I'm psyched. Y'know why? Okay, okay, if you're gonna drag it out of me, I guess I'll tell you-- I'm moving from Minneapolis to Chicago in less than three weeks. And I'm taking Pitchfork with me. It's strange, really, to think about the dramatic changes that are gonna take place in my life in such a short period of time. I mean, for starters, I've sold my car. What a major shift, going from a reliable little Geo Metro to public transportation. And I can't wait.
The beautiful thing about Chicago is that, unlike Minnesota, people actually talk to each other. In Minneapolis, if you talk to someone in the line at the movie theater, they get all nervous and twitchy. It's also slightly warmer there than it is in Minneapolis (though they get more snow). And best of all, everyone's completely laidback. Now, maybe I'm just glamorizing the place 'cause I'm excited about going there, but I've got proof about the laidback thing.
Take, for instance, Chicago's burgeoning post-rock music scene. Bands like Tortoise, Isotope 217, Gastr del Sol, and Stereolab create nothing but the smoothest, jazziest rock you've ever fallen in love with. And Sam Prekop's first self- titled solo effort's in the same category.
You might recognize Sam from his full- time band, the Sea and Cake, another of the many brilliant post-rock outfits coming out of the Windy City. But as with most musicians who front bands and make solo records on the side, you have to wonder what the difference is between the artist's solo music and the band's music. Well, in this case, the main difference is that Prekop's solo stuff is way more toned- down than most Sea and Cake stuff. Which actually sounds better.
On his first solo outing, Prekop seems to have both accidentally epitomized the Chicago post-rock sound, and added new elements to it. Produced by Gastr del Sol's amazing Jim O'Rourke (who also plays on the record), the album comes off, production-wise, like a softer Camoufleur. Musically, it's warm, relaxing, and almost glowing. You can almost feel the wind coming off Lake Michigan on a warm summer day.
Songs like the head- bobbing, pop groove "The Company," the gentle and sublime "A Cloud to the Back," the melancholy "Don't Bother," and the Stereolab-ish, French funk of the record's closer, "So Shy" blend seamlessly into one another, held together by rich instrumentals like invisible Krazy Glue.
Just as old 1940s Chicago blues 78s capture the feeling of depression- era Chi-town, Sam Prekop's solo record encapsulates the city in the late 1990s. Try listening to this on the Blue Line from Clark/Lake to Wicker Park and see if you're still skeptical.
