Built to Spill
http://www.builttospill.com

styles: indie rock, alternative rock
others: Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, 764-Hero

Ancient Melodies of the Future
Warner Bros, 2001
rating: 7.3
reviewer: mr p

My expectations for the music in 2001 has been abnormally high. So many new albums by a slew of my favorite artists. A dream come true, right? Well, not exactly. Unfortunately, many of the releases thus far have been a partial disappointment. Not necessarily bad albums, just nothing extraordinary. Although Built to Spill's latest album, Ancient Melodies of the Future, contains nothing extremely extraordinary, I was surprised to find more enjoyment than disappointment.

Most of the 10 tracks can be compared to previous Built to Spill efforts. Tracks like "The Host" and "Alarmed" sound akin to something from Perfect From Now On and "You Are" and "Don't Try" sound fresh off Keep It Like A Secret. Even the extremely poppy and infectious number "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss" wouldn't seem too out of place on There's Nothing Wrong With Love.

But the album still has some fairly original tracks, especially the powerful "In Your Mind". A notable difference between the Built to Spill of present compared to the past is the less dominant force of the guitar. There are still layers of 6-string chaos, but they are less prominent now. Instead, keyboards and strings are stuffed to fill in the sound.

But Ancient Melodies falls short with a couple songs -- namely, "Happiness" and "The Weather". The former sees Built to Spill at their songwriting worst, while the latter is a cheesy love song: "As long as it's talking with you / talk of the weather will do." But the rest of the album is strong - give or take a few weak sections.

And although these songs lack the immediate impact of classic BTS songs such as "The Plan", "Made Up Dreams", or "Car", you'll start to pick up on more and more interesting parts with repeated listens.

Overall, Ancient Melodies doesn't stray too far from Built to Spill's trademark sound, causing the album to seem more or less a continuation of KILAS. It would have been nice to be surprised by an album that headed off in an unexpected turn, but why change when the songwriting still kicks ass?

1. Strange
2. The Host
3. In Your Mind
4. Alarmed
5. Trimmed and Burning
6. Happiness
7. Don't Try
8. You Are
9. Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
10. The Weather

Keep it Like A Secret
Warner Bros, 1999
rating: 8.9
reviewer: cowboy dan

The old classic rock musicians would be proud of Built to Spill's singer/songwriter Doug Martsch. In a time where computers and electronics seem to be drowning out the faintly familiar sounds of the 20th century, Doug reminds us that guitar rock is still alive.

"Guitar???" exclaims little ten-year-old Tommy, sitting at his computer, creating his own fully orchestrated electronica composition. "Yes, Tommy...GUITAR," replies Doug, as he busts into the opening chords of "The Plan". At the sound of this opening chord and its subsequent crescendo, Keep It Like A Secret (KILAS) is on its way. An obviously more refined version of BTS's two previous albums, Perfect From Now On and There's Nothing Wrong With Love, KILAS is by no means a sell-out pop record. True, the songs are not as epic-like as on 1997's Perfect From Now On, and consequently require less patience from the listener.

And yes, the songs contain some catchy melodies as on 1994's There's Nothing Wrong With Love, yet without the distinct indie production of Up Records, and consequently require less brain activity for the listener to accept them. But BTS still finds a way to keep the listener interested, keep the listener wanting and anticipating more, and even after all that, they surprise the listener with an unexpected tempo change or melodic guitar line that keeps him on his toes.

Not only does KILAS display Doug's amazing knack for writing killer-guitar-riffs ("Bad Light", "You Were Right", "Center of the Universe"), but we also hear some more of his excellent vocal performances he has so consistently shown in his career. He caresses our ears on songs such as "Temporarily Blind", "Else", and "Broken Chairs", and tastefully whines out his words in "The Plan" and at the end of "Carry the Zero". And one can't ignore the drums and bass that seem to fit the music like a fucking glove.

There are very few weak moments on this album. It is a must-have for any lover of guitar rock, or just someone who likes to sing along. And yes, the rumors are true, there is even a whistling part featured in "Broken Chairs". Yes, Tommy...WHISTLING.

1. The Plan
2. Center of the Universe
3. Carry the Zero
4. Sidewalk
5. Bad Light
6. Time Trap
7. Else
8. You Were Right
9. Temporarily Blind
10. Broken Chairs

 


Perfect From Now On
Warner Bros, 1997
rating: 9.2
reviewer: mr p

Eight songs of pure genius. Not just a whole bunch of singles slapped together as an album, but songs that are piled on one another that transports you to (pardon the cliche) another space and time. Perfect From Now On is a collection of sophisticated, complex, and beautiful masterpieces. None of the songs follow the standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus format. Doug Martsch has an amazing way of turning a simple pop song into a surprisingly original piece of music. Guitars are the main ingredient to Built to Spill's edgy sound. You can hear the layers of guitars stacked upon one another as they urge you to follow them to the next song. With the constant dynamic changes, the songs keep you thoroughly entertained. I smile every time I hear an occasional choppiness in the guitar, a slight tempo change, or a seemingly wrong note -- but that's part of the beauty of this album. It's easy to tell that they did not plan every note and that the songs sort of took themselves where they had to go. And that is true musicianship.

1. Randy Described Eternity
2. I Would Hurt a Fly
3. Stop the Show
4. Made up Dreams
5. Velvet Waltz
6. Out of Site
7. Kicked It in the Sun
8. Untrustable, Pt. 2