Below the Branches

Kelley Stoltz

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 7, 2006)
• Original Release Date: February 7, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sub Pop
• ASIN: B000CQKY1C
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #101,850 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Of all the lonely singer-songwriters making late night albums in their bedrooms, San Francisco's Kelley Stoltz does the best job convincing you that he built a time machine on the side and brought back odd members of the Beach Boys, Wings and Pink Floyd to help him out with his. On his third release, the follow-up to 2001's beloved Antique Glow, it sounds like he has crammed a horn section next to his nightstand and strings in the closet. Songs like "Wave Goodbye" and "Memory Collector" float on barreling piano melodies and comfortably worn-in grooves. Stoltz's voice, meanwhile, is soft and unobtrusive, coming into view only when a track needs that knockout punch--like halfway through the psychedelic "Summer's Easy Feeling." Below The Branches is the kind of album that makes you keep reaching for the CD cover with a magnifying glass: "Does that really say ©2006, because it feels more like 1976?" I mean, who these days, sings things like, "I remember your childhood hair, floating wild at the county fair"? Well, okay, except the guy from Nickelback. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

San Francisco home-recording multi-instrumentalist Stoltz promoted and distributed his last album, ("2001's "Antique Glow") himself. It garnered considerable attention and praise, such as being ranked #24 in MOJO's "40 Best Albums Of 2004", which was described as "a time capsule only recently discovered...a jamboree grab-bag of delights filled with everything from psychedelic folk and cosmic troubadour pop to garage rock and lysergic R&B...one of the year's major finds." "Below The Branches" picks up where the last album left off, combining psych rock, folk, blues, and pop in its thirteen tracks, and exploring new, piano-driven directions as well. Improvisational pop, alchemically blending influences with results that are both old and new.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen to the songs not the hype, March 11, 2006

By	Zombie Walker (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Much has been written about how Stoltz's music is a blend of his influences. Many have seen this as an homage, a few detractors have said that Stoltz's music sounds great but lacks the depth of the artists he draw from. Let's think about this for a moment, here's an artist who has just released his third album, that he recorded largely on his own, and people are complaining that it does not compare with albums like LOADED or PET SOUNDS or ABBEY ROAD or THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY. Of course it does not compare to those albums. NOTHING compares to those albums!

I find this album to be incredibly moving, the happy-go-lucky lyrics sound like they come from a man who has been through the wringer and decided to say "f**k it, I'd rather be happy." The old-timey saloon piano of the song Prank Calls, sums it up just great: Life is going just great but there's always going to be the annoyances of and reminders of the rough times of days gone by, which come in the form of "prank calls" from "an old lover, who ain't gettin' none." the fact that the whole song has a throwaway feel, is all the more impactful. The same goes for The Rabbit Hugged the Hound, not so much an animal rights song nor is it an obvious anti-war song, hell it may be both, but Stoltz plays it off with just the right balance of pathos and wit that makes it feel like an interpretation of a 1950s Warner Brothers cartoon.

Then there's the beautfiul centerpieces of the album, Words which while definitely Velvet Underground influenced, has more heart and emotion than anything Lou Reed has ever conjured from that cold black heart of his and the absolutely gorgeous Summer's Easy Feeling which conjures exactly what the title implies.

Make no mistake, Stoltz may not be crafting albums on par with the best of the Beatles, Beach Boys, Velvet Underground or the Kinks just yet. But the fact that he's even being mentioned in the same breath as these iconic artists should tell you a lot where this guy could be heading.

For all of the talk of his influences, Stoltz is one of the most original, emotionally honest and clever voices out there right now. That fact seems to be getting lost in all the hype, but I suppose it is not easy to sell music these days and it makes sense that record companies have to boil things down to a couple of sentences for people to latch on to.

But do yourself a favor, pick this album up, listen to the man behind the sounds, he is there loud and clear and it is a beautiful sound indeed.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC!!!, February 8, 2006

By	Erica Sunshine "modelliv" (San Francisco, California USA) - See all my reviews

I really liked Antique Glow- it was so pretty and dreamy and gorgeous- but this new one is AMAZING. I just got it, but I'm totally overwhelmed by it. This record has so much in it, that I can't even figure it out yet- its got fantastic songs, shimmering/scary/beautiful sounds, crazy lyrics and just overall fascination. What I like best about it is how the songwriting on it is classic- like totally put together perfectly, scientifically, but the sounds on it, and the sudden breaks are just insane- its like a perfect fusion, like psychocandy or something (but it doesn't sound like psychocandy- its totally its own record.)

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mini Masterpiece, March 28, 2007

By	DW (chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

Kelley Stoltz' Below The Branches is a mini-masterpiece. It's easily his best recording to date. Each song is memorable and charming. Here we have Brian Wilson meets Syd Barrett meets Andy Partridge. The production is decidedly low-tech with piano, Mellotron and dry bass and dry drums. The Memory Collector, Wave Goodbye, The Rabbit Hugged The Hound and Prank Calls are all examples of genius.

This is not classical music and is more about feel than technical brilliance.

[DW]