PeerValidated Byte Size Reviews are short and sweet introductions to albums. A new one almost everyday gives you some basic info, opinions and an mp3 to let you decide what you think. These reviews are compiled into a list for two weeks, then we throw them into the Byte Size Archive and start a new one. Check back often!
I Break Horses – Hearts
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Maria Lindén is the woman behind Sweden’s latest big-buzz pop group, I Break Horses. She’s released two tracks from the upcoming LP, Hearts. Each use dreamy, synth-laden fuzzy sounds and vocals spread far and wide by monstrous reverb effects. “Hearts,” and “Winter Beats,” are constructed by the juxtaposition of many single patterns interacting, swirling and complicating each other throughout the songs’ durations. I Break Horses may bear a form of shoegaze similar to The Radio Dept, or M83 at times, but it’s much more aggressive, which is where it earns its uniqueness. – Andy (August 11, 2011)
The Flaming Lips / Lightning Bolt Split EP
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It’s a sonic depiction of the physics of turbulence. The drums become you: a tiny particle careening through the incandescent bloom of a solar flare, bouncing violently off liquid walls. Time loses its consistency, speeding up and slowing down in spine-jerking fits. A mass of electric fuzz looms above, sounding somewhere between a hiss and a roar, emanating from all sides like the combined noise of a billion microscopic collisions. There’s no easy footing for a track like this, so it’s best just to sit back and enjoy the ride. – Caleb (August 7, 2011)
