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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Chinatown |
| 2. Blue Eyes |
| 3. Savage Night At The Opera |
| 4. Suicide Demo For Kara Walker |
| 5. Poor In Love |
| 6. Kaputt |
| 7. Downtown |
| 8. Song For America |
| 9. The Laziest River (bonus track) |
| 10. Bay Of Pigs |
Product Description
Review
Constant line-up changes and frequent diversions in musical direction means Destroyer are shamefully more of a cult attraction than a household name. But that might be about to change. This seamless collection of songs is gaining increasing numbers of admirers, and reached a respectable chart position of 62 on the Billboard chart when it was released stateside in January. It now lands in the UK courtesy of Dead Oceans.
Destroyer is effectively Dan Bejar from Vancouver, who since 1995 has steadily garnered fans of indie rock/shoegazing grooves. Pavement have been a previous touchstone, while his last album, 2008’s Trouble in Dreams, mined glam rock; but this time he appears to have written an album of love letters to the 80s pop of Scritti Politti and Roxy Music. It’s effectively the sound of a man so tired of waiting for a follow up to Roxy’s Avalon that he’s written it himself.
Bejar claims his hitherto inconsistent line-up is now settled, and it rings true. Blue Eyes is typical of the album’s whimsical pop, recalling The Field Mice, The Blue Nile and Saint Etienne. It draws a line in the sand early on, with the line "Your first love’s New Order"; fans of whom will also grin at the bassline of Savage Night at the Opera, coming across like a Low-Life outtake.
Expecting people to listen to a song called Suicide Demo for Kara Walker is brave enough, but making it eight minutes of lush harmonies, guitar licks and reverb is visionary. The title-track may sound similarly dreamy, but Bejar has had enough of "Chasing some girls… chasing cocaine through the backrooms of the world all night", leading to a wonderful sign-off: "Sounds, Smash Hits, Melody Maker, NME / All sound like a dream to me."
There is no shortage of hooks and sweet female harmonies, but this album is as much as about atmosphere as hit singles, as the strident guitar line of the conversational Song for America proves. Few tracks clock in below five minutes, while the closer, Bay of Pigs, a come-down hymn which makes a case that the second summer of love never ended, registers in at many more, yet wastes not a second. Despite this, at only nine tracks you’re left wanting more, and with the sense of being privy to an album too many people will miss. Kaputt is a genuine classic, unlike anything any other artist will release in 2011.
--Tom Hocknell
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Kaputt" is Bejar seemingly at his mellowest, drifting through a world shrouded in synthetic keyboard fog and saxophones. But surfaces can be deceiving. Reference points include the carefully manicured work of Donald Fagen, Bryan Ferry and Talk Talk, and Blue Nile's 1989 album, "Hats," a clinic in how to extract warmth, color and humanity from cold technology. On the ninth Destroyer album, Bejar takes his own voyage down the Blue Nile into that era, with its smooth-jazz signifiers of semi-sophisticated adulthood (saxophone, flute) and gauzy lounge-music textures.
But chilling out and sipping chardonnay to this soundtrack is not recommended. Upon closer inspection of this studied gentility, it becomes apparent that Bejar has a few issues, a longing that verges on loathing. His sing-speak vocals turn innocuous observations ("the tide comes in") into mantras. Or he'll paint violent images inside frameworks that sound conversational, almost tossed off: "I've seen it all, I've seen it all/Magnolia's a girl, her heart is made of wood/As apocalypse's go, that's pretty good, sha-la-la wouldn't you say?"
The tension between the lyrics and the pretty, pastel music is never resolved. In the background, a muted trumpet blows smoke rings
But chilling out and sipping chardonnay to this soundtrack is not recommended. Upon closer inspection of this studied gentility, it becomes apparent that Bejar has a few issues, a longing that verges on loathing. His sing-speak vocals turn innocuous observations ("the tide comes in") into mantras. Or he'll paint violent images inside frameworks that sound conversational, almost tossed off: "I've seen it all, I've seen it all/Magnolia's a girl, her heart is made of wood/As apocalypse's go, that's pretty good, sha-la-la wouldn't you say?"
The tension between the lyrics and the pretty, pastel music is never resolved. In the background, a muted trumpet blows smoke rings
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Smooth synths, relaxing sax melodies that you would expect to hear on an elevator, and very groovy vocal techniques dominate 'Kaputt', the ninth album from Destroyer, lead by the eccentric Dan Bejar. From listening to the songs, and watching the video for the titular track 'Kaputt', you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a spoof, but it simply isn't; Bejar has always been known for his multi-layered, cryptic lyrics and it's no different for this album, an outstanding effort that you are freely able to listen to no matter how you feel. Every track here is a winner and they vary greatly in length, my only complaint is that some will find the album too odd, and more humourous than brilliant. However, 'Kaputt' is an album that I fully recommend, and one that could turn out to be a dark horse for the end of year 'best of' lists.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Being a perfect ignoramus can lead to great discoveries.
Dan Bejar has been making albums as Destroyer since 1995, while also being a member of The New Pornographers and Swan Lake.
We blissfully knew nothing about that until we read a review of "Kaputt", his ninth album under this name. In it, "Avalon" by Roxy Music was cited by Bejar as a source of inspiration for this record. We were instantly interested, as "Avalon" is not your average influence to declare, is it? (People keep saying The Beatles and The Beach Boys).
Yet along Roxy there is much more going on on "Kaputt" as far as musical references are concerned. Add Steely Dan to the list, The Blue Nile, early Electronic ("Getting Away With It" in paricular) and a pinch of ambient Eno for what can only be described as a lithe stroll through the 70s / 80s Pop Valhalla.
Exciting? Yes, but do not think, not even for a moment, that this is a derivative album. "Kaputt" gleams with its own original style; it glides along with shimmerimg synths, jazzy curlicues of horns and flutes, short guitar solos and elastic disco beats that simply take you that little bit closer to heaven.
On top of it all sits Mr Bejar's voice. He is part singer part raconteur, blending successfully Momus, Lloyd Cole and Paul Buchanan into a delicious vocal moulinette. His is a bittersweet tone, relating tenderly wry lyrics on failure (personal and social) that rub like gentle sandpaper onto the smooth surface of the music. Mr Bejar is definitely a disappointed romantic, but one who cries into his glass while keeping in mind his love for beauty and intelligent artistic expression.
And this is why you should not miss this record. It is one of the most rewarding releases of the year so far, and it is destined to become an indie-pop classic.
Why go kaputt without it then?
Key tracks: Suicide Demo For Kara Walker, Chinatown, Bay Of Pigs.
Dan Bejar has been making albums as Destroyer since 1995, while also being a member of The New Pornographers and Swan Lake.
We blissfully knew nothing about that until we read a review of "Kaputt", his ninth album under this name. In it, "Avalon" by Roxy Music was cited by Bejar as a source of inspiration for this record. We were instantly interested, as "Avalon" is not your average influence to declare, is it? (People keep saying The Beatles and The Beach Boys).
Yet along Roxy there is much more going on on "Kaputt" as far as musical references are concerned. Add Steely Dan to the list, The Blue Nile, early Electronic ("Getting Away With It" in paricular) and a pinch of ambient Eno for what can only be described as a lithe stroll through the 70s / 80s Pop Valhalla.
Exciting? Yes, but do not think, not even for a moment, that this is a derivative album. "Kaputt" gleams with its own original style; it glides along with shimmerimg synths, jazzy curlicues of horns and flutes, short guitar solos and elastic disco beats that simply take you that little bit closer to heaven.
On top of it all sits Mr Bejar's voice. He is part singer part raconteur, blending successfully Momus, Lloyd Cole and Paul Buchanan into a delicious vocal moulinette. His is a bittersweet tone, relating tenderly wry lyrics on failure (personal and social) that rub like gentle sandpaper onto the smooth surface of the music. Mr Bejar is definitely a disappointed romantic, but one who cries into his glass while keeping in mind his love for beauty and intelligent artistic expression.
And this is why you should not miss this record. It is one of the most rewarding releases of the year so far, and it is destined to become an indie-pop classic.
Why go kaputt without it then?
Key tracks: Suicide Demo For Kara Walker, Chinatown, Bay Of Pigs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Kaputter-patter goes my hipster heart
Well, I should really be highly suspicious of this album - on `Kaputt' Dan Bejar ticks every last box on his first class ticket to hipster hell, a lot of baggage to be sure, here's... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Man Without a Soul
Kaputt....an absolute gem of an album.
I came across this album by accident as I was trawling through the excellent Merge Records web site (home of She & Him, Superchunk and The Rosebuds). Read more
Published 4 months ago by Andy L
Certainly a contender...
along with The War on Drugs, The Silver Seas, Tom Waits and Bon Iver for album of 2011.
Pitchfork's review sums it up best "Kaputt feels wise. Read more
Pitchfork's review sums it up best "Kaputt feels wise. Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Thomas
Best album buy of 2011
Well, there's still a few weeks left but this is my favourite album of the year so far, and when you take into account what a good year it's been that's quite an accolade. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Unbeliever
Its different and it's Great!
Some albums are really difficult to classify, this one is impossible. Yes there are nods to the 80's but really you will struggle to find any other album sounding like this. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Ian Tandy
"... as likely to earn an army of haters as it is an ocean of...
It's a safe bet the fear of God is put into anyone coming across a one-sheet offering Simply Red by way of comparison. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Gannon
Destroyer - Rediscovers the last days of disco
What a surprise this album is from Vancouver's Dan Bejar a man who has paid his dues since establishing the Destroyers brand in 1995. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Red on Black
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