MOONFACE – Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped (Part 1)

Spencer Krug’s debut LP from his 4,756th project, this his solo-effort, Moonface titled Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped is out today via Jagjaguwar. I think Sarah has listened to the album, though she seems to have preferred opening the dialectic by musing on the prolific music machine that is Spencer Krug. Who can blame her?

From: Sarah Braunstein
To: Brandon Hall

Spencer Krug released (today!) his first full album as Moonface with the charmingly honest title Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped. Krug is a familiar face and voice these days, racking up a veritable laundry list of bands, side-projects, side-side projects, musical alter egos and the like. My first encounter with Krug was in 2004 at the Royal Oak Music Theater when Wolf Parade opened up for Modest Mouse two nights in a row (yes, I went to both shows). I liked their brand of stompy, spooky rock and picked up the pre-Sub Pop 6 Song EP, which still has my favorite version of “Dear Sons and Daughters of Holy Ghosts.”

That was seven years ago and Krug hasn’t gotten a full night of sleep since. Or so one would think given the body of work he’s produced including a couple of albums with Frog Eyes, a gaggle of Sunset Rubdown EPs and LPs, two albums with Swan Lake, and three LPs with the aforementioned Wolf Parade. These were all group projects but with Moonface, we get Krug doing his own thang sans collaborators.

From a lyrics perspective, I place him in a similar category as Dan Bejar, penning lines and even full songs whose words are brilliant (and oftentimes, over my head). They both seem to be the frenzied auteurs of their respective sounds — a little mad scientist-y, both producing expansive catalogs — although Krug certainly beats Bejar on the number of hats he wears.

Before we get into the weeds of Organ Music…, I wanted to get your take on Krug’s body of work to date. Are you familiar with his first EP as Moonface (titled Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums)? Are you particularly drawn to any of his musical projects or are you Krug-ed out?

A letter instead of a kiss,

Sarah

MARIMBA AND SHIT-DRUMS part 1

MARIMBA AND SHIT-DRUMS part 2