Album Review: Atlas Sound – Logos

By Travis Woods

Release Date:  10.20.09

Label:  4 AD

Messy, scattershot and bristling with a seemingly boundless energy, Bradford Cox’s Logos is the sound of spinning a radio dial to the musical frequencies that float only between his ears–the songs pinball from genre to genre with a break-neck unpredictability, from a rightfully lauded duet with Noah Lennox (the endlessly catchy sunshine pop of “Walkabout”) to the gauze-lined ambient noise of “The Light That Failed” to the dizzying, electronic Krautrock stylings of “Quick Canal,” which features Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier on vocals.  It’s inconsistent, yes–but only in terms of sonic cohesion; despite the Jackson Pollack’d splatters of multi-genre sounds that weave throughout the seemingly endless subterranean tunnels and backalleys of music that Cox has constructed here, the songs themselves are individually marked by their excellence and dazzling hooks (minus the occasional too-long ambient passage), as well as the confidence of Cox’s increasingly powerful songwriting.  That doesn’t quite make this his Exile on Main St., but the schizoid sprawl of Logos does stand as one of 2009’s, and Cox’s,  most satisfying accomplishments.

Listen to “Walkabout” (featuring Noah Lennox):

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(Download)

October 22, 2009 | Filed Under Album Reviews 

Comments




If there's something inside that you wanna say...