Vanderslice, John / Dagger Beach
Album: Dagger Beach   Collection:General
Artist:Vanderslice, John   Added:Jul 2013
Label:Self-Release  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2013-07-08 Pull Date: 2013-09-08
Week Ending: Sep 8 Sep 1 Aug 25 Aug 18 Aug 11 Jul 28 Jul 14
Airplays: 3 2 1 1 1 1 3

Recent Airplay
1. Nov 01, 2014: Music Casserole
Gaslight
4. Sep 04, 2013: Meow After Midnight
Gaslight
2. Apr 23, 2014: A Family Affair
Sleep It Off
5. Sep 01, 2013: Tragical History Tour
Interlude #1
3. Sep 07, 2013: Fried Egg
Gaslight
6. Aug 31, 2013: Music Casserole
North Coast Rep

Album Review
Eme O
Reviewed 2013-07-08
John Vanderslice - Dagger Beach - Indie/shoegaze - Vox, guitar, drums,

Kickstarter-financed self-released ninth album from local musician, producer, recording engineer. Per wikipedia, the “owner and founder of Tiny Telephone, a San Francisco Mission District analog recording studio.” Slowish, gentle/dreamy/chill, upbeat in a way that’s not cheerful or sunny. No straight-ahead ‘guy with a guitar’-ness here; this fellow likes his post-production. No FCCs detected. ~eme o.

1. Raw Wood (3:17) Ruminating on the self that exists beneath the veneer (or varnish, if you will). Guitar, drums, piano punctuations

2. Harlequin Press (3:27) Starts of with a whirl of sound fronted by a washboard. Changes nature after the briefest of drum solos ~0:18. Somewhat tribal drum. Squeebly birdsong, gentle flute add brightness to the mix.

3. Song for Dana Lok (2:21) Bright guitar picking, almost folksy (or Shins-y). Pure-sounding, yet still with inorganic elements.

4. How the West Was Won (3:47) Starts out sounding almost like electronica. Locked drums, twinkly stars, toy xylophone?

5. Interlude #1 (2:11) Ambient soundscape. A bit like floatnig through a space with set obstacles and then the occasional comet zooming by. Metronome-like cymbal.

* 6. Song for David Berman (4:54) Sensitive guitar. Restful tone. If not a love song, then an expression of deep appreciation.

7. Damage Control (4:21) Starts off rather Talking Heads-y. Simple Minds crashes the party ~1:08, then goes home ~1:28. Oh, wait, they just went around the corner and came back ~2:39.

* 8. Songs for the Landlords of Tiny Telephone (1:32) Jazz-style noodling on guitar, bass. (The only song here John Vanderslice did not write.)

* 9. Gaslight (2:45) Lurching rhythm between drum and guitar sections, vocals out of time also. Unsettling (perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the song title). Hint of South Africa in the electric guitar. Rhythm changes ~2:00, becoming more standard.

10. Sleep it off (2:43) Soundtrack for a relationship status change. “It’s complicated.”

11. Sonogram (2:24) Ticking clock, that vaguely South African guitar (which I now recognize as shades of Vampire Weekend), lots of background whooshes.

12. North Coast Rep (4:05) Electronic squiggles in background, vox at the forefront, harmonizing voice on chorus (maybe female, maybe male falsetto).

13. Interlude #2 (0:47) A brief ambient outro

Track Listing
1. Raw Wood   7. Damage Control
2. Harlequin Press   8. Song For The Landlords Of Tiny Telephone
3. Song For Dana Lok   9. Gaslight
4. How The West Was Won   10. Sleep It Off
5. Interlude #1   11. Sonogram
6. Song For David Berman   12. North Coast Rep
  13. Interlude #2