I didn't really know Mice Parade, but I had heard about the project from some friends. So of course, when they passed through Chicago at one of my favorite clubs, I had to stop in. They were touring their forthcoming album, Candela, their first in many years, if I'm not mistaken. The band performed as a three piece, Adam, Dan Lippel, a tremendous guitarist who I still remember the name of, and a woman with one of the most absolutely beautiful drop-dead voices I ever heard, who only years later, I discovered went by the name Mr. Silla. After the concert, I picked up this newly released record on vinyl. It will forever remind me of that autumn in Chicago.… More
An often overlooked classic from 2009. Not many if any records of the time achieved what this record did, fusing tight rock-blues licks with hip hop. Combining a line-up of hip-hop superstars with the grooves of the black keys, channeling funky guitar sounds, and tight live drums, can't forget this one.
When I first heard this record I just felt like it was something kind of new and experimental and weird. While I liked the record at first listen, it's really one the weight of which grew on me very slowly, probably only natural with how dense the sound is. There was a lot of hype surrounding the Sufjan Stevens tour at the time and I had the great luck to see much of this record performed at the Auditori in Barcelona, a concert which will remain one of the top live music experiences of my life. Looking back on this record now, it's such a brilliantly rich wall of interwoven synthesized sounds, combined with brilliant lyrics. A record that will… More