Chad VanGaalen's Soft Airplane has Arrived.

I try not to bypass the digestion of an album and just throw-up a blog after a day’s listen. But here we go, blahhhhhhhh...

Blogger reads. Blogger downloads. Blogger writes.

So without rushing, I'll say this record is pretty good.

The Internet tells me Chad VanGaalen didn’t just come out of nowhere. He’s been releasing stuff for a few years now on the Sub Pop label and gained some critical praise for 2006’s Skelliconnection. Nonetheless, this album is as handmade as they come, recorded "primarily on an old tape machine and a JVC ghetto blaster" in his own Calgary basement. I wouldn’t have guessed that, unless you told me Chad’s basement was an actual recording studio.

Soft Airplane is spanning. It never rests for too long in one place. The first few tracks play with a twangy, Neil Young appeal. From there he plugs in. Synthesizer thumps drift throughout the belly of the work, really hitting stride by the half way point.

A band that keeps coming to mind is The Figurines. But of course, VanGaalen has something truly all his own. Soft Airplane officially comes out September 9th, 2008. The whole thing is streaming from his myspace as you read this. It’s worth a listen.

He’s also a visual artist and illustrator, so naturally, he makes his own music videos. See below.


Chad VanGaalen | "Molten Light"
And from Skelliconnection, here's 2005's single, "Flower Gardens." He animated this one too.