White Flight

Capt. Beefheart meets LCD soundmachine? If you listen to the two anniversary albums and not the evolution of sound this is the next logical step. Bravely new. Yes the production could be slicker. But what might have been lost.

As with so many experimental projects, White Flight’s self-titled album sounds best at its most conventional. The sounds and ideas it brings are consistently interesting, but I find myself wishing that the performance was steadier, so that I could hear them clearly. The hits its high points when White Flight’s vocals are on point and the backing tracks are in sync, such as on Pastora Divine and Deathhands. However, it is clear that White Flight is not a singer by training and When he simplifies his sound down to a few instruments, as on Song For Augustine, White Flight can achieve a very intimate and spiritual feel. My personal favorite is the shortest track, Galactic Seed, which somehow achieves a stately grace reminiscent of some ancient, forgotten ritual with vocals that defy tune and time. As a whole the album presents an intriguing picture, but not yet a compelling one. It touches on an impressive array of genres, but often bursts at the seams with the attempt. If White Flight can channel his unique sound into a more focused, unified whole, he could have a masterpiece on his hands. But for now, I wouldn’t get the whole album until you have sampled it. For that, I would choose Pastora Divine if you like indie pop, Solarsphere if you’re into rock and roll, Deathhands if you listen to underground hip hop, and Song For Augustine if you prefer acoustic folk. I can’t for the life of me find an existing audience for Galactic Seed, but I highly recommend it. If you enjoy a good portion of this album, you might like the album “Mugimama! Is this Monkey Music?” by Mugison, an Icelandic fisherman turned soundtrack maker turned recording artist who shares a similar penchant for smashing together genres, but with more structure and a much stronger blues influence.

I've never written a review.. about anything in my entire life. I usually like to slip in, grab what I need and move on. But this album is probably the single best album I've heard. I can't help myself. I want to shake people. I ask, whiteflight? what about whiteflight? Nobody knows it. I thought for sure it would have grown into some sort of album phenomenon by now. I really can't get enough of it. It's been two years since I first heard it, we've been making love ever since. I've never played a single album more from start to finish. It's incredible. It's music from the future. Nothing has ever sounded so right to me.

it turns my brain to mush and puts it back together in a new way every time...the boy's got SOUL.

Can't stop.. Won't stop... All day today . All day tomm.

how have I not heard of this album yet? Filled with raw enthusiasm, honesty and freaky deaky integrity. yummy stuff.

but there's no way in six hells this is funkier than animal collective. good, yes. but not THAT good :D

this is outright genius. pure and simple.

Well to put it justly this is a terrific album. If you are not into the whole jungle beat psychedelic rock music thing then don’t even bother. But if you are a fan of The Firebird Band, The Faint, Four Tet, The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, Blonde Redhead, Animal Collective, Chk Chk Chk, Liars, Battles. Or any other band that writes quality music you will most likely dig this album. Don’t write this album off based on the 30 second samples it’s a good spin!

most of the other 5-starred reviews covered the gist of what makes white flight so unique. it really is unlike anything ever done before. i'm mostly just doing this review to boost what should not be a 3.5 overall rating, because some people just don't get it. deathhands is one of the best, if not the best, song so far this year. fans of panda bear/animal collective might like the vein of experimental weirdness reciprocated here, but there's really no concrete comparison. although this is another project of justin roelofs, from the anniversary, there's really nothing i can say that can prepare you for the genius presented here.