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Head Like a Kite

There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere

(Mush; US: 20 May 2008; UK: Unavailable)

Again produced and mixed by Brian Deck of Modest Mouse and Iron & Wine fame, the sophomore album from Head Like a Kite continues the found sound and Super 8 home movie sampling as filtered through LCD Soundsystem style electro pop. Like the debut, Sushirobo founder Dave Einmo’s guitar sound still apes late ‘90s, but the synth programming has clearly evolved. Tossing in the odd bit of string and street noise, the compositions on There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere seem more confident and developed across the board. “We Were So Entangled” sounds like the DFA producing a new Capitol K track, with a raunchy synth lead, repeating megaphone vocals, pounding drums, funky electric guitar, and a touch of brass and glitch. It is a born single. “Big FM Radio Hit” probably won’t be as it says, but as a straight-ahead rocker with a memorable “alright” rock chorus, it deserves a lot of indie play. All that adds up to about the most widely accessible record released by Mush in recent memory.

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Ranta is a music geek from East Vancouver. He spends most of his time researching, procuring, listening to, and writing about music. Since 2004, his work has appeared in such publications as Exclaim!, CBC Music, Tiny Mix Tapes, and PopMatters, and he has been a Polaris Music Prize juror since 2010. He graduated from SFU's Contemporary Arts program with a BFA in music in Summer 2011.


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5 Oct 2010
Head Like a Kite’s guest-heavy third album is a glitchy, choppy and undeniably catchy 12-song set that brings the sunshine to the clouds of krautrock rhythm and a lightning bolt of whimsical harmony to the abstract hip-hop landscape.
13 Jul 2006
The concept has been done before, and by better musicians, countless times over.
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