Friend Roulette - Hi, Hello EP (2012)

While gearing up for the upcoming release of their debut full length which is my most anticipated album in life, if not solely the year. Brooklyn chamber pop ensemble Friend Roulette have decided to ease the wait with a less life-consuming release, their tragically short Hi, Hello EP released on Goodnight Records. Now if you were at their double release show with Matty Fasano last month, the May release date might seem a bit of a surprise for you, especially if you snagged one of their fancy limited edition 10" picture discs designed by the group's violinist/vocalist Julia Tepper, and yet here we are. Earlier this week marked the official release date of the EP and Goodnight Records certain makes it worth your while even if you've already gotten your hands on the EP.



If you've heard the group's self-titled debut EP, "Hi, Hello" shouldn't be too much of a shock for you. While wholly new, the track inhabits the same lush cinematic realm of "Or Berlin" or so it seems. The group's embrace of dark textures are checked so that the tune is teased just enough with them to give the barest hint of a nightmarish turn in the dreamy, picturesque opening track. Brilliant bolstered by heavenly harmonies and more or less grounded by resonant bass clarinet, "Hi, Hello" shows a side of Friend Roulette I wasn't sure existed, at least from their energetic live show. Thoughtful in composition and restrained in the use of its multitude of members. Friend Roulette has always been impressive for its diverse lineup but their ability to employ them all in a way that's not too overwhelming is the far more impressive feat here. "Hi, Hello" is a track that reveals more of itself listen after listen as quaint little moments establish themselves swiftly and seems to flitter away almost as rapidly. Just enough to make you want to hear them again and again.



Whereas opener "Hi, Hello" is light and dreamy, b-side "On Her Own Tonight" is very much its opposite. An airy yet spacey opening before the vocals enter, a busy-ness that never seems to stop whether in the oscillating bass line provided by John Stanesco on bass clarinet or the careful pitter-pat of Kyle Olson and Tlacael Esparza's percussion.  "On Her Own Tonight" has random bursts of brightness among its sea of frenetic dark landscapes - even as the track's rising, frantic pacing takes an abrupt stop for a virtually a capella moment before building and breaking into its previous tempo and reestablishing its unceasing forward momentum as the track swirls, glides, and otherwise gracefully reaches its end.
 
The digital version of the EP (which is really more of a double A side or something because it's only two songs) has two bonus tracks demo versions of "Dog Tambourine" (which I have never heard before) and "Or Berlin" so if you like what you hear make sure to buy either the vinyl picture disc or digital version (or BOTH!) via Goodnight Records here. The band's also hosting a second, more official record release party at Pianos in NYC on Saturday May 19th so if you're in the mood for something astonishingly wonderful make sure to drop by. (Tickets/Info)

Matty Fasano - Living In Armchairs EP (2012)

Late last month, we were treated to a peek of Matty Fasano's solo EP Living in Armchairs with "Christopher" and this week (yesterday to be exactly) saw the release of the full 4 song EP. Not that there was any doubt but the rest of the EP proves that "Christopher" wasn't some amazing fluke.

Beginning with the eponymous "Living in Armchairs",  the EP starts off very much like a warm up exercise with a very simple piano lines and Matty enters with his golden falsetto maintaining the intrigue and the cherry on top is right after a heavenly moment of harmonization, a drum slides in and propels the track into a more conventional direction. The fact that the track waits for 2 minutes before entertain even the slightest notion of poppy game-change is what makes the moment so sweet and fleeting. Almost as quickly as the drums enter, the tracks.

And just when you think you know what to expect from the rest of the EP, "I Can Change" begins - sounding very much like a spiritual, simplistic and beautiful, swimming in a sea of harmonies, "I Can Change" is perhaps the most unexpected surprise of the whole record. A track bound to completely dominate your every waking moment for the next couple days after listening to it.

On Living In Armchairs, Matty Fasano provides a set of tunes that are noticeably diverse and yet fit wonderously together. Each track feeling like an extension of the one before it. As I mentioned before in my review of "Christopher", Matty Fasano manages to elude any distinctly pop sound resulting in a truly emotional wallop (particularly in the aforementioned "I Can Change" and "Christopher"). Even when the drums enter on "Living in Armchairs", they don't decimate the slow build that came before it, making the moment feel truly earned. In just four short sounds, Fasano shows an astounding amount of versatility and talent. The only negative of the EP is that it's tragically short which is less of an actual flaw and more of compliment. I can only amount of time-consuming aural devastation that would occur if Fasano released a full length and yet, I couldn't want for anything more.

Listen to Matty Fasano's Living In Armchairs EP here. You can also buy the EP on Bandcamp.



If you're in the Manhattan area, make sure to come out to Matty Fasano's double release show with Friend Roulette for a guaranteed good time. Tickets available here.

Matty Fasano - "Christopher"

Considering how much I talk about ARMS, you're probably more than familiar with Matty Fasano. If not, let me quickly bring you up to speed: Matty Fasano is ARMS' bassist, occasional synth player, and is responsible for all those creamy dreamy harmonies you hear on Summer Skills and the EP released way back in 2010. Matty Fasano is also a member of Illuminator (where he also holds down the harmonies) and last year he released the "Unkind"/"Unusual" single. This year, Fasano is releasing an EP by the name of Living in Armchairs and though I haven't heard it yet, it's definitely a must own for me. Why? Well, based on the strength of Fasano's debut single last year and new track "Christopher", it's pretty hard not to get excited about the EP.

"Christopher" builds on top of the piano-centric ballads of "Unkind" and stormy "Unusual" to create a proper evolution of the two. Fasano continues to shy away from the pop conventions that he inexplicably might fall in, in favor of songwriting that relies far more on being emotionally evocative than being catchy or memorable (which fortunately, it is) and plays to Fasano's obvious strengths - the track filled to the brim with lovely, lovely harmonies.

 Christopher by Matty Fasano

(via Rawkblog)

Matty Fasano's Living In Armchairs is out April 3rd. Matty Fasano is also playing a release show with Friend Roulette, you can buy tickets here.

Friend Roulette to release 10" picture disc

Next month New York's chamber-pop outfit to the end all chamber-pop outfits, Friend Roulette, is playing a release show with Matty Fasano. Matty Fasano's got an EP he's pushing and it turns out the delightful collective have their own release to be proud about - a 10" picture disc featuring some spiffy new tracks not available on that great EP they put out last year. One you might have heard here recently through an acoustic video ("Hi, Hello"), the other is live-song staple "On Her Own Tonight".  That's some thrilling news if you, like me, are eagerly awaiting that full length album the group have been hard at work on. There's no word on that yet but this picture disc new helps ease the wait a bit.

 Friend Roulette - On Her Own Tonight by All Around Sound Blog

Watch them play new track "Warm" at their Last FM Presents show:



You can hear more from the recent live show they played for Last.FM Presents here. Make sure you pick up tickets for the release show.

Matty Fasano - Unkind/Unusual

Chances are if you've read my seemingly endless ARMS obsessed posts you know who Matty Fasano is. That guy who sings all those creamy upper-register harmonies in ARMS songs? That's Matty Fasano. And he does a damn good job of it. So when ARMS posted a two song solo debut from him, I jumped on that bandwagon so hard. It's obvious from how dead-on his falsetto is during ARMS songs that Fasano is a talented singer who knows what he was doing.

There's a certain amount of predictability to voice/piano acts; That's a given. And yet with two songs Fasano manages to escape some of it with small vocal ornamentations like the occasional out of nowhere vocal glissandos. The songs are rather minimalistic, featuring driving beat-keeping piano chords along with some texture-giving percussion. And yet that's what makes them good. The full focus is more-or-less on Fasano's pillowy vocals,which isn't a bad focus at all. "Unkind" could very well be an ARMS song if it really tried to be but it's not and sounds lovely just the way it is.