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Avg: 4.0 (248 ratings)
- Date Released: June 23, 2009
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Indie Rock, Alternative
- Label: Ghostly International / IODA
The return of Deastro!
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We Say...
When we last saw our wunderkind young hero, Randolph Chabot was making his debut on eMusic Selects with Keeper's, an incredible electropop record way beyond its years. Clearly Chabot's talents were noticed: since, he has signed with the excellent Ghostly International for Moondagger, his first official album. (Keeper's was sort of a best-of his solo home recordings.) Now armed with a label and a band, what fate awaits him?
You can certainly hear the differences between Keeper's and Moondance right off the bat — the wonky levels and occasional hiss have been swapped for polished sheen and layers upon layers of instrumentation. Among the standouts are "Tone Adventure #3," "Rivers of Life" and "Toxic Crusaders," all extremely well done and all big beneficiaries of the updated look.
The countless ideas — every song feels like it has at least thirty of them — and the manic energy are all very much Deastro, even when they come channeled through electro or goth or indie or whatever other style Chabot feels like taking on that week. The combination of his dilettante mindset and his focused talents is a powerful one, and Moondagger displays it wonderfully. -
They Say...
After Randolph Chabot released Keepers, a loose compilation of his output spanning a decade's worth of home recordings, from the ages of 12 to 22 -- he decided to take Deastro in a new direction by incorporating a live band and recording in an actual studio, this time with drummer Jeff Supina, guitarist Mark Smak, and bassist/keyboardist Brian Connelly. The result is surprising -- mainly because it really isn't all that different. In essence, Moondagger sounds more like a lap-top creation than an organic jam, with synthesizers coating everything in an '80s pastiche that's not too far off from M83's Saturdays=Youth or Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion. Even though the record is extremely electronic, it's still warm and colorful. Starry arpeggios fight it out and blur together in Deastro's headphone fantasy land as he conceptualizes a prince's quest for a mythical "moon dagger" that bequeaths ultimate power to whoever holds it. Like the album's concept, which comes from a dream that Chabot had, the listening experience is dreamlike in its wooshy and surreal grandeur. It's fitting that the concept sounds like it was inspired by He-Man (he had a power sword) or Lord of the Rings (the quest part), considering that Deastro's moniker is a play off the name of the bad guy in GI-Joe cartoons. Cartoonish as his songs may be, they're actually quite earnest, in spite of their irreverent titles and nebulous themes. Moondagger's centerpiece, "Daniel Johnston Was Stabbed in the Heart with the Moondagger by the King of Darkness and His Ghost Is Writing This Song as a Warning to All of Us," is a new wave dance blast with a peppy melody about rebuilding a damage-stricken city, and "Vermillon Plaza" plays like an eight-bit version of a U2 stadium anthem, with Chabot commanding, "beat our drum, because God is on our side." Because the album is so continuously lush and candy-coated with a shoegaze gleam, no particular song really sticks out. Instead, hooks surface slowly from the electro-wash, rewarding repeated listens.
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Rolling Stone
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| 01. |  |
Biophelia
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4:03 |
|
| 02. | |
Parallelogram
|
2:56 |
|
| 03. | |
Tone Adventure #3
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2:57 |
|
| 04. | |
Toxic Crusaders
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3:37 |
|
| 05. | |
Greens, Grays, And Nordics
|
3:53 |
|
| 06. | |
Day Of Wonder
|
3:25 |
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| 07. | |
Pyramid Builders
|
3:38 |
|
| 08. | |
Daniel Johnston Was Stabbed In The Heart With The Moondagger By The King Of Darkness And His Ghost Is Writing This Song As A Warning To All Of Us
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3:32 |
|
| 09. | |
Rivers Of Life
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1:58 |
|
| 10. | |
Vermillion Plaza
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3:50 |
|
| 11. | |
Moondagger
|
4:15 |
|
| 12. | |
Kurgan Wave Number One
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3:42 |
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| 13. | |
The Shaded Forests (Gift Giver’s Version)
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3:20 |
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| 14. | |
The Old And The Treacherous
|
3:14 |
|
14 Total Tracks, 48:20 Total Length
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Credits
- Joshua Eustis - Mixing // Andrew Davis - Engineer // Andrew Davis - Mixing
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Composers
Randolph Chabot Jr.
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