8. Lemon's Chair - I Hate? I Hope?

High Fader Records. 2010. 8 songs, 48 minutes.

Writing this Thursday night in the latest Amtrak train of the day, behind a man with a terrible cough. Hungry. Excited for this feelings review.  Hyped about this album. I tried writing this earlier in the week, but the fact that this CD release only exists in Youtube made this more complicated than usual. Are these some of the most hilarious troubles of late-stage capitalism? Lastfm says Lemon’s chair was a short-lived trio with a few releases in the early 2000s. The album art is hands down one of my favorites ever. Japanese shoegaze, here we go.

Update: lost wifi before the last 2 songs, so this is actually getting to you on Friday morning.

“Swallowtail” [what does this mean?] starts fading in with a lovely, timid, arpeggio that is soon accompanied by a rhythmic guitar, lo-fi sounding hi-hats, and a weird sampled noise, like those that they put in movies when things get rewinded. The build-up continues, and soon I get to those delay-filled, reverb, chorus, maybe some fuzz (?) guitar effects. That one guitar doing those dense, slow, bent notes sets itself apart. The rhythmic one gains other textures; did it always sound acoustic? Yes, I went back a few minutes and it did sound acoustic. The tempo of this song is very mellow, the drumming fills minimal and like it could just not be there. It does contribute some interesting patterns. The lead guitar is the protagonist, the song remains, slight changes in a cyclical pattern. At some point the arpeggios from the introduction return, then the fuzzy guitar with delay, then some wavy notes. Not much variation other than that, but this song is very nice in this forever A part. This could be the soundtrack of a number of sad short films. No singing I guess. This first song was over 8 minutes long.

“Virtus” starts with a simple guitar arpeggio on evidently acoustic guitar, followed by that minimalistic drumming. This rhythmic section sounds more artificial than the one of the first song.  I finally hear some voices, they are distant, female, thin and high pitched as Grimes’. No distinguishable words just some “ah ahhs.” The vibe on this one is different, less sad, more like those lo-fi beats that some people use to study. The song ended while I was still getting to know it. “Selsius” feels like a perfect blend between the sadder first song and the semi-cheerful second one. This one feels hopeful. IT is also based on a repeating pattern that gets things added, then things taken away, this seems to be the recipe for most of the songs in this album. There is a very simple bass line repeating four quarter notes, like a metronome with different pitches. At some point the guitars get bolder, but they always communicate restraint, as if not wanting to reeeally disturb the vibe. They feel distant. Sometimes I wish they were closer. No vocal melody or voices of any kind on that one either.

“Himmel” starts with another sad arpeggio with acoustic guitar, slower than the one before. The guitar that plays with effects in the background is less distorted, feeling very filtered, like coming to me via a tin can telephone. There is no bass or drums, just those two guitars and some added sounds such as those of kids playing in a park (maybe?) “Halcyon” sounds different than all the rest, more animated. The drums take a more protagonist role, they sound more echoey, less direct. The guitars have a nice combination of effects. One has a very vibrant tone with a ton of reverb and delay, this one creates the platform over which the cleaner one plays around in repetitive patterns. At some point the song gets more distorted and noisier. This is my favorite part of the record so far. Unsurprisingly, the distortion also becomes a platform in which the cleaner guitar makes up new, repetitive, patterns. There clearly is a formula to these songs. Not complaining, just observing. I like the end of the song, with the distorted guitar leaving the drums alone to finish the song in the same style that when it started. “Oblivion” feels like an interlude, not much going on other than delay-filled slow strumming and a few fillers here and there. The song is only like 2 minutes long.

“Vividness” starts slow, sad, probably the saddest. This is another arpeggio that gets soon complemented with a chord progression, this one very echoey, reverb+chorus+delay? Not much drumming other than some cymbals between sections during the first few minutes of the song. The drums come in after I write that, they feel programmed, predictable, unlike the more direct ones of “Halcyon” (my favorite song so far) or “Swallowtail.”  Soon the rhythmic part is silenced, and I’m back in the dialogue between the echoey guitars. Then the drums come back. The first arpeggio from the introduction has not changed, it must be looped. In the middle of the song there is suddenly an unpredictably loud and distorted chord progression, it covers every other sound but the cymbals. Whole notes, slow tempo. I enter into what feels like an outro with a guitar doing a solo over the distorted pattern and drums that feel more alive than in the first half of the song. After the louder section the song returns to the sad initial arpeggio and dies there (after a few minutes)—this song was over 12 minutes long.

“Deracine” is interesting, starts with a marching band style drumming, and then comes the slow reverb-filled arpeggios. The song builds slowly – like all songs in this album did. The guitar doing chords feels so echoey it sometimes sounds more like a harpsichord. Unsurprising dropping of the drums, and then re-introduction of the drums. This marching-band style drumming gives the song an interesting pace. After the second drop of drums they return with a different, syncopated rhythm. The harpsichord-like guitar is what remains constant throughout the song, with the other guitar (or the same guitar playing over a loop?) playing around the cyclical structure. By the end of the song comes some interesting horn-like sounds, distant in the mix. The guitars reclaim their protagonist role towards the end. The song finishes with the marching band like drumming.

Here’s the album for you to have a listen:

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