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Listeners should prepare to shed any two man expectations when taking stock in the hollow body sweat and bombastic stomp that is the Dodos' sophomore release, Visiter (Frenchkiss) ...
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The Dodos
Visiter
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AMG Review of Visiter
Heather PharesMySpace page
All Music GuideLots of late-2000s indie bands boast archaic and/or exotic influences, but few use them with the energy and creativity that the Dodos do on Visiter, their first officially released album. Country-blues fingerpicking meets West African Ewe drumming meets metal meets indie pop sounds like an all-too-wacky description on a band's MySpace page, but the Dodos turn these far-flung elements into delightfully natural-sounding music. What holds it all together is Meric Long and Logan Kroeber's strong pop sensibilities -- that's "pop" in the sense of memorable melodies and ear-catching hooks, because the Dodos' songs are too full of ideas to stick to a verse-chorus-verse format for very long. Visiter gets off to a simple, almost shy start with "Walking," which shows off Long's boyish voice (it sits somewhere between Ben Gibbard and Paul McCartney). Then the album really takes off with "Red and Purple," which crashes in on toy pianos and Kroeber's extravagantly syncopated drumming, creating a massive backdrop for the song's limpid melody and vocal harmonies. Visiter rarely lets up from there, coming in such a rush of vibrant words, melodies, and rhythms that it often feels like one ever-changing song. That makes highlights difficult to pick -- although the gleeful "Fools" and "Jodi," which sounds like a timeless folk song revved up to modern-day speeds, are among them. Though the Dodos play mostly acoustic instruments, they generate a lot more energy than many plugged-in bands, and with their rapid dynamic shifts, at times they even rock harder, too (that's where the metal influence comes in). It's a good thing the band only has two core members, since Long and Kroeber have so much going on already that there isn't much room for many other sounds or players. They push and pull against each other, adding the same creative spark and tension to snippets like "Eyelids" that they do to the aptly majestic final track "God?." Long's guitars are especially inspired on "Paint the Rust," where his swift picking and snarling slide work sounds a bit like John Fahey or Jim O'Rourke after several pots of coffee, and on "Winter"'s delicate, descending guitar riff, which swirls and falls lightly like a flurry. Kroeber's drumming is often elaborate, but never too showy, especially on "Park Song," where he gives Long's rambling internal monologue a playful sense of purpose. That purposefulness never flags, even when the Dodos slow it down on wistful but not too-precious allads like "Ashley," or take one turn too many on the seven-minute patchwork "Joe's Waltz." Visiter's experimental pop is so joyous and liberated-sounding that it's difficult not to get swept along in its wake.
album review: the dodos - visiter
The Dodos - Visiter
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Visiter is the second album to be released by American psychedelic folksters The Dodos. The duo formed in San Francisco back in 2006 with originally just one member, Meric Long whom toured around the city as a one-man acoustic act going by the name of Dodobird. After studying Western African Ewe drumming Long began to take a strong interest in blues and set out to fuse the two together creating...
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Has the Dodo been reincarnated? Introducing the Dodos....
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So I posted a while ago about my excitement of Tilly and The Wall and how they created a distinct, hypnotic rhythm by substituting a drummer with a zealous tap-dancer. So I heard the San Francisco-based The Dodos, I dug their similar cadence, though their formula is different. The Dodos’ Meric Long (a former student of West African Ewe drumming...but weren't we all....), does frenetic, finger-p.
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Has the Dodo been reincarnated? Introducing the Dodos....
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So I posted a while ago about my excitement of Tilly and The Wall and how they created a distinct, hypnotic rhythm by substituting a drummer with a zealous tap-dancer. So I heard the San Francisco-based The Dodos, I dug their similar cadence, though their formula is different. The Dodos’ Meric Long (a former student of West African Ewe drumming...but weren't we all....), does frenetic, finger-p.
More >
the dodos...my new obsession
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can't turn this fucking song off! it's a good thing i like it :)got to see them play for the first time last friday at the los angeles natural history museum. they totally rocked out the north american mammals wing. also, it's a lot of fucking fun to get wasted and wander around making fun of ancient latin american reliquaries. even more fun than it sounds. and yes, while they played "fool...
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Shovel
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Err, pitchfork.A Random Selection of Pitchfork - pt. 2I did it! I'm going for the second part in a however long or short I feel like it series. It really sepends how many of these albums are worth mention or nod. After some particularly awful offerings and some disappointing Animal Collective I came upon The Dodos. They really like super fast simple beats with a pleasant voice singing over and ...
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I'm Addicted to the Bass & Tom Smack of the Dodos
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As a novice drummer, the first thing I usually pick out of songs I dig are the drums. I'm specifically drawn to ones that rock a particularly hard bass or floor tom beat.I could be nothing less than beside myself, then, when I happened upon The Dodos, who champion this dynamic on just about all of their songs. What's great about their album "Visiter" though, is that the sparse, steady, yet some...
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I got the folk in me.
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I have been walking the Same Street every night. you can light the fire thats in your head. put it off till tomorrow. Pull the wicked flower out from it's bed.
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The Dodos - Ashley
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These are songs from the year 2008 that I like. Ten words.
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The Dodos - Visiter
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Visiter is the second album to be released by American psychedelic folksters The Dodos. The duo formed in San Francisco back in 2006 with originally just one member, Meric Long whom toured around the city as a one-man acoustic act going by the name of Dodobird. After studying Western African Ewe drumming Long began to take a strong interest in blues and set out to fuse the two together creating...
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album review: the dodos - visiter
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Listeners should prepare to shed any two man expectations when taking stock in the hollow body sweat and bombastic stomp that is the Dodos' sophomore release, Visiter (Frenchkiss) ...
More >
More Blogotheque shows for you to enjoy >>
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--- - |- Check out some new live footage of The Dodos, Noah and the Whale and Fleet Foxes to name a few. Here's The Dodos with Fools. ~~- The Dodos
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LIVE: The Dodos - Fools (Soiree A Emporter)
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--- - |- La Blogotheque threw a party in Paris. Some bands showed up and played some music. Not surprisingly they filmed it and put it up on the internet so the rest of us could enjoy. From the looks of the footage it seems like it was a hell of a good time. Check this video [...] ~~- The Dodos
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the bay bridged presents the dodos. again.
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--- - |- the third episode of the bay bridged's wonderful video podcast series was posted today, and it features the song "paint the rust" from the dodos recent, phenomenal homecoming performance at the independent back in june. have a look: the dodos - paint the rust ~~- the dodos
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The Dodos
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Underneath the pointless Animal Collective comparisons, musings about musical appropriation, and overuses of the word “strummy,” what truly separated The Dodos’ 2008 breakout release Visiter from the rest of the pack were the melodies. Its most poignant moments (“Fools,” “Ashley,” “God”) utilized bandleader Meric Long’s warm vocal range as more...
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 "Visiter")
