Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
Versatile artists. There's a lot of them in the indie world. Those names that always pop up in the most unexpected places as producers, instrument players, or even moral supporters in other musical endeavors. Like that one Iggy Pop album with Josh Homme and Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys. Who woulda expected that? Huge fans of a certain person will know all these credits already, but most of the population focuses on an artist's most popular band, always saying "They're amazing!", but not having the attention span to dive down their discography, where more amazing-ness lays! This little series will serve as an outlet for that genre of underground, or dare I say, lost side-projects. You may not know the name Daniel Rossen at the top of your head, but you've definitely heard something of his influence if you're reading this blog. Two words. "Two. Weeks." Not only is he the co-singer and lead guitarist of Grizzly Bear, he is a solo artist and co-frontman of another, lesser known band, Department Of Eagles. Rossen formed the band with his NYU roomie Fred Nicolaus in 2000, a whole TWO YEARS before GB started. In 2003, they released their first album The Cold Nose, a series of lo-fi bedroom pop tunes before that genre was even made known to the world. Here's a taste of that album for you, through one of my favorite tracks by the band. Personally, I see DOE's discography as a progression of sound on all aspects. As we'll see later with tracks from In Ear Park, Daniel's voice sounds almost NOTHING like it did in this song. Something about "Family Romance" sounds so innocent and simple, since it was made so early in their career, when they were younger. A tale of the beginning of a relationship, when everything is still vague and unknown. A very fitting theme for the beginnings of the band! It sounds almost bedroom-y...the popularized name of this sound IS called "bedroom pop" for a reason. Contained yet cozy. Flash-forward to 2008! Almost immediately there is a change in sound, much more spacious and a lot more powerful. While the earlier songs had more indoor vibe, In Ear Park, both the song and the album, are pieces oriented with nature. More acoustic instruments, like the piano, which plays a huge part in this album, are being put into effect. And it sounds more Daniel-y. The D-Rossen we know and love from Grizzly Bear today. Wether it's them, or his other solo works, this sounds like what we're a lot more accustomed to. The Cold Nose is a wonderfully-made album, but, to me, In Ear Park is a masterpiece. The fluttery harp and the dreamy water sound effects that fade in and out ad Daniel tells you to "listen, you'll hear the waves..." it just draws out so many emotions in me. This album shaped out the folk-like reputation that he was meant to have, through all of his other projects. The echo reverb you hear off of all of the songs puts you in an open park in your mind, or even, in your ear. (Which, by the way, isn't the meaning of the title. It's simply the name of a park Dan went to when he was young.) It baffles me still that DOE is not Dan's biggest known project. Don't get me wrong, Grizzly Bear is amazing, and his efforts in all of their albums is remarkable, but this project showcases a story that isn't shown on the mainstream. It's a timeline of his progression as an artist, singer, and instrumentalist. You get to experience the trial and error, the experimentation, and eventually, the beginning of folk influence. I look for character development in everything, and it adds more meaning to things to me, so I think that's why I love IEP so much. To conclude this side project, I leave you with possibly one of the greatest crush songs ever made, "No One Does It Like You." Hope you enjoyed! These past two months have been crazy...I originally planned for this article to be up in September. I'm about to apply to college, which is a really big step in my life and is causing me extreme existential dread. Hopefully when that hellstorm calms down I'll be back to publishing on a normal schedule. Thanks for bearing with me on my path to adulthood, and I'll see all of you real soon.
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