{"id":1275,"date":"2011-09-14T00:02:34","date_gmt":"2011-09-14T04:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/?p=1275"},"modified":"2011-09-14T00:02:34","modified_gmt":"2011-09-14T04:02:34","slug":"album-review-this-is-our-science-by-astronautalis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/09\/14\/album-review-this-is-our-science-by-astronautalis\/","title":{"rendered":"Album review: &#8220;This Is Our Science&#8221; by Astronautalis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"e26b170012445c56d240655bdd03f7bf\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: left; margin: 10px 10px 10px 0;\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-5595881567027133\";\r\n\/* Medium Rectangle *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"8584504377\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 300;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><em>It seems like we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all lost<br \/>\nWe can follow this river back home<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>This Is Our Science<\/em>, the brilliant and tension-filled new album from Astronautalis, tackles grand themes in one breath, deeply private moments in the next. And there are a lot of breaths here: the breakneck pace of some of the songs leaves a word person like me chasing the elusive meanings.<\/p>\n<p>The effect is exhilarating. <\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve listened to <em>This Is Our Science<\/em> a few times in recent days, and the song that keeps rising to the top is &#8220;Measure the Globe&#8221;, which features a beautiful, unexpected piano<br \/>\nand reflective lyrics that seem to put two lovers at the mercy of bigger forces:<br \/>\n&#8220;I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell you dear which one whispers in my ear<br \/>\nThe devil or St. Andrew<br \/>\nBut I know that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to go.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No, there ain&#8217;t no right way to measure the globe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>We should be getting a few official videos coming soon from the album, but here&#8217;s Astronautalis performing &#8220;Measure the Globe&#8221; live and acoustic at The Proper Barbershop in L.A., with Ceschi Ramos (who had a fabulous but poorly attended show at The Wormhole a couple of months ago) and his guitar filling in for the studio&#8217;s piano:<br \/>\n<center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/28996188?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/28996188\">Untitled<\/a> from <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/user2017772\">astronautalis<\/a> on <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Dmitri Mendeleev&#8221;, named for the creator of the Periodic Table, includes references ranging from Archimedes to Joni Mitchell. &#8220;Thomas Jefferson&#8221; features particularly dense layers plus great vocals from Sims and Mike Wiebe. The title track evokes violent imagery (&#8220;Tell me where you&#8217;re going with that knife in your hand&#8221;) and the futility of Sisyphus.<div id=\"attachment_1276\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/DSC_0211.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1276\" data-attachment-id=\"1276\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/09\/14\/album-review-this-is-our-science-by-astronautalis\/dsc_0211-3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/DSC_0211-e1315970262802.jpg?fit=300%2C199\" data-orig-size=\"300,199\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_0211\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Astronautalis at the Savannah Stopover&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/DSC_0211-e1315970262802.jpg?fit=300%2C199\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/DSC_0211-e1315970262802.jpg?fit=594%2C395\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/DSC_0211-e1315970262802.jpg?resize=300%2C199\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSC_0211\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1276\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1276\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Astronautalis at the Savannah Stopover<\/p><\/div> <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Lift the Curse&#8221; has a plaintive, lonely opening: &#8220;Another summer evening, the city\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s barely breathing, \/ It just ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the same, \/ It just ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the same without you.&#8221; But the song builds &#8212; the vulnerable vocals become strident, angry; those dense musical layers become almost cacophonous before retreating. &#8220;Holy Water&#8221; &#8212; a hip hop hymn &#8212; is apocalyptic: &#8220;I dance upon the edge of death just to prove that I&#8217;m alive.&#8221; &#8220;Secrets On Our Lips&#8221; offers a transitory sexual respite from the sweep of time: &#8220;It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a bad life to live, making out all day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tegan Quin (of Tegan and Sara) brings a softer ethereal pop to the vocals in &#8220;Contrails&#8221;, which Astro balances with occasional passages that feel like freestyle.<\/p>\n<p>And if all of this seems like a demanding album for listeners, no kidding. There&#8217;s no pandering here, just a unique sensibility unafraid to take risks &#8212; and then to take even more. Maybe that&#8217;s why the 29-year old hip hop artist (formerly just Andy Bothwell from Jacksonville, Florida) isn&#8217;t already a huge star. If at times the music seems headed too far into the woods, Astronautalis drags the listener back out, like in the lines of the opening track &#8220;The River, the Woods&#8221; that began this post.<\/p>\n<p><em>This Is Our Science<\/em> is the 4th album from <a href=\"http:\/\/astronautalis.tumblr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Astronautalis<\/a>, and his first with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fakefourinc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fake Four Inc.<\/a>, in what seems like a great professional match.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, I haven&#8217;t seen any lyrics posted yet, so the ones I&#8217;ve got in quotations here are based on multiple listens. If anyone has corrections to them, please send them along.<\/p>\n<p>I have already posted Astronautalis tour dates <a href=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/08\/27\/astronautalis-announces-tour-to-promote-soon-to-be-released-this-is-our-science\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. I&#8217;ve got a short review and pics of his Savannah Stopover show in March <a href=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/03\/12\/savannah-stopover-quick-take-astronautalis-with-sims-and-dreamend\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. And a preview of that Savannah Stopover show <a href=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/02\/08\/savannah-stopover-preview-1-genre-bending-astronautalis\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<br \/>\n<div class=\"e26b170012445c56d240655bdd03f7bf\" data-index=\"4\" style=\"float: none; margin:4px 0 4px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-5595881567027133\";\r\n\/* Another large rectangle *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"0042810896\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 336;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 280;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It seems like we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all lost We can follow this river back home This Is Our Science, the brilliant and tension-filled new album from Astronautalis, tackles grand themes in one breath, deeply private moments in the next. And there are&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/09\/14\/album-review-this-is-our-science-by-astronautalis\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6],"tags":[24],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/DSC_0211-e1315970262802.jpg?fit=300%2C199","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1gN9R-kz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}