Braids- Native Speaker

Braids' debut LP is a fun exercise in trippy, electronic psychedelia. The vocal and drum mixing and recording could have been a lot better, but the rest of this album is too good to deny. The pulsating synths bounce from one wall to another, the song lengths sprawl out into near endlessness, and the mood ranges from upbeat to dreamy without losing any momentum.

I wouldn't call it an amazing listen, but it's certainly interesting and engaging throughout. Considering this album is a huge improvement upon their previously released Set Pieces EP, I can't wait to see what changes the band makes when they put out something else!

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Stream the New Braids Album

The Alberta band Braids caught a lot of buzz on the blog-o-sphere last year with tracks like "Lemonade" and "Plath Heart." I can only assume it's because the songs are built of the same kind of pulsating, linear electronics that made Animal Collective's more recent records so popular. Those tracks and more have now been laid out on the band's new album, Native Speaker, which is set for release next week.

But there's no reason in waiting to hear it since the whole thing is streaming on Hype Machine right now. Enjoy. -