Beach House

Beach House

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Beach House
Origin Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Genres Indie rock
Dream pop
Baroque pop
Shoegaze
Years active 2004present
Labels Carpark, Bella Union, Sub Pop
Website www.beachhousebaltimore.com
Members
Victoria Legrand
Alex Scally

Beach House is an American dream pop and indie rock duo formed in 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland, consisting of French-born Victoria Legrand and Baltimore native Alex Scally. Their self-titled debut, Beach House, was named the 16th best album of 2006 by Pitchfork Media.[1]

History

Formation and first album

The band formed in 2004, composed of Alex Scally on guitar and keyboards and Victoria Legrand on vocals and organ. Legrand is the niece of both film composer Michel Legrand[2] and singer Christiane Legrand.

The band's song "Apple Orchard" was featured on a Pitchfork Media mp3 mixtape in August 2006. In October 2006 their self-titled debut album, Beach House, was released on Carpark Records. It was included in Pitchfork's Best Albums of 2006 list.

Second album and other projects

Their second album, Devotion, was released on February 26, 2008. It was received with greater acclaim and also was included in Pitchfork's Best Albums of 2008 list. On October 21st, 2008, the group released the Used to Be single.

Beach House also contributed a cover of Queen's "Play the Game" for the iTunes Store release of the Red Hot Organization's 2009 compilation, Dark Was The Night.

In 2009, Legrand provided backing vocals on the song "Two Weeks" by the indie rock band Grizzly Bear. She would collaborate with the band again by providing vocals to "Slow Life", the band's contribution to the soundtrack for the film Twilight: New Moon.

Third album

Teen Dream, the duo's third album, was released on Sub Pop on January 26, 2010 [3]. The album was released in the UK by Bella Union and in Mexico by Arts & Crafts. It contains a newer version of their 2008 single "Used to Be". "Norway" was made available as a free download on the band's website on November 17, 2009[4]; and promoted on iTunes as the Free Single of the Week starting January 12, 2010.

The album was produced and engineered by Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Grizzly Bear).[5]

Style and influences

The band is often labeled a "dream pop" band due to their slow, atmospheric rhythms and haunting lyrics. Singer Victoria Legrand's vocals have often been compared to those of Nico.[6]

The group's influences include The Zombies, Brian Wilson, Neil Young, Grizzly Bear, Big Star and Chris Bell.

Discography

Albums and EPs

  • Beach House (October 3, 2006), Carpark
  • Devotion (February 26, 2008), Carpark
  • Teen Dream (January 26, 2010), Sub Pop
  • Zebra EP (April 17, 2010), Sub Pop

Singles

  • "Apple Orchard" (2006)
  • "Master of None" (2006)
  • "Heart of Chambers" (2008)
  • "Gila" (2008)
  • "You Came to Me" (2008)
  • "Used to Be" (2008), Carpark, #27 UK Indie Chart
  • "Norway" (2010), Bella Union

References

  1. "Top 50 Albums of 2006". December 9, 2006. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on February 13, 2008.
  2. Band of the week: Beach House at PasteMagazine.com
  3. Phillips, Amy. Beach House announce new album. Pitchfork.com. Retrieved on 20 October 2009.
  4. Beach House. Beach House's Norway Free Download. Retrieved on 01 January 2010.
  5. Pitchfork, Beach House Announce New Album, 20 October 2009. Accessed 25 January 2010.
  6. Wilson, Mackenzie. Beach House Review. Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 18 October 2009.

External links

  • Official website
  • Beach House at MySpace
  • Beach House on Twitter
  • Beach House at Sub Pop
  • Beach House, April 2010 Cover, Stomp and Stammer
This page was last modified 23.05.2010 08:25:38

This article uses material from the article Beach House from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.