George & Caplin definitely do not reach a new creative height with this release, but they seem to want to scratch some experimentative itch with a double-disc offering. Disc two (titled Requiem For An Encyclopedia<\/i>) is a 11-minute piece, cut up into tiny chunks of identical music pieces that keep repeating (12 tracks in all) with small variations in each version. The tracks can be shuffled every which way to form new songs, and ever so slightly different versions of the disc; it\u2019s quite a novel concept indeed. But the first disc \u2013 the actual album \u2013 is the real meat and a less radical way of consuming this CD set. <\/p>\n
The duo doesn\u2019t want to get too comfortable in its folky indie lo-fi skin, or that\u2019s what it seems like, with their different musical approach on Selected Malls & Scenic Byways<\/i>, disc one of the double CD set.<\/i><\/p>\n
Selected Malls<\/i> has a much denser overall sound, which is far less earthy than the organic folksiness that the band\u2019s previous efforts so eloquently managed to incorporate. In this mostly instrumental record, with all but three numbers having vocals, the instrumentals have a surreal quality, with the muted instruments making beautiful but slightly spooky sounds. In this manner, Selected Malls<\/i> is a darker and more mysterious record than the band\u2019s previous ones. <\/p>\n
Comforting acoustic guitars still dominate the musical landscape of this record. But the electric guitars make Selected Malls<\/i> an ominous \u201cGeorge & Caplin\u201d record, with \u201cSleep Deep\u201d being the most morose amongst the tracks. The vocals are melancholic and dreamy. Like a shoegazer or a trip-hop act, the vocals definitely don\u2019t have even a hint of cheer. Although \u201cGoth\u201d is not a term one would use in association with George & Caplin, but Selected Malls<\/i> definitely has some Goth bone on it. <\/p>\n
Requiem For An Encyclopedia \/ Selected Malls<\/i> is George & Caplin\u2019s most sonically rich and most elaborate work yet. Underneath the deceivingly \u201cambient\u201d exterior, the musical tapestry is exquisite and beautiful. This is the band\u2019s best work, without doubt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":30496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7239],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-42161","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-george-caplin","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42161"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}