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The American Analog Set: A piece of Cake

Say N-O to frat boys!
04 juli 2002, Paradiso, Amsterdam (NL)

Tekst: Alex Tobin

Publicatiedatum: 05 juli 2002

Downstairs, the frat boy partymeisters known as Cake were busy going the distance in front of a largely 30-something crowd slightly past its sell-by-date when it comes to musical appreciation. After all, two kids and a mortgage will do that to ya, kids, and endless trumpet-laden rehashes of I Will Survive, etc., often only amount to a turgid obligatory feel-good vibe.

Upstairs, in the sweltering confines of the smaller, more intimate room, the five members of Austin's American Analog Set patiently await the go-ahead, most likely dreading the worst, as beer gut-carrying, loudmouthed Cake aficionados awkwardly ambled up the stairs to check out the other band, the ones they could catch for free post-gig. Boy, were they ever in for a disappointment.

American Analog Set are a muted Yo La Tengo, a young and extremely crafty band that aren't afraid to take it down, to slow down the pace. "Less is more" is most definitely the operative maxim here, and those hard enough to sit through the band's set were rewarded with a fluid, breathing, and organically light set by the quintet. Maracas, vibes, a Stereolab Moog here and there: This ain't exactly the Austin sound you've come to expect, y'all. No, this isn't cowboy country tonight, as American Analog Set fully represent the Chicago School of Post-Rock Twiddling. And that's a good thing, mind you.

These are jazzy sounds, solipsistic movements for somnambulists, moving somewhere in the realm between Josh Haden's Spain and Miles Davis' Sketches Of Spain. The music is calm, yes, but there's a great deal of tension waiting - as if it were a Great White ready to pounce on a blubbery tourist on a Florida beach - beneath the surface. Simple from the outside, but oh-so complex if you take the time and listen. American Analog Set make intelligent pop music. Please forgive yet another bad pun, but this band indeed can have their Cake and eat it too.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/the-american-analog-set/the-american-analog-set-a-piece-of-cake/1675/
Meer The American Analog Set op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/the-american-analog-set