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Beach House

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For beach-side real estate, see Beach house. For the 1977 Italian film, see Beach House (film).
Beach House
Live at the Roundhouse, London
Live at the Roundhouse, London
Background information
OriginBaltimore, Maryland, United States
GenresIndie rock, indie pop, dream pop
Years active2004–present
LabelsCarpark
Bella Union
Sub Pop
We Are Free
Arts & Crafts México
MembersVictoria Legrand
Alex Scally
Websitewww.beachhousebaltimore.com

Beach House is a dream pop duo from Baltimore, Maryland, formed in 2004. The band consists of French-born Victoria Legrand and Baltimore native Alex Scally.[1] Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to critical acclaim and has been followed by Devotion in 2008, Teen Dream in 2010, and Bloom in 2012.

History

Formation and Beach House

The band formed in 2004, composed of Alex Scally, who plays guitar and keyboard, and Victoria Legrand, who sings and plays organ. Beach House began as a recording project, thus, its music favored simplicity[citation needed]. The band's music consisted largely of the organ, programmed drums, and the slide guitar. Said Legrand to Pitchfork Media, "[I]t's a way to challenge ourselves: What do you do when it's just the two of you?". Scally affirmed, "[O]ne of the reasons this has been such a fulfilling experience for me is that with two people, it's so much easier to achieve things that feel exciting and new."[1]

The song "Apple Orchard" was featured on a Pitchfork Media MP3 mixtape in August 2006. In October 2006 the band's self-titled debut album, Beach House, was released through Carpark Records. That year, Pitchfork Media ranked it 16th on its Best Albums list.[2]

Devotion and other projects

Beach House's second album, Devotion, was released on February 26, 2008. It was received with similar acclaim and was included in Pitchfork's Best Albums of 2008 list.[3] On October 21, 2008, the group released the single "Used to Be".

Beach House also recorded a cover of Queen's "Play the Game" for the iTunes Store release of the Red Hot Organization's 2009 compilation, Dark Was The Night.

In 2009, Legrand provided backing vocals on the song "Two Weeks" by the indie rock band Grizzly Bear. She later collaborated with the band again by providing vocals to "Slow Life", the band's contribution to the soundtrack for the film Twilight: New Moon.

Teen Dream

Teen Dream, the duo's 'dynamic and intense'[4] third album, was released on Sub Pop on January 26, 2010.[5] The album was released in the UK by Bella Union and in Mexico by Arts & Crafts. It contains a newer version of their 2008 single "Used to Be". "Norway" was made available as a free download on the band's website on November 17, 2009;[6] and promoted on iTunes as the Free Single of the Week starting January 12, 2010. The album was produced and engineered by Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Grizzly Bear).[7] The album's unanimously good reviews have gained the band a much larger fan base, with Jay-Z and Beyoncé being spotted at the band's shows.[8]

Teen Dream was listed as No. 5 on Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2010:

Teen Dream did little to alter Beach House's core characteristics-- slow-motion beats layered with hazy keyboard drones, rippling guitar figures, and Victoria Legrand's melancholic melodies-- but greatly amplified them to the point of redefining the band's essence, from that of introverted knee-gazers into an assured, emotionally assertive force.--Stuart Berman[9]

Bloom

Beach House, 05-13-2012, The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC

On March 7, 2012 the band streamed a new song, "Myth", from their website. The album Bloom was released on May 15, 2012 via Sub Pop. A second song from the album, "Lazuli," was released on April 13, 2012.[10] A music video for "Lazuli" was released on June 6, 2012,[11] directed by Allen Cordell, who also directed the video for "Walk in the Park" from Teen Dream. A music video for the track 'Wild' has also been released.

Band members

Beach House

  • Victoria LeGrand - lead vocals, keyboards
  • Alex Scally - guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals

Touring Musician

  • Daniel Franz - drums, percussion

Musical style and influences

Singer Victoria Legrand's vocals have often been compared to those of Nico.[12] Some music outlets have also compared Legrand's vocals to 1980s psychedelic rock vocalist Kendra Smith of the band Opal. Guitarist Alex Scally plays a Fender Stratocaster guitar in an E♭ Tuning.[citation needed]

The group's influences include This Mortal Coil, The Zombies, Maximilian Hecker, Brian Wilson, Françoise Hardy, Neil Young, Big Star and Chris Bell.[citation needed] Another known influence is the 60's folk group Tony, Caro and John. Beach House re-recorded that band's "Snowdon Song", renamed it "Lovelier Girl", and released it on its self-titled album with no attribution. Initially, Tony Dore of Tony, Caro and John stated, "I haven't seen much yet in terms of royalties or acknowledgement of authorship". Several months later, however, Dore responded that discussions had taken place to apply proper attribution on re-releases of the Beach House debut. [13]

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

  • "Apple Orchard" (2006)
  • "Master of None" (2006)
  • "Heart of Chambers" (2008)[14]
  • "Gila" (2008)
  • "You Came to Me" (2008)
  • "Used to Be" (Carpark Records, 2009)
  • "Norway" (Bella Union, 2010)
  • "Zebra EP" (Sub Pop Records, 2010)
  • iTunes Session (Sub Pop Records, 2010)
  • "I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun" (2010)
  • "Myth" (2012)
  • "Lazuli" (Sub Pop Records, 2012)

Live performances

The band has toured extensively. In March 2009, the band was featured at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.[15]

In April 2010, the band performed at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. In June 2010, the band surmounted "technical difficulties due to too much MDMA" while playing a set on The Park Stage at Glastonbury.[16] In August 2010, the band joined Vampire Weekend on tour as one of their two opening acts, the other being the Dum Dum Girls. In October 2010, Beach House played at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. On December 20, 2010 the band performed on Conan.

The band was chosen by Animal Collective to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival they curated in May 2011,[17] and also by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festival that they curated in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace.[18] On May 29, 2011 the band played at the Sasquatch! Music Festival. On July 31, 2011 the band played at the Fuji Rock music festival in Niigata, Japan. On October 16, 2011, the band played at the Treasure Island Music Festival. On May 18, 2012, they appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and on Sunday July 15, 2012, they performed the closing set on the Red Stage during the Pitchfork Music Festival.

In May 2012, the band appeared on Later... with Jools Holland[19] playing "Myth" and "Lazuli" from their 2012 album, Bloom. On July 26, 2012 they performed the Bloom cuts "Wild" and "Wishes" on The Jimmy Fallon Show.

References

  1. ^ a b Anthony Carew (2012). "Beach House - Artist Profile". About.com. About.com. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2006". Pitchfork Media. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2008". Pitchfork Media. 19 December 2008. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Music Feature: Beach House". Totally Dublin. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Phillips, Amy. "Beach House – announce new album". Pitchfork.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Beach House. "Beach House's Norway – Free Download". Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  7. ^ Pitchfork, Beach House Announce New Album, 20 October 2009. Accessed 25 January 2010.
  8. ^ "Jay Z & Beyonce @ Coachella watching Beach House perform". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  9. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2010". Pitchfork Media. 16 December 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/46133-new-beach-house-lazuli/
  11. ^ http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/06/watch-beach-houses-video-or-lazuli.html
  12. ^ Wilson, Mackenzie. "Beach House – Review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  13. ^ Altered Zones, Tony, Caro and John: The Snowdon Song, 5 November 2010. Accessed 2 July 2012.
  14. ^ Beach House. "Heart of Chambers". Music Video. Youtube. Archived from the original on 29 March 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ SXSW. "Beach House". "Used to Be". Youtube. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  16. ^ Kristian Yeomans/NME (26). "Beach House battle through Glastonbury technical difficulties due to 'too much MDMA'". NME. IPC Media Entertainment Network. Retrieved 29 September 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  17. ^ "ATP Curated by Animal Collective". All Tomorrow's Parties. ATPFestivals. 20. Retrieved 29 September 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  18. ^ "I'll Be Your Mirror London Curated by Portishead and ATP". All Tomorrow's Parties. ATPFestivals. 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  19. ^ "Beach House". BBC — Music. BBC. 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
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