Telefon Tel Aviv C/D

I think the passage of time and the idea this is TTA material is the reason for a new album under that name

if you haven't checked it out, Josh Eustis has done a lot of production/remix work in the intervening years, Sons of Magdalene being a solo project and Second Woman with collaborator Turk Dietrich

TTA came across as a groovier version of Slowdive with 2002 style glitch beats, without ever sounding forced. It was a sound for the moment, to be sure. I couldn't help but wonder though if the same group of guys wouldn't have written the same exact batch of songs in 1995 using scratchy trip hop loops, and if they wouldn't be writing a similar batch of songs in 5 years using whatever new software will be available at the time.

i've never heard these guys / this cat before but i find the new one really impressive, just the opposite of this superficial modernization old timey ilm poster above is talking about.

i've sampled several elaborate indie-poppish vocal-focused albums this year and last, on the strength of their reviews, the kind of thing where they talk about how the production is so intricate and 80s inspire and &c &c &c, and it's getting tedious finding yet again that it sounds like overwritten rootless 21st c. goop

as opposed to 'dreams are not enough', which sounds like the product of an actual musical conception, perceptive ideas about sound design, and a real patience and ability to self-edit and make committed, coherent decisions when confronted with infinite studio possibilities