November 12, 2004 | Posted by mark at 3:51 AM

When the Wheels Cease to Spin

Nothing's Lost
Styrofoam - Couches in the Alley (ft. Ben Gibbard). *Sigh* And one for the ladies.

Listen. While I thoroughly enjoy Styrofoam, and I have been known to like the Gibbard kid in the past, I can't for the life of me figure out why they went with vocoder on this one. It seems like such a boner of a move. I mean, sure Gibb's vocals can be a little dry, but if you're looking for effects processing, go with Thom Yorke or something.

This comes off of the upcoming Nothing's Lost album. Styrofoam and Dntel have shared releases before, so it seems only natural that they share a vocal guest, right? The beats here are spot on, with a great little guitar loop, dusty drums, and enough squiggles to keep it interesting. The double tracked vocals are doing great, and you're thinking that it's going to be ok, and then Ben reaches for heights that he just can't hit, and then the auto-tuned vocoder kicks in.

Anyway, the new album is fucking excellent, and this minor production stumble should not keep you from checking it out. The cover art is spectacular. It drops on the 30th, and you can preorder it from Amazon. Also, if you want to hear more from these two, you can download Styrofoam's remix of the Postal Service's Nothing Better from iTunes. Hoorah!

*** I Just wanted to add that this new Styrofoam album is truly excellent. Start to finish, it's incredible. Markus Acher throws in some guitar parts, ndrew Kenny from American Analogue Set is on there, some japanese noise singing, etc. It's incredible. It's next level pop stuff that's definitely worth listening to.

later kids.

Comments

I really like that, even the Vocoder bit. I'm still not too keen on Deathcab, but I'll be damned if Ben Gibbard doesn't get to me every time. And as impressive as these Styrofoam people sound, let's see if THEY ever play for the United States Postal Service conference.

Posted by: David at November 12, 2004 2:18 PM

I actually like this song a lot,and I thought the vocoder was fine, makes it sounds a little different from The Postal Service. But, thanks for this song!

Posted by: caley at November 12, 2004 4:51 PM

Thanks for the amazing track! I didn't know about the remix of 'Nothing Better', I'll have to check that one out.

Posted by: brian at November 12, 2004 5:18 PM

This track has a fresh sound from what is typically released these days. It has a soundtrack quality about it that elicits that yearning in the listener so rare to most.

Posted by: w conner at November 12, 2004 5:45 PM

Nice! My brother adores Styrofoam but I haven't really paid attention to their stuff. But this is good. And really, Ben Gibbard should quit Deathcab and just stick with the Postal Service even if it means having to cross-promote everything.

Posted by: anna at November 13, 2004 9:52 AM

I would just like to point out that when Mark posted this entry, the iTunes indie sampler was indeed at the iTunes music store. You'll now find that if you click on the link, it says that the item won't be in-store until 2038. Those Apple folks sure plan far in advance.

Posted by: David at November 13, 2004 11:20 AM

While you're on the Berlin-based music thing, here are a few more MP3s worth checking out:

Klangkrieg Produktionen: Mondomarc's "Century of Calm":
http://www.klangkrieg-produktionen.de/mp3/mondomarc/mondomarc_century%20of%20calm.mp3

City Slang: Schneider TM's "Reality Check" (Which is kind of an oldie)
http://www.cityslang.com/mp3/schneidertm_reality_check.mp3

Rewika Records: Star Maps: On the Counter (Demo)
http://www.solarscape.de/STAR_MAPS_ON_THE_COUNTER.mp3

Posted by: Berlin Blogger at November 18, 2004 7:27 PM

hello im desperate for this song and came across it on here. alas, your link hates me. and it hates me alot. mind helping a sistah out?

thanks a mill

Posted by: Marie at May 31, 2005 9:23 PM
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