MP3 Super XX Man - Vol. XII: There´ll Be Diamonds

Soft yet upbeat and catchy acoustic based gems with Ben Gibbard meets Neil Young vocals. Songs about meds, meaning, home, and sanity. "if love had a sound, this would be it"- Willamette Week

13 MP3 Songs in this album (48:11) !
Related styles: POP: Dream Pop, ROCK: Lo-Fi

People who are interested in Neil Young Silver Scooter Death Cab for Cutie should consider this download.


Details:
After 13 years writing, recording, and producing, Scott Garred aka Super XX Man, has cultivated a mildly edgy modern rock sound in the new release Volume XII: Thereâll Be Diamonds. Previous releases have garnered acclaim from the likes of Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered ("If we're going to choose ten songs every week, let it be Super XX Manâ) and Amy McCullough, music editor of Willamette Week ("If love had a sound, this would be itâ).

Although thereâs plenty of the familiar Super XX Man-style of music on his latest album, what will no doubt surprise many long time fans are the moody, foreboding tracks that lie at the heart of the album. Songs like âMedicationâ, âLittle Leafâ and âCrazy Peopleâ help to comprise, as Garred says, âmy most sonically ambitious album to date.â

Songs are marked by washes of feedback, dark atmospherics and pointillist lyrics that chronicle the lives of the people Garred works with at the Oregon State Hospital, the oldest psychiatric institution in his home state.

Itâs a pronounced shift in focus for Garred who has used the other volumes in his ever-growing discography to sing about friends and family, love and loss. Garred is as much a storyteller on this album as he is an empathizer reiterating how people cope with life at the State Hospital. On Volume XII, Garred sings about a woman who plays guitar until her fingers bleed, a man so lonely he only wants to go to parties and meet girls, and the âguilty except for insanityâ person strolling down a corridor wearing his new state-issued sweats. The albumâs closer, âCautious like a Panther,â has this same person strutting his stuff down any trendy thoroughfare in Portland.

Scott Garred started off his career as Super XX Man (pronounced "super double ex man") in the mid-'90s while still a member of the Austin, TX indie pop trio Silver Scooter, putting out a pair of self-released cassettes. Garred has since relocated to Portland, OR, continuing a steady stream of releases that have moved from home recorded four-track material to full fledged studio productions. Along the way, he has also turned Super XX Man into a bona fide band, that these days features his wife Michelle on accordion, singer Ali Wesley, Kelly Dachtler and Josh Woods (who trade off guitar and bass duties) and drummer Bob Ham. The band will be on tour this Fall in support of the new album.

Super XX Man has been through many changes since the beginning but none as dramatic and exciting as what can be heard on Volume XII: There'll Be Diamonds. It is a difference that both long-time fans and new listeners will surely welcome with open arms, sharing a long embrace with Garred's musical vision.