty much the anthem of yellowcard. The song is about the firefighters who lost their lives saving the lives of people trapped inside the world trade centre during the events of september 11th 2001...

"Again today we take into our hearts and minds those who perished on this site one year ago, and also those who came to toil in the rubble to bring order out of chaos, and help us make sense of our despair." ~ Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of NYC

"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." ~ The Gettysburg address

Fact of the matter is even if this album was just the tracks that I haven't reccomended here, it would still be a fantastic album. I just wrote this in my lunch hour so a thesis might have been a bit much. Truth is all the albums I post in the "Albums you should own" series are flawless without exception. With only maybe one or two exceptions ;)