Customer Reviews

High Heart & Low Estate

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

 

 

Baby Dayliner was once a full band but has devolved into a one-piece over time. Now, Baby Dayliner is simply Ethan Marunas, a guy with a terrific voice I think is similar to the likes of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the 1980s British post-punk band Joy Division. Marunas is paired with what I believe is a synthesizer and a cheap drum machine.

Put the three together and you find a marvelously catchy electronic pop sound. He has taken on the different styles of dance, pop, and rap, and created one of the best albums of 2004.

Although Marunas does dabble with rap on one or two songs (depending on what you consider "rapping") on the album, the previous reviewer(s) has taken this way too seriously. Saying that this album is a hilarious album from beginning to end is a grotesque exaggeration. Also, I don't think he really "ripped off" any band when he wrote any of these songs.

All in all, the album is a gorgeous work that I feel anyone can appreciate, from the smooth sounds of "Raid!," to the (surprising) bossa nova that is "Madeline," to the (needless to say) absurd rap parody "Shah With That," I think it is a Five Star, A+ CD, and you should buy it.

Literate, self-conscious, often lovely and always catchy pop music. Man can this guy put together a tune. He plays around with attitudes a lot, from hangdog romanticism to unrepentant rakishness. Big stylistic range too, though the underlying feel is always the same--from romantic synthy poppy songs to middle-school rappy party music, and some more places in between (how many albums can go from "Raid" to "Shat with that" and not get lost along the way?). Obligatory style comparison goes something like: New Order with Snoop Dogg ca. 1994 guesting on a couple of tracks, with lyrics by Leonard Cohen and Momus at their most gentle and romantic. Everyone who I've played this album for is like "who's this? this is awesome". Well it's this guy.

FILTER- Issue 10, Spring 2004, review by Chi Tung

High Heart and Low Estate
There's somethin' indescribably cool about having the keyboard as your most trusty instrument. Twiddle all the electrofuzz that you want, or go to town on the rotating voices effect, trying your darndest to f__k it all up, and you're still left with a steady strain of open-faced melody. Of course, it also helps when you're blessed with Baby Dayliner's Ian-Curtis-meets-Tom-Jones voiceover to keep everything from splattering together and making us think it's electroclash gone awry (again). In fact, to label
High Heart and Low Estate as anything at all would be to misrepresent its manifold influences- the descriptive coyness of Ben Folds in the opener `Raid,' the Belle and Sebastian wistfulness of `Madeline,' and The Streets' perverse street wisdom in `Hoodlums in the Hit Parade.' The slicker-than-rick barbs and surprisingly understated insights tell me that here's a man who has no problem with the piano being mightier than the sword. Because really, what's the use of a sword without rapier wit?
-Chi Tung

Brooklyn's Ethan Marunas (aka Baby Dayliner) is a lo-fi electroclash troubadour on his debut, High Heart & Low Estate. He dabbles, embarrassingly, with rap convention and hip-hop rhythms. He's the whitest rhymer you could imagine. Luckily, most of his tunes are more indebted to the brighter sides of New Order, Duran Duran and, for a more modern comparison, Franz Ferdinand. In fact, his real talent lies in reinventing the melodies of the new romantics. Opener "Raid!" is an ace New Order rip. "Funeral Dirge" is like Modern English tune played with two fingers on the piano. "Lullabies" has a melancholy melody reminiscent of prime OMD. After that it's hit or miss, and decidedly minor.

This is a band that grew up admiring 69 Love Songs by Magnetic Fields. It's a one-man band in fact. Baby Dayliner is a lot better looking than Stephin Merritt. Don't hate him because he is beautiful. This is rocking electro funk on most of the record. I heard that he dances around like Chromeo and Har Mar Superstar. That would be something to see. It's a little karaoke with a little style. It's the Momus for the 21st Century. Most of the songs meander in the realms of love and hopelessness. It's not like we are laughing at Baby Dayliner. It's earnest. It's wanting. Find this guy a significant other. Actually we do laugh sometimes. Please love this guy now. You will feel better about yourself.

This CD is hilarious, Hoodlums in the Hit Parade is the funniest outlook of rap I've heard. The last song is entertaining as well. I think this may have been more sucessful as a complete parody CD, but some of the songs aren't that entertaining. All and all worth a listen to get a few laughs.