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DESTROYER - BIOGRAPHY DESTROYER - "Your Blues" Tal-015 - European release date: september 04. Your Blues is Destroyer's vainglorious retreat from the American rock'n roll tradition, in the wake of their bloated and oft-maligned (and oft-praised) magnum opus, This Night, which quietly assaulted the bankrupt college rock arena of 2002. Bound to be misread as a return to the precision and economy of hooks found and praised on Destroyer's breakthrough album, 2001's Streethawk: A Seduction, Your Blues is more an exercise in old-word excess, exploring what Destroyer mastermind Daniel Bejar dubs "European Blues". This High Modernist aesthetic feasts off a "between the wars" melancholia, brushed on in the past by avant-gardist crooners (Scott Walker), scholastic-rockers (John Cale) and insane drunk actors (Richard Harris) alike. Destroyer's take on this fucked tradition finds them conjuring up a version of revisionist nostalgia, unapologetically jumping the gun on a 20th Century Revival movement...Other things brought to mind - the evacuation of a mid-sized European capital; out of work Shakespearean extras (hanging out at the bar); lawyers screwed baecause they backed the wrong revolution; odes to bad statues; and a couple other themes that completely sidestep the dead-in-the-water rock'n roll underground pulsing through the AmerIndie salons of today... It is doubtful that Your Blues is a 'pop' record, though at times it might appear to cash in on what the 80's revival should've been all about: the perverse compositional traits found in The Blue Nile, David Sylvian stripped of his Zen jazz, some of Thomas Dolby's more hilarious production work with Prefab Sprout, the aforementioned Scott Walker's Climate Of Hunter, and other ill-formed children of the MIDI word...Disregarding 'post-punk', cause that would entail acknowledging 'punk' in the first place...Instead, Your Blues is a balancing act between the Adult, the Contemporary, and the Disastrous. Your Blues is a stunning collection of songs and craftsmanship. Teaming with the production duo JC/DC, who he worked with on his first three records (City Of Daughters, Thief, Streethawk: A Seduction), Bejar has recorded some of his most intriguing and challenging songs to date. And that's saying something considering that he is already considered one of the consummate songwriters of his generation, both on his own and as a contributor to the widly successful and acclaimed New Pornographers. A master of both the sublime and the absurd, with Your Blues, Destroyer continues to add to its already impressive pedigree as one of the most intruiging acts in music today.
DESTROYER - "This Night" Tal-009 Bejar started Destroyer a a solo home recording project in Vancouver, BC during the mid-nineties. Recording most of his stuff on his own, Daniel worked diligently to refine his musical style and vision, reworking songs again and again until he found confidence in his music and voice. In 1996 he had culled enough material to release his debut full length recording "We'll Build Them A Golden Bridge". Stripped down, lo-fi electric folk, Golden Bridge introduced Dan as a major new talent on the Vancouver scene, and his quirkly vocal style brought immediate comparisons to Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust heyday. In 1998 Destroyer added a rhythm section to the mix and went into a real studio to record "City Of Daughters", a sparsely produced but engagingly catchy batch of pop songs in which Bejar's inventive lyrics began to evolve into an obtuse and poetically original voice. The band expanded again in 2000, evolving into a quintet for "Thief", giving even more expanse to Dan's cryptic and scatching indictment of the pitfalls of the music industry (or at least that's what everyone claimed he was writing about). By the time the band's fourth album, "Streethawk: a seduction", hit the streets in 2001, Destroyer was poised for greatness and the critical acclaim flowed freely. Around the same time Bejar was also achieving notice for his work as a founding member and principle songwriter for Vancouver's rock super group, The New Pornographers". Bejar has been lauded as one of the most original and inventive songwriters of his generation. The Bowie comparisons have continued to dog him and not undeservedly, but Destroyer continues to blend a plethora of influences into their own musical melange; one that comes out sounding distinct and visionary. "This Night" picks up where Streethawk left off and continues to raise the bar. It is an anthemic collection of beautifully arranged pop songs that sound like symphonies of blissful intricacy. Bejar still practices lyrical sorcery with the wisdom and wite of a sage, weaving tales of bitterness, desire and redemption, while the band mates swirl and cascade around him with intricate yet expansive walls of sonic alchemy. This Night is a stunning and powerful achievement from a songwriter and band at the height of their creative powers. After "Streethawk: a seduction", "This Night" is Destroyer second release for Talitres. In Europe, under exclusive licnse from Merge Records. Destroyer is: Daniel Bejar (vocals, rhythm and acoustics guitars, synthesizer, organ, piano, melodica,...), Nicolas Bragg (lead guitar, vocals, trumpet, ...), Chris Frey (bass guitar, melodica, elbow), Fisher Rose (drums, vocals, violins, piano, synthesizer,...). 1. this night - 2. holly going lightly - 3. here comes the night - 4. the chosen few - 5. makin' angel - 6. hey, snow white - 7. modern painters - 8. crystal country - 9. trembling peacock - 10. i have seen a light - 11. student carve hearts out of coal - 12. goddess of drought - 13. self portrait with thing (tonight is not your night) - 14. the relevant ballads - 15. the night moves Destroyer - "Streethawk: a seduction" TAL-004 - Release date: March 05, 2002. "Streethawk: a seduction" is Destroyer's fourth full-lenght. And "Streethawk" is Talitres' fourth full-lenght. Released in US through Misra Records.
Pop craftsmen like Daniel Bejar only come around a few times per generation. His new album, Destroyer's Streethawk: A Seduction, is the most potent collection of pop songwriting in a long, long time. Drawing influences past (Bowie, Syd Barrett, Eno, Mayo Thompson, the Smiths) and present (Pavement, the Fall, David Berman), Bejar and his four Destroyer cohorts have concocted a 12-song album of timeless pop anthems. But while Destroyer owes a debt to classic sounds, Bejar's talent shines brightest in his overly literary lyrics. His words spill out like poetry - sometimes the message is unmistakable, other times it's hidden in twisted vines of allegory. Destroyer has not been the only vehicle for Bejar's distinct songwriting; he is also a main contributor on the much acclaimed New Pornographer's Mass Romantic (Mint). Bejar started Destroyer as a solo project in Vancouver in 1995. His first album, We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, was a lo-fi rumbling in the fuzz-folik spirit of the early recordings by Pavement or Smog. By 1998 Bejar added a rhythm section and ventured into the studio for the first time. The result City of Daughters is a sparse collection of catchy pop songs in which Bejar's obtuse lyricism jumps to the forefront. 2000 brought the release of Thief, again recorded in Vancouver. With the lineup expanding to a quintet, and enhanced with fuller orchestration and even richer lyrics, Thief quietly attracted a spirited cult of Destroyer supporters. Recorded in the fall of 2000 at JC/DC studios in Vancouver, Streethawk marks a major step forward in terms of production and fidelity for Destroyer. Bejar is joined by John Collins (New Pornographers, Evaporators), Scott Morgan (Loscil), Stephen Wood and Jason Zumpano (Zumpano). They have created an unforgettable album of baroque pop songs - ranging from rollicking piano vamps to softly plucked ballads - that is easy the most accomplished Destroyer release to date.
Destroyer - "Streethawk: a seduction" Tal-004 1. Streethawk I - 2.The Bad Arts - 3.Beggars Might Ride - 4.The Sublimation Hour - 5.English Music - 6.Virgin With a Memory - 7.The Very Modern Dance - 8. The Crossover - 9. Helena - 10. Farrar, Straus & Giroux (Sea of Tears) - 11. Strike - 12. Streethawk II produced at JC/DC by JC/DC, Fall 2000 Daniel Bejar: voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synth, piano, percussion - John Collins: bass guitar, pod, percussion - Scott Morgan: drums - Stephen Wood: electric guitars - Jason Zumpano: piano, organ All songs © 2001 Destroyer (Socan) Mastered by Derek Almstead. Design and layout by Rob Carmichael. Photography by Geoff Albores DISCOGRAPHY
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