Recorded in the two years following Skelliconnection using low fidelity equipment, specifically, a rustic tape deck and old JVC boom box, Chad VanGaalen's third record is as complex as ever, with all the bells and whistles (sometimes literally) that excessive overdubbing can provide. Brushing the textures aside, it's also VanGaalen's most straightforward album to date. While Skelliconnection was taken from over a hundred songs that he had stockpiled in his basement, causing the mood to jump around aimlessly from one genre extreme to another -- sometimes offering metal ("Flower Gardens") and at other times offering chilled-out electronica ("Red Hot Drops") -- Soft Airplane is a more focused outing; one that rarely travels outside the indie pop realm. Emotive boyish vocals and twee harmonies tinged with sadness spark the first few songs of the album, setting an easygoing and creative mood with organic, banjo and guitar-based tracks in the style of Cloud Cult, John Vanderslice, and the Shins. By the halfway point, electronics start to take precedent and analog synths and blippy drum machines steer the songs "Phantom Anthills" and "TMNT Mask" to danceable domains. It's doubtful these tracks will be used in an upbeat aerobic workout, though, with underlying themes of death spiraled throughout. At the most solemn moments, "Molten Light" is a sweetly sung, albeit creepy, tale of a supernatural woman seeking revenge from beyond the grave, while in the aching "Rabid Bits of Time," VanGaalen quietly proclaims, "No one knows where we go when we're dead or when we're dreaming," to end the stream of vocals with a decree that's as wondrous and innocent as his recording technique.
B-sides are supposed to be throw-away tracks, the rejects that didn’t make the cut. But the majority of the tracks Chad VanGaalen classifies as such are worth much more than that nerdy kid picked last in 4th grade gym class. “Stuffed Animal” may begin with a strange and awkward beginning, but as it progresses, [...]
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Artist: Chad VanGaalen Album: Soft Airplane File Under: Indie Rock Recommended if You Like: Neil Young, Beck Featured Track: Willow Tree I once heard Chad VanGaalen described as the schizophrenic son of Neil Young. And that completely made sense to me. The comparisons to Neil Young are obvious artistically and personally. Both are famously recluse and seem to favor the self-sufficiency of [...]
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--- - "Chad VanGaalen is a Canadian musician from Calgary, Alberta who\xE2\x80\x99s been praised by critics for his two self-produced albums Infiniheart and Skelliconnection. I\xE2\x80\x99ve been sitting on a promotional copy of VanGaalen\xE2\x80\x99s for a weeks now and I just couldn\xE2\x80\x99t wait to review this album.\r\n\ This album took a little while for me to fully like. Soft [...]"-...
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Artist: Chad VanGaalen Album: Soft Airplane File Under: Indie Rock Recommended if You Like: Neil Young, Beck Featured Track: Willow Tree I once heard Chad VanGaalen described as the schizophrenic son of Neil Young. And that completely made sense to me. The comparisons to Neil Young are obvious artistically and personally. Both are famously recluse and seem to favor the self-sufficiency of [...]
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In a lot of ways the decade 2000-2009 has really (yes, I know it's not over for another year but I've caved in) been a breakout era for Canadian music. Some of the biggest, most influential albums have come from proudly Canadian artists.Here's our list of the top 50 Canadian albums of the last nine years:50. Soft Airplane- Chad VanGaalen49. Missiles- The Dears48. Down at the Khyber- Joel
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--- - "Chad VanGaalen is a Canadian musician from Calgary, Alberta who\xE2\x80\x99s been praised by critics for his two self-produced albums Infiniheart and Skelliconnection. I\xE2\x80\x99ve been sitting on a promotional copy of VanGaalen\xE2\x80\x99s for a weeks now and I just couldn\xE2\x80\x99t wait to review this album.\r\n\ This album took a little while for me to fully like. Soft [...]"-...
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I first saw native Canadian Chad VanGaalen open for Band of Horses at the Fillmore two years ago, back when we first started this here blog. He's self-deprecating by nature and made a comment that all Canadians are "furry little mutants made of baby diarrhea." That poetic line stuck with me…like baby diarrhea. He has a [...]
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I've been trying to listen to albums as a whole again. With ipod shuffle and so forth it's so easy to skip through stuff now and put it in mixes, but I'm rediscovering that it pays to be patient. Cd's that I keep going back too lately are: Neko Case - Middle Cyclone...I still can't get enough Neko. I saw her twice this year, and I love her more with each release. I'm still discovering different so
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It's been a year since Chad Vangaalen released his third full-length album, Soft Airplane. Since then, Vangaalen has been touring worldwide, has had critical success, and was even shortlisted for the Polaris Music Award.As you might expect from a cross-genre musical goldmine like VanGaalen, many tracks were tossed aside after a couple takes, never to be heard from again... until now!!Nine
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B-sides are supposed to be throw-away tracks, the rejects that didn’t make the cut. But the majority of the tracks Chad VanGaalen classifies as such are worth much more than that nerdy kid picked last in 4th grade gym class. “Stuffed Animal” may begin with a strange and awkward beginning, but as it progresses, [...]
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While our goal for The Breakdown is to allow artists to demystify their albums in their own words, it just wouldn't be Chad VanGaalen if all mystery were to be revealed. Weighing in on a fraction less than half of the tracks that make up his amazing new record, Soft Airplane, VanGaalen does reveal some humorously personal bits of info about the inspirations behind some of his latest songs, and ...
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--- - |- New WaxIt's the albums that require multiple listens that usually yield the most reward. I'm on my tenth rotation of Chad VanGaalen's new album Soft Airplane and while I'd hesitate to say I've completely wrapped my head around the material, I'm going to give this review a (most likely insufficient) attempt. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, VanGaalen is a freakishly talented person. In a...
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Chad VanGaalen is like a younger, Canadian version of Robert Pollard. Behind a relentless work ethic, all the guy needs is some shitty recording equipment to pump out his falsetto-laced brand of folk-pop. When I spoke to Chad back in March, he said that he didn't start actively listening to music until his late high school days, and that his time was wrapped up in drawing and animation. Then, o...
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Chad Van Gaalen is a busy man - On August 21 he released Black Mold, On September 20 he'll find out if his album Soft Airplane won the polaris prize and apparently he's already busy recording the follow up to that album. Today he's offering up a collection of songs that were recorded during the Soft Airplane recording but didn't end up on the album and he's also announced some tour dates. The
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Chad VanGaalen released Soft Airplanes back in September and for some reason it went under my radar. I haven't listened to the entire album yet, but after listening to these two gems it has jumped to the top of my list. They sound like quirky nursery rhymes: complex enough to keep your interest [...]
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They are free and here. And I totally forgot to mention this a few weeks ago when I got the memo.
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Only a few days left to go before we find out who this year's Polaris Music Prize winner is (4 days 03 hours 33 minutes and 50 seconds according to the countdown clock on the site) and the discussion is heating up. I've already mentioned that this week's Radio 3 Sessions is all live clips of Polaris nominees. Bandwidth host, Polaris juror and sometimes NxEW contributor Amanda Putz is talking ...
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 "Soft Airplane")
