Dan Deacon - Mystic Familiar (Review)
It might be mystic, but it isn't familiar...
31st January 2020
Domino
My Rating:
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7.9
/10
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REVIEW
Beautiful layering of psychedelic confusion makes for an excellent album I sadly missed when it came out in January. What is it about Mystic Familiar that makes this record so good though? Well, that would be how unfamiliar it is, and how it sets itself apart from the hordes of psych pop bands who've spent the last five years imitating Tame Impala. No, this album isn't a shot at stardom or a capitalisation on good but overused ideas, this album is a whole new beast entirely, bringing in electronics in a completely new and otherworldly way, living up to the "mystic" side of the title in its glitchy, alien, modular soundscapes.
Perhaps a little slow to get going, once you're past the beautiful but slow "Become a Mountain" and the following interlude's brief and inconsequential ambience, the album picks up the pace with "Sat By A Tree", an introduction to the propulsive drums, syncopated synth mania and encompassing sounds that the rest of the album excels in delivering. The catchiest, most conventional song would be "Fell Into the Ocean", a repetitive but still thoroughly enjoyable track with a more accessible kind of chaos that's counterbalanced by the experimentation on the four part "Arp" tracks that make up the middle section of the album, getting progressively more weird with each song.
Conclusively, this is a pretty amazing album in which Dan Deacon is able to get his brilliantly strange ideas across in an impressively brief timespan. If there's a primary criticism I have then its in the slow beginning and overture-like ending, both feeling somewhat unnecessary despite being enjoyable. Great album, I encourage you to give it a try.
TRACK RATINGS (/10)
1. Become a Mountain - 7
2. Hypnagogic - N/A
3. Sat By A Tree - 8
4. Arp I: Wide Eyed - 7
5. Arp II: Float Away - 9
6. Arp III: Far From Shore - 8
7. Arp IV: Any Moment - N/A
8. Weeping Birch - 7
9. Fell Into the Ocean - 8
10. My Friend - 8
11. Bumble Bee Crown King - 7
BREAKDOWN
Ambition: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Catchiness/Enjoyability: 7
Content/Ideas: 9
Emotion/Engaging: 8
Execution: 8
Production: 8
Structure: 8
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Lyrics: 7
Vocals/Flow: 7
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Total: 79
Check out the video for "Sat By A Tree"
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