Destroyer's Rubies

Destroyer | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: February 21, 2006
• Label: Merge Records
• Total Length: 53:45
• Genres: Alternative Rock/Indie & Lo-Fi, Pop/Pop Rock
• ASIN: B000U7ZXKU
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,549 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastically, unimaginably good, February 26, 2006

By 

The Last Person You'd Expect (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Destroyer's Rubies (Audio CD)

I will honestly say that out of the 50+ albums I heard last year, had this come out 3 months earlier, it would've been in the top 2 (it's a tough choice between this & Sufjan Stevens, although I prefer this). Following the mediocre-to-good release of Your Blues in 2004, I never would have guessed that Destroyer had the capacity to create an album such as this. Dan Bejar, co-lyricist for the ground-breaking power pop band The New Pornographers, along with his bandmates, differ remarkably in texture & purpose from that of the New Porn's; the dense, baroque pop feel is still there, but subdued by the extravagence of the instrumentation. Bejar's vision, as we've seen to a lesser extent on Your Blues, leans toward the avant-garde, a series of formless songs with expert lyricism that he sings over the full instrumentation with the seeming spontaneity of some great 60's jazz-- Andrew Hill's piano or Miles Davis's Jack-Johnson-era trumpet.

The major source of improvement comes from the band itself. Whereas earlier the band backed up Bejar with more constraint, now the band comes forth as wonderfully as Bejar. An album like Rubies comes from the expertise of every single player and, no doubt, the producer (Bejar? I didn't look). The piano and other keyboard instruments are a noteworthy improvement. Like Neutral Milk Hotel's "Aeroplane..." or Okkervil River's brilliant album "Down the River..." Rubies is a swirl of captivating instrumentation and lyrics that listeners can ponder over for years, an epic sort of album where the tracks wind together without explicit conceptual refrains (as in NMH's "Aeroplane...").

It's worth noting that Destroyer recently collaborated with the like-minded, but harder-edged avant-rock group Frog Eyes on a reworking of selections from Your Blues. Frog Eyes are one of my favorite of today's bands (The Folded Palm is a minor masterpiece), and I'm wondering if this could be the impetus for Destroyer's dramatic improvement. Well, whatever went on behind our backs, Rubies probably belongs in your collection.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the effin' maniac, July 4, 2006

By 

Piehole (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Destroyer's Rubies (Audio CD)

Prior to this release, I was only familiar with Dan Bejar through the New Pornographers. To me his contributions there, while lyrically and musically interesting, seemed a bit distractive vocally. In Destroyer, Bejar is in his own element and has developed his own style. In this setting, we get a complete set of songs that are not in competition with other songwriters and singers. On Destroyer's Rubies, this focused attention reveals much complexity and range. The song arrangements couldn't be better. Some are minimally orchestrated, some have horns, most have piano, organ and rhodes-like keyboards, but all arrangements seem to achieve the songs' greatest potential. Bejar touches on musical styles as diverse as Motown ("Dangerous Woman..."), hippie classic rock a la Deja Vu-era CSNY ("Sick Priest Learns..."), power pop ("3000 Flowers"), and the indie rock of Pavement/Malkmus ("Your Blood" and "Priest's Knees").

Admittedly, Bejar's singing is not for everyone. It wasn't for me initially - but I'm among the converted now. His vocal delivery is kinda half spoken, half sung as Dylan or Lou Reed tends to be; Bejar is perhaps more over the top in his articulation and emotion. Besides his vocal delivery, the tone and quality of his voice is somewhat like Bowie's. I would think most readers who ended up here are open minded enough to get over any initial objections to the vocals. There is too much to like to dismiss it on vocals alone.

The lyrics are weird, ambiguous, and clever. Bejar slyly borrows many lyrical phrases and titles from other artists and puts them into a different melody and context. With almost each new listen, I discover new references and quotations. (he name checks Proud Mary, refers to a golden slumber, uses "I couldn't bare to..." which is an apparent reference to "Awful Bliss" by GBV, cops "Oh life is bigger.." from "Losing My Religion", and sings "kids...they were all right", a reference to The Who). I'm sure there are many more.

As other reviewers have speculated, I predict this CD will be on many "Best of 2006" lists. Highly Recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dan Bejar..A lyrical madman, March 27, 2006

By 

S. Ringsmuth - See all my reviews

This review is from: Destroyer's Rubies (Audio CD)

In this latest release by singer-songwriter Dan Bejar one finds a very driving pop gem. Each album since the start of his output has had significantly different approaches in musical styles, this never more obvious than in the last album, Your Blues, where every song is drenched in cheap keyboards and soaring melodies. Destroyer's Rubies (Which of course is one of the many references he makes to himself throughout the album) treads a little bit of familiar ground in that it has the pop structures of the album, Streekhawk:a Seduction, but of course with an absolutely fresh vocal and guitar delivery. Bejar's voice sounds as strong as ever, thickly recorded and appropriately amped up when needed to match the distorted guitars (The heaviest since, This Night). For Bejar followers this is definitely a pleasing release. One might find themselves singing along to "Painter in Your Pocket", having undoubtedly the catchiest chorus on the record or nodding to the sweet piano rhythm and fantastic Bejar one liners on "European Oil".