Staff pick of the week...
This week...Bill picks it!

Artist: Bright Title: S/T Price: CD $13.00	Tracks on this CD:
	Canal
	The Res
	Enthusiasm
	Off
	Merrimac
	Point
	Lake Killala
	Elting 1901
	Switch
	Mugged
	Redifine
	All The Wheels Go
	Pannonica
	Perennials
	Bohm and Pribram

We sold a slew of these records when I told everyone it was the best album of 1996. It’s been a while since then and this release flies a bit under the radar, so let me either refresh your memories or introduce you to your new best friend depending on when you entered the picture.

As I recall it, this Boston 4-piece built their debut record around their favorite portions of improvisational rehearsal tapes that were later overdubbed with vocals and some extra guitar work. This is a formula they continued to use for subsequent releases, but the planets must have been properly aligned for their first outing because it eclipses all their subsequent work. From the opening Krautrock-inspired/Neu-disciplined pulse of the drums and guitar strums with hypnotic, atmospheric effects of the lead track “Canal,” I am immediately hooked. The band expands on this opening theme for much of this largely instrumental disc while alternately offering more song-based, vocally-tied tracks. The two styles make excellent counterparts as the vocal tracks effectively bring the listener’s focus back to home base so they don’t drift away completely with the endless trail of guitars. I think this duality is the album’s largest strength on the whole because it’s when the band pops its head out of its lulling groove, that I find most rewarding. “Point” pricks my ears up more than any other track here, sounding much like a long lost Hum song, “Lake Killala” recalls the lonesome warmth of Codeine’s “Frigid Stars LP,” and the vapor trail guitars of “Elting 1901” should make you forget your troubles for exactly 3 minutes, 27 seconds.

Fans of a hazy drone, Krautrock-turned-Krautpop, Yo La Tengo, atmospheric Low, dream-shadowy Galaxie 500, Transient Waves, Sigur Rós, and cinematic mood music will find themselves richly rewarded with Bright’s self-titled debut!