Album reviews: Spindrift, Gangi

Kevin Bronson on November 11th, 2008

0

[A quick look at a couple of releases today by local acts:]

Spindrift, “The West” (Beat the World) — I’m not quite sure what parallel universe Spindrift’s music belongs in — maybe a post-apocalyptic landscape where art movies are projected across the desert sky while what remains of the flora comes to life, wielding double-neck bass guitars and autoharps. But I’d love to visit. The singular, cinematic psychedelia of the L.A. octet is remarkably easy to ingest, even without any of the drugs the aesthetic suggests. Having made its mark plying the Spaghetti Western styles of Ennio Morricone, Spindrift flexes its muscle on this album to nod to klezmer, flamenco and sea shanty music, and maybe is at its best when it forgoes excessive effects and simply accelerates into a down-and-dirty psych-blues band, one that could only have come from “The West.”

||| Download: “Ace Coltrane.”

||| Live: Spindrift performs tonight at the Roxy, supported by Sky Parade.

Gangi, “Gangi” (Office of Analogue and Digital) — There are a lot of tools to rattle in this L.A. duo’s garage, and at times they are used to excess on this sprawling psych-folk document. But at its strongest, this subtly electronic record reminds you sonically and thematically of Mercury Rev, except with the engine in need of a tune-up. When Matt Gangi and cohort Lyle Nesse keep it relatively simple (“Comonplace Feathers,” “Subject Positions”), it fires on all cylinders.