Customer Reviews

How I Learned to Write Backwards

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

 

 

This album is a departure for Aislers Set. Yes, they still have that garage studio quality, Amy Linton's voice is as haunting and wistful as always, and the 1960s 4-track pop sound is in full force, but there is something different about this album. The dynamite-fuse energy of "The Last Match" has been supplanted by a more mature, often hypnotic sound that transcends mere mod-pop. But don't get me wrong; this is not a sluggish album. "Attraction Action Reaction" and "Languor in the Balcony" are as kinetic as you can get. But sparse tracks like "Unfinished Paintings" and the indescribable "Emotional Levy" give this album a range not seen in their other two albums.

For all of their obvious influences, The Aislers Set is clearly one of the more original bands out there. I know a lot of groups that they sound like, but NOBODY sounds like THEM. Know what I mean? This is a timeless album that will sound as good in twenty years as it does now, or maybe even better. Like all the best LPs, it has a way of settling in and deepening with each play. I love it.

I hadn't heard of the Aislers Set until this year. After listening to their third and latest release, however, I'm an instant convert to their mod 1960s-style pop ways. "How I Learned to Write Backwards" is even on a local Seattle label (Suicide Squeeze), although the band is based in San Francisco--and sound as if they emerged from Swinging London (or the "C-86" Scotland of groups like the Shop Assistants).

Led by songwriter/producer Amy Linton (Henry's Dress), she's somehow managed to erect an impressive Wall of Sound around her sprightly compositions--as much Jesus & Mary Chain as Phil Spector--using the most basic of ingredients, like bells, handclaps, and reverb. If you can imagine a more baroque Pavement, poppier Guided by Voices, or lower-fi Ronettes, you've got the picture. Maybe this unusual feat has something to do with the fact that Linton is also a student of architecture (hence the structurally-oriented cover art), who recently designed her first house. If that house looks anything like "How I Learned To Write Backwards" sounds, I'd love to live in it.

on their 3rd full-length masterpiece san francisco's aislers set extend their musical painting brush even further than before, touching on the darker & more abstract moments of blissed out pop. like a reviewer before me their sound resembles other bands (belle & sebastian w/ more reverb, jesus & mary chain, edith frost style vocals) but altogether they are wholly original and catchy as hell - think: garage rock/keyboards/occasional trumpet/clever arrangements/enchanting female vocals/inspiring energy & restraint all at once/great lyrics too! in some ways this is their most realized album yet, even though it's a bit shorter in length than the last 2. you really should buy all 3 and you'll be set for months on end :).

also be sure to check them out when they play in your town - they're so much fun and wonderfully rocking..one of the best bands going today! if you've read this far i hope you either already have the album(s) or are going to get one for yourself right now!

I've only heard one song from this CD -- "Mission Bells" -- but it's unbelievable! Its driving Spanish guitar line goes perfectly with both Amy Linton's haunting vocals and the brassy instrumental at the end. The main theme is full of surprise major chords that remind me of "She's Not There" and the score from Mulan, but other parts sound almost prayerlike. Although the lyrics are mostly unintelligable, their reedy lonliness is easy to understand. If the rest of How I Learned to Write Backwards is anthing like "Mission Bells," this is an album you can't afford to miss!

This album is magnificent. In a time where sounds are being exploited and caving in on each other, The Aislers Set moves from genre to genre mastering each while at the same time preseving a unique integrity that makes their albums exquisite. This is their best yet! Each song is masterfully crafted, brilliantly self contained and not overdone. From pseudo-gospel tunes to Phil Spectorish to good indie rock, this album has it all.
It is nice to have a band that isn't self-indulgent lyrically and avoids that "emo" sound and feel which really keeps some good bands from being great. A panoply of sounds from sleigh-bells to 2001 like heart-beat rhythms provides this album with a feeling that grows on you. Smart, beautiful, and at times ethereally delicious, this album is a must have!

I'd have to say this status is much deserved. Amy and mates have really found (stumbled?) onto a pretty unique sound, and I like it. Everyone else has already written the Phil Specter and Beach Boys comparisons, so I won't bore you. Needless to say, what they've created works and makes for interesting listening.

With the 31 flavors of retro-sounding psych pop on the indie scene these days, The Aislers Set made up of a number of Bay Area personalities, have been busy cranking up their own exclusive brand. Listeners often reference Phil Spector as having a presence in their music, and indeed that can be heard. The sweet bean vanilla base of their music is truly the full piano sound, the teen love song like vocals, with a splash of tambourine perhaps. "Sara's Song" embodies this; but they often stir a ribbon of clean rhythmic guitar rift in for good measure, as in "Through the Shells". Follow with a spoonful of "Catherine Says", where these same influences ring out loudly. I also often get a nice chunk of the Doors when enjoying this album as well... their keyboards do drift over to the psychedelic, for example in the plodding opening of "The Train #1" backed by light bells and some echoing guitar. If you need another taste of this, put on "Mission Bells", beginning with a guitar line reminiscent of "The End", the last 30 seconds slides right into a classic Doors-y breakdown. My one knock on this album: the vocals though right in the forefront throughout, never knock me out and sometimes under whelm me with their drone. Missing is any real amazing vocal harmony.

the aisler's set...hmmmm. another example of boring music from talentless people. everything on this album is monotone and not even a bit textured, expansive, or complex. take simply the single missions bells--which consists simply of a ska-like guitar riff, flat, usual female vocals and a horrible, out-of-tune trumpet. it is pure agony. not a note of intrigue or origanality in the hole lot. what really is the intrest here-- especially when the bay area is turning out such innovative artists as matmos, kid 606, segan and even such interesting pop bands as bart davenport, court and spark, et al...