The Internal Tulips - Mislead Into A Field By A Deformed Deer

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4...according to our Ant on Thu 25 Mar, 2010.

This is the work of Brad Laner (Electric Company/ Personal Electronics/ Savage Republic) and Alex Graham (Lexaunculpt/ Medicine). This is basically an experimental pop record inspired by the Beach Boys and The Beatles with added laptop trickery. It really does work as they use the technology really well, not over doing things but adding that extra level of abstraction to make things interesting. Laner has a cool falsetto vocal which gets multi tracked and manipulated and there are some very sweet songs on here. I've not spent much time with this so it's not really got its hooks in me yet but I can see this going down well with a lot of you good people out there that dig dreamy psychedelic pop.

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* Although Planet Mu is primarily known for cutting-edge material on the fringes of dance music, it’s also had a side that’s consistently released interesting electronic pop from the likes of Capitol K, back in the late 90s to Julian Fane, Leafcutter John, Sunken Foal and even Patrick Wolf.

* The Internal Tulips is a new project from two guys who have a history in American Bands such as Medicine and Savage Republic and who have separately released more abstract electronic music on Planet Mu in the past; they are Brad Laner who was Electric Company and Personal Electronics and Alex Graham who is Lexaunculpt, and they continue continue these experiments in pop.

* This album is very special indeed. The project has a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson/Beatles influenced sound, but it manages to avoid being another exercise in retro comfort music because Brad and Alex use laptop trickery learnt form their more experimental pasts to bring their sound firmly into the present.

* Aside from making beautiful songs, sung in Brad’s delicate multi-tracked falsetto, The Internal Tulips give their whole project a very modern, psychedelic production, treating their slow burning but gently arranged Americana to unusual treatments that blur the layers between acoustic and electronic sounds, cutting and editing vocals and instruments and adding depth and clarity to the arrangements, giving them an extra sense of the dreamlike.

* It’s an album that feels immediately familiar; we’re used to Grizzly Bear and the Fleet Foxes, bands you could superficially compare to Internal Tulips, but after a few listens the modern abstraction and production at the heart of the album will pull you in and take you somewhere else.

* TRACKLIST:
CD: 01 1/2 RETARDED TUNER OF HURRICANES (1:15) 02 BEE CALMED (2:16) 03 9 TOMORROWS (3:16) 04 ARLIE (2:24) 05 DEAD ARM BLUES (1:25) 06 HOSHIZAKI BLUES (2:48) 07 MR. BABY (4:35) 08 SONGBIRD (3:12) 09 PARASOL (3:10) 10 FIXED CONFIDENCE (4:48) 11 LONG THIN HEART (1:33) 12 INVALID TERRACE (5:19) 13 WE BREATHE (2:59)

LP: A: 1/2 RETARDED TUNER OF HURRICANES (1:15) BEE CALMED (2:16) 9 TOMORROWS (3:16) ARLIE (2:24) DEAD ARM BLUES (1:25) HOSHIZAKI BLUES (2:48) MR. BABY (4:35) B: SONGBIRD (3:12) PARASOL (3:10) FIXED CONFIDENCE (4:48) LONG THIN HEART (1:33) INVALID TERRACE (5:19) WE BREATHE (2:59)

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