This should come with a free packet of exhaust fumes!
This should come with a free packet of exhaust fumes!
Catbird Records/Android Eats Records
http://www.myspace.com/andrewspencermusic
You’re either a city person, or you’re not. If your idea of the perfect holiday is relaxing on a white sandy beach with a thick book and a cocktail, then I suggest you simply walk away from this review right now. Fulton Lights is the self-titled debut album from Brooklyn NY resident Andrew Spencer Goldman and to say that this album is the product of the city it was made in would be an understatement. This should come with a free packet of exhaust fumes!
The album reminds me a lot of New York itself. It makes you feel small for a start. At first it kind of alienates you. The vocals are right up front, and Goldman’s voice is reminiscent of a slightly more tuneful Wayne Coyne, but the music behind it creates a large vacuum, where notes are played, distorted and held until they simply fade into the distance. Everything kind of runs away from you, making the album feel cold and uninviting at first but, once you give it some time, you’ll start to get used to it. You’ll settle into its rhythm and then, eventually and almost without realizing it, you’ll start to feel comfortable in it. It’s at that point (probably around track 6) that you’ll start to fall in love with it.
Fulton Lights is a deceptive album. It paints a stunning picture, but it does it in such a subtle way that if you want instant gratification or something immediate and catchy, you won’t find it. If you give it some time, some space and above all, your complete attention then you’ll be rewarded with a quite stunning piece of work. It’s impeccably put together and incredibly powerful as a whole. There isn’t a single note that feels out of place. There are a lot of strings here but they’re handled so carefully that they never feel obtrusive. There’s a lot of space in each song, a lot of quiet, calm moments and yet the album never, ever, gets boring.
I suggest you simply sit back, relax and just let this album wash over you. Fill your lungs up with its smog, drink it in and I swear that it will make you feel more alive than you did before. If you’re a city lover, you’d be a fool not to.
Words: Damian Leslie