''Creature Comforts'' is the second album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

experimental noise band

Black Dice Black Dice is an American experimental noise music band based in Brooklyn, New York and consisting of brothers Bjorn and Eric Copeland along with Aaron Warren. Formed in 1997, the group was initially inspired by hardcore and noise rock, but s ...

. It was released in June 2004 by

DFA Records DFA Records is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was originally founded in 2001 by Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. Goldsworthy and Mur ...

(USA) and

Fat Cat Records FatCat Records is an English independent record label based in Brighton. The label's output reaches into many styles including experimental rock, electronica, psychedelic folk, contemporary classical, noise and post-punk. Notable artists that ...

(UK). The album, according to Kory Grow of ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

'', is "Black Dice's ''

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...

'' take on animal noises, including replicated elephant sounds, duck calls and even sparrow chirps".

Background

The album was preceded by the ''Miles of Smiles'' EP in March of the same year. Most tracks were recorded at the Water Music, Rare Book Room and DFA's Plantain studios in New York City. "Live Loop" is a live-recording from the 2001 Summer Tour 2001. Both James Murphy and

Tim Goldsworthy Tim Goldsworthy is a British record producer, DJ and recording artist. Career Originally a musician/producer for Unkle with James Lavelle, he later worked with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and was formerly joint owner of DFA Records. Go ...

assisted with the recording while Steve Revitte mixed the album. ''Creature Comforts'' is

's last album to feature longtime drummer

Hisham Bharoocha Hisham Akira Bharoocha (born March 12, 1976 in Niigata, Japan) is an American musician and visual artist. Bharoocha lives in Brooklyn, performs as Yokubari, and is a member of the band Kill Alters; he is also a former member of the Providence ...

. The song "Skeleton" was described as the centerpiece of the album.

Critical reception

Dominique Leone of ''Pitchfork'' declared that the band had "delivered one of this year's most interesting records and proved that you don't have to be noisy to make beautiful noise". ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' found the songs "well thought out and pleasant to listen to". In contrast, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' called the album "directionless ndconfused about what precisely their aesthetic is". ''Dusted Magazine'' noticed the variety of ideas but saw it as a positive, describing the album as a "very textural work, one that shifts in and out of its various ideas with the freedom of

musique concrete Musique is the French word for music. Musique may also refer to: Music *Musique (disco band), a 1970s studio band produced by Patrick Adams *Musique, a British dance act consisting of Moussa Clarke and Nick Hanson best known for their 2001 song ...

Track listing

#"Cloud Pleaser" – 1:43 #"Treetops" – 6:23 #"Island" – 1:13 #"Creature" – 8:54 #"Live Loop" – 1:28 #"Skeleton" – 15:25 #"Schwip Schwap" – 2:01 #"Night Flight" – 6:35

Personnel

Bjorn Copeland - guitars Eric Copeland - vocals Aaron Warren - bass Hisham Bharoocha - drums James Murphy - engineer Tim Goldsworthy - engineer Steve Revitte - engineer/mixer

References

Black Dice albums 2004 albums FatCat Records albums Experimental music albums by American artists Musique concrète albums {{2000s-indietronica-album-stub