Keith Canisius

Openness Is Dreaminess & Everything In Between (Pen & Pad/Darla, 06.2010)

For: Ride, M83, Cloudland Canyon

Byline: Perennial Danish TOME fav. drops a salivating dream-pop EP before his third full-length

"Openness is Dreaminess & Everything in Between"... yep, that pretty much covers it.

Keith Canisius, who captured our hearts with his so (x 1,000) good remix of Aarktica's "Autumnal" on the In Sea Remix album and his 2009 Waves album, has a body of work that is an addendum filled tome, from the multi-layered exploratory percussion, to buried-under-an-avalanche-of-effects to clear-as-a-bell assured guitar lines, to his multi-tracked, often keyed up but always confident voice. Canisius' oeuvre is rooted in a nostalgic nod to shoegaze and dream-pop acts of the eighties and early nineties while repackaging these influences through a relentless exploration of texture and spatial positioning filtered through the underwater fidelity of 2009 chillwave acts. There is something to be said about persistence of vision. While we are on the topic, this four song EP is a poised and elegant step in the direction of 2009's textured Waves. Mr. Canisius knows how to write hooks, but also knows when to open his compositions up to fuzzed out guitar drones, drum n' bass seques, a cicada-hive of buzzing synths, and at least one semi-disturbing vocal sample rife with pre-teen angst. The EP's title track opens with a ridiculously cheerful, tip-of-the hat to "Sweet Child of Mine" type guitar slaying before being swarmed with a hive of fuzzed out synth lines and Canisius' characteristic nasally, effects-laden voice. "Until we Have Sunshine in our Hearts" is all swirling guitars, propulsive drumming that dips and resurfaces beneath the multi-tracked, shoegaze guitar work. While bands like Ride, Jesus and the Mary Chain come easily to mind it is easy to hear Madchester scene's nouveau brand of psychedelia holding a commanding sway. Early Verve and New Fast Automatic Daffodil, even Brian Jonestown Massacre show up in these songs' aggressive guitar work. The Album closer "Second Thoughts" strips away all the auspices of a rock and roll track to reveal the floating, gorgeous ambient tones and textures that underpin every Keith Canisius track. This may be the most revealtory moment on the album and answers the most questions about who Keith Canisius is.

Ryan H.

Pre-Order EP here