{"product_id":"grouper-a-i-a-dream-loss","title":"Grouper – A I A : Dream Loss","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs Grouper, Liz Harris combines aspects of ambient, psychedelic, and folk music as well as dream pop into music that is equally mysterious and moving. The singer\/songwriter\/multi-instrumentalist uncovers different nuances within her style on each of her many releases, which range from the lush and relatively poppy territory of 2008's widely acclaimed \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e to 2012's sprawling double-album\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eA l A\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e to more intimate works like 2018's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eGrid of Points\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.  — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/grayarea.org\/community-entry\/grouper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eGray Area\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost artists would struggle to put one album of the quality Liz Harris exhibited on \u003cem\u003eAlien Observer\u003c\/em\u003e (the first part of her A I A double-header) but somehow she's managed to churn out a full two forty minute albums each as breathtaking as the last.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDream Loss\u003c\/em\u003e is the murkier, more grimy counterpart to \u003cem\u003eAlien Observer\u003c\/em\u003e distant pop and travels still further into Liz's astral tape haze and noisy, vocal ambience. While the record might begin unassumingly enough with the downplayed 'Dragging the Streets', 'I Saw A Ray' greets us with a volcanic slither of noise and calloused harmony. This deeply buried melancholy transports us through the album, and while the noise subsides to make way for Liz's familiar layered vocal loops and subtle, withdrawn songs, the character and texture is still one of distortion and fragmentation as opposed to the occasional overt prettiness exhibited on \u003cem\u003eAlien Observer\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Liz mentioned in the run-up to this ambitious double release, the albums are two very separate works, yet somehow feed off eachother when heard together. To hear one without the other is to only hear a single element of the whole piece - \u003cem\u003eDream Loss\u003c\/em\u003e adds the darkness, and in sinking deep into it we get a whole new understanding for \u003cem\u003eAlien Observer\u003c\/em\u003e. It's a harrowing trip, but one laced with beauty, restraint and that unquantifiable magic that seems to grace mostly anything Liz Harris touches. Just buy it; you won't be disappointed. — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.svartrecords.com\/en\/product\/grouper-a-i-a-:-dream-loss-lp\/1668427\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eLabel\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e—\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tools Liz Harris uses to make music as Grouper tend to be pretty basic: piano, guitar, synths, drones, hiss, and lots of reverb. If you've been following along with the twists and turns of noisy ambient music these last few years, this collection of elements may sound familiar, possibly bordering on cliché. But it's all in how you fit the pieces together. Despite sharing characteristics with a lot of other current music, Harris' has a distinctive sound that she pretty much owns. Part of the distinctiveness can be traced to Harris' voice, which floats above the music and can sound delicate and shrouded and mist and can also evince an approachable earthiness. The other aspect that sets Grouper apart is an approach to sound that feels somehow both cruder and more sophisticated than the majority of the lo-fi crop. It's crude in the sense that it seems to hearken back to the dark, home-recorded songs of an earlier era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDream Loss\u003c\/em\u003e is heavier on the distortion and EQ, and with an atmosphere that alternates between the hissy, open drift of the stratosphere with the thick, all-encompassing immersion of the ocean floor. The tracks here feel less like songs and more like moods, studies, and shapes. \"I Saw a Ray\" flirts with noise music, with a bit of industrial grind added to the held tones, while \"Soul Eraser\" seems to crumble into dust and regenerate itself simultaneously. — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/reviews\/albums\/15332-a-i-a-alien-observer-a-i-a-dream-loss\/#:~:text=Dream%20Loss%20is%20heavier%20on,the%20Windows%20and%20the%20Walls.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003ePitchfork\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/5l4dgQzaAkmbTpueLhSR3q?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: Kranky\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue\u003cbr\u003eReissued: 2019 \/ Original Release: 2011\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Electronic, Rock\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Experimental, Ethereal, Ambient\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: Electronic \/\/ Ambient \/ Experimental \/ IDM\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kranky","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46257465426078,"sku":"796441822317","price":48.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/files\/a0618030676_16.jpg?v=1764922396","url":"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/grouper-a-i-a-dream-loss","provider":"The Analog Vault","version":"1.0","type":"link"}