pop*eye...Very Truly Yours—Things You Used To Say (2011)

POP*EYE
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— from Chicago —

Very Truly Yours
Things You Used To Say (2011)

*I proud to highly
Recommended!*

If the latest release, Things You Used to Say, from Chicago indie pop group Very Truly Yours is to be summed up in one word, it would be “cute”. I’m talking puppies playing, kittens mewing, baby sea turtles trying to walk on land “cute”.

Released earlier this spring, Things You Used to Say is filled with such sweet, soft pop that it gave this reviewer a toothache -- but in a good way! From the precious girl-bunny in a pink tutu on the cover of the album to the burst of pink and purple posies on the inside, the entire album is like one big happy sigh from your heart.

Every song on the album is filled with delicate soprano and alto harmonies from lead vocalist Kristine Capua and her airy backing vocalist Katie Watkins. Very Truly Yours takes the light, dainty vocal sounds from bands like The Sundays, Mazzy Star, The Murmurs and mashes them together with whimsical song structure from bands like The Cardigans, The Softies and adds touches of Motown with lots and lots of xylophone.

Very Truly Yours opens their album with “I’d Write You a Song”. It’s an upbeat, chimey number filled with handclaps, show choir harmonies and organs. But Capua almost whispers in her little girl voice, “I’d write you a song if I had to, but I don’t know what I’d say. I’d have to imagine you went away.” (Insert collective “Awwww!” here). Capua threads these slightly melancholy yet still innocent lyrics throughout the album, and they are a nice contrast from the overtly adorable music.

You can really hear an indie-Motown sound on the album’s second song, “Homesick”. Capua melts herself even more in the background and becomes more of an extra instrument in the song as opposed to a lead vocalist. She draws out the harmonies a bit more at the end of every lyrical phrase with Watkins reminiscent of Diana Ross and The Supremes on a much quieter level.

The song “Puddles” is about as precious as it gets on Things You Used to Say. Lisle Mitnik takes the lead with his guitar, bringing in a little ‘50’s pop. Drummer Andy Rogers also moves to the foreground with his beat, becoming more of the backbone to the song and really giving a focused drive. I do like the dreamy style of Capua, but sometimes she does need a little more grounding in her songs. Otherwise, I fear she’d float off in to the clouds a pink balloon. Using Rogers in a song like “Puddles” helps to keep her feet on the ground.

Capua’s vocals are also a little too soft at times – not her voice itself, but the actual mixing volume on the track. The result is that on record, it sounds like she doesn’t have a very strong voice, but what she does have she uses so well. In many songs on the album, I feel like she is hiding in her music. I really want to hear her as a vocalist. Often her voice hiccups or she cracks on notes, but it only emphasizes her as a unique voice so much more. It suits the music and makes her a distinctive vocalist, rather than just another girl singing in the mic.

Capua puts a little more “umph” into the album’s title track. Bassist Dan Hyatt dons the guitar on this one, turning it a pinch more toward an older country/western sound. Watkins focuses more on her piano playing in this one with a light, happy beat that could almost take the place of the drums.

When you break the album down, it’s very impressive. Taking very unexpected elements from songs and vocals and putting them together has made Very Truly Yours a talented band. In the future, it might benefit them to move away from blatantly endearing and stretch themselves into some different sounds. However, this band is full of real talent, It’s freaking precious.

“end-of-summer-going-into-winter pop.”





All about
Very Truly Yours

One day a girl found a message in a bottle. The message was from a person she'd never met in a place she'd never been. Every day, the girl would read the message and every night she would write a song. She would imagine all the things the person would do, the things they would see and the sounds they would hear. This went on for some time until one day the girl took all of the songs and put them in a bottle. She went down to the ocean where she found the message and wrote a letter telling the person about all the songs she'd written about them. She signed the letter "Very Truly Yours" and threw the bottle into the ocean, hoping it might one day it might reach that place she'd never been and find the person she'd never met.

	kristine voice, guitars
	billie keyboards, violin
	lisle guitars
	brian the bass guitar
	andy the drums

for inquiries, please contact verytrulymusic @ gmail . com
verytrulymusic
Myspace/verytrulymusic
Facebook/verytrulymusic

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*Porta's favourite!*

"My personal favorite
Fresh new artist!"

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“This album leaves me feeling all warm, fuzzy and with the need to hug everything!”



the portastylistic

Portastudio Playlist: A COSY SOUNDTRACK FOR WEEKEND+Live Session 81

A COSY SOUNDTRACK
FOR WEEKEND
+LIVE SESSION 81

portastudio

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Her beautifully crafted, minimal songs beam delicate folk harmonies
and lustrous vocals while pop sensation Russian Red and her band
return to the show to perform a live music set. Joining us in our playlist
for a second time is Folk/Pop/Indie delight Russian Red.
The Cosy weekend playlist brings together exclusive
live music from our favourite Artists around the world
throughout for the Quiet night life of weekend.

ARTIST
THIS WEEK IN PLAYLIST

— Russian Red
Lourdes Hernández is a singer-songwriter based in Madrid, Spain.
The moniker for Lourdes comes from a lipstick color she frequently uses.
She has been recognized with such awards as Pop Eye's
Best Debut Album (2008) and Best Female Artist (2009), as well as
received three nominations for the Spanish National Music Awards.
Her music has also permeated the worlds of film, television and advertising,
featuring prominently in campaigns for such companies as Häagen Dazs.
Recently, her song "Loving Strangers" from Julio Medem's film
_Room in Rome_ received a Goya nomination for Best Song.
By the Soundtrack Weekend inaugural music guideline with exclusive
live music from Portastudio's playlist, so conclude+Live music performing
at the perfect way and welcome to your life join with the cosy music
performs a set of songs on your cosy weekend night!

{01} 'January 14th' | {02} 'Fuerteventura' | {03} 'The Trees, The Sun'

{04} 'I hate you but I love you' | {05} 'Cigarettes' | {06} 'You're just the girl'

*{07} 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' | {08} 'A hat' | {09} 'Loving strangers'
*Cyndi Lauper Cover

{10} 'Brave Soldier' | {11} 'The Letters' | {12} 'The memory is cruel'
| *{13} 'Loving Strangers'
*Encore

— RECENT REVIEW
ARTISTS TO WATCH—WHAT NEXT?
~Band Idol 2008~
Angels Woman...Russian Red
—
Portastudio Playlist:
A COSY SOUNDTRACK FOR WEEKEND+Live Session 27
'Cigarettes' by Russian Red | Track 03

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—RECENT +live SESSION

ARCHIVES

Catch up with previous +live sessions of A COSY SOUNDTRACK FOR WEEKEND Series

+LIVE SESSION 80
20 August 2011
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+LIVE SESSION 79
16 August 2011
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+LIVE SESSION 78
6 August 2011
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Listen to A COSY SOUNDTRACK FOR WEEKEND
ALL +LIVE SESSION REVIEW
...................................................................................

—ABOUT A COSY PLAYLIST

In 2010, the Portastudio Playlist proud to presents A Cosy Soundtrack For Weekend+live Session, Is a cosy music smart playlist and feature interviews. From our panel which also includes selected by the Portastylistic. We focus on the inaugural music guideline, Our favourite musical talent with exclusive live music from around the world to the week ahead.

This Cosy life night weekend for your experience cosy music playlist with some familiar on your cosy night in pop sensation. our panel which also includes selected by the Portastylistic.

A Cosy Soundtrack For Weekend+live Session goes live every Saturday at 8pm. Bkk, Thailand time on Mixpod and right here at theportastylistic.blogspot.com.

***

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PORTASTUDIO PLAYLIST
A COSY SOUNDTRACK FOR WEEKEND +LIVE SESSION
BY
The PORTASTYLISTIC


...................................................................................

“EVERYDAY HAS A SOUNDTRACK!”

-the portastylistic

New Modern Classic...BADOU•R45—Fall 2011

BADOU•R45
Fall 2011
Our new look-book at 45rpm stores.

BADOU•R45
— Fall 2011



View collection more on > BADOU•R45


*Porta's recommended!*
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BADOU•R45—Spring 2011 look-book

45′ Ai Indigo studio 2011 shop in Paris

BADOU•R45—Summer 2010 look-book

R by 45rpm—Spring/Summer 2010 look-book

R by 45rpm—Winter 2008 look-book

R by 45rpm—Denim Eastern shirt


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45rpm Store
from Porta's Retail Adventure!- in TokyoSurvey


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"Classic collection always looks great in the well styled!"

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Porta's Listen!...Active Child—You Are All I See (2011)

“Active Child's sound now seems positively ahead of its time!”

Active Child
You Are All I See (2011)

*I proud to highly
Recommended!*

If R. Kelly, Bon Iver and Sigur Ros had an imaginary three-way and birthed a prodigy, his name would undoubtedly be Active Child (aka Pat Grossi). His knack for mixing sensual R&B lyrics, haunting falsetto and impeccably sequenced strings is downright devastating, all unneeded sexual imagery aside.

Grossi moved back to L.A. from Denver in 2008 to carve out his musical niche: the impossibly difficult pseudo-dubstep, high pitched harmony domain that very few have been able to fully master. After Mirror Universe’s Sun Rooms cassette and a British import single were released in 2010, we began to hear the echoes of distorted electronic frustration brimming throughout every inch of this stunning debut.

Though title track “You Are All I See” is an excellent starting point, bursting with layers upon layers of his beautiful harp strings, “Hanging On” is the sort of song Grossi could really hang his hat on. It begins with a solid underwater synthesizer punctuated by low frequency intonations that expertly meld into his heavenly shouts. The bass rolls in at the precise moment he drops his tenor to a sanguine baritone, welcoming us into his broken heart. The song sounds and feels exactly like its title. With each muffled drum machine and phased out melody we feel his carnal pain building inside until it has nowhere left to go but down. Sidebar: The White Sea remix takes that yearning into the stratosphere by incorporating a children’s choir and what sounds like one of the thousands of drums used in the 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony.

T-Pain himself couldn’t have Auto-Tuned the opening line in “Playing House”, “Just cuz it feels good baby”, any better than Grossi and indie darlings How to Dress Well did on this babymaking, let’s-get-it-on number. The Flight of the Conchords classic “Business Time” serves as an excellent comparison for the way the dueling vocals eventually find a happy medium, and both are about well…getting down to “business”.
The album stumbles a bit when we get to “See Thru Eyes” and “High Priestess” which are both a little too vast and expansive for their own good. The trademark production value is there, along with the superb pipes, but they lack the same pops and hooks that are present in the beginning.

And, yes, in case you were wondering there is a radiant instrumental residing at Track #6. “Ivy” is all about showcasing Grossi’s ridiculous harpist bard qualities and reminding us just how meaningless lyrics are in the presence of a lush, complex soundscape.

For those of us who are suicidal and on the verge of frenzy, “Ancient Eye” may not be the best song to listen to after a bad day. “Shield and Sword” is just as bleak, replete with menacing laser-like tracks followed by a few clever bars of whimsical harp. The last song, “Johnny Belinda”, is some sort of tragic love song trapped in its own sea of confusion and Gregorian chants.

In fact, this whole album is one tragic love ballad. We may not always fully understand what Grossi is saying, but his drowned out desperation is the only touchstone we need. The one artist that immediately came to mind when I heard his voice for the first time is the post-modern moans of Scott Walker (of The Walker Brothers fame). Princeton featured Grossi in their video of The Walker Brothers “The Electrician”. It jumps back and forth between a lonely ballerina practicing in her warm insulated room while Grossi is pummeled to a bloody mess by the fuzz. Maybe this is how he imagines his musical world, one where beauty always triumphs over the beast.

The buzz:

“Choral disco for seraphim with dirty faces.”

The truth:

“Unless we've been remiss, this marks the first appearance of the word "sarcophagi" in a pop song.”

Most likely to:

“Cast a spell.”

Least likely to:

“Call his debut album It Takes An Incantation of Millions ...”

What to buy:

“The seven-inch single She Was a Vision b/w Voice of An Old Friend is released by Transparent on 18 January.”

File next to:

“OMD, Washed Out, Tears for Fears, Hurts.”

All about
Active Child

For Pat Grossi of Active Child, the last two years have been nothing short of enriching. Musically, Pat has worked within and appropriated a number of styles into his sound, from his early days singing with that heavenly voice as a choir boy to his more recent forays into laptop-assisted indiepop made in his bedroom, best exemplified on 2010's acclaimed Curtis Lane EP. His sound is so wide-ranging that he has found himself touring with many notable acts of differing genres, including dubstep producer James Blake, dreamy synth-pop of School of Seven Bells, and the indierock bands White Lies and White Rabbits.

The grand, cinematic scope of Pat's artistic vision is apparent on You Are All I See, which owes as much to his wide array of influences as it does to Pat's own knack for employing these influences in fresh, forward thinking ways. With triumphant synths and shimmering, contrapuntal harp lines, songs like the title track and `Hanging On' are reminiscent of Radiohead's `Motion Picture Soundtrack,' but improve upon that template with layered vocals not far removed from Bon Iver or even James Blake, who Active Child recently opened for on tour. The album is indebted to the sounds of the 1980s, from New Order's drums-and-synths to danceable hip-hop beats, and it's all topped off with soaring r&b melodies.

The album's first single, "Playing House," features guest vocals from Tom Krell, the crooner of lo-fi r&b project How To Dress Well. Pitchfork Media recently premiered the track, noting "Active Child's sound now seems positively ahead of its time."

"One of our Best Synthepop album Artist to Watch in 2011!"

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"Rising fresh hymntronica!"

the portastylistic