3.04.2008

Top Albums of 2007: #08. Studio - Yearbook 1



#08. Studio - Yearbook 1

Yearbook 1 is a tricky album to pin down. It is a poppy piece of electronica for sure, but it also seems to be a somewhat proggy indie album. Oh those Swedes. They're great synthesizers.

It is easy to pass by Yearbook 1 on first glance or listen. If you don't have an ear for electronica, it may seem to be unextraordinary. But, even though the album starts with the catchy, strangely childish, keyboard melodies of "No Comply", by the time it gets to the half-way mark of "Out There", Studio have revealed themselves to be masters of their complex style of electro indie.

Even with Yearbook 1's consistency, the clear highlight of the album is clearly the penultimate track, the 13 minute "Life's a Beach!". The song plays like a jammed out track from a lost Smiths album for about half of its length, and then dissolves into tropical, shimmery goodness.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

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