The Delta Mirror's Machines Worth The Listen

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 6, 2010 5:40PM

So, apparently there’s some sort of outdoor-y festival type thing happening this weekend? First that we've heard of it. Whether or not you’re heading to Grant Park to check out the 3-day festival behemoth known as Lollapalooza, more live music may be the last thing on your mind. After all, you’re about to be inundated with the sounds of hundreds upon hundreds of acts. But, if you’ll indulge us with one more music recommendation, we’ll promise that it’ll be worth it. Monday’s show at The Empty Bottle features quite the strong lineup of live music—including locals Common Loon, whose praises we’ve sung before—but one act is especially worth your attention: The Delta Mirror.

The Los Angeles-based trio crafts a compelling blend of M83-styled synth-and-guitar maximalism with the more electronic pop direction that Stars have taken on their last two albums on their debut full-length, Machines That Listen, an album-length meditation on death and loss that takes place in a hospital, with each song representing a story that takes place in a different room of the building. The songs on Listen don’t quite pack the emotional wallop that the songs on Hospice, the not-entirely dissimilar in concept record by The Antlers last year, do, but The Delta Mirror prove themselves to be successful enough songsmiths, especially on chill bits of ambient pop like “A Room For Waiting” and “Malpractice”.

Less successful are stabs at Interpol-style gloominess like “He Was Worse That The Needle He Gave You” and “Hold Me Down Don’t Let Me Go” which feature gothic, baritone vocals that come off as a derivation of a derivation. Nonetheless, Listen builds effectively to two five-minute plus tracks that close off the album on an epic and satisfying note, with “A Song About The End” poignantly contrasting the album’s overall darkness with light stabs of ethereal keyboards. Such a juxtaposition will be especially noteworthy in the cavernous atmosphere of the Bottle—and it will make the trek for one last live show after Lollapalooza worth it.

MP3: The Delta Mirror - "He Was Worse That The Needle He Gave You"

Dr. Manhattan, The Delta Mirror, Common Loon, Santah, Monday August 9, 9:00 p.m., Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave., FREE