Lansing-Dreiden-The Incomplete Triangle:Album Of The Year?

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okay, it's only Feb 2. I realize that. But I can't stop playing it. I love the songs and the sounds. I like how they remind me of stuff i like, like Golden Earring, and Spacemen 3, and Slowdive, and Alphaville, and lots of other stuff, but they don't sound so much like any of them that i get distracted by it.They are very clever. I need more stuff like this.


www.lansing-dreiden.com/

scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 2 February 2004 22:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"Glass Corridor" is amazing. If Interpol caught on, surely this has the potential to be huge too? They have a great new 4 song EP as well... that album has been out for some time in a self-released capacity.

Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Monday, 2 February 2004 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)

This description from Scott intrigues me.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 2 February 2004 22:22 (twenty-one years ago)

wow. good shit.

cutty (mcutt), Monday, 2 February 2004 23:12 (twenty-one years ago)

The copy i got is on Kemado Records. i don't know nothing about them. Yeah, i want the e.p. too. the mp3s from the e.p. on their site sound great.

scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 2 February 2004 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)

"i don't know nothing about them."

hmm, are you sure you aren't in the band?

cutty (mcutt), Monday, 2 February 2004 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

me, heck no. i wish. well, that's not true. i don't want to be in a band. i performed with my brother's band in december at the knitting factory though. i threw records at people from the stage after defacing them properly with a magic marker. the records, not the people. i got a press thing that sez they are dudes who are an art/design collective from brooklyn who put out a newspaper called Death Notice. I'm gonna write a review of the record though, and send it to my editor at the communist newspaper i write for. i really dig it. hence the thread.

i don't know anything about Kemado. i googled them and it seems they may be linked to Palm Pictures somehow. i can't look at their website cuz it's too high tech for me.

scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 00:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Kemado seems to be putting out the less hyped NYC "post-punk" bands like Elefant and The Fever. Interesting that they got the Lansing Dreiden record, because it really is so good... I guess other labels would be afraid of being accused of trying to duplicate Interpol's success maybe? (I bring up Interpol because there are a few similarities -- singers' voice, complex and melodic basslines). Anyways, I'm glad to hear it's coming out because it's a really pretty album.

Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, i like it a ton more than the interpol, but i can see why you would bring them up. the difference is the lansing-dreiden doesn't smack you in the head with their influences. they are there, but it doesn't take away from the music.

scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 February 2004 00:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Scott OTM. L-D is great, btw.

dean! (deangulberry), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

The Eternal Lie soooooooooo could have been a Thin Lizzy song.

dean! (deangulberry), Thursday, 5 February 2004 21:54 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...
Now I'm digging on this album. I love the spaciousness.

Maria D., Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

YEAH ITS AWESUM

If anyone wants to buy copies, ebay is currently good for getting them cheap

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=lansing+dreiden

dean! (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...
Impressed.

gazuga (gazuga), Monday, 24 May 2004 05:43 (twenty-one years ago)

im more into this album then i was before i like how the last songs all sound like new order

chaki_burger (chaki), Monday, 24 May 2004 06:17 (twenty-one years ago)

the vocals on "metal on a gun" sound a lot like mid-70s moody blues.

milaca, Monday, 24 May 2004 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...
So, who were/are these people? I wasn't crazy about the last few songs or something, but this album is strangely awesome at numerous points.

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 23:42 (twenty years ago)

Any band that can make a writer cite Golden Earring AND Slowdive AND Alphaville must have something going for them. Looks interesting - will add this to my weekend shopping list.

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 28 July 2005 06:19 (twenty years ago)

It could have been really good without that awful guitar sound.

snowballing (snowballing), Thursday, 28 July 2005 07:16 (twenty years ago)

Oh dear, maybe not then. What's wrong with the guitar sound?

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 28 July 2005 07:22 (twenty years ago)

It wants to make them look harder than they really are.

snowballing (snowballing), Thursday, 28 July 2005 07:30 (twenty years ago)

i love this album!

huell howser (chaki), Thursday, 28 July 2005 08:38 (twenty years ago)

this should go on the "bad reviews that make you want to hear the record" thread:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/l/lansing-dreiden/incomplete-triangle.shtml

it's a scam!!

jermaine (jnoble), Thursday, 28 July 2005 08:44 (twenty years ago)

What did you expect? It's Ott.

The A Sectioned Beam EP is also quite good, if you're looking for a taste before trying the album.

Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 28 July 2005 08:57 (twenty years ago)

yeah, i'm not really surprised, just slightly amused that the "don't enjoy this, you're being FULED" thing still pops up now and again.

as for the lansing-dreiden-artband-spectacular, i listened to the "glass corridor" mp3 on their site, and it's rather nice.

jermaine (jnoble), Thursday, 28 July 2005 09:13 (twenty years ago)

we talk about the ott review on this other thread:

Article Response: Lansing-Dreiden - 'The Incomplete Triangle'

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 28 July 2005 09:52 (twenty years ago)

seven months pass...
New album coming in May! I actually responded to spam to make sure i get a promo which is something, remarkably, given how much spam i receive, i rarely ever do. in other words, I iz anticipating this album!

Hyperbolic and possibly untrue press-notes to follow:


"Lansing-Dreiden enters 2006 with The Dividing Island, an album that realizes the company's potential in new, transcendent ways. The Dividing Island is Lansing-Dreiden's second full-length album and it will be out May 9th. Its first full-length, The Incomplete Triangle, was self-released in 2003 and was hailed in the pages of Spin Magazine as "dreamy space rock... with a psychedelic metal twist." The Incomplete Triangle was followed by an EP, A Sectioned Beam, praised by Time Out New York as "an airtight example of textbook pop perfection." Both titles were reissued by Kemado Records in 2004.

With The Dividing Island, Lansing-Dreiden explores the theme of division. The titular island divides; the album's lyrics and music point at this process from various angles, illustrating the emergence of two sides, and a line in between. This scenario appears simple enough, but is deceptively so-in the world depicted by Lansing-Dreiden, division and duality are not necessarily states of distinct sides. Progression and regression intermingle, ascension and descension flip-flop. Against this complex landscape, Lansing-Dreiden builds a brilliant and perplexing album, one possessing a wealth of possible interpretations.

What is the dividing island? The album's lyrics paint a picture not of a specific place, but of a general, nebulous state of opposition; yet out of this abstract milieu, concrete meanings may also be derived. "Cement to Stone" and "A Line You Can Cross" -two songs whose lyrics tell of edges, angles, and horizon lines-both feature dueling vocals, lows and highs, suggesting accounts of the lines between men and women. "One For All" and "Dethroning The Optimyth" conjure images of war by way of lines like "Twin black wings descend on me/ Finish me," against others such as "Much before the sword's satisfied/ You can make the whole thing right."

Musically, the theme of division is set forth in the opening track, "Dividing Island," which consists of two completely contrasting sections, sharing only lyrical and melodic phrases. This song begins with lush, languid waves of psychedelia, breaking abruptly into an exuberant, exhilarating call-to-arms. If these two parts represent the two halves of a dividing whole -a dividing island-Lansing-Dreiden reunites the island, revealing the oneness of the parts by using them to build a cohesive, infectious song.

This pattern pervades The Dividing Island. Many of the album's songs weave disparate musical elements into intensely familiar yet uncategorizable wholes. The modern mixes with the archaic, the known with the unknown. On "One For All," a traditional pop/R&B song is layered with darker sounds, alien to that genre -ominous chords, ghostly harmonies, and a recurring drum sample evoking the sound of gunfire. "Dethroning The Optimyth" tempers a power-metal assault with angelic vocals. Elsewhere, jangly guitar hooks are soured by dissonant keyboard swells; electronic cadences rattle along beside acoustic drum breaks; vocals soar, warm and emotive yet mysteriously veiled. Culling irresistible sounds from rock, pop, R&B, soul, metal, and beyond, Lansing-Dreiden reconfigures the divided into unpredictable, utterly unique sums.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 3 March 2006 20:58 (nineteen years ago)

So in otherwards, the Boo Radleys? *hides*

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 3 March 2006 20:59 (nineteen years ago)

"Much before the sword's satisfied/ You can make the whole thing right."


This is obviously a hidden message to Kemado Records: Don't spend too much money on The Sword! Our album is really cool too!


scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:00 (nineteen years ago)

Does it make it sound like a Boo Radleys record? Were they R&B psychedelia? I can barely remember. I always get them mixed up with Teeage Fanclub.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:01 (nineteen years ago)

Well, this bit:

Culling irresistible sounds from rock, pop, R&B, soul, metal, and beyond

...might as well have been a PR release point from them circa 1995.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:02 (nineteen years ago)

The description makes it sound like it could be a complete mess, but these dudes are really UN-messy. So tidy and geometrical. So i'm not scared.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:03 (nineteen years ago)

Ned, did you ever hear the last album?

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:06 (nineteen years ago)

I did! It was enjoyable but I can't say I felt greatly moved beyond that.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:12 (nineteen years ago)

Yay, looking forward to this, too. Two in one day!

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:17 (nineteen years ago)

The album's lyrics paint a picture not of a specific place, but of a general, nebulous state of opposition; yet out of this abstract milieu, concrete meanings may also be derived.

MY EYES ARE BURNING

"The Incomplete Triangle" was really good though, so I still want to hear the new one. More Boo Radleys, less "Movement"-era New Order sounds accurate.

NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:20 (nineteen years ago)

the album name and "concept" are giving me flashbacks to 90's pink floyd.

bell labs (bell_labs), Friday, 3 March 2006 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

i really enjoyed the incomplete triangle. it had this chameleonic, zeligesque quality where a band sounds so much like other bands that it is original again. it's almost like they started where others ended and made something new. as if they took up golden earring, new order, gang of four, the beach boys etc. when they were on their apex and topped them. they are a little bit like a supernova that explodes in a million different directions. i don't know any other contemporary group like that. i am curious about the new one.

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 3 March 2006 22:24 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...
Was supposed to come out next week. Anyone heard it?

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 01:13 (nineteen years ago)

someone was supposed to send me a copy, but they never did. i will buy it though like a true fan.

scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 02:45 (nineteen years ago)

Coincidence! Didn't get response from label re. promo so sent band themselves an email today and signed it, "Your fan."

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 04:48 (nineteen years ago)

haha, the band sent me an e-mail and i told them that i couldn't wait to hear it and i got a copy today. they really liked the review i wrote of the first album. as well they should! i put more than my usual ten minutes into it. maybe even 20 or 30! and i wrote it for free! on the internet!

anyway, it's good! the first song is killer. as is the last song. i need to dig into it more. the production is great. lots of cool sounds dropping in and out of the mix. i think you'll like it, tim. i need to listen more though.

scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 9 May 2006 03:47 (nineteen years ago)

W

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 05:18 (nineteen years ago)

H

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 05:18 (nineteen years ago)

O

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 05:18 (nineteen years ago)

A.

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 05:18 (nineteen years ago)

YAY!!

city of gyros (chaki), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 05:35 (nineteen years ago)

Listening to The Dividing Island right now... Reminds me a LOT of Not Drowning, Waving.

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 13:05 (nineteen years ago)

entertainment weekly called the new album "yacht-rocky"

scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 13:41 (nineteen years ago)

new album is bummer to the max

kevin barking (arghargh), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 16:36 (nineteen years ago)

That dude used to be a manager at the Oyster Bar

calstars, Saturday, 2 July 2016 14:23 (nine years ago)

That Ott review of this record is still infuriating. I love this album.

yesca, Sunday, 3 July 2016 01:18 (nine years ago)

one year passes...

Jorge Elbrecht has a new album. It's very LD!

kurt schwitterz, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 20:02 (seven years ago)

cool!

imago, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 20:22 (seven years ago)

bumping cuz everyone should listen to this

kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 20:08 (seven years ago)

ooh thanks for the tip

call all destroyer, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 20:34 (seven years ago)

His trio of songs with Ariel pink a couple years ago are my favorite things of his

calstars, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 23:44 (seven years ago)

OK let's do this

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 10:43 (seven years ago)

Segue between first two tracks was so smooth I didn't notice it

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 10:43 (seven years ago)

Is this...prog?

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 10:57 (seven years ago)

i like this one from last year...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJuHTfndtx0

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:10 (seven years ago)

this could almost be an L-D track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pNue_9c0ao

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:16 (seven years ago)

Those are bonus tracks on the Spotify version I think!

This album is quite something except for a lull 2/3 of the way through

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:19 (seven years ago)

yeah, i would totally buy this cd. if there is a cd to buy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFZJuzcc23Q

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:21 (seven years ago)

some of the vocals can do that meandering thing that is less than memorable. but that's not a deal-breaker for me.

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:22 (seven years ago)

vinyl is already sold out. oh well.

https://jorgeelbrecht.bandcamp.com/album/here-lies

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:25 (seven years ago)

i like the section 25 female vox on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ulu2Iw28Es

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:26 (seven years ago)

can't believe i started this thread 14 years ago.

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:26 (seven years ago)

First two tracks, Guillotine and Rainbow Skies are my favourite so far

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:38 (seven years ago)

L-D always struck me as a really good way to plunder the 80s - by making it uncanny and intense. There's so much dull 80s plundering at the moment so it's nice Jorge has come back

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:39 (seven years ago)

none of the other 80s-apers had that kind of production that L-D had. it made their sound more mythical somehow. it was kinda fucked up sounding. half digital and half echo chamber.

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:49 (seven years ago)

yeah exactly. so uncanny. this album adds to it by subtly changing the songs as they progress. really interesting

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 15:20 (seven years ago)

'mythical' is a really good way to put it

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 15:21 (seven years ago)

omg That Will Slowly Unwind is amazing, why isn't it on the album proper

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 15:34 (seven years ago)

Oh I've worked out why I don't like Words Never Fail To Fail! It's a dead-on Blue Nile impression! I just listened to it while walking through London in the rain and my heart stirred not a whit. You'll all love it though. As a bonus, the next track is a fairly decent impression of Love Song by The Cure. Album's amazing apart from that

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 17:39 (seven years ago)

I guess WNFTF has some nice XTC harmonies in amongst the sheer Paul Buchanan-ness of it all, at least

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 17:40 (seven years ago)

i sent him a FB friend request. i want to ask him about the possibility of a CD release. with a bonus disc. i'm not a big online listener. i wonder how many records he pressed? probably not a lot.

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 17:44 (seven years ago)

i wonder if i would dig the Violens stuff more now. i'll bet i would. i just listened to this one and it reminded me of cass mccombs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U90FeqsxnR0

scott seward, Friday, 9 March 2018 17:46 (seven years ago)

I quite like WNFTF now ffs

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 19:46 (seven years ago)

finally listening now.

I've been feeling like there's something in vocal melodies and harmonies that I think Django Django do similarly, sort of Zombies-esque

dan selzer, Friday, 9 March 2018 19:50 (seven years ago)

He’s great with collaborators, less so when he tackles everything himself

calstars, Friday, 9 March 2018 20:03 (seven years ago)

Yes! I thought Zombies at one point too!

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 20:06 (seven years ago)

I think during Flesh To Ash

imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 20:09 (seven years ago)

I can't get over the segue between the first two tracks on this

imago, Sunday, 11 March 2018 15:09 (seven years ago)

the Zombies one is Undiscerning Masses btw

imago, Sunday, 11 March 2018 16:25 (seven years ago)

my favorite l-d bit is still how the first track on the dividing island turns into a who song halfway through for no reason

call all destroyer, Sunday, 11 March 2018 22:58 (seven years ago)

Guitar heroics on “eternal lie” ftw

zalstarz (calstars), Sunday, 11 March 2018 23:27 (seven years ago)

Sent Elbrecht a note telling him how much I like the new album and asking about a repress. He replied that there’s no plan right now beyond the initial 100 copies. :/

by the light of the burning Citroën, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 13:59 (seven years ago)

one year passes...

thanks to imago for leading me down the lansing-dreiden rabbithole

elbrecht lp repressed fyi https://jorgeelbrecht.bandcamp.com/album/here-lies

diamonddave85​​ (diamonddave85), Monday, 22 April 2019 02:14 (six years ago)

haha sweet! hoped that namedrop would lead to someone checking them out. i just listened again to The Incomplete Triangle - what an album it is, just keeps getting better and better (both in terms of its tracklist and its enduring qualities)

imago, Monday, 22 April 2019 07:47 (six years ago)

three months pass...

Is this group more niche than I thought? I just got a copy of The Dividing Island vinyl reissue from six years ago #384/500. I can't fathom a pressing that limited not selling out before 2019.

Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 20 August 2019 17:58 (six years ago)

yeah they are quite obscure. criminally unknown

boobie, Tuesday, 20 August 2019 19:29 (six years ago)

i saw jorge elbrecht as support for kurt vile in june in berlin. and it was terrible. new wavish bombast, the voice totally distorted and hardly understandable, just crap. actually it took me about an hour to find out that it was him. and i love the "incomplete triangle" but live it does not seemm to work at all.

je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 21 August 2019 08:55 (six years ago)

four months pass...

https://open.spotify.com/track/2Uj68LXGj9lu4RCAX741Ch
Down in flames sounds like a sectioned bean b side

calstars, Sunday, 12 January 2020 19:43 (five years ago)

I just picked up The Dividing Island on CD. I'm a fan of the Incomplete Triangle so I'm pleased to get this.

I'd never searched this band on ILM before. I must check the Jorge Elbrecht stuff mentioned above.

Duke, Saturday, 25 January 2020 20:14 (five years ago)

https://open.spotify.com/track/1siKvQOduE0LjKWuhEca7O?si=JzHubTJDSFywRYHZJmdo5Q

calstars, Saturday, 25 January 2020 20:41 (five years ago)

one year passes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlHAVzR41Bk

Best use of “pizazz” In a pop song?

calstars, Sunday, 30 May 2021 02:01 (four years ago)

i had forgotten how good this is. been listening on repeat. some of the solo stuff is pretty great too; the way it veers from byrds to severed heads and has this rotating cast of ilm vetted assists - drab majesty, tamaryn, sky ferreira - sorta becoming obsessed tbh. would buy some LD physical ephemera but that seems impossible now

Vapor waif (uptown churl), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 17:39 (four years ago)

elbrecht is incredibly talented. love the new presentable corpse record

diamonddave85​​ (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 22:10 (four years ago)

Yeah. The “run and hide” / “fading memory” one two punch is gutting me rn.

And “words never fail to fail” from the debut is the best julee cruise/blue Nile crossover I didn’t know I absolutely needed

Vapor waif (uptown churl), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 23:18 (four years ago)


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