Saturday, April 27, 2013

REVIEW: Musical Chairs - Retraced: 1992 - 1999


The blissed out, lo-fi pop sounds of Musical Chairs began as Ian Schlein's bedroom project in 1988, and didn't become a full band until 1993.  The group was reasonably prolific in the studio in the '90s, but rarely performed live.  While never making a mark in the mainstream, the band earned a deserved following among indie pop fans.  In my view, their sound reminds me of Glasgow's iconic The Pastels, and no band sailing the indie pop waters can feel anything but satisfied with that comparison.

On Retraced: 1992 - 1999, Jigsaw Records gathers together all of Musical Chairs non-album tracks.  That's 32 tracks from 7"s, numerous indie pop compilations and the "unreleased" vaults.  The tracks include languid dream pop, upbeat jangle pop and even some energetic noise pop.  I'm impressed with the quality of the songs, and at $7 for 32 digital tracks, it feels almost illegal.









Bandcamp for album
Jigsaw Records

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