Let’s give Dan his own thread because he really deserves one and has just released a new and interesting (soundtrack) album.
First got into the guy after listening to Spiderman Of The Rings. Great album that had so many fundamental elements that just shouldn’t work together but did. Then saw him live and absolutely loved how he’d overcome the difficulty in playing live as a solo electronic artist into something that was an incredible experience all round. I was so disappointed that he never released Silence Like The Wind Overtakes Me was just the best song live, unapologetic euphoria.
I remember his photo used to come up on Look At This Fucking Hipster and sites of that ilk for a while which though disappointing was hardly surprising considering how ridiculously he used to dress. I just loved the fact that he did not seem to give one shit about how he was being perceived or reacted to and just did whatever he felt like doing regardless. I loved the whole idea of Wham City with yer funny dancing man et al in Baltimore making this ridiculous music inside this bubble.
I gave a little listen to his earlier albums, but they were mostly unlistenable and could only loosely be described as songs, more like a bunch of ideas. That Drinking Out Of Cups going viral was a bit weird with its shit video made by Liam Lynch, but there weren’t many other highlights.
He then went and started to ‘grow up’ with Bromst, introducing multiple live drummers to his live-show while keeping the core interactive parts in there. I’ll admit I was a bit sceptical at first, because the new Dan jarred a bit with the absolutely ludicrous person he was before, and each time I saw him live, those things he did to get the crowd to interact had become more like tropes that got in the way of this wall of sound he was now building.
America was massively ambitious with the catchier songs up front so as not to upset those who just wanted the Dan of old, but with that four part USA piece at the end being one of the best things he’s done in my opinion, and showing that there was a hell of a lot more to him as his music became more orchestral and, well, massive.
I found Gliss Riffer a bit of a disappointment at first, as it seemed to be a step backward in the ambition of what came before, sounding a bit like he was retreading some of his older ideas with his more intricate instrumentation. Saying that though, listening back, it was a damn good collection of songs and with SOTR starting to sound dated, it’s probably the album I put on most nowadays alongside Bromst.
I never heard the soundtrack to Twixt he did with Francis Ford Coppola, but enjoyed his chat about it. The episodes of Improv 4 Humans he’s been on are some of the only ones I’ve enjoyed of that show too. All round seems like a great person.
Anyway, first listen through on the new album sounds great and now there’s a Dan Deacon thread.