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Where Bright Blue Dream halted, The Glowing City blasts off. More than ever before, Baird dips into his pocket symphony of strings, woodwinds, horns and electronic splices to fill up an album that feels dense with atmosphere but somehow also private. And whereas songs like “I Love My Job” on Bright Blue Dream were contemplative and even dirge-like at times, The Glowing City makes the most of its energy, from the rolling and near hopeful “The World is Awaiting” to the “Theme from ‘A Perfect Light Awaits Me,’” and its tasty swing. Undoubtedly consistent, Baird’s sweaty studio possessiveness might actually hamper what could be a more liberating, freeform approach that could gnaw at some of The Glowing City’s slick momentum and rupture a smoothness that becomes repetitive. Sunset live are undeniably tight but also privy to a spontaneity lacking here, though the album is not without its surprises.
The thick “When Perfect Flames Expire” is rightly the album’s first single, and what a mini-marvel it is – a haunting, coy, tightly wound gem that also features guest vocals from “Sandy,” a person with whom this entire song cycle is preoccupied. The obsession and give-and-take between the narrator and Sandy comes to a head during this track - a fantastic summation of the energy built up on more than a dozen preceding songs.
If you liked the pacing and the general thrust of Bright Blue Dream, you won’t be disappointed by The Glowing City’s larger, fuller scope and more fleshed-out song structures. And if Bright Blue Dream didn’t have the variety for which you had hoped, the silver lining is that The Glowing City is a stronger and more consistent effort – so everyone wins. Another plus – if you really dig it, you undoubtedly won’t have to wait long for the next installment in the Baird song cycle.
The Chicago-based Icy Demons are a tough act to pin down, mostly because you’ve got to wade through confusing alter-egos and side-project confusion before you can even get a grip on the line-up. Griffin Rodriguez, also of Bablicon, and Christopher Powell, also of Need New Body and Man Man, began Icy Demons in 2003, and with their third album Miami Ice, the band have more than announced their love of unbridled goofiness (band member aliases include Pow Pow, TA-FREAK-YA and Ali Hawkbar) and post-rock style time signature changes mixed with a nice sampling of genre-dipping.
Starting with an off-kilter 7/8 intro, Miami Ice breaks into a synth-laden, repetitive groove for the title track, which even with a gooey falsetto break-down does little to surpass the millions of similar tracks flooding your grandma’s lawn guy’s kid’s blog this week. Of the album’s standouts, “Summer Samba” comes closest to encapsulating what good the Icy Demons can accomplish when they expand their territory, this time into a clever, laid-back bossa jam perfect for these hot times. “Spywatchers” and its hyped-up, stuttering pace recalls The Red Krayola at their inventive/catchy best, and while the electro “Centurion” threatens to close the album with a lull, the rap bent of “Crittin’ Down to Baba’s” is at least funky enough to bring an interesting close to things – despite the fact it’s a dead ringer for a Gorillaz b-side you’ve never heard. Like its oxymoronic title, Miami Ice is really two things – a consummate and well-played slice of indie, and nine songs that neither impresses nor completely bores.
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