City Centre
Words by Tamlin Magee
Fred Thomas, the Brooklyn based musician involved with Flashpapr and frontman of Saturday Looks Good to Me, has finally got around to releasing his first full length solo record as City Centre, and boy, is it good.
City Centre has been a magical blip on the new music radar, an underground sleeper hit. His EP Gold Girls was a personal favourite, providing the kind of uplifting, psychedelic pop which has had me, and no doubt many others, excited for the full length. Fred’s had other stuff out as City Center too - January 2008 and the True Waste EP are both worth being checked out.
However, his earlier material felt more like a collection of songs, dreamy, spaced out pop and calming, sedative ambience juxtaposed rather than being as one. On his new self titled record, the mix is absolutely perfect. To listen to it sounds like a man with a long history of music (which indeed he has) who has explored the type of music that satisfies, and finally come up with a sound all his own, incorporating beautiful sweeping synths with electronic drone - hushed vocals and perfect music to get lost to.
There are other bands and other musicians attempting this kind of blend - a recent example would be the more uptempo and brash Here We Go Magic, and to an extent Yeasayer - but this release has something unique as itself. Certainly, it’s clear Fred’s drawn on a wide range of influences but none are intrusive and all work to compliment each other.
Opening track Killer Whale does well to set the tone for the rest of the album. Subdued but never boring with a multitude of layers underneath the surface, rewarding the listener for repeat plays, something which is equally true for the rest of the record.
There’s only one song with a sense of foreboding and nastiness to it, a short ambient piece called Life Was A Problem which sounds kind of like aquatic cave dwellers moving house. It’s pretty much the only piece that could be considered filler. Next up is Gladest which thankfully U-turns from Life Was A Problem and settles for background keyboard twangs and a simple strummed guitar.
Next up is Bleed Blood, a drawn out piece of psychedelic drone with a strong, undulating bass tone and electronic percussion bringing it all together, while Thomas’ muddy but graceful vocals permeate the soundscape, occasionally cut up and interspliced with masterful but basic vocal sampling. It’s bizarre - while the music is soft and subtle, it cannot be appreciated as background music, it demands your attention and draws you in. When you’re there, it’s hard to switch off. In Bleed Blood, Thomas tells you not to forget to listen to your feelings, and while at risk of sounding overly sentimental, it really feels like you’re listening to his. And not overly sappy - just contemplative and whimsical.
A stand out track is Young Diamond, which has a certain creeping innocence to it - imagine seeing Christmas through a child’s eyes again, the sense of magic and excitement constantly building without all the twee commercialism that bothers us jaded adults. It reaches a perfect crescendo, peaks, then goes back to minimalism and straight into the final track, an icy yet somehow warm subdued ballad, mainly acoustic but with a sense of mystery held tight throughout by a subtle soft pad just about audible in the mix.
My only criticism, and not to sound patronising, is that it really may not be some peoples’ bag. I can imagine fans of more obvious music may become bored and feel all the tracks meld into one. However, I think that is this album’s blinding advantage and is a must listen to anyone with an open mind, a love of opiate-high warm aural comfort and who still believes, just a little bit, in magic.
A wonderful record shaping up to be a contender for my album of the year so far.
Posted Fri, May 01, 2009