Customer Reviews

81 03

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was told of this album by a few friends at an art opening. They are musicians and know a great deal concerning new music. Due to their enthusiasm and thier claim I could not exist without it, I purchased 81:03. The album is truly amazing. The best album I have heard in years. The riffs are hypnotic and the compositions are extremely powerful. Almost all songs build and continue to build, such as Private Psychadelic Reel by the Chemical Brothers or Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead. The guitars are dreamy. I bought the album two months ago and it took a short time to grow. At first it seem too repetitive, but on repeated listens I began to obtain a firm grasp on the compositions and took notice of their technical refinement. The lyrics are rather difficult to decipher, I find myself doing the same hunched over, headphones number I did listening to R.E.M. albums. My first thought listening to the album was Duran Duran, but this was purly based around the sound and the composition of the first song. The layering of sound resembles the production work of My Bloody Valentine. There is also a great deal of instrumental time where the lyrics do not happen. Serious, intense, beautiful, clean. The album has references to pop, shoegazing, and electronic. I have been waiting a while for someone or a group to combine these elements in a proper way.

WOW, I had just recently picked up Ova Looven 58:34 & realized that members of that band were in Antarctica. I do not know for the life of me how I let a record like this slip past me but holy crap. Beautiful melting synth driven melodies with luscious harmonies over perfectly orchestrated beats. The song writing is incredible & stands out from anything I've heard in a while (considering this record came out in 2001). Overall if you like the mysterious guitar sounds of Cocteau Twins & The Cure mixed with dreamy electronic elements get this record NOW. I also highly recommend the Ova Looven record which takes the electronic elements a little bit further yet still keeping the same atmosphere as Antarctica.

For a number of years this cd has been a treasure of my collection, and today stands alone as the best. If I were granted the wish of being in one band ever, it would be antarctica. The only cd I've ever had to copy just because I wore out the original. It's the most amazing piece of artistry I've ever heard, and I wish there was more out there by them, but maybe they used all of there magic on this and the e.p. Christie Front Drive had nothing on Antarctica, and the guys in Jimmy eat world are fighting the wrong battle if they want CFD back together instead of Antarctica. If you need something to listen to when your sad, on a sunday night, fancying a lover, driving late at night, or even dancing, this is your pick.

Antarctica utilizes treated guitar, tactful keyboard, ultra-solid bass and percussion, and subtle vocal harmonies to create melodic, predominately minor key (thank god) compositions, all of which are memorable and three-dimensional. This is night music: dramatic, atmospheric, and romantic -- a song-oriented film score, without dissonance or heavy-handed orchestration. This is my favorite compact disc, ever. Really. Experiencing "81:03" is akin to enjoying a good, old-fashioned cry, and we all need one.

What can I say? This is by far one of the most enjoyable albums I've bought this year if not the best. Take that as high praise from someone who has already purchased over 45 CDs this year.The musicianship is near perfection and the amazing production is almost unbelieveable for such an obscure indie band. The obvious influences the group mines are the sounds of the early '90s shoegazing movement,the keyboard swells of New Order, the emotion of Talk Talk, and the current muses of Underworld. I did a little research on the band to learn it has a member from Christie Front Drive, which is a good indicator that underneath the electronic gadgetry is a human-rock soul. These are essential driving songs that are infused with the kind of soothing atmospherics I have only really heard of late from Underworld. As for the vocals and lyrics they are at times hard to understand, but this is not a criticism. The Shoegazing bands of yore and the Underworld of present have this rather otherworldly yet endearing quality. Often I have wondered is this an electronic album, some '80s throwback, or a potential vision of music's future purged of the boy bands and post-grunge scavangers. Perhaps the best answer is Antartica is a intriguing hybrid band that defies all categories and with more exposure could become a indie-rock powerhouse. At least I hope so. Now that I see Antartica's album 81:03 will be avaliable on Amazon.com, it may have a chance. Also of note is this is a very economically priced CD set of two discs. Standout tracks im my opinion are Presence, Tower of Sound, and Return to Omma Dawn on disk 1 as well as Arctikal on disk 2. But in all honesty, I like the songs almost all equally. For such a cold name this group has got warmth. ANTARTICA HAS FOUND ATMOSPHERE.

I haven't heard anything like this before. It's hypnotic. It's an epic, weighty, desperate sound. I advise driving late at night and playing this as loud as possible. It's probably the greatest experience I've had in months. Maybe years. That was the second time I heard it. The first time was when I was playing hide-and-go-seek in a stately old mansion with lights off and music at incredible decibles. You haven't been alive if you've never heard this band that way. Excuse the hyperbole, but it can't be impressed enough: get this album.

Two stars (below)? Don't make me laugh.

This album blows away 98% of music out there. Sure, Antarctica was only together for an EP and this double-disc MASTERPIECE, but the music speaks for itself... it is absolutely breathtaking, great driving music, great sleeping music, great make-out music, you name it.

Antarctica broke up in 2000 and went on to form Ova Looven... which is more cold and electronic... but still, AMAZING. If you like this record (and if you have great music taste, I don't see why you wouldn't absolutely worship it), check out Ova Looven. Chris Donohue, the mastermind behind Antarctica and Ova Looven (main singer)... what a genius. Thank you for improving my life, through music.

When I first got this in the mail I noticed it was two discs and figured it must have a lot more songs on it than I had previously thought. But then I discovered that there are only about 5 songs on each disc. So why two discs. Most LP's have about 10-12 songs on them. You could easily have fit them all on just one disc. Anyway, as to the music itself, it was a good album. My favorite song was the first song, Absence, but all the others were good, too. I enjoy listening to it. I'm just confused about the two discs.

2 1/2

Stretched-longer-than-it-ought electro-pop may appeal to fans of the lighter side of ambient rock, rarely presenting more than sophisticated audio backdrops from the ride home of what you came to hear.

i bought this album a few months ago. being a fan of eric richter's previous outfit, christie front drive, i decided to give this 2 disc album a shot. he strays far from rock but still manages to keep some of the same sound and elements that made christie front drive great. unfortunately not enough. frankly, the songs are simply average. they seem to all blend together and there are no real standouts other than the first track, "absence". this cd makes great mood music, but if you want anything more than that... this isn't your cd.