Score: 7.5/10
Remote Islands
Stunned Records
Purchase: Discriminate Music
1 Colin Pate + 15 musician friends + 24 instruments = Remote Island’sDays of Heaven. The psychedelic-pop record – well, not record, since it was was only released on cassette – is a collection of a dozen tracks begging for a color-bending mind-freak.
“The Story of Chairs” draws heavily on Persian and Indian influences, utilizing electric sitar and mandolin instrumentation. “A Buyer’s Remorse” sounds like something Thom Yorke would let ooze out, with a slow, melancholy tone under pop lyricism. “There’s a Cost Associated” is the most traditional song on the album, pulling influence from blues-rock and pop out of the 1950’s. The heavy blues chords and classic melody make it possibly the most accessible track, and the songs following it are far more relatable than Side A of the cassette (the more experimental half of Days of Heaven).
The percussive aspect on Days in Heavenflows through the entire album. Each track has differing but strong rhythms, with much of the album’s focus on drum beats. Even songs without evident percussion create it through staccato hits or clear riffs on the string instruments, such as “Ladies Auxiliary” and “The Big Field.”
There are lots of influences all over this album, but it’s still cohesive and unique. Days of Heaven falls into the same kind of pop sub-genre as Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion or Passion Pit’s Manners. Some people are going to get it–other’s won’t–but those who do understand the psych-pop will want to blast the cassette through their tape deck.
1 thought on “Remote Islands – Days of Heaven”