the next day, the attrition rate walked in.
One thing I was hoping in regard to The Conformist, the new Doveman album, was that I wouldn’t love it all at first. Doveman (Pianist/Singer Thomas Bartlett + other musicians)’s first two albums were not immediately gratifying. There was something ethereal and hard edged about Bartlett’s songwriting; a guardedness and really subtle spite in his lyrics and a hesitation in the melodies he wrote. The songs weren’t ugly, but they weren’t easy, either. They were distant galaxies, to most people, most of the time, a few pinpricks fuzzed out by light pollution. If you can figure a way to get closer, if you remember their name and the place you found them last night, and look again, and look even closer this time. If you squint ’till you’re sure you’re hurting your retinas, there’s something beautiful and distinctly not of this world you’ll get to witness. I linked to it before, but once again, here’s Doveman with his friend Sam Amidon performing Walk On from his first album. It’s a halting performance.
Luckily, I got my wish with Doveman’s new album. Most of the album’s songs will take time. In six months I may know whether I love them or not, but probably not much before them. The one exception, and it is a notable one, is opener Breathing Out. While comprised of the same type of snowy melody that Bartlett specializes in, it’s a warmer, sadder, and more open than anything else I’ve heard by him. I’ll get back to you in a few months, but for now, here’s an easy favorite.
“Breathing Out” is from Doveman’s album The Conformist.
We jump from the ethereal to the thereal. There is nothing that is not grounded about Let’s Wrestle. They are a british pop band who just signed to Merge. They have a great sense of humor, and a Their videos were probably made on the cheap and on the bottle. Here’s a headrush.
“We Are The Men You’ll Grow To Love Soon” is from Let’s Wrestle’s forthcoming album In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s.
Songs Save Lives 