New Records: Dragon Turtle- Almanac
Written by willshoob on Tuesday, 10 of November , 2009 at 4:27 pm
Brian Lightbody and Tom Asselin make up the duo Dragon Turtle, a group that I know far too little about. The boys from Brooklyn make a kind of music not easily describable, but floating somewhere within the realms of folk and psychedelia. Their debut record, Almanac, hits stores today, which you can pick up here. It’s pressed on some really cool, limited vinyl, so if you’re into that sort of stuff this record is for you.
The album starts off with “Causality”, giving the album this dreary, depressing vibe. The track is over 7 and a half minutes long, something you rarely see with an albums first track. A slow moving folk track, “Causality” floats along slowly building and building, until an epic build up slowly starts to seep through. The track never really reaches the landmark it initially led us to, but the noise dies down in a graceful, calming kind of way. Another favorite of mine is “Island of Broken Glass”, a track resembling Bon Iver with a hint of tribal vibes. The percussion is all done on hand instruments, meshing together nicely with the strings and electric guitars during the chorus. The track is a bit of a clusterfuck, but only in the best of ways. There are so many aspects of the track, it’s hard to focus on just one thing, but the track thankfully blends together really well as a whole. “Apophis” is another favorite of mine, although it’s very odd. It features spoken word French vocals and a guitar line that really pushes the track. The track never really expands itself, so it’s easy to lose focus when listening. The last track is “Burn The Leaves”, which features a slow moving piano line, subtly accented by a swirling organ part and a well placed string section.
Almanac is a wonderful debut record, especially for a band I had previously never heard of (as in no EP, singles, buzz, etc.). One thing I would have liked to see is for the duo to explore their songs a bit more. Each track features good ideas, but those ideas often don’t get the chance to see themselves develop, for it seems like the duo are almost afraid to explore the song past a certain point. With all that said, the album is a good debut for a band I hope to hear more from soon. Download “Island of Broken Glass” below.
Dragon Turtle- Island of Broken Glass
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