Tuesday, September 11, 2018

CD Odyssey Disc 1178: La Sera


After a nine day hiatus, a second review in just two days! How do we do it? Volume!

Disc 1178 is… Music for Listening to Music to
Artist: La Sera

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover? A band portrait. Also a less than clever attempt at modern art where a diagonal line separates the album title into a section that is in all capitals, and a section that is all lower case. They should have left it with the band portrait.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review of this album and decided to check it out.

How It Stacks Up:  I have two of La Sera’s four studio albums (I don’t want the other two). “Music for Listening to Music to” comes in second.

Ratings: 3 stars

 “Music for Listening to Music To” is a very short 30 minutes, and between preparing my Frank Turner album review and seeing him in concert I had the opportunity to hear it a lot of times. I don’t know how many, but at least six.

The sign of a good record is that it can hold up to a lot of repeat listens, and “Music” held up very well. At the same time I never felt it grab me at a deeper level, or reveal some new facet of itself over that time.

Instead it was solid and enjoyable indie dream pop. This is not a genre I usually go for, but the songs are well structured and frontwoman Katy Goodman has a high, ethereal voice that favourably evokes the sixties while still managing to stay current.

That said, individual tracks didn’t draw my attention. Each song flowed into the next with seamless grace. This should be a good thing, and it you wanted a pleasant soundtrack to walk through life “Music” would do a fine job.

In fact, over the past few days it has done exactly this for me. I felt young and whimsical in a way we always imagine our twenties were; all the youthful dreaming without the poverty and uncertainty. Walking around to this album made me feel like I was the star of some low budget art film about coming of age or going to college. Or maybe it was an unconventional love story where I met a manic pixie girl, fell in love but in the end realized this was just one love, not the only love I would ever know. Then we amicably would go our separate ways, a little sad but a whole lot wiser.

I guess I digressed a little there, but you get the idea. This music is mood-evoking and that mood is overall thoughtful and pleasant, even when singing about sad topics. And despite the gentle fun I am poking, it doesn’t feel forced or fake. The way Le Sera work in light reverb on the guitars and fuzz out the production doesn’t wreck it in the slightest. If anything, it just helps you slip into a reverie that much easier.

Knowing I was going to be called on to review the record, I constantly reminded myself to check the track listings on the songs. I found a few I liked more than others, although if I didn’t have the pressure of this little blog project I’d have been just as happy to let it play through, start it over and do it again.

So it is lots of fun, written thoughtfully and performed well. It may therefore surprise you that I’ve decided to part with it.

I do this because in the end “Music for Listening to Music To” is mistitled. This is not music for the active music listener – which is what I am. This is music to be the soundtrack of your life: the background to a dinner party, or a walk in the park or a drive down a country road. It is Music For Letting Your Mind Wander.

Many people love music for this, but I’m a person who can’t rest unless I know what song is playing in the background of my local diner. I can’t tune it out. I like a dinner party, a walk in the park or a country drive as much as the next person but in any of those situations I don’t see myself going through all my albums to select this one over the others. I want the musical part of those experiences to be more…active.

In the end, I really loved “Music for Listening to Music To”. It is a good record, and the aesthete in me wants to keep it just because of that. But if I am being honest it will just languish untouched on my shelves, and a pretty little record like this one deserves more. So I’m going to let it go and find the home it deserves.

Best tracks: High Notes, I Need an Angel, Shadow of Your Love

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