ARTICLES
Listening Post: E. Honig
Label Profile: Ad Noiseam

ALBUMS
Leo Abrahams
Ammoncontact
Anka
Lloyd Barrett
Beach House
Bibio
Christina Carter
Davis & Jerman
Ecstatic Sunshine
Ensemble
Fluorescent Grey
Freiband
[guÿôm]
Chris Herbert
Home Video
Larvae
Lullabye Arkestra
Mathieu / Schaefer
MONO & w. end girlfriend
My Robot Friend
Nicolay
Pieter Nooten
Nuccini
Obfusc
Objekt4
Over the Atlantic
Para One
Proem
Red Sparowes
The Remote
Root 70
Florencia Ruiz
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Alan Sparhawk
Andy Stott
Thumbtack Smoothie
Tortoise
Triosk
Vlor

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
Ad Noiseam 2001-2006
Another Generic Sampler
Bip-Hop Generation 8
Diary of a Sweet Day
Idea Hoard Uncut
Innature
Morrow Choral Orchestra
Noise Factory Vol. 3
Squadron 2
Warp Works

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Alias & Tarsier
Audion
Caroline
Home Video
Iz & Diz
Sami Koivikko
Mai
Mathhead
Monomachine
Narcotic Syntax
Quinoline Yellow
Sigur Rós
Samartzis & English
Samartzis & Inada
Andy Vaz
Andy Vaz Remixes
Waterprotection

Beach House: Beach House
Carpark

How fitting that Baltimore denizens Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally chose the name Beach House for their musical ventures, as their laid-back dream-pop single-handedly alleviates any vestige of modern-day stress. The group's sound transports listeners back to seemingly more innocent decades where ‘60s roller-rink organs set the summer evening aflame and crude ‘70s synths and drum machines added a progressive spin to conventional pop. Any fixation on the retrograde instrumental sound fades once the melodic hooks take hold, and the spell cast by “Tokyo Witch” only deepens when the slide guitar kicks in. Though the duo adopts a modest instrumental approach (a synthesizer doubling as a harpsichord in one instance), the range of emotion covered by the 37-minute mini-album is surprisingly broad. “Apple Orchard,” “House On the Hill,” and “Heart and Lungs” conjure an affecting melancholy, a style pushed further on the dramatic torch waltz “Auburn and Ivory,” while the duo gets funky on the uptempo “Master of None.” Beach House's music is unpretentious and, in many respects, simple yet charms nonetheless.

October 2006