But it was in the live execution of that music, as heard at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday night, that the mystery came in. How can a diffident, soft-voiced singer (and an even softer-fingered guitarist) like Mr. Daniels possibly stand up to the strong winds of Fight the Big Bull, an eight-piece group from Richmond, Va., whose gutbucket arsenal features trumpet, two trombones, two tenor saxophones, drums, bass and electric guitar?
Think sundrenched, think sentimental, and—yes—think subtle. On Real Estate’s eponymous debut album, fittingly released by buzz label Woodsist last week, the songs are in no rush. The hooks are there—and enough “uh oh” choruses to have you singing along—but they take their time. –Nylon Magazine
...Daniels, White and the band mixed and matched sounds to the point where genre became irrelevant. Their twangy ballads segue to polyphonic New Orleans jazz ("Though All the Fates"), songs that build from a beautiful chorale to roots-rock and then an improv jam filled with woody percussion ("October Airs" and "On Fields"), slow burns where a single mantra builds, achingly, over the course of eight minutes ("Each Summer Sound"). There are rock beats, swirling flute, "Penny Lane" trumpet, atonal free-jazz solos, jump cuts which explode into colors — all of which serve well-constructed pop songs ("The Funeral Bell," "Die and Be Buried" and so on).
file under: jazz, indie, experimental, post-rockThese seven interwoven pieces delight: Accessible but not pedestrian, complex but not esoteric, Extended Vacation feels improvised in spirit, but, in both structure and sound, it reveals two focused, imaginative composers and performers. The melodies and the warped sounds-- a vibraphone blurred into an organ, animal samples sculpted into a symphony, xylophone lines fashioned into music box tunes-- make Extended Vacation the most instantly likable On Fillmore album yet.
"Master Moon" by On Fillmore from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.
The Postelles channel Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello and – more recently – the Arctic Monkeys and the Strokes, building songs from brief guitar stabs and sounding like the wound-up early hours of what will be a long Saturday night on the town. There are elements of both mod and post-punk, but The Postelles have a sneering attitude all their own… –Rolling Stone
...Daniels, White and the band mixed and matched sounds to the point where genre became irrelevant. Their twangy ballads segue to polyphonic New Orleans jazz ("Though All the Fates"), songs that build from a beautiful chorale to roots-rock and then an improv jam filled with woody percussion ("October Airs" and "On Fields"), slow burns where a single mantra builds, achingly, over the course of eight minutes ("Each Summer Sound"). There are rock beats, swirling flute, "Penny Lane" trumpet, atonal free-jazz solos, jump cuts which explode into colors — all of which serve well-constructed pop songs ("The Funeral Bell," "Die and Be Buried" and so on).
