Altsounds - Deastro - Moondagger [Album]

The DIY aesthetic is one which has become increasingly more popular in music in recent years, as artists take advantage of the internet’s powers to help them produce and promote their music without ever needing to leave the sanctuary of their bedrooms. This approach seems to have burgeoned fuzzy little lo-fi noise-poppers such as Wavves and Ariel Pink more often than not, but adopting a far more polished approach is Detroit’s Randolph Chabot. Having written and released over 100 songs for free over the internet, Moondagger serves as another concise document of his work to date, following his eMusic.com demo compilation, Keepers.

In terms of contemporaries, Dan Deacon, Passion Pit and M83 seem to be the most oft-mentioned, and it’s true that the outstanding “Parallelogram” is not too far removed from the latter. However the most direct of lines can be drawn from Moondagger back to New Order, with one of the album’s other highlights, “Toxic Crusaders”, as worthy of a packed dancefloor as anything Daestro’s Manc forefathers produced (except Blue Monday – obviously).

Lyrically, Chabot comes from an entirely different place however, with “Egyptian ruins are a mystery mansion full of new mystic scansions and matriarchal advancements" from “Greens, Grays and Nordics” being perhaps the most far removed from a Bernard Sumner lyric of all. We don’t even know what a scansion is in Manchester. Even the song titles are not safe; “Daniel Johnston Was Stabbed in the Heart with the Moondagger by the King of Darkness and his Ghost is Writing This Song as a Warning to All of Us." is surely a contender for the longest song title ever.

No matter how wordy (and geeky) Moondagger gets though, Chabot always delivers his message through pure giddy pop; like a Scrabble champion on E numbers. The title track, “Toxic Crusaders” and “The Shaded Forests (Gift Giver’s Version)” are particularly infectious examples – certainly worthy of sharing swine flu’s pandemic status. Whilst Daestro would probably be the first to admit that it’s unlikely the world will ever hold quite the same fascination with them as it has with the bad sow disease, Chabot’s extensive songwriting credits to date prove that it won’t be for the lack of them trying...them and Daniel Johnston’s ghost.

Track List:

1 Biophelia
2 Parallelogram
3 Tone Adventure #3
4 Toxic Crusaders
5 Green Grays And Nordics
6 Day Of Wonder
7 Pyramid Builders
8 Daniel Johnston Was Stabbed In The Heart With The Moondagger By The King of Darkness And His Ghost Is Writing This Song As A Warning To All Of Us
9 Rivers Of Life
10 Vermillion Plaza
11 Moondagger
12 Kurgan Wave Number One
13 The Shaded Forests (Gift Giver’s version) [bonus track]
14 Tree Frog [bonus track]