Notes - The music blog
Notes: An Introduction to...American Analog Set
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Starting out from the ashes of Electric Company, American Analog Set went for a more soothing, droning sound when grunge and alternative rock were dominating the charts.
The first LP of the Austin quartet, The Fun of Watching Fireworks, it's one of the finest examples of drone-rock, characterised by slow, ambient like sounds that repeat, sometimes reaching a climax, most of the times just dissolving like distant echoes.
Although keeping their understated, intimate sound was the reason they got praise from both indie and hipster media, their later albums (from the critically acclaimed Know by Heart onwards) found them a little more accessible, and sometimes, rocking, but still maintaining that sense of longing and dream pop that characterised them.
Their last world tour in 2007 ended with the band going into the dreaded “hiatus” of which few bands ever seem to recover nowadays, a pity, as their lo-fi music is a sorely missed slice of peace in today's world of overcompressed music.
Check some of their best stuff at the following link:
Some related drone artists that you might want to check are:
The Postal Service (who have done a split album with AmAnSet lead singer, Andrew Kenny)
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