Home
Dan's Boogie
Dan's Boogie in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $15.99
Loading Inventory...
Size: CD
With
Dan's Boogie
, his 14th album as
Destroyer
, singer/songwriter
Dan Bejar
jumps into the stream of consciousness and never looks back, swimming upstream for all nine of the record's gloriously dizzying songs. Dense instrumentation is a hallmark of some of the best
albums, but there's a specific tone on this album that sets it apart. "Hydroplaning off the Edge of the World" is euphoric pop, a song that starts out in full gear and never diminishes. There's a joyous melodic synth pop sound that's reminiscent of
Scary Monsters
-era
David Bowie
at play here, with handclaps, walls of guitar, and the sweet cooing of a repeating backing vocal line all seemingly designed to distract from the psychedelic poetry ranting of
Bejar
's sung/spoken vocals. "The Same Thing as Nothing at All" also has a maximized arrangement that recalls certain
Bowie
albums, down to the outer-space piano plinks and woozy funk bass that could have been borrowed directly from "Ashes to Ashes." Musically, tracks like the piano-forward "The Ignoramus of Love" and the pulsing electronic ambience of the first half of "Sun Meet Snow" are more subdued, but even on these relatively relaxed instrumentals,
sometimes sounds like he can't get the words out fast enough. "Sun Meet Snow" eventually succumbs to the excitement, building into a frenzy of distorted drums and laser-beam synth leads. Near the end of
,
's intensities balance out somewhat on "Cataract Time," the album's longest and most satisfying track. The song is exactly eight minutes long and rides a consistent, unhurried soft rock groove complete with sections where smooth saxophones playfully trade lines back and forth. The pleasant, sunny music and
's relatively relaxed vocal delivery are a foil for heavy lyrics that stare into an existential abyss. The mix eventually grows into swells of harp and a split second of overblown drumming, but it never boils over as so much of the rest of
does. Once again, this set of songs represents growth for
, who has remained an uncompromising artist for his entire three-decade run as
. Some tracks are easier to digest than others, and the frenzied energy of much of the album might make
a less-than-ideal starting point for new fans. Paradoxically, some moments here (in particular "Cataract Time") rank among the best work in his catalog, making
another chapter of knowing contradiction, unsettlement, and self-challenge in a body of work defined by these things. ~ Fred Thomas
Dan's Boogie
, his 14th album as
Destroyer
, singer/songwriter
Dan Bejar
jumps into the stream of consciousness and never looks back, swimming upstream for all nine of the record's gloriously dizzying songs. Dense instrumentation is a hallmark of some of the best
albums, but there's a specific tone on this album that sets it apart. "Hydroplaning off the Edge of the World" is euphoric pop, a song that starts out in full gear and never diminishes. There's a joyous melodic synth pop sound that's reminiscent of
Scary Monsters
-era
David Bowie
at play here, with handclaps, walls of guitar, and the sweet cooing of a repeating backing vocal line all seemingly designed to distract from the psychedelic poetry ranting of
Bejar
's sung/spoken vocals. "The Same Thing as Nothing at All" also has a maximized arrangement that recalls certain
Bowie
albums, down to the outer-space piano plinks and woozy funk bass that could have been borrowed directly from "Ashes to Ashes." Musically, tracks like the piano-forward "The Ignoramus of Love" and the pulsing electronic ambience of the first half of "Sun Meet Snow" are more subdued, but even on these relatively relaxed instrumentals,
sometimes sounds like he can't get the words out fast enough. "Sun Meet Snow" eventually succumbs to the excitement, building into a frenzy of distorted drums and laser-beam synth leads. Near the end of
,
's intensities balance out somewhat on "Cataract Time," the album's longest and most satisfying track. The song is exactly eight minutes long and rides a consistent, unhurried soft rock groove complete with sections where smooth saxophones playfully trade lines back and forth. The pleasant, sunny music and
's relatively relaxed vocal delivery are a foil for heavy lyrics that stare into an existential abyss. The mix eventually grows into swells of harp and a split second of overblown drumming, but it never boils over as so much of the rest of
does. Once again, this set of songs represents growth for
, who has remained an uncompromising artist for his entire three-decade run as
. Some tracks are easier to digest than others, and the frenzied energy of much of the album might make
a less-than-ideal starting point for new fans. Paradoxically, some moments here (in particular "Cataract Time") rank among the best work in his catalog, making
another chapter of knowing contradiction, unsettlement, and self-challenge in a body of work defined by these things. ~ Fred Thomas
Shop Similar Products
