Zounds (album)
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''Zounds'' is the third album by Australian rock band
Dappled Cities Dappled Cities (formerly "Dappled Cities Fly") are an indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. History 1997–2003 The band came together as teenagers in the northern suburbs of Sydney in 1997. Dave Rennick and original drummer Hugh Boyce wer ...
, released in Australia on 15 August 2009 and worldwide on 15 September through
Dangerbird Records Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of ...
. The album comes two years after their previous release, '' Granddance'', during which time the band was touring the US with the likes of
The Fratellis The Fratellis ( ) are a Scottish rock band from Glasgow, formed in 2005. The band consists of three unrelated members, who perform under pseudonyms: lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli, bassist Barry Fratelli, and drummer Mince Fratelli ...
and
Tokyo Police Club Tokyo Police Club was an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2005, it consisted of vocalist and bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop. The band found early success with ...
, with a few forays home riding shotgun to
Silverchair Silverchair was an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...
,
Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock music, rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members were lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock (musician), Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and ba ...
and
LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American Dance-punk#Contemporary dance-punk, dance-punk revival band from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals ...
. At this point, the band had uprooted from their home of Sydney and settled Stateside. They shot videos in
Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
gas stations, played impromptu gigs in
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
sound factories, partied with
Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...
and Steve Malkmus and even managed to film a 26-episode children's odyssey for
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
called ‘Alphabreaks’. Under the expert A&R guidance of
Justin Meldal-Johnsen Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born March 26, 1970) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, St. Vincent, Wolf Alice, and Deafheave ...
(Beck, Ladytron,
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
) and respected American co-producer Chris Coady (
TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock music, rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), Dave Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and ...
), Dappled Cities got busy making music. The band spared no expense, using new-fangled electric guitars and importing a Gakken — a $40 build-it-yourself cardboard synthesiser from Japan — used on all 12 songs. Their drive to succeed saw them hire and conspire with no less than three mixers for ''Zounds'' — Coady, Scott Horscroft and Wayne Connolly — in the quest for perfection. The result: "It's an album that really shows the growth and depth of Dappled Cities. ''Zounds'' is both grand and emotive and full of euphoric melodies and unique story-telling."


Track listing

(All songs written, arranged and performed by Dappled Cities) # "Hold Your Back" – 4:46 # "Answer Is Zero" – 3:54 # "The Price" – 4:33 # "Wooden Ships" – 4:59 # "Slow for Me, My Island" – 4:44 # "The Night Is Young at Heart" – 5:24 # "Miniature Alas" – 4:35 # "Don't Stop There" – 3:51 # "Kid" – 4:29 # "Middle People" – 4:20 # "Apart" – 4:48 # "Stepshadows" – 5:27


iTunes bonus track version

# "Fire Fire Fire" (Live Performance) # "Beach Song" (Live Performance) # "Grandance" (Live Performance) # "Peach Song" (Live Performance)


Personnel


Musicians

Dappled Cities
Ned Cooke
Tim Derricourt
Allan Kumpulainen
Alex Moore
David Rennick Others:
Alex Love – French Horn
Madeleine Hawcroft – Flute
Sebastian Ranguis, Des Miller, Kim Waldock, Ned Cooke – Strings


Other Personnel

Produced by: Chris Coady and Dappled Cities
Engineered by: Simon Berckelman
Assistant Engineered by:
Jean-Paul Fung Jean-Paul Fung (born 6 November 1988) is an Australian producer, Mix engineer, mixer, musician and songwriter who has worked on multiple award-winning records. Fung learned how to play the piano, guitar, bass guitar and drums at a young age. ...

Mixed by: Chris Coady ("Hold Your Back", "The Night Is Young At Heart", "Don't Stop There", "Middle People", "Apart", "Stepshadows"), Wayne Connolly ("The Price", "Slow For Me, My Island", "Miniature Alas", "Don't Stop There"), Scott Horscroft ("Answer Is Zero", "Wooden Ships", "Slow For Me, My Island", "Middle People"), Dappled Cities
Mastered by: Louie Teran
A&R by:
Justin Meldal-Johnsen Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born March 26, 1970) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, St. Vincent, Wolf Alice, and Deafheave ...

Dangerbird Records Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of ...
: Jeff Castelaz, Peter Walker
Design by: Tim Rogers
Photography by: Wilk


Reviews

The Vine – "Trying to dissect Dappled Cities is a bit like trying to pin down a mirage. On the one hand, the Sydney band has some very identifiable characteristics: Flaming Lips-worthy psychedelia, ’80s-style synth-pop, and chipper post/disco-punk (cue the hi-hats). On the other hands, no one else really sounds like them, and their albums are so soupy with effects that it’s easy to get lost in the mirror maze of it all. Following 2006’s sophomore effort, Granddance, which saw the five-piece focus more on a shot at success in the States, the long-gestating ''Zounds'' is similarly likeable yet unwieldy." StarPulse.com – "The third release from Dappled Cities finds the Australian quartet continuing to develop its strangely
retro-futuristic Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipat ...
sound, one that blends cheesy sonics (all tracks on ''Zounds'' feature the Gakken, a 40 cardboard synthesizer from Japan) with self-consciously uneven vocals and moments of sheer, glistening pop transcendence... The bag is definitely mixed, but the balance ends up positive." (Rating: 2.5 stars) Pitchfork.com – "Dappled Cities haven't quite acquired a big reputation outside their homeland yet, but it seems likely they will. If they keep making big, boisterous records like this that are unafraid to be a little ridiculous in places, they'll have to." (Rating: 7.8/10) FasterLouder.com – "Dappled Cities have crafted an LP that explores new emotional ground, while taking in a whole new set of inspired musical choices.... When ''Zounds'' is judged on its own terms, what stands out is the emotional depth. Suddenly, the pop stereotypes associated with Shins-esque twee or accessible electronica like Animal Collective have disappeared. In its place is a sense of maturity and direction.... ''Zounds'' is the perfect example of a band taking what’s great about their sound and value-adding until it offers a whole new experience. After their excellent work on '' Granddance'', Dappled Cities have given us something even greater with ''Zounds''." C.O.T.M.A.! (blog) – "Dappled Cities offers a full, rich album, lined with pastiche and filled out with big, bombastic detail. The band makes no apologies about jumping into that muddy area between electropop and indie rock that so many bands have explored--terrain charted by Of Montreal, Cut Copy, and innumerable artists. Zounds makes a conscious effort to fill every second of every song with sound; where there is no instrument playing, there is an echo of one.... Zounds is as artistic as it is a serious indie album, defying ownership both by pretentious hipsters and pop aficionados.... This is art. True enough, the mix of buzzing, whirring, gurgling, and thumping that starts the recording with "Hold Your Back" establishes the new and improved Dappled Cities as an Of-Montreal-cum-Animal-Collective-cum-Shins amalgamation that just wants to blow your mind, not with wacky exuberance or springy lyrics but with a complete tonal invention, combing through the lessons alternative music learned in the last 20 years and making notes about each of them. Each song is a synthesizer-driven indie rock song, dressed in the trimmings of that wholesome indie style—multi-instrumental, full, busy but not fabricated."C.O.T.M.A. (blog) - Album Review: Dappled Cities - Zounds
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References


External links


Dappled Cities Official WebsiteDangerbird Records - ''Zounds'' - Album Release Information''Zounds'' on Rdio

''Zounds'' on Spotify
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zounds (Album) Dappled Cities Fly albums 2009 albums