Dreamend - So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release
Soundclips

4...according to our Business Lady on Thu 04 Nov, 2010.

Dreamend are a Chicago based outfit featuring members of obscure synth-o's Black Moth Super Rainbow with assistance from members of The Appleseed Cast. There's also a little production assistance courtesy of Black Moth dude Tobacco and mixing duties are taken care of by John Congleton of The Paper Chase. So that's the credentials out of the way! 'So I Ate Myself, Bite By Bite' embraces the sound of alt-country and runs with it. In many ways it's a modern American folk record, yet it's littered with poppy moments and post-Animal Collective-isms that give it the feel of a mutated pop record, mainly due to the catchiness of the vocal melodies. Dreamend rely heavily on 'Deliverance'-esque banjo plucking as well as acoustic guitars, bells, chimes, primitive synths and organs, yet they manage to craft it into something that sounds fresh and inviting to my anti-folk ears. Dave reckons it sounds like Built To Spill in parts but I'm not sure about that. Only gripe is the dodgy cover sleeve painting and the title...other than that we're all good.

To play these clips you need to either update your browser (Norman Records recommends Google Chrome) or update your Flash plugin.

Following The Seven Fields of Aphelion's Periphery (Feb '10/Graveface) and Tobacco's Maniac Meat (May '10/Anticon), Dreamend's album, So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite is the latest album from a member of the peculiar electronic band, Black Moth Super Rainbow. With So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite and its companion piece (which is set to come out in 2011), Dreamend diverges from the synth-pop of Black Moth to take on a nightmarish folk sound that evokes the faded scenery of ghost towns and eerie midnight drives. Heavy on banjo, bells, guitar, organ and fearlessly honest vocals, this record is relentlessly catchy. "Pink Cloud in the Woods," sets the tone for the album with its deceptively patient ruminations. Sparse cricket sounds, bells and piano evolve into stop-and-go drums and the breathy chant of "I walked through the woods. It was a rainy day." From there, SIAMBbB sprawls out like a cinematic experience more than a loose collection of songs. The tale of SIAMBbB will have you reeling and so will its incredible packaging. The label who brought you indie-rock's first bonafide, hand made pop-up book with Long-Forgotten Friend have upped the ante: the LP version of So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite, is presented like a phenakistoscope, a classic Victorian animation machine. If you thought picture discs and colored vinyl were cool (both mediums you Graveface aficionados will know a lot about), wait until you get a load of William Schaff's painstaking, brilliantly delivered design. It's truly a remarkable accomplishment in the annals of the Album as Artform, which is a hallmark of Graveface Records.

Tracklisting:

1. Pink cloud in the woods 2. Where you belong 3. Magnesium light 4. Interlude 5. Repent 6. A thought 7. Pieces 8. My old brittle bones 9. Aching silence 10. An admission

Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!