7/30: Shortwave Society / Bellfur / Gamble House
Ben Becker’s self-titled recorded debut as Gamble House, sees his one-time bedroom recording project flourish into an astonishing full-fledged album. Begun in Brooklyn after finishing NYU, Ben completed the recordings in his hometown of Los Angeles.
Written, recorded and produced by Ben, Gamble House is at once as intimate and warm as the homes within which it was made, yet incredibly refined and as sonically dynamic as the vision that it seeks to capture. Mastered by Paul Gold (Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors) in Brooklyn, the results are rich in both clarity and scope.
From the lush opening of ‘Central Park’, each song seems to begin as a film score, slowly giving rise to catchy melodies and intimate lyricism, eventually capsizing into spacious landscapes, or tightly knit arpeggios. Elements of ’60s pop and choral music radiate through ‘Bonny Doon’ with multi-part harmonies, cyclical prose, and sharp, distorted electric guitars, giving way to big, rolling drums and cymbal crashes. Infused with a sense of mystery and beauty, Gamble House revels in folk psychedelia on songs like ‘Blow by Blow’ as omnichords sweep through choruses, flutes swell in tandem, and contrapuntal vocal parts ebb and flow. Banjos and glockenspiel fall into place on ‘Only Days Away’ and ‘My Brother’ with a whimsical naturalism, as ever-evolving melodies and soaring vocals lift the songs to expansive heights. The epic orchestral finale to the nostalgic ‘Eugenia’ provides a graceful send-off to Gamble House.
http://www.gamblehousemusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/GambleHouse
