Buildings and Food ‘Quick Beat Save’ Review: assured début from Canadian multi-instrumentalist is an invigorating, atmospheric delight.
★★★★
Canada based indie act Buildings and Food have just release their début album ‘Quick Beat Save’, but its accomplished tone sounds like a veteran act.
What’s even more impressive is that the album (out November 2nd on Number F records) is the work of sole musician Jen K. Wilson, who expertly layers electronic and organic instrumentation to hypnotic effect.
Opener Slow To Reverse has the ambling elegance of a show tune, augmented by androgynous vocals and cascading keyboard hook, while follow-up track Quick Beat sounds like Kraftwerk with a hint of glitch and cocktail lounge atmospherics. 1979 Pennies and Pluto is another earworm, sounding like a quirky kid show theme from an alternate universe.
There is a propulsive kick driving the 8 song affair, from the Stereolab’ish Rewind The Dog to the drum and bass-laced Food Court, making this the perfect album for a sunny road trip or an ear bud journey while engaged in the doldrums of work–even more somber closing tracks like Air Weight End and Motherwell on the Stairs induce toe-taps within ambient Eno-esque atmospherics.
Quick Beat Save manages to be both sparse and dense, airy and grounded, and makes for an assured début. One remains curious as to where Wilson’s goes next, as her fully formed sound can only blossom further from here.
Order Quick Beat Save via Bandcamp or the Amazon link below:
