Fulton Lights: The Underdog of '07!
Andrew Spencer Goldman
1. Are you kidding me? You haven't bought the limited edition Fulton
Lights album yet? What are you waiting for!?! Get a move on before
they sell out-- http://catbirdrecords.com/csp_001.shtml
2. Fulton Lights' debut is CMJ's 10th most added album of the week for
college/indie radio!! ...Sun Kil Moon (11th) cries himself to sleep,
wishes he were an 8-piece; Top 9 look over their shoulder and quiver
in fear... Internet radio station 3WK (www.3wk.com) is going to be
giving away a few copies of the album beginning at the end of this
week, so be sure to tune in...
3.The Blogs Must Be Crazy! The avalanche of glowing reviews
continues, with ace blogs Fingertips, Kinky Origami, Captain's Dead,
Cokemachine Glow, and others all chiming in on the sweetness! More
reviews below....
--
I. There are still copies of the limited edition version of the album
left, but not for much longer! For those with short memories or those
that are just joining us, the ltd edition version (being released by
Catbird Records in cahoots with my own Android Eats Records) comes
with different packaging and a bonus cd of remixes by Strategy (Kranky
Records, Audio Dregs), Nick Forte (Schematic Records, Soft Abuse
Records), and Still (Ipecac, Public Guilt) as well as an unreleased
track. The regular version (which will be released on March 6th by
Android Eats Records) is itself a thing of beauty--a gorgeous 4 panel
digipak with a 6 panel insert, all with striking,
dark, moody photos courtesy of William Lamson (www.williamlamson.com).
The limited edition, in addition to different packaging, will also
feature five more of Lamson's photos. There are only 150 copies, and
once they're gone, they're gone! Hustle! http://catbirdrecords.com/
csp_001.shtml. Need more convincing? Read on!
**
II. The debut from Fulton Lights charted in CMJ as the 10th most
added record of the past week! That's unexpected, great news. Below
are the list of stations that are playing the album thus far. There
are more to come, but for now take a look at the list. If you happen
to be a listener at any of these, don't hesitate to call/email the
stations and request that they play the sweet stuff more often!
3WK St. Louis MO (Internet--www.3wk.com)
WOXY (Internet--www.woxy.com)
CHMR St. Johns NL-Canada (709) 737-7935
CJAM Dearborn MI ( C) 963-6112 ex: 3630
KBVR Corvallis OR 737-4962
KCOU Columbia MO 573.882.8262
KJHK Lawrence KS ( C) 785-864-4747
KKSM San Marcos CA (760) 744-1150 ext. KKSM (5576)
KMNR Rolla MO 573-341-4272
KUCI Irvine CA ( C) 949-824-5824
KUMD Duluth MN ( C) 1-800-566-KUMD
KVCU -1 Boulder CO ( C) 303-492-1190 d...@radio1190.org
KVSC St. Cloud MN (320) 308-5872
KWCW Walla Walla WA (509) 527-5283
Rainy Dawg Radio Seattle WA 206.543.7675 yo...@rainydawg.org
WAKE Winston-Salem NC 336.758.5129
WBAR New York NY 212.854.9944
WCKS Allendale MI
WECI Richmond IN 765.962.3541
WERU -2 East Orland ME (A) 207.469.6600
WGLS Glassboro NJ 856-863-WGLS wg...@rowan.edu
WITR Rochester NY ( C) (M) 585-475-2271
WIUX Bloomington IN (812) 855-WIUX (9489)
WMSC Upper Montclair NJ 973 655 4256
WMUC College Park MD
WMXM Lake Forest IL (847) 735-6038
WNMC Traverse City MI (A)
WPTS Pittsburgh PA (412) 383 9787
WPVM Ashville NC (828)258-0085
WQHS Philadelphia PA 215-898-3500 requ...@wqhs.org
WRIR Richmond VA 804-649-9737
WRPI Troy NY ( C) (M) 518-276-6248
WSCA Portsmouth NH (603) 430-9722
WSFX Nanticoke PA m
WTBU Boston MA (617) 353-6400
WTCC Springfield MA ( C) (M)
WTUL Baton Rouge LA ( C) (M) 504.865.5885
WVUM Miami FL ( C) (305) 284-5786
WTMD Towson MD (playing it, but not added yet)
**
III. OH LORD, AND THE PRESS!! Y'all already know about the love from
Spin, HeroHill, and Smother, but unless you've been keeping frequent
tabs on the Myspace page, you probably don't know about the veritable
deluge of glowing reviews that keep pouring in. 8 out of 10 from
American UK! 5+ out of 6 from Baby Sue! 4.2 out of 5 from Silent
Uproar! And lawdy how the blogs do love it. Noteworthy blogs such as
Kinky Origami, Fingertips, Each Note Secure, Cokemachine Glow, and
many more have lined up to give the album props! More blogs than you
can shake a stick at! Blogs, blogs, blogs! And more blogs! Some of
the buzz is pasted below, feel free to read if you have a free minute
or 20.
Much love and thanks to all. Let's keep it movin'!
-Andy
www.fultonlights.com
www.myspace.com/andrewspencermusic
www.androideatsrecords.com
--
(4.2 out of 5) "An album three years in the making, Fulton Lights's
eponymous debut ventures into entirely different territory than its
brainchild's previous engagements--namely, Maestro Echoplex and John
Guilt. Though none of Andrew Goldman's projects prior to Fulton Lights
could be deemed entirely 'conventional,' his latest offering
transcends the earlier attempts at experimental songwriting, and also
asserts his undeniable ability to soon rise to the highest ranks of
the underground.
...The disparate elements of Fulton Lights coalesce to create
something cosmopolitan, both in its inner-workings and its aural
output. It's a city-fueled record, with noisy, vibrant soundscapes
sounding as if pulled directly from a Brooklyn night. Multiple
stringed instruments appear throughout, but the focus is Goldman's
restrained, ethereal vocalizing and the basal drum beats. 'Thank God
For the Evening News,' the sarcasm-drenched first song, balances
orchestrated indie pop with a raw hip-hop backbone, while Goldman
warns that skepticism is the only way of approaching our current state
of affairs. 'The Sound of the City' is the writer's cry for silence,
an end to automation and industry even if for a brief moment, for the
sake of hearing 'the absence of the electric hum/and the sound of the
wind blowing through empty city streets.'
New York City wears on you, apparently, as Goldman testifies
throughout this record. Despite however much your emotions are tread
on, though, there's that sense of infinity accompanying it, and it's
translated to Fulton Lights's debut perfectly and poignantly. It
shimmers throughout, and feels much, much more real than most things
to have come out of the city's hip scene in quite some time."--Silent
Uproar
**
"...This album is just thick, heavy and dripping with atmosphere: The
thin, whispery, yet expressive vocals, dense, intricate, deeply
layered arrangements, slow, trudging beats, tinkling piano, clanging
beats, edgy songwriting, skittish violins, and blurting horns evoke a
strikingly potent and vivid sense of urban angst, despair and
paranoia. The music itself varies radically from low-key and lovely to
more harsh and punchy, thus giving this album a raw and stirring
volatility and unpredictability that's a true thrilling treat to
hear."--Jersey Beat
**
"One of those songs where it only takes a few measures to know: 'yeah,
this is going on my next mixtape.' Andrew Spencer Goldman -- who
effectively is Fulton Lights -- allows his album to exhume plenty of
Grizzly Bear atmosphere, but it's only on 'Fire' that his lyrics and
melody do as much spine-chilling as the piano's damper pedal. With
definite relish, Goldman yearns out a metaphor for losing something
intangible yet vital; he knows as well as we that by missing his
fortune he's struck gold -- even if just this once.
The song itself is the slow-burning, harmless fire, the quiet heat of
potential, and so illustrates clearly what it is Goldman says he's
lost. It's a deep familiar to swallow: the organ, the steady drum
pulse, an ABAC rhyme on the piano, distant string thrills, and
Goldman's tenor gently aching... The chord progression becomes
insistent and silvery before stepping out beneath Goldman's finest
moment: 'And every five alarm blaze / And every lit cigarette / Every
candle / Reminds you of the old days.' Continuing and fading, the
song's blue flames lick away at the diminishing form of their maker."--
CokeMachineGlow
**
(5+ out of 6)"The more we spin this album...the better it sounds.
Smart tracks like 'Thank God for the Evening News' and 'Fire In The
Palm of My Hand' make this disc a puzzling and strangely exotic spin.
Truly neat stuff."--Babysue
**
(8 out of 10)"... A modern roots tinged Americana with a wash of indie
nuances...The record is lo-fi and slow paced, electronic beats stroll
in and out of focus, its a heady and hazy mood... The music is like a
remodelled, urbanised, Blue Nile, or perhaps a less sinister Black
Heart Procession. The spirit of New York is inescapable, with dashes
of the Velvets and Lou Reed in particular cropping up, John Cale style
strings appear too. '1000 Little Eyes' sums up big city paranoia and
CCTV culture, a slow walking beat behind a fat reverby guitar sound
with various unfathomable electronic noises ebbing and flowing,
Goldman quietly, eerily, sings 'You're being watched by a thousand
little eyes, Every building knows the truth and a thousand little
lies'. The standout track is probably 'Fire In The Palm Of My Hand',
an odd song, 'We wondered where it came from, And now I wonder will it
ever come back, Oh you're in bad way, When you lose your fire' sings
the disconnected voice, and a half remembered Paul Auster story came
to mind. This is an unusually interesting record, and very enjoyable
even if it does leave you feeling slightly disturbed and uneasy."--
Americana UK
**
"Satisfyingly moody and intriguingly entitled, 'Thank God for the
Evening News' unfolds with vivid style over an unhurried beat and
minimal chord changes. Now then, I like chord changes and pretty much
thought I required a good number of them in a song; and yet here's one
with maybe two chords in it and I'm quickly and continually engaged.
Well. How can this be? Certainly the beat beguiles, combining an
electronica-like ambiance--including the subtlest sort of clanky,
scratchy noises and thin, smashy drums--with organic sounds, including
in particular a nice assortment of strings, employed with great color
as the song progresses. Could it be that Andrew Spencer Goldman, the
driving force behind Fulton Lights, uses the texture of the beat in
lieu of chord changes, as its own sort of structure and substance?
It's a theory. What he also has going for him is a wavery tenor, and a
billowy melody for it to sing--moving and rising and sinking enough to
distract you from the single-minded chord structure. The lyrics, at
once dreamlike and caustic, add to the stylish desolation, like this
recurrent series of lines: 'I've seen blurry vision/I've seen slow
explanations/I've seen false advertising/And wholesale degradation.'"--
Fingertips
**
"'Fulton Lights' is a perfect name for the Brooklyn-based project
masterminded by Andrew Spencer Goldman. This debut effort provides a
masterfully crafted backdrop of sonic colorings.
Weaving your way through this collection is much like doing so through
a great dream. Nothing is necessarily expected, but even the
unexpected has a way of seeming incredibly fitting and acceptable -
Goldman's musical visions are brought to life for listeners to see any
way they choose.
The great victory here is the struggle and ultimately, the compromise
between the ornate, lavish instrumentations and the naked simplicity
of the vocals.
The result is bliss for the ear - 'Thank God for the Evening News,'
'Breathe in, Breathe out' and 'Fire in the Palm of My Hand' showcase
the lazy beats, piano and string arrangements. This album is a quiet
beast that packs a serious punch.
Verdict: A sneaky masterpiece."--Red and Black