Top Ten of 2007: Richard Youngs - Autumn Response

perhaps the greatest discovery of 2007 in my own life came with the recommendation of a record called 'Sapphie' by various users at rateyourmusic.com. Richard Youngs seems to be equally as inspired to create dissonant harsh music as he is to create beautiful sprawling epics. this paradox of musical light and dark is what originally drew me to him, as well as the glowing praise his discography seemed to receive by critics and fans alike. 'Autumn Response' was actually one of my recent blind buys, due to the relative obscurity of Youngs, I purchased a couple of his records on vinyl to further my collection of what was seemingly a new favorite artists. how little did i know what i was getting myself into.

richard youngs

combining together a strange take on british folk with a delay pedal may seem like a bad idea, but 'Autumn Response' easily proves that worry wrong. taking an approach in writing short simple songs that are simply folk tracks is something Youngs to my knowledge had not attempted. of course, this isn't a Phil Ochs record. there is a beautiful interplay with delayed vocals and guitars that sometimes match up and at others just seem entirely random. it is a minimal technique that makes an other wise very easy album much more complex. some may place it in the realm of novelty, but in my opinion Youngs is simply just using an effect as a compositional tool which is incredibly ingenious. in other words, 'Autumn Response' is one of the most interesting songwriter albums in a very very long time.

richard youngs' 'autumn response'

time lately has been very busy. class, work, trying to form some type of relationship with a girl i truly care about. it is an interesting and fast time, but i keep finding solace in beautiful records. the Have a Nice Life record in particular is a sprawling, emotional journey that i can't recommend enough. Takaru and a small group called Pumice have been keeping me centered. the zen of discovering new bands if you will is inspiring. that sounds idiotically pretentious, but i guess that is how it goes. i'm going to throw in the Pumice record on this post for the shit of it. fantastic album that is kind of what would happen if Tom Waits compositions were played in the style of noise rock, it is literally some fucking rocking shit exploding hearts tones meet wolf eyes synths. welp, until next time which will hopefully be sooner.

pumice

Richard Youngs - Autumn Response (2007)
Pumice - Pebbles (2007)