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Phoneyhome SOTF 011 April 28, 2009 |
Digital $6.00 |
CD $10.00 |
Stream
She Has the Fakest Loudest Laugh
She
Has the Fakest Loudest Laugh
Track List
1. Phoneyhome
2. She Has the Fakest Loudest Laugh
3. Damascus (Slow)
4. Are You There God? It's Me, Matthew Dake
5. Bodyhome (for Merrill)
Description
You Are Home's third release, Phoneyhome, starts off aggressive, psychedelic and introspective and sets the tone for the rest of the album which is entirely instrumental. Each song builds up to its calculated climax, as does the album as a whole.
Notes
"Phoneyhome," "Damascus (Slow)" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Matthew Dake" were recorded at The Spacement by Bryon Dudley and mixed by Matthew Dake and Bryon Dudley. "She Has the Fakest Loudest Laugh" was recorded at Hole in the Wall by Tom Reneker and mixed by Matthew Dake. "Bodyhome (for Merrill)" was recorded at Hole in the Wall by Erik Knudtson and Matthew Dake and mixed by Matthew Dake. Phoneyhome was mastered by Matthew Dake and Bryon Dudley. All songs were written and performed by Matthew Dake.
Press
You Are Home is solely made up of Matthew Dake as bassist, multi-instrumentalist & songwriter and Phoneyhome is his baby. The creation of this band though goes back to the brain work of Dake and a drummer by the name of Breighton Engeman. Engeman eventually left the band and in return left it all up to Matthew to bring it all home. Dake has done just that by inventing a piece of work that is far from phony. This record is quite the opposite as it produces a highly original taste of music. There was extra help in the studio to make this audio art display come to life.
You Are Home’s sound is definitely unconventional with the bass and drums being at the core. Dake then adds in a progressive rock feel to go along with moments of psychedelic, electronic grooves. The entire project is instrumental and it comes off as extremely mind-bending & creative-to-the-bone. Matthew Dake will take you on a journey through sound by way of five songs of complexion. He will take you on a trip where you will not feel like you’re home; you will feel like you’ve entered another world.
What I picked up on was some impressive use of sound here by way of instrumentation & electronics. It appeared, to me, to be an eruption of audio to make way for a musical explosion. The tracks were all very cool, hip and lively but also distinctly different, tribal & trippy at times. I would even combine hypnotic and trippy to say a lot of this material was tripnotic. Wildly intriguing music to go along with some true rocked out moments thanks in big part to the bass ‘n’ drums combo. There was even a warped out effect throughout most of Phoneyhome that was immensely noticeable.
The last number, “bodyhome (for Merrill)”, is so out-of-the-ordinary with its magical rainbow imagery. Here you are hearing a wonderful array of sounds/sound effects coming from all directions. You get spacey notes with a very inter-dimensional aura. Enter the galactic as you travel into far reaches of the universe. Join Matthew Dake as you proceed to blast off into another realm of music making. For more on You Are Home and the new release, Phoneyhome, SKOPE out www.myspace.com/emoherauoy.
- Jimmy Rae (jrae@skopemag.com)
You Are Home is the one man band consisting of Matthew Dake. Phoney is an entirely instrumental disc...but these aren't the kind of instrumentals we are accustomed to hearing. Instead of computer-generated crap or technology driven progressive dinosaur music, these five tracks are simple and direct pieces with the main focus being live percussion and guitars. And instead of a super slick sound...the tracks on this disc have a nice, raw, rough sound that is particularly appealing. In some ways, Dake's approach to writing and recording reminds us of The Feelies. Rhythms drive the music in a big way with guitars utilized to strengthen and accentuate the rhythms. We particularly like the hard driving sounds we're hearing in "Damascus (Slow)." Interesting harsh stuff with a difference. (Rating: 4++++)
- LMNOP aka dONW7
You Are Home is a studio project and one man
band. Ames, Iowa's Matthew Dake started the project with
drummer Breighton Engeman in 2003. Engeman has since moved
on, and Dake took on the challenge of writing and performing
all songs on his own, staying with the original formula of
drums and bass with other instruments as they seems
appropriate. You Are Home's debut EP, Phoneyhome,
features the manic energy of one man trapped alone in a
studio and playing for his life.
Phoneyhome opens with the title track, a
psychedelic and energetic instrumental that careens along
the edges of madness just for fun. The highly rhythmic
nature of the song sets the tone for the listener, setting
off on a jazz rhythm with a simple bass line and an urgent
feel. She Has The Fakest Loudest Laugh shifts into
Heavy Rock gear in a song that begs for a vocal line and
some serious electric guitar. Damascus (slow)
follows a similar path, although with atypical compositional
structure that would not serve a vocal line well.
Damascus descends into noise as percussive chords are
played repeatedly in nonets (sets of nine) separated by
ultimately brief reprieves. You Are Home slows things down
on Are You There God? It's me, Matthew Dake. Sound
and atmosphere take precedence here over anything like
structure of melody, a sort of ambient-organic Drum N Bass
composition. Phoneyhome concludes with Bodyhome (For
Merrill), an early Rock/Rhythm N Blues riff on bass and
drums that gets pulled into variations and sidebars as if in
an impromptu jam session. It's a pleasant listen, but
ultimately repetitive.
Phoneyhome is essentially a collection of five rhythm tracks
with experimental and shoegaze tendencies. These are
interesting for what they are, but don't really seem to have
any lasting significance unless you are a bass player or
drummer. The songs tend toward the highly repetitive,
focusing on the sound rather than melody or development as
musical ideas. There is a market for this sort of thing, but
it's likely a very small demographic. What's done here is
done flawlessly; it's just not something that will hold the
attention of most listeners.
Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)
You can learn more about You Are Home at
www.myspace.com/emoherauoy. You can purchase
Phoneyhome as a digital download via
iTunes.
- Wildy
Instrumental, minimalist shoe gaze for those who think words just get in the way. Trippy music for college kids that want to take slacking to a new level, it is what it is, left field division.
- Chris Spector
The newest album from You Are Home
arrived in my office a few weeks ago, and I've been waiting
to review it because I wanted to be sure I had a few times
to listen to it, first. The style is strange. It's hard to
pinpoint how you would classify them. That's a good quality
to have. I like listening to a band and saying to myself
DAMN, THESE GUYS ARE UNIQUE. THEY HAVE THEIR OWN STYLE AND
THAT SETS THEM APART FROM MOST OTHER BANDS. Of course, I
don't ever really say that. But, if I decided to start
saying sentences like that, then I could start with this
band.
I think I'm more of a fan of this album because of the
creativity that went into making the packaging. It's very
simple. It stands out in my CD collection. I'm sure that Al
Gore would approve of this packaging, too. It's high-quality
glossy photo paper, folded in half. That's it. There you go.
Bam. Suck it, plastic jewel cases.
Their bio states that you can classify them as POP/ROCK,
SHOEGAZE, MATH ROCK, and PROG-ROCK. I've never
heard the term math rock before, but this is
definitely the day and age where people make up their own
words and terms, so I guess it's alright to use that word.
There are only 5 songs on this album, which might make you
feel like you're getting the short end of the stick, but I'm
not so sure you could handle more songs. You need to take it
slow when listening to YOU ARE HOME. Start off with
these 5 songs, then see them live. I'm sure they play more
than 5 songs live. If you are still able to handle it, then
see about finding a bootleg cassette tape from one of their
performances. Then you should have more than enough songs to
satisfy your craving of YOU ARE HOME. Just remember
that I did NOT tell you to do that.
Purchase this damn album!
- Andy Wilkins
This is the kind of album in which a would-be music critic might try to impress others by labeling it with trendy, catch-phrase terms like “math rock” or “shoegaze.” But at the end of the day, Ames-based You Are Home’s new album, “Phoneyhome,” is best described simply as “instrumental rock.” Attempting to sub-categorize experimental bass and drums augmented by sound effects would be disingenuous to the wide open musical palette in which You Are Home’s multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Matthew Dake works. From the jazzy opening title track, to the distorted guitar-driven “She Has the Fakest Loudest Laugh,” to the dreamy “Are You There God? It’s Me, Matthew Dake,” to the intense, 16-minute jam of “Bodyhome,” Dake and company draw from several genres and influences. What’s more, three of the tracks clock in at slightly more than three minutes in length — a rarity for instrumentalists
- Michael Swanger