So…Bradford Cox is a mensch. That doesn’t mean his music is memorable, but, man does he make a great first impression. Chris thinks Cox is “one of the pure musicians out there, just making as much music as he can for the sake of music.” Completely forgettable music.
Stream Parallax with song-by-song writeup from Bradford Cox at NY Times Magazine.
Atlas Sound – “Te Amo”
From: Chris Atto
To: Brandon Hall
What’s up Brandon? Long time no talk. Sorry to hear you’re a little under the weather but that goes with the territory this time of year, and it’s only going to get worse. Maybe that’s why I’m such an autumn hater.
But re: Parallax, can I just go ahead and say, “My sentiments exactly!!!”? I’ve given the album a couple of spins now and while I know I enjoyed it all the way through with each listen, I can’t really remember anything about it. Well, that’s not compeltely true. Two things I remember quite well were the little keyboard riff in “Te Amo” and the aforementioned “Mona Lisa”. But really, not much else.
Before I continue, let me go ahead and say I’m a huge supporter of the Bradford Cox everythinghedoesever. “Disappearing Ink” was one of my favorite songs of whatever year it was released (2009 perhaps?) and I still get overly giddy when I hear those guitar riffs to this day. I’ve seen Deerhunter live a few times and always really dug it. But there’s just something about Atlas Sound that can’t stick with me. It’s exactly what you said — it has nothing to do with me not liking the songs because, for the most part, I really do like them while I’m listening to them. But once it’s over, that’s kind of it for me and I don’t find myself necessarily wanting to listen to it again and again or even humming any of the melodies, probably because I don’t remember them.
And do we even have to get into Pitchfork favoring certain artists or bands and the almost inevitable BNM’s and 8.5+ ratings that accompany said artists? I think that’s all the more reason that I’m so torn though. I DO think Bradford Cox is a ridiculously talented individual, and I DO like 90% of the music he releases under his various projects. There’s this little piece of me though that thinks that this is exactly the way Cox wants it. He’s definitely not interested in super stardom. I think he’s one of the pure musicians out there, just making as much music as he can for the sake of music. And while my first impression of him was at the 2008 Pitchfork Festival when he made his way on stage to try to awkwardly appease the crowd waiting for a flight-delayed Cut Copy to arrive at the fest on the final evening, my respect and admiration for what he does grows with each new release.
Now this has got me thinking back to Logos, an album that I admittedly did not listen to more than a couple of times, but one that still seemed to have a few breakout tracks that were just really interesting to me. Like “Quick Canal” or “Sheila”, for example. But by and by, I think that’s just the way his music goes. It doesn’t typically slap you over the face. It’s much more subtle than that. It’s usually pretty good, but that subtlety sometimes makes it slightly less memorable. And I think Cox is totally OK with that, and maybe even likes it that way.
Point is, I don’t think you’re taking crazy pills. But can I have some of whatever you’re taking for that nasty cold? It sounds kind of awesome, and I’ve got this Twin Sister album over here just waiting to be listened to. So do we agree to agree on this one?
Te Amo,
Chris
Parallax is out 11/8 on 4AD.
AudioVole 
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