The Days of Lore

If the electro shoe fits …

Friday, February 19th, 2010 | musiX | No Comments

What’s this? Scooped by Pitchfork, Stereogum and Urban Outfitters?! I even know a couple of the members for crying out loud.

La-La Land’s The Delta Mirror has been making the rounds through the blogosphere—places that make artists’ dreams of fame and fortune come true overnight … but are way less bitchin’ than The Days of Lore. I kid, of course (or do I?). Onward.

The trio of Craig Gordon (vox, guitar), David Bolt (vox, gadgets) and Karrie K (vox, bass) uses the descriptor “electro shoe-goth” to capture their sound. It’s pretty dead-on. As with former Portlander Bolt’s solo gig Letdown, The Delta Mirror puts together ambient indie rock with purpose—chirps, whooshes and beeps all find their place over hushed vocals and gentle beats—and, more importantly, melodies. It’s not just an exercise in self-indulgence (i.e. wankery)—these songs are good.

The group’s new release Machines That Listen is out March 16 on Lefse Records (including vinyl!)—nine songs that take place in a different room of a hospital. The concept began with a couple autobiographical songs written by Gordon, who then decided to build the story from there. Each song stands on its own, too. “He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You” and album closer “A Song About the End” are the standouts (the latter reminds of Zooropa-era U2). And I promise the piano in “Hold Me Down Just Don’t Let Me Go” will absolutely melt you. Ahh, would you look at that … saltwater in my keyboard … again.

“He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You” - The Delta Mirror

“Hold Me Down Just Don’t Let Me Go” - The Delta Mirror

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Tags: Craig Gordon, David Bolt, Karrie K, Lefse Records, Letdown, Machines That Listen, The Delta Mirror

Not such a letdown

Monday, December 29th, 2008 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Live: Letdown and Biltmore Dive at Red and Black Cafe, 12.27.08

Thick piles of cables snaked up from the floor, finding their way into a bank of effects boxes and a keyboard with a sticker that read “Sad Music Makes Me Happy.” Sad music makes me happy, too, but the sight of all that gadgetry made me more anxious than anything … you never know what you’re going to get when someone has a lot of toys at their disposal.

Letdown is the moniker of Portland electro-whiz David Bolt. He knows his way around a Korg or three—but he also knows his way around a hook. Perhaps he builds his melodies first, which only increases the effectiveness of all the other bleeps and buzzes. And the melody always came through in his originals (notably “Nauseous Monster”) and a few well-chosen covers (Portishead’s “The Rip”). I found myself getting caught up in a piano line, only to have it dissipate into a rumbling drum break or a gurgling wash of synth before returning. Vocals were a nice addition to Letdown’s music (he did contribute vox in his other project The Delta Mirror), which were heavily saturated in reverb and echo. Dare I call it sad-bastard music?

Which brings me back to that sticker plastered on the front of the keyboard. Letdown’s music is sad, and beautiful, even when the songs are building into apocalyptic crescendos. He knows the power of dynamics, isolating sounds at just the right times. And as the music swelled, he never jammed copious noise into a jam simply because he could. It was well-orchestrated, like a chef in his kitchen expertly attending to his different dishes.

Opener Scott Worley—aka Biltmore Dive—kept things soft, simple and swirly. Most songs didn’t budge from ambient background noise … it kind of felt as if we’d all been invited to sit in with Worley in his bedroom. I’m glad there was plenty of beer and coffee where we were.

This is usually how I envision practitioners of electronic music: these über-smart techno dweebs with powers beyond my imagination who hole up in their bedrooms surrounded by mountains of boxes held together with cables. I’m probably only half-right. If that is the case, it was nice to hear Letdown über-smartly use his powers for good.

Photo and video by Alex Creecy

“Nauseous Monster” - Letdown

Video for “All of a Sudden”

Tags: Biltmore Dive, David Bolt, Letdown, live review, Portishead, Portland, Red and Black Cafe, Scott Worley, The Delta Mirror