View Larger
Rate it!
Avg: 3.5 (45 ratings)
- Date Released: November 4, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: K Records / SC Distribution
A beautiful, brushstroked road trip album
-
We Say...
Recent albums from Brooklyn’s Deerhunter and Crystal Stilts used dense, all-encompassing reverb as a backdrop for their rock and pop interventions. That echo implies a specific place of residence for their music — a tiny one-bedroom in an overcrowded borough. But Olympia’s Desolation Wilderness is the Pacific Northwest answer to New York's claustrophobic rock; their songs argue that guitars bounce off mountains just as well as apartment walls.
The actual terrestrial Desolation Wilderness is a vast patch of open land near the Sierra Nevada, full of granite peaks and shallow lakes carved by glaciers. It's a place people go to get away. Similarly, songs like "And All the Boys Looked" exhale loneliness — every guitar chord is lovingly isolated and deliberately downstroked. Its parts exist apart, their reverberations standing parallel rather than blurring together. Like Low, Desolation Wilderness prove that slow doesn't mean stop. Main member Nicolaas Zwart yearns for momentum — "USA Highway," "Come Over in Your Silver Car," "Leaving Song" all hint at travel. The rhythm on "Road Song" is as significant as a mic brushing against a sleeve, the exact pace of yellow lines whooshing under your left side mirror. Zwart's the only thing holding Zwart back; if everything's urging him to take a step, his soft voice (often wrapped in tape delay, glockenspiels, or both) says "Wait." You have to, for example, stand completely still to hear any of his lyrics on "Jupiter." White Light Strobing the kind of road trip album meant to be enjoyed after the passengers have passed out and the only things still moving are the road and the dark. -
They Say...
Released on Calvin Johnson's K Records, Desolation Wilderness' White Light Strobing evokes that same fluttery feeling you might expect from the title. Along with guitarist Andrew Dorsett, bassist Adam Oelsner, and drummer Evan Hashi playing their respective instruments, Nicolas Zwart plugged synthesizers, guitars, xylophones, and glockenspiels into dusty tube amps and vintage effects units to drape everything in a sweeping blanket of washed out spring reverb and vibrating tremolo. It's a down-home, cozy, alt-country meets shoegaze tone made popular by bands like My Morning Jacket and Galaxie 500 with a slightly softer and warmer approach. Like on those bands' recordings, Zwart's lyrics hover breezily in the background, hauntingly like voices in hazy dreams. They're too liquefied to be deciphered easily, but between the oohs and ahs are lulling images of love and loss all swirling together in one ethereal dynamic that's perfect for hammock relaxation.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 10 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 10 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. |  |
USA Highway |
4:27 |
|
| 02. | |
Come Over In Your Silver Car |
5:18 |
|
| 03. | |
And All The Boys Looked |
4:01 |
|
| 04. | |
Paris To New York |
5:08 |
|
| 05. | |
Leaving Song |
3:56 |
|
| 06. | |
Road Song |
3:07 |
|
| 07. | |
Forget Everything |
2:29 |
|
| 08. | |
Jupiter |
4:40 |
|
| 09. | |
Turquoise And Gold |
2:34 |
|
| 10. | |
Horizon Star |
3:23 |
|
10 Total Tracks, 39:03 Total Length
Loading...
Playlists If you like Desolation Wilderness, check out these member playlists
Explore music recommended by Desolation Wilderness fans
Credits
- Barry Corliss - Mastering // Nicolas Zwart - Organ // Nicolas Zwart - Synthesizer // Nicolas Zwart - Guitar // Nicolas Zwart - Percussion // Nicolas Zwart - Glockenspiel // Nicolas Zwart - Vocals // Nicolas Zwart - Xylophone // Nicolas Zwart - Arp Echoplex // Nicolas Zwart - Computers // Nicolas Zwart - Vibraphone // Nicolas Zwart - Radio // Andrew Dorsett - Guitar // Andrew Dorsett - Piano // Andrew Dorsett - Drums // Adam Forest Oelsner - Bass // Adam Forest Oelsner - Percussion // Adam Forest Oelsner - Trombone // Evan Hashi - Drums // Shawn Parke - Artwork // Shawn Parke - Layout Design
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC